By Aryn Rose, LSW
There are a number of things I never thought I'd experience in my life until they happened. The best and most thoroughly life changing has been the experience of the creative energy of pure awareness. This pure essence of being became the center point for me to learn to notice when I was losing it, and then learn to bring myself back to calm sanity.
And what brought about this pivotal awakening you might ask.
First there was dedicated practice of meditation which eventually became nearly effortless. Meditation was my refuge. Without it I believe I would’ve ended me. But it wasn't my final answer. Some eat, some sleep, some drink, some go for the adrenaline rush, or lose themselves in video games. For me meditation keeps me sane. That lovely inner life is a welcome added dimension.
Even so, I was frequently unhappy. I’d learned to dance with anger and sorrow. What came next was a sudden and very real awakening. I'd been meditating to experience my touchstone of inner peace. When I fully became it, everything shifted. Here's where mental health really enters the scene.
What is the basis of identity? When we identify with thoughts and emotions, we’re on a spinning disc of our belief systems based on experience and circumstances, parentage, schooling, family, religion. You name it, we used it to build our identity. But it has a nasty habit of shifting and changing. Think about it. Our child self is so different from our adult self! But the center point of that spinning disc, our true core is our beginning, middle, and endless end of a self we were born into; Pure awareness of being. With this awakening comes imperturbable inner peace that surpasses understanding.
Old habits die off. The good stuff remains. I continue to meditate to remind my mind who and what I am In Truth. Does meditation awaken this? It’s our essential self that meditates as us and enlivens our most loving, open hearted, forgiving, happy, self. Ah! Blissful sanity!