The Forest Is My Meditation

Written in 2010.

The garden is my meditation.

The forest is my meditation.

Sport is my meditation.

Dance is my meditation.

Reading is my meditation.

So often heard. But when you ask more, it turns out — people are simply calling what they like to do, what gives them joy, relief, calm — meditation.

Usually the next sentence comes along too, signalling that somehow sitting down and meditating hasn’t worked for them — didn’t get it, didn’t understand, didn’t manage — and so “the forest is my meditation.”

There is nothing wrong with any of these activities. Not the garden, not the forest, not sport, nor stacking firewood or colouring mandalas. The body gets moved, the mind aired out, thoughts arranged. But — what is the reason to call a walk in the forest meditation? Or dancing — dance meditation?

The fact that after walking, dancing, colouring we feel rested, the mind calmer, thoughts clearer, emotions settled and other good effects experienced — does not turn these activities into meditation.

Yes, there are walking meditations, there is dance meditation. There is meditative drawing — yes, such meditation techniques exist. Still — not every dance becomes meditation automatically.

It seems that at times it has been so that a person would like to meditate, perhaps has even tried, but most often — for lack of reasonable instructions and/or a teacher — it hasn’t worked (I sat down, couldn’t manage the thoughts, fidgeted — gave up, meditation isn’t for me). But the wish remains, one wants something more, and so a decision is made: my meditation will be the garden / dance / drawing. And there — no need to sit, and meditation is happening, and it counts. Right?

No.

The truth is that every activity CAN be meditation.

At the same time the truth is that not every activity WILL be meditation.

It may also happen that a person sits, legs crossed, eyes closed, hands in Brahma mudra, incense and gongs all around — and there is no meditation. (This has happened to me often enough, and I am hardly the only one.)

There is something that distinguishes meditation from the rest of ordinary activity, and without it the form is just form — without content.

The essential ingredient that distinguishes meditation from non-meditation is — INNER WORK. It is a systematic, purposeful inner activity in which will, attention, choice, emotions, attitude — consciousness — are involved. It cannot be seen from outside, and the only judge of whether the work has been done is each person themselves. What can be seen from outside is the results in outer expression, but the process itself remains intimate and personal. (Of course, a true guru has access to the student’s inner world as well.)

The inner work of meditation is, for example, directing attention, focusing on the chosen meditation object. This inner work always has its rationale — why to do it — and its goal — what is expected as a result. The instruction rests on a clear understanding of the structure of a person’s inner world, its processes, how problems arise and how the offered methods address them. If all this inner work is absent, then there is no basis for calling dance or weeding the garden meditation.

Meditation is a very powerful tool — it can help to relax, calm the mind, arrange thoughts, reduce stress, develop certain abilities. Yet all these results are positive side effects of meditation, not its goal. Likewise — if weeding the garden or dancing makes you feel better, calms the mind and arranges thoughts, that is wonderful, but it does not turn those activities into meditation.

Meditation can do more. Much more than improving psychic life.

I think society — all people — would gain a great deal from experiencing what deep and genuine meditation is able to offer. Walking the meditation path together with very many people, I have witnessed truly substantial changes, insights and experiences. But one has to reckon with the fact that meditation requires personal investment — one’s own work. Inner work. Work invisible from outside. It is a joy that more and more people are interested in meditation and turning towards it.