Meditation
I can’t stress enough how valuable I have found meditation. I have been doing no-mind meditation for the last week or so, as I can, and each time I leave it with a sense of profound peace. Today I lay in front of my altar, and just breathed deep, letting thoughts pass. When I finally got up, I thought “I wonder if I got down to no-mind”, and that was when it hit me that I had. The passage of time seemed to take forever, yet I was only down for about fifty minutes. The deep breathing put me into a peaceful, passive state, and I found a lot really extraneous or ridiculous thoughts, from wondering if the candle would be okay (it’s a pillar candle about elbow to wrist high) to asking “Am I there yet?”.
As the cacophony died down, I felt myself just slip slowly into silence, felt my breathing slow deeper, felt the world around me contract into darkness. It seemed like I was there forever just floating, breathing, blood circulating, everything being as it should, and me, just being. I felt very present in that moment, and yet not. I was and was not, I was there and I was elsewhere. That is something like what the Ginnungagap feels like. Like it is nowhere and everywhere when you experience it…and yet the experience seems to stretch on forever. I don’t know if my experience of no-mind and the Ginnungagap are the same thing in itself, but the experience of each is profound. I feel very-much at peace, at ease, and my muscles feel loose. I feel good, and like I’ve shed some emotional baggage.
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Loved this reflexion ! Both the part on meditation itself. I’m realising I’m not so good at letting go, so I’m thinking about practising very regularly (as I should!!) But I don’t know what is the proper rythm for now (so as not to give up after two sessions). Maybe every two days for 20 minutes ? Breathing, and letting thoughts go…
But I also loved the part about Ginnungagap… it reminds me of something I experienced myself but can’t find what.
Thank you Valiel. It has taken a lot of practice and a lot of years, and even so, sometimes I still don’t quite get it right. Doing meditation at least once a day for at least 15 minutes helped me. Whatever you do, do it regularly.
The Ginnungagap is…difficult to fully express in words, but I am glad I gave voice to something you’ve known.
I guess I may take a first rhythm of one meditation of 30 minutes a week (eg: on week ends) so as not to push too hard to begin. And then I’ll take once every two days 15 to 20 minutes. And then again, more frequently. I think I will easily stop if I choose too high a purpose.
As for Ginnungagap, it is by definition irrevocable, inexpressible. But sometimes we can suggest things that put us closer to it. 😉
That sounds like a smart way to go about it. Part of my difficulty in following my horarium is that I may have bitten off more than I can chew.