Brief thoughts on the calmness of being while the storms rage.
Equanimity (being calm) is straightforward, but how do you get there? Lessons from the rabbit holes of Vipassana meditation, the wrathful and peaceful deities (found in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Evan-Wentz). And the psychology of focused attention and hypnosis.
In Vipassana meditation, the first step is to develop the skill of focused attention (one-pointedness). This is done by focusing or paying attention to one’s breath. Often starting with learning to focus on your breath (one-pointedness). Think of your thoughts, feelings, and reactions like clouds passing overhead, and simply observe them.
This develops equanimity… the calmness of no attachment, no judgement, no attraction or avoidance. Once you can maintain this state of equilibrium or non-responsiveness. In this detached state is where pattern recognition is revealed and insight occurs. It is merely an ongoing process of emergent enlightenment or understanding.
Developing a balanced view means you don’t react, judge, or cling to things. Often done through the study of impermanence or transience. Whether it is the study of death, wrathful and peaceful deities, or that “All Things Must Pass.” It is merely the investigation of change and its existence.
Last, is being able to abide in the stillness, equanimity and calmness while the storms of change rage. Regardless, whether it is a parade of clouds, thoughts, feelings, drama, tragedies, comedies; it does not matter. In the stillness, is where all is revealed.
Abiding in this observational position reveals the patterns of how things come to be, to form, and to pass. By nature, all is formless, illusory aberrations of the Maya (Vedic texts) energy flowing in constant change. All creation is born in quiet stillness, the “cosmic mother.” Everything emerges, changes and returns.
Two Caves
The modern “meditative cave” to practice and experience these meditative states, processes and develop skills is to use a flotation tank. Or to use some type of auto (self) hypnosis, which is an attentional or focused state.
Floatation Tank
A flotation tank is a laboratory where a person throws themselves into the self. It is a space or place in which to examine the self. If you can quiet the ego self, many other selves reveal themselves. And perhaps your SELF will become apparent.
In the tank, your single-mindedness acts like a laser. A laser to pierce into and explode and reveal phenomena, experience, illusions, etc. It is also an environment that can dampen one’s usual reactive responses. Such as fear, anxieties, attachments, judgements, etc. The tank provides environmental dampening, which supports a position of stillness, calmness, or equanimity. A space for awareness, insight and revelation. In a sense, one can peel the layers of the onion while also gaining insight into the utility of each layer that is peeled.
Auto-Hypnosis
Auto (self) hypnosis is more about a technique to access and explore one’s experiences. There are similarities in Vipassana’s development of one-pointed attention. This new understanding is more often limited to helping improve performance. Or through therapy, by exploring and re-interpreting experiences.
Auto-hypnosis is nothing new. You can dive in and learn to structure and write a hypnotic script for yourself. Which is merely writing out the instructions of what you will do during your hypnotic session. Or another avenue is to consult with an experienced hypnotherapist to have them help you with developing your instructions. Though there are some subtle points to be aware of in tailoring your instructions. There is the induction, the work one wishes to do during, and the anchor or link to bring it into real life.
But we now have some useful tools at our fingertips to use in the auto-hypnotic process. The cell phone or recording device. Record your instructions using your own voice (in a calm and gentle manner) into your cell phone or recording device. You can even use some app to add some brainwave entrainment, hemispheric synchronization or frequency enhancements.
Then get comfortable in a chair, lying on the ground, yoga mat, etc. Use your noise-cancelling earbuds or headphones… and hit play. After you get a bit of experience, recognizing various levels or brainwave states. Essentially, you have developed skill, experiential feel and know where the door is. You can take a few deep breaths and quickly drop into the equanimity of exploring your experience of yourself. It’s an alternative to the recently popular plant-based medicine stuff.
In summary, be mindful that it is not a matter of what happens, but that it is about your response to what happens. Indeed, you are the creator of your experience. It’s not the storm but your being… your choice. You are the seeker and the chalice holding the holy grail of experience.
Blessings,
Tim