Enchanted

"i don't know if I'll make it through today, let alone a lifetime. That's what I'm trying to tell you. It's complicated." -- Robert

Good morning. First and foremost, I'd like to thank some of my coworkers for reminding me that this is a blog post I've been wanting to write for a while. Second, I hope you're all enjoying your new year thus far. My resolutions seem to be going well enough, I have been pretty careful to watch myself. Granted, I only made the resolutions themselves yesterday, but still, one day, is a day nonetheless. Anyway, earlier today, a coworker of mine, Gihan, inquired about my religious leanings. This came about because he recently added me as a friend on facebook; as many coworkers have recently, and that resulted in him seeing that I list my religious affiliation as Theravada Buddhist. He happens to be Buddhist himself, which led to a brief conversation about religious practices, including meditation. It should come as no surprise that even before studying the three jewels, four noble truths, the eight-fold path and so on and so forth, I was heavy into meditation as a relaxation technique and a method of centering myself, my energies and, as Guru Pathik would say, align my chakras! (note: in order to read that last portion correctly, you must have seen the entirety of Avatar, and loved it.)

Even before religion really existed in my mind, at least in a form that I could comprehend and bend to my individual will, I took it upon myself to meditate on a fairly regular basis. I started in third grade. At first it was just a way to spend my recess periods alone and contained in my own mind. I would spend one or two recesses after lunch in meditation with a couple of other students at my school. I was lucky enough, even at a young age to go to a magnet school which permitted me certain opportunities when it came to exposure to ethnic diversity, and by extension religious diversity. As time went on, I spent more of my own free time meditating, originally in my room when nobody else was home, but eventually, outdoors, where I felt more comfortable.

By high school, I was taking special trips out to Hummel Park with my closest friends specifically for the purpose of group meditation. It has always been a pretty important part of my life, and lately, I've been very lax with my daily devotions. Aside from the obvious religious intentions, meditation has always been something I have excelled at, and that has helped me mentally, emotionally and physically. I never feel as good as I do when I am just coming out of meditations. I tend to bottle up a lot of my frustrations and releasing that built-up pressure is usually very easy for me when I am in meditation.

Those closest to me can tell when I haven't been meditating, or when my meditations have been unfulfilling. i have a tendency to blow up. I get angry and frustrated. Some people need Xanax, marijuaña, coke, caffeine, cigarettes etc to relax and keep them in a good mood. I need meditation and intrigue. Intrigue is another blog post in and of itself though. In light of this realization that I've been failing at my meditations, I have decided that my tenth resolution for the year will be to meditate longer everyday, or at the very least to meditate more frequently.

I would welcome friends and family to join me for my meditations. I have several methods of meditation, from audio-guided meditations, to meditative trance-induction, walking meditations, standing meditations, and even some personal meditations that I've been using for a few years now. If you're interested, you're more than welcome to join me.

For those of you who find yourselves in need of centering from time to time, I thoroughly suggest meditation. It helps keep my anger in check, and its effectiveness has been proven medically. As for those people who've tried meditation in the past, and failed, or simply didn't feel as though they had achieved the desired result, maybe you took the wrong path. The more you meditate, the easier it becomes to find your path, and find a method of meditation that works for you easily and effortlessly. Everything gets easier with practice and time. It's true. I read it in Hogwarts: A History. HPRFTW.