No, not your nifty little phone computer. In Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world where my aunt lives, garlic is celebrated in a world famous annual garlic festival. Here on the coast of British Columbia, we celebrate the blackberry which like garlic, is a love em and hate em delicacy. This is blackberry season and in our house, “let’s go for a walk” is a euphemism for: let’s go feast on blackberries along the power-line. The smell of ripening blackberries is to die for. If you saw me dressed to go blackberry bushwhacking in the winter you would think I was dressed for combat. I have had many a struggle with a blackberry bush and sometimes there are battle scars, and like a veteran soldier, I glory in the knowing that it was for a good cause. Come summer, we’ll be savoring luscious sweet berries with purple fingers and purple teeth. Yes, I am getting to what this has to do with the spiritual healing journey. There is a parable here, the mind and the blackberry.
photo credit markhillary
What is the difference between meditation and blackberry bushwhacking? The difference is not so subtle. In bushwhacking you go at the bushes with a vengeance and spare no unruly branches, using the sharpest cutting tool you have. In meditation, thoughts are like an unruly blackberry bush. As you get closer to them, they grab a hold of you. The more you struggle, the tighter you get enmeshed in its web. Unlike bushwhacking, you approach the mind with gentleness. You just let thoughts be, not engaging in them, not suppressing them, just coming back, focusing on your breath every time you catch yourself holding on to thoughts. Focusing on the breath keeps bringing you back to the present moment. Thoughts are memories of the past or fantasies of the future. The present moment just is. As you practice daily, getting to the still-point of the present moment or being in the presence of the Self is the goal of meditation. With a still mind you can be more effective in dealing with life. You are not so affected by the madness that surrounds you, you can stay more grounded, think more clearly and access intuition which is always advising you how to best proceed in all endeavors. Meditation is not easy, and yet you can’t struggle with it. You just have to keep doing it and over the years, it becomes easier.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Miruh,
Forgive for sounding like I am at a meditation centre for Vipassana, but I am!
As I read your blog, I felt that there is a missing piece in your spiritual journey. You so correctly describe the advantages of watching the breath; how this is so helpful in calming the mind, but it does not address the conditioning, mental habits and impurities of the mind which remain untouched by any intellectual or emotional reflections. These impurities have to be taken out if we are not to continually repeat our mistakes, moods and reactions. ………… and that is what Vipassana is for. Best wishes from Dhamma Patapa.
Thank you Miruh. You express important truths simply and clearly for a large audience to understand; I admire those who have ventured through complexity and are able to communicate the one wholeness that transpires beneath that complexity. Thank you.
Bruce
Thank you Michael for your insights. My intention in writing this blog is to introduce spiritual concepts, and to share my own experiences. My posts are not meant to explore any one teaching in depth. For readers who want to explore a path more deeply, I encourage them to find a qualified teacher.
Thank you for your support Bruce. The truth is simple but we humans make it seem complex.
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