Our minds can sometimes seem a bit like a chaotic weather system, with thoughts swirling like storm clouds and emotions crashing like thunder. Have you ever stood outside during an actual storm and looked upwards to realise that in that very moment, there are clear blue skies just on the other side of those clouds? Our own minds can be described in a very similar way.
“Don’t mistake the weather of your mind, for the sky of your BEING.” – Jeff Foster
The original meaning of the word meditation is, “to become familiar with,” and it’s understandable that grasping exactly what this means can be out of reach for new meditators. I’ll try and break it down into very easily digestible steps:
- The first thing we “become familiar with” is usually our very busy minds – thoughts, feelings, emotions, the inner critic, the inner child, all of the things that made us reach for meditation as a possible tool. So often we try out meditation in an attempt to escape from these things only to find that as we sit down to meditate we come face to face with these same things even more directly than ever before, and we say “I can’t do this! Meditation is not for me! My mind is too busy! Meditation makes me anxious!”
- If we stick it out, the next thing we “become familiar with” is a recognition of what is temporary. I want to give you a few examples of how to think about this – If you sat still in one place and watched the ocean, just watching and becoming familiar with what you are seeing… how long would it take you to recognize that the tide rolls in and it also always rolls back out? If you sat equally still and just watched the sky, not doing anything but watching, how long would it take for the realization to dawn on you that clouds roll in and they also always roll out? Would you come to the conclusion that placing too much importance on the momentary level of the sea or the density of the clouds would be pointless, because in a short while it would be completely different? So then, if you were able to sit still in one place and just watch your mind without becoming involved in your thinking, how long would it take you to realize that thoughts and emotions roll in and they also roll on out, and that placing too much importance on the momentary state of your thoughts and feelings would be equally pointless, because in just a short while it’s likely to be completely different?
- And so with time – and this can take a while – the third thing that we “become familiar with” is an understanding of what has permanence. There lies within each of us a “sense of being” from where we have the capacity to observe the transient nature of all the things that flow in and also flow out. This space within you has been called “The Observer,” “The Soul,” “The Higher-self,” “The Witness,” the “I Am”… Whatever you choose to call this part of you, there is a permanence there, a sense of being “immovable” regardless of outside circumstances. The more that you “become familiar with” the permanence that lies within you, the more you are seeing through the timeless eyes of your soul.
Jeff Foster’s quote “don’t mistake the weather of your mind for the sky of your being” beautifully captures this truth – that your momentary emotional state is something that will always be shifting. That you can learn to trust that there is a steady deeper BEING to your human experience that you will always gently return to if you can find acceptance for the darker clouds that sometimes roll in and also roll out.
It is only when you stop judging the busy weather of your mind, that you start to experience the beautiful sky of your BEING.
Your true nature is not something that you have to work for or strive to achieve. Your true nature has always been a part of the soul that you already are. Doesn’t it just make sense that surrender is the act that gets you there?
Guiding mantras for self-reflection:
- “My thoughts and feelings are like clouds – ever-changing and impermanent.”
- “Beneath the storm of emotions lies a calm, steady presence – my true being.”
- “I can choose to observe my thoughts without judgment, allowing them to come and go.”
- “Surrender allows me to connect with the vastness and peace that is always within me.”
By adopting these mantras and cultivating a meditation practice, you can unveil the ever-present sky of your being, regardless of the ever-changing weather in your mind. Remember, the sun always shines above the clouds.
– pierre –
Today’s LIVE meditation is: I am the mountain.