I attended a ritualized meditation – by that I mean; now the meditation begins – now it ends. Now we walk in silence – and this is how we meditate as we walk.
There are certainly benefits to quieting the mind – but in my experience, the very intention to quit it contain all elements that disturbed it in the first place. My understanding is that a ritualized anything disconnects me from unfolding reality. How could I prescribe the infinite aspects of my own resolve? I can only stay open to what is arising now – allowing the truth of it to teach and direct me.
I meditate as I become aware of something to meditate on. Stillness for me is facing my fears – allowing what is arising from within, rather than limiting or directing my thoughts. “Peace”, as my teacher said ”is total involvement.”
Affirmations are often, for what we perceive to be lacking and our affirmation is only our best approximation of what we “think” we need from infinity - so it is already biased. If I affirm abundance, it is because I experience a lack of it. If I affirm I am “here now” it is because I experience myself being somewhere else. Is affirming presence, facing my blocks to presence or butting up against them?
While my ritualized affirmation, “I am here, now” has a way of focusing my attention and removing distractions, it actually reinforces my experience of not being present – to say it another way:
If I were living in the present, I would have no reason to affirm it.
For me, affirming anything distracts me from the now that is arising and my awareness of why it is as it is. From awareness comes wisdom and understanding – experiencing my Divine self and knowing how to relate to life.
You could argue with much evidence that affirmation works and I would have to agree. Humanity knows all too well how to bias and warp reality.
