Energy, Calm, Ease, and Well-Being

Energy, Calm, Ease, and Well-Being

• Meditation Foundations
• Broad foundation for meditation: focusing attention
• Focus on a relatively non-stimulating area elicits concentration, calm, stability, and clarity.
• We can access this focus at all times, all conditions.
• Breath, sound, and body are always available to us
• The more we do it, the more we develop the habit
• Attention-wandering is a sign of our intelligence as humans; our attention goes wherever most drawn.  We must know that we are safe to concentrate on one focus.
• Tendency to attention wander is evolutionarily smart, but we don't need this all the time.
• Calm is a state that comes naturally; concentration requires effort, energy; calm results in ease, well-being.
• As we gain experience with meditation, it actually becomes simpler.
• "Radically simple" activity.
• Takes time and practice to sink in
• Becoming more nonchalant about our experience
• Concentration may feel uninteresting/"boring" compared to insight, but insight needs concentration to arise.  Concentration (monitoring) is necessary for insight (acceptance, wisdom).  Both together are necessary for freedom from suffering, enlightenment.
• Meditation gives us space to concentrate, and for insight to arise, when we don't need to perform (socially, for others).
• This practice builds on itself.

• Practice
• Meditation is like the formula below.  From the balance of concentration and acceptance, insight is given space to arise.  Practice in this balanced way.  Bring in ease to balance concentration, and acceptance to deepen the calm.

"something to do" + "radical permission to be real"
   concentration   //   acceptance
   (monitoring)   //   (wisdom/insight)

Notes from MARC Day of Mindfulness: "Energy, Calm, Ease, and Well-Being," led by Marvin Belzer, April 21, 2018.