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Contemplation Meditation.
This approach to meditation is the exact opposite of the Mushin Meditation technique. Instead of gently purging your mind of thoughts, with Contemplation Meditation you allow and encourage different ideas and questions to enter your mind and dwell in this state of quiet but conceptual thought so the focus of your contemplation can be both concentrated on (using your left brain hemisphere) and understood in a more intuitive manner (using your right brain hemisphere).
To perform Contemplation Meditation, as always, make sure you are comfortable and relaxed. The state you create remains important for this meditation despite the fact that you are not trying to enter into deep relaxation. The reason you still need to be undisturbed is because you do not want external influences affecting your own internal dialogue. In theory it may seem possible to perform Contemplation Meditation anywhere and at any time but in practice you will get very different results from meditating on meaningful and important questions and answers as your mood varies. With Contemplation Meditation you are attempting to reach the 'inner you'; that is, the 'you' that is consistent and permanent and which exists beyond the fickle ego that is sometimes excited, sometimes tired, sometimes angry and so on. You are seeking contact with the ‘inner you’ to provide you with your own personal answers and insights into yourself. You want this insight to be as pure as possible and that requires that you sit or lie quietly and comfortably. As a corollary to this teaching I would in general suggest that you do not contemplate serious issues while in a state of excitement or arousal. Doing so can lead to rash decisions that may prove harmful.
When you are ready and settled allow thoughts to come to you. Allow them to sit in your mind and allow yourself to consider them. Move through different thoughts until your subconscious throws something up that you consciously consider to be important. This could be anything and will not necessarily be along the lines of ‘What is the meaning to life and death?’ Follow your own thoughts and trust that you know what is important to spend your time contemplating. Once you have picked up on something begin to consider the issue. What does it mean to you? Why does it appear important to you? What happened? Now, what really happened? How can you look on this from a different perspective? What are you going to do about it? These are some of the questions you can begin to ask but there is in theory no limit to the different inquiries you can state. Continue this process for as long as you are comfortable doing so, though in the early stages you may like to set yourself a time limit of 10-15 minutes.
Another approach to Contemplation Meditation is to set yourself a question or identify an issue prior to beginning the meditative process. There is no limit to the scope of what you wish to contemplate, but you can use this technique to bring yourself to consider deeper points that you would not otherwise normally think about. These could be the big questions of life and death, ageing, the afterlife, your meaning to life and so on, but they do not need to be. You may wish to settle on whether to pursue a promotion at work or enter a relationship. As you begin and continue your meditation, contemplate the point you have set yourself as a focus. Needless to say, the answers each of us receives will be different and that is okay. It is normal and natural. The important point is that the conclusions you reach come from within you; that the answers come from the ‘inner you’.
Upon completion spend a few minutes relaxing and remembering what you have been contemplating. You can pick up from where you left off the next time. Stretch your body and treat yourself to a nice cup of green or herbal tea to get yourself going again. Let the feeling of relaxation and insight linger.
Here are some quotes you may find interesting to consider:
- Buddha
In the Void there is good, but no evil
- Miyamoto Musashi
There is no first attack in karate
- Funakoshi Gichin
Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better
- Jim Rohn
The sword and Zen are the same
- Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi
