In my twenties and thirties I spent a great deal of time studying religion, meditation, Eastern philosophy as well as other yogic mystical disciplines. I was looking for easy answers and solutions after a traumatic series of losses in my life. I was looking for easy solutions to existential problems which have plagued all of humanity since the dawn of time.
I studied with Zen masters and meditation teachers of all types, they all had answers but they all unfortunately lacked solutions. Many of their techniques were similar with very little variation but I was always bothered by the same thing. The injection of cultural mythology into what was supposed to be a naturalistic and humanistic process.
Was it really necessary for myself or anyone to mutter some mythological deity’s name, or to focus one’s mind on an imaginary mythological deity, which symbolized specific archetypes within that culture? In much way that the Statue of Liberty represents liberty and freedom within our American culture.
The philosophical problems I had was not the symbolism but rather the fact that I was trying to fit into a cultural model that was both alien to myself and outside my personal realm of experience. It left me feeling like a square peg in a round hole.
Some years later I found that I wasn’t alone and that other westerners felt the same way as I did Stephen Bachelor who is a former Buddhist monk and a leader in the Secular Buddhist movement also saw the same problems as I did.
He also questioned why we needed dogmatic ritual, mythology and archaic codes to find serenity in this life. It was his book Buddhism Without Beliefs that finally made me realize I was trapped in an endless cycle of self guilt for not acknowledging the fact that I’m simply a human being and nothing more or less. He has also authored the book After Buddhism.
All religions tend to expound the belief that we’re meant to be something more than human beings. We’re meant to be either an angel, saint, pure spirit-soul devoid of worldly desires or in the Mahayana Buddhist case a fully awakened being or a Bodhisattva.
I was not looking for a new religion or belief system. I was looking for a system to maintain sanity in an insane world. We always fall short of artificially imposed spiritual goals. No matter how hard we try. When we come to terms with our humanity and embrace our limitations we can then feel free to explore our human potential as well as our capacity for self compassion and self improvement.
In retrospect, I was not kind to myself and I was deeply confused by life in general. I sought external solutions to internal personal conflicts. I was looking for the proverbial “red pill.”
What I found instead was self-deception, self doubt, and in most cases outright deception by supposedly well-meaning people. I was looking for an easy way to align my moral and psychological compass but I was absolutely clueless as to how to accomplish that.
What I understand now is that human life is a complex dynamic. There are no easy answers to life’s existential questions. There is no cookie cutter process to achieve enlightenment, or serenity, or wholeness, or well-being. What we can do in reality is realize that all of these problems that we are facing are simply part of the natural order of reality.
We have to create our own meaning and own sense of purpose in a troubled and turbulent world. No one is coming to save you from your own mind. Unfortunately, we’re not giving an owners manual to operate at birth.
Meditation can help relieve anxiety and stress but it’s not a cure all. There is no panacea, there is not a one size fits all solution to all the existential questions that plague humanity. But I will discuss a few meditation practices that may help to relieve some of these hindrances towards serenity.
Two pragmatic forms of meditation for Humanists and Naturalists that I recommend are sitting meditation and insight meditation.
Sitting mediation involves sitting in a comfortable position with one’s back straight either in a chair or sitting on a meditation cushion with your hands either on your lap or on your knees. Your head should be at head at a forty-five degree angle while inhaling slow but naturally through the nose and exhaling naturally through the lips. In order to maintain focus and eliminate discursive thoughts, I recommend counting from five to one backwards on either your inhale or exhale as long as you keep it consistent.
If your mind starts to wander then mentally say “BREATHING” to yourself and resume counting breaths for 10 to 15 minutes. There’s also a walking form of this same meditation. This involves the same technique but walking in slow purposeful steps with your hands at waist level and thumbs lightly touching. Do this form if you’re suffering from cramps or muscle fatigue and return to your seated meditation for a few more minutes.
Insight Meditation is a series of meditations that focuses on specific insights such as compassion, impermanence, focusing on letting go or examining your own state of mind and being mindfully present of your own thoughts.
One may use these affirmations to focus on such as the ones below or create your own that fits your needs, but here are a few samples of what you might find useful:
I encourage you to find your own personal affirmation but here are a few plausible recommendations. But you should ultimately decide.
- I will fill my mind with calm and nourishing thoughts.
- All mental states are impermanent and I will let them rise and fall with my breath without clinging to them.
- I am aware that all perceptions, consciousness and thoughts arise in my mind.
- I am the author of my own thoughts and being.
- I am mindful of my negative and toxic thoughts and emotions and I’m letting them go.
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