Meditation is for people whose mind is too busy

'I cannot meditate, my mind is too busy'

I hear this statement over and over again when the subject of meditation comes up.
While I understand the frustration that has led them to this conclusion and stop them from ever meditating again, I can also see that meditation is probably the bitter-sweet medicine that can guide their mind to rest. All that a busy mind during meditation demonstrates, is that sitting still, away from the external world, is what is needed to settle internal activities.  As I wrote in the article 'yoga is for inflexible people', we seem to think that we have to be good at something in order to practice it and shy away from all activities that may uncover a weakness. Not considering that it is practice that leads to mastery and strength .

The restful mind , let's call it the default mind can be likened to a garden with fertile soil ready and impatient to bear any seed, providing growth to whatever comes in: tree, bushes, flowers, vegetable etc...The default state is spacious and full of potential. Thoughts, like seeds yearn to come alive and grow. They long to be thrown in the soil of the mind and have their potential actualised; so they wait for the gardener hoping to be picked.

A learned gardener knows the nature of the seeds and what they will grow to be. With this power of discrimination and therefore choice, designing a garden of paradise beauty with exquisite views, scents and feel, is a possibility. A less experienced gardener with less ability to discern might end up with a place where no one, can walk about safely. As he continuously throws any seed, the space can become overgrown full of plants that sting, cut and grow faster that can be maintained. The poor gardener, trying to achieve some order, overworks, gets exhausted and frustrated and yet, cannot even see that it was the lack of knowledge in the nature of the seeds that has led to this point.

Well, it's not all doom and groom! Here is where meditation comes in. Meditation is like the magic wand that the gardener needs to bring the garden to its default spacious state. 20 minutes of meditation, sitting still will achieve what hours of overwhelming and demoralising efforts cannot. More can be achieved by stopping and doing absolutely nothing at all! Isn't that good news? All that is required of the gardener is to sit still and watch. Of course he'll see the garden's current state (the busy mind) and, become aware of more seeds that want to be planted - some may even get planted - but he won't worry about them. He will just watch: the unconscious planting, the sensations, the space, more seeds being planted, space... Slowly and somehow miraculously space is created. Unbeknown to the gardener, this garden comes with a self correcting system that activates the moment the light of 'watching' comes on. The more he meditates and watches, the more manageable the garden becomes until it becomes spacious enough for new experiments . Now he can consciously choose the seeds, watch how they grow and get to know them. With this new tool, he can always uproot unwanted growth, create more space and start again. This is how he learns to master his gardening skills and create a paradise within.

To all the gardeners out there who can't sit still because there is literally no room in their garden and, however and wherever they sit, it can't get comfortable. To all those gardeners (me included), if this is the state of your garden, sit and switch the 'watching' light on and create the space you so deserve.

Dorna Djenab September 2014
www.pranasanayoga.com