meditation is liberation... maybe?

16 Sep 2018

at some point in the last 6-12 months, i heard, read, or saw the phrase/idea “meditation is liberation.” and the explanation went on further… “meditation is not ‘like’ liberation, it does not prepare you for liberation; it is the actual experience of liberation. it is literal liberation.”

now, when i first heard it, i immediately rejected the notion. it smacked of the wholly internal “everything is in the mind and if you can change your mind, you can change reality” that seems to (mostly) be spoken from places of privilege. i’m all about the understanding that the way we see the world shapes what the world is to us, but i think there must be balance between internal and external. i must believe in (with my mind) and work towards (with my body) the world i want and think is possible.

but over time, as i’ve deepened my meditation practice, i’m coming around to maybe one way of understanding how liberation and meditation could be the same.

as i’ve been doing more reading, listening, and research on the work of healing (the will to change, conflict is not abuse, of water and the spirit, the healing justice podcast, the fortification podcast, etc.), i’ve learned a lot about trauma. and one of the primary effects of trauma is (sometimes perpetually) being pulled back into a past moment, often to the moment of traumatization. or being constantly catapulted into the future (constant fear of the trauma moment happening again). in both of those cases, the trauma is embedded in the body and pulls the mind out of the moment.

the insight that shocked me is this: that meditation is a way to practice mindfulness… and mindfulness is being fully present with what’s happening right now.

so if one is able to be mindful, via meditation or some other method, it means i’m not living the past or the future; i’m just here, right now, experiecing whatever it is i’m experiencing…

nuts, right?

i still don’t really get the meditation is liberation idea, but i think i’m making an inroad…

words / writing / post-processing
295w / 12min / 10min