We have a saying in Tibetan: “gom pa mayin goms pa yin”. This
means: “It is not about meditation, what it is about is to become
familiar”. We become familiar with the nature of ourselves, both
wholesome and unwholesome, and with the nature of reality. We
become familiar with the stream of our consciousness and with its
function, and we develop a quality of heart and mind that is able
to perceive unfamiliar perceptions or situations without reacting
with ignorance. And we become more and more familiar with the
qualities of our true nature: compassion, generosity, openness,
equanimity, joy, and innate purity. When we develop these qualities
of heart and mind, our suffering is reduced. This will bring ease
and joy into our lives on the physical, mental, and emotional
levels.
When we take time away from external influences to be quietly by
ourselves, we get to know ourselves in an intimate way. We become
familiar with ourselves. We become familiar with our stream of
consciousness and the way that our emotions are produced. We become
familiar with the way that we live our lives. We become familiar
with the process that happens in us when we become agitated, and
with our weaknesses and strengths. We become familiar with what it
is to be sitting with strength in the face of depression. We become
familiar with our ego, our attachment to our physical body, our
afflicted emotions, and our fear of death. And we become familiar
with our addiction to our fear. Through becoming familiar with what
causes us pain and suffering, we will be able to see what is subtly
exhausting and killing us internally through jealousy, anger, fear,
sadness, insecurity, embarrassment, or loneliness. Through this
process we can develop the heart and mind to distinguish between
what to renounce and what to accept. And we become familiar with
our innate healing wisdom and our own potential of awakened nature.
We become familiar with the Buddha within.
The Buddha said that you are your own best friend and your own
worst enemy. The practice of meditation can give us the strength to
see the qualities of a friend and of an enemy within ourselves.
This can help us to observe the stream of our consciousness and its
contribution to our physical, mental, and emotional distraction and
instability. Also, meditation can help us to calm our minds. The
practice of sitting still is essential.
In our lives, there is calmness and joy on the one hand, and
arousal of anger, depression, sadness, passion, and
desire-attachment on the other. There is so much chaotic energy
coming in and out of our mind and body. This is why we need to
learn to coordinate the calmness or stability of mind that we
cultivate in our meditation with the movement of our energy.
Sometimes we may think that meditation will take care of all our
problems if we can generate enough calmness. Yet, this is not
possible unless we learn how to integrate this calm state of mind
with the chaotic movement of our energy. Just sitting by itself
does not bring ease and eternal joy, although it helps to settle
this monkey mind that constantly moves from here to there. The
calming of our mind is not realization in itself. Our actual
realization is of liberation from the cyclic continuum of
suffering. This is only possible if we become familiar with our
afflictions and know how to integrate our calmness and our
concentration with the chaotic movement of energy of these
afflictions.
Our meditation has the power to familiarize us with the qualities
of our true nature. Through our steady, dedicated practice we
become accustomed to its qualities, we become familiar with
generosity, with the mind of compassion and awakening, and with our
pure nature. The practice imprints itself onto mind and body in the
form of qualities such as patience, openness, and acceptance. A
beautiful gift of meditation practice is that it keeps us connected
with the miracle of each moment. It allows us to see the beauty in
each thing and in every moment, and how these small things affect
us. It helps us to release our attachment to the projected idea of
a result. It brings us closer to the reality of life by allowing us
to use both suffering and happiness as part of our practice toward
the realization of awakened heart and mind.
Read more at : http://www.olmoling.org/contents/meditation