A few days ago, I read this quote by Sylvia Bookstein, which read, “Don’t just do something. Sit there.” I had spent some time thinking about what this means to me personally, but this morning as I was thinking more about trust, I began to think about how it is one’s meditation practice, which awakens our ability to trust in the knowledge that all the wisdom and compassion we need in life is already within us. When I take the time to sit there and spend time with me, then I become more aware of all of who I am, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I get to sit with my passions, my aggression, my wisdom, and my ignorance. I remember Pema Chodron talking once about a form of meditation, which meant tranquility insight. It was through this approach to meditation, which one was able to get to know each other. We gain peace and trust with and within ourselves when we get to know all of ourselves.
So often people have trouble meditating because their thoughts distract them. Chodron advises that you just say to yourself thinking, regardless of what the thought is. Just recognize them by saying thinking, and then let them go. I have learned to combine this with the first agreement teaching of Don Miguel Ruiz, to be impeccable with one’s word. So whenever a thought floats through, I just smile at the thought with love in my heart and say to myself thinking. I have found that my thoughts not only appreciate being recognized, but the one’s that are not positive seem to dissipate when I say thinking with love in my heart.
What I have come to learn through this process is that I am teaching myself how to become more trusting and compassionate with myself. As I learn how to do this with myself, then I am also learning how to be more trusting and compassionate with others. How can I expect others to trust me with their thoughts, especially the ones that are not so “pretty,” if I have not yet learned how to trust my ability to honor my own thoughts as well. This is one way that we can work to raise the vibrations in this universe. Sit still. Meditate. Honor your thinking and infuse it with love, light, and positive energy. Let that energy radiate out into the world.