Meditation And Writing As A Path To Awakening

Awakening, as a phenomenon, has received significant attention from psychologists and philosophers. While most hear about it, few have little knowledge about what it is and how it influences and affects a human being. Numerous human experiences and periods have depicted spiritual awakening, such as Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Uprising that characterized the global arena over the past two decades.

While many have defined awakening in the form of developing awareness about issues pervading society, it entails far much more. Being awake entails developing a real sense of what is going on beyond the sensory evidence that is provided which appeals to the intellectual understanding of an individual. As such, awakening appeals to an individual’s visceral understanding. While many people have experienced awakening in different forms, meditation and writing offer useful avenues to aid one on the path to awakening.

Meditation refers to the act of training in awareness and developing a healthy sense of perspective. Through meditating, one can observe thoughts and feelings with the aim of developing a better understanding of self and identity. As such, learning to meditate is a skill that can be improved with time and practice. There are numerous meditation techniques that can be employed to aid one to realize awakening. However, they can be categorized into two, i.e., non-directive meditation, concentrative meditation.

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Non-Directive Meditation

Non-directive meditation entails choosing an anchor that helps one to calm and focus on the mind. This type of meditation employs meditation music or breath to act as an anchor to meditation. Throughout non-directive meditation, it is vital that one observes silence and eliminates any interference of their five senses. Some common types of non-directive meditation include creative meditation, contemplation, and mindfulness.

Concentrative Meditation

Concentrative meditation entails selecting a given focus, through which one achieves calmness and focus. This type of meditation employs breath, a body part, mantra, a visualized object, an idea, concept, or even complete nothingness. This type of meditation roots attention to one spot and allows unwanted thoughts to be eventually pushed away. Some common types of concentrative meditation include Zen meditation, mantra and affirmation meditation, chakra meditation, heart-centered meditation, and sound meditation.

Writing is an art that stems and originates from a source that is touted to be beyond the thinking mind. Creativity in writing stems from a raw emotional core embedded in an individual beyond the thinking mind. Writing and meditation are a profound combination that nourishes, pushes, triggers and defines, energizes, enables, informs, and inspires an individual’s creativity, leading one to awaken and the realization of self and identity. As such, an individual can employ meditation in order to cultivate depth in their writing. Through meditation, an individual can develop profound insight and connect with their readers on a much deeper level.

Through writing, one can enhance their awareness, especially self-awareness. Through writing an individual can keep track of their feelings. This can be achieved by keeping a journal of both positive and negative feelings. This tracking habit helps one to identify underlying patterns and trends, helping an individual better define their values, purpose, and motivations, thereby creating self-awareness. In conclusion, mediation and writing are both useful and powerful tools to foster awakening in an individual. When used together, meditation and writing have the capacity of significantly improving an individual’s self-awareness and guide them to a path of awakening.

Employing meditation techniques that help reveal deeper and underlying aspects of self and identity can be augmented through writing about these meditation experiences. Maintaining a meditation journal is one useful way of realizing awakening.