My recent struggle inspired this share in response to a request for an example of Bridging the Gap. Not until I related physical bridging to the psychological concept of transcendence did I realize that Awareness bridges the gap between thinking and meditation. Awareness bridges the mind’s prison of psychological time and the freedom of the unknown eternal present moment. Without awareness, there is no meditation experience until the separate ego trapped in time disappears into the Now, and meditation happens.
The transcendence of Awareness is a shift in consciousness, from the thinking mind to heartfelt Being, from time to presence, from the illusion of thinking to the reality of a free mind-body experience. When the mind is shocked into the reality of the present moment or calmed into the non-judgmental, silent witnessing of what is happening now, thinking stops, and time stands still; then meditation occurs.
For some, little do they realize time is transcended immediately when total attention is required in moments of crisis, like a life-threatening challenge, hitting bottom in addiction, or losing a loved one, a livelihood, or a belief in the future. Whenever we respond to a crisis without thinking, when an analysis of opposites and the time for choice do not exist, only an immediate, creative, heartfelt response can satisfy the urgency of the moment—meditation happens.
For most, holding onto those brief, shocking moments of complete presence is impossible because we are not ready to wake up and accept that we are not who we think we are! That part of the mind trapped in time—the ego—is too powerful to lose its identity. We are too lost in the illusion of our worldly attachments to things, dreaming that we are somehow unique and separate from the rest of creation. So, we can relapse into our addiction to thinking and things and escaping from feeling reality in the present moment.
For many, it takes a process to calm the mind and create an atmosphere devoid of time, where our senses are stimulated into a state of presence by sitting cross-legged in a candle-lit room, with incense burning and ambient music in the background, to reach a state of awareness. Unfortunately, we can become trapped in a routine of disciplining the mind, which we mistakenly believe is meditation, rather than discovering the value of each thought until our psychological conflicts evaporate, allowing for the peace of mind necessary for meditation to occur.
But when the universe blesses us, meditation happens when our minds are ready to let go of time. Our hearts are open to experiencing reality and healing in the present moment, allowing us to reach awareness and transcend the power of the ego. This transcendence reveals our Higher Power, which gives us the strength to hold onto the present moment. After that first experience with freedom from time, some of us will continue to discover ways to sustain awareness and the availability of our Higher Power to impact our normal conscious activities. We will grow our ability to stay aware, bridging our consciousness from thinking in time to being totally present, recognizing when we are unaware, and regaining our meditative state of complete, undivided attention.
VAB 10-20-23
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