Effortless Meditation

“It seems to me that the easiest meditation, that one can practice anywhere, is to simply be aware. Being in a forest or other beautiful natural place helps to begin gently erasing what we feel is the hard line between us and our environment. By allowing our thoughts to appear and disappear as they may and by watching the changing face of our surroundings, it might be that we cease viewing the inner and outer worlds as separate. Make no mistake — just as with everything we are, the mind is a part of nature, it’s just that it’s a part with the ability to think otherwise. Most of us find it hard to simply watch our thoughts without trying to modify them because we feel we are a doer, a separate person, who has preferences and a certain standard to uphold. This is why meditation is so difficult for so many. The “self” that’s trying to wrangle the other thoughts is just a bundle of concepts as well, in a disguise called, “me.” The self-image (ego) can be an identification with anything. It can be unenlightened or enlightened. It can be a worm or the one and only GOD of the Universe. It can take any form. While believed in, it feels entirely real. When not imagined into existence, it is seen to have less substance than bird’s footprints in the air.

“Suffering opens to door to release for many. When the ego-image causes one to suffer enough, there eventually might be a readiness to let go of it. This is a painful way, but effective. Regardless of how it’s arrived at, the end result is the same. With the fictitious “me” not hogging the wheel, all that’s left is life/nature. It’s also important to remember that the ego is a manifestation of nature too, a shadow brought into appearance by the abstract-thinking brain. Everywhere one looks, nature is there, even in the darkest corners of our psyches.”

This is an excerpt from Morgan’s new book, Ecological Awakening. It is available at sustainablelifegoods.com and in ebook form on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com.