Today I read a post by An Accidental Anarchist on the subject of non-judgment. I was first acquainted with the idea when I discovered Deepak Chopra who, with his mainstream mindfulness, introduced me to this prayer:
Today I will judge nothing that occurs
And as I judge nothing that occurs I will create silence in my mind
And as I create silence in my mind I will communicate with the cosmic mind that is running and orchestrating the machinery of the universe.
The cosmic mind whispers to us in the silent spaces between our thoughts.
It was discovering this cosmic mind that finally began my journey of healing. I always thought meditation was weird and difficult, until I tried it – and realized that it’s actually quite natural and organic – and it sure beats the three daily glasses of scotch I was using as a coping method before that. As a beginner, I closed my eyes and focused on breathing for about ten minutes a day, and when I realized my mind had wandered, I just thought about what breathing felt like again. And that’s it. I felt calmer, deeper, like I couldn’t be rattled, when I had finished.
As I got better at it, meditation became immensely rewarding. The more I meditated, the more I wanted to learn about Vedic literature. The more I did that, the more deeply at peace I felt at every moment. And as my mind changed, so did my life. My life had been crippled and virtually destroyed by trauma and grief, but learning about a non-judgmental universal being brought me a comfort like nothing else could. I felt the truth of it as sensations of peace in the most profound depths of my being. [Disclaimer: For those of us coming off a lifetime of judgmental religious ideologies, eastern philosophy isn’t a replacement for religion, nor is it a ticket to go be a jerk, but rather, for me it created a shift in perspective that allowed me to be more accepting of others, myself, and life’s circumstances, as we all journey toward the light.]
Do you want to try a little of it? This is the first meditation I found. The whole thing is about 45 minutes, but it’s in wonderful 10 minute sections. I love the shimmering dissonances in the harmony of the music, I love the compassion in his voice, I love the beautiful collection of sutras he chooses. I haven’t been paid to say any of this; I just really found this particular meditation so helpful. I still listen to it in my car sometimes when my work day has been draining. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me. Namaste!
Amelia Borealis 