Meditation is About the Moment

by Lev Rothenberg

“If I have even just a little sense,

I will walk on the main road and my only fear will be of straying from it,

Keeping on the main road is easy,

But people love to be sidetracked.” 

Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu

“And lo, the Lord passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind – an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake – fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire – a soft, murmuring sound.” 

I Kings

Do you ever feel that you spend too much time sidetracked, or think that the soft murmuring sound of spirit is nowhere to be heard? 

If so, you are not alone – you are human.

We work hard all week, hoping to make it to the weekend. We plan all year for our vacation so that we can be happy and carefree for a week. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a weekend or a vacation. And what about all the other days?

We have thousands of thoughts every day. How many of them are new, or useful?

Meditation is not magic. It is not religion. It is not even based on faith.

It is based on experience.

Meditation does not carry you away. It can bring you home.

The key to meditation, as with so many spiritual practices, is being in the moment, not fighting with reality (you will lose, but only 100 percent of the time) and allowing things to be as they are.

Meditation helps us realize that we are not ever lost and that we don’t need to go anywhere to find ourselves or experience peace. It is here. It is now.

The JCC offers two meditation classes starting in February: Mindfulness Meditation and LeggoMy Ego: Getting Serious About Spiritual Awakening.

Namaste.

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