By Virtue of My Commitment

By virtue of my commitment: 

it's not often that I write about my own meditation practice, or even write of meditation at all. Yet it's been a profound and essential part of my life for several decades now, practiced twice daily and seldom in this time have I ever missed a session. I don't mention it often on my blog for the sake of clarity, it's my practice, personal, and helpful in navigating the circumstances of my own life. Does it lead to awakening, or self-realization? Well, I'll leave that for others to discuss and debate, as the question itself has little meaning to me. It's the practice itself that holds meaning and importance, and I've found it worthwhile for a very long time now. That's enough for me, nothing else has to be proven or discussed. It's a sacred practice by virtue of my commitment and the grace bestowed. 

my meditation practice, with a few side roads taken before and after learning, it Primordial Sound Meditation, a mantra based process from the Vedic tradition, very similar to Transcendental Meditation. In fact I was exploring options for attending a TM class when I stumbled upon the option of PSM and it appealed to me instantly, with cost being an honest deciding factor for me. Of course I was familiar with it's founder Deepak Chopra and was a reader of many of his books, and this was a draw for me as well. I'm fortunate to have made this choice and have been happy with this practice since first use in 1999. It's been a long time now. 

meditation itself was a means of healing my dependence on alcohol, and the practice of Primordial Sound Meditation helped steer me through those early years of sobriety when my life was so fragile, surrendering to the vibration of my mantra led me to a healing silence. It also opened doors of creativity that were long dormant, a new form of poetry issued from my mind, almost channeled in the devotion that it offered. As with meditation I write daily and have not missed a single say of writing in over 20 years now, words arrive in similar fashion as my mantra, easily, and without effort or stress. Writing, for me, is a sacred practice too, and also by virtue of my commitment and the grace bestowed. 

it all ties together, life is seamless in this way. 

many friends, awakening, or feeling now fully realized, have dropped their practice, and some never had one at all they tell me. I'm happy for them all. Life has the means to take us in infinite directions and everyone has their own course to explore. My own path is one of joy, not always of course, there's my share of sorrow, suffering through loss, depression, and the countless issues that life brings to every door. Yet meditation offers me an avenue of silence to surrender to. By no means an escape, sorrow touches too deep to be ignored, but the stillness to accept it all, unfettered, open to life through its every expression. That's my path of joy, surrendering to what's present, giving myself permission to sit in the silence of early morning and watch as it meets my interior world, unfolding still through the course of day. It's magical, I love to approach it each day, even after all these years, always fresh, a new surrender with every breath and every fade of mantra to its silent hold. Yes, it's a sacred practice, if only by virtue of my commitment and the grace bestowed. 

~

Peace, Eric