The profound opportunity of meditation is to completely let go of any adherence to your current interpretive framework.
All of the experience we have, every sensation that runs through us passes through an elaborate and largely unconscious interpretive mechanism.
Our experience doesn’t just show up.
It shows up as something.
It shows up predefined, but of course it’s not really predefined.
It is interpreted.
It only feels predefined because we’re not aware of the interpretation.
We don’t see the interpretive processing so we assume that things are the way they appear to us.
We believe we are seeing reality as it is and not through elaborate lenses of interpretation.
Pass By
Letting go, truly letting go, not only of our conscious ideas about everything, which is already hard enough, but even of our unconscious interpretations of everything, is the profound opportunity of meditation.
And there’s no way you can do this through an act of will. It’s something you can allow to happen, but it is not something you can do consciously because it’s not happening consciously.
The only way you can let go is by not engaging with anything that is going on in your mind which means anything that you feel and any thing you think about what you feel.
You just allow it all to simply pass by without getting involved at all.
That means every physical sensation, all of the feelings that arise, your thoughts, your thoughts about thoughts, even the thoughts that feel like you talking to yourself, you have to let them all just rise up and pass away.
If you can do this you will inevitably fall through and beyond all of the interpreted experiences of the mind.
Be Still
So in meditation I invite you to be as physically still as you possibly can, and let every single thing that arises in consciousness pass away without touching it, without getting involved in anyway whatsoever.
No matter what arises in consciousness you let it go.
You don’t discriminate between anything and anything else.
You just let it all go by, untouched.
And if you recognize that you’ve gotten involved with something you don’t even need to look to see what it is you’re involved with.
As soon as you get the very first recognition that you’re involved with something, you just let go and you move on. You allow it to pass away.
Let Go
If you can do this with enough focus, you’ll start to feel like you’re becoming dislodged from the world.
If you start to feel that, let it pass away.
Don’t get involved with trying to see what’s happening.
The temptation to want to see how you’re doing is ever present.
Let the temptation pass away without touching it.
As soon as you realize you’re touching something, let it go.
I think the tile should be ” Letting Go In Meditation Is Way Harder than As It Sounds”. Very informative post Jeff. I’ve been tried meditation several times but always find it too difficult to meditate in the right way.
You might be right about the title. I suggest you just sit and meditate by not worrying at all about what happens when you do. Just let everything be whatever it is – no matter what it is. What could be easier than that?
I have been doing this and it has worked for me 🙂 Now I am really happy and peaceful with myself and I would love to combine it with what you mention.
Paola, I am so happy to hear that this has worked for you so well. I look forward to hear more about your continued journey. Jeff