Meditation is a type of observation. We observe things all the time, but when we observe we also try to make sense out of what we observed. “Why did he say that?” “Should I have done this instead of that?” “How is this going to turn out?” What makes meditation unique is that we only observe one thing without analysis or commentary.

One of the best meditations is to observe the breath because it’s always with you. You don’t need any special equipment or a sacred location to observe the breath. Stop, limit distractions if you can, and count five breaths. Inhale, exhale, one. Inhale, exhale, two. And so on until you reach five. Then go back and start over from one and count five more breaths. Continue to do this for 1, 5, 10 or more minutes.

Why do we only count to five? Because we are observing one thing and one thing only. If your mind begins to wander, you’ll find yourself at a count of 8 or 12. Go back to one and count five breaths.

Meditation is that simple, but it’s also difficult because the mind really likes to wander.

If counting the breath is not for you, there are many other things you can observe instead. Gaze into a candle flame. Sit outside and observe a tree. Listen to the sound of a ringing bell. Chant a mantra. Whatever you choose, keep it simple and stay focused on that one thing.

I once read the story of a man who sat for meditation. A fly landed on his face. Rather than brush the fly away, he observed the fly as it traveled all over his face. Like a visitor in a new land, the fly walked along every line of the man’s face. He simply sat with the fly. After his meditation time ended, he said this was the most present he had ever been in a meditation experience, all because his mind was completely focused on watching the fly.

Meditation brings us many wonderful benefits:

FOCUS: We learn how to focus the mind so that it is not distracted by the many other things vying for its attention. You choose what to think about without giving that right to someone else.

CLARITY: Our mind becomes more clear so that we see and understand things more fully. The mind is often compared to a lake where the sediment is churned up making the water cloudy and dull. Meditation encourages the sediment of the mind to fall to the bottom making the mind still and clear.

GOOD LISTENING: How many times have you walked away from a conversation only able to remember a fraction of what you heard? When the mind is focused and clear you’ll be able to hear what others are saying and recall the important parts.

BETTER SLEEP: When the mind is able to let go of excess thoughts as well as worry and fear, the mind can lead the body into restful sleep. This happens quickly and easily.

Let’s all count to five and meditate today!

I have been a student of Thich Nhat Hanh for decades. The Zen Buddhist monk from Vietnam is now in his 90s and is well-known for his teachings on mindfulness. He offers many different sayings called gathas that can be used at varying times throughout the day. I love this one for the morning. Perhaps you would enjoy memorizing it and saying it to yourself upon rising:
 
“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”
 
“Waking up”: You are alive! This is a wonderful and glorious thing. Because you are alive, everything is possible.
 
“I smile”: How amazing to greet the day with joy rather than dread, fear, sadness, hopelessness or disgust. Be a person who spreads joy in the world.
 
“Twenty-four brand new hours are before me”: YOU are the creator of your own life. YOU are the crafter of your own destiny. What will you make with this one beautiful life you have been given?
 
“I vow to live fully in each moment”: Yesterday is a memory and tomorrow is a dream. The only moment we can do anything about is this one now. Live in the present.
 
“I vow to look at all beings with eyes of compassion”: This is known as the bodhisattva vow—to bring compassion to every interaction, every thought, word and deed. This simple act will transform your life and the world around you.
 
May all beings be happy and free. May all beings know joy. May all beings live in peace.

We’ve all heard the word “karma” and have probably used it to mean “they got what was coming to them,” whether they were deserving of good or bad consequences. In his new book, Sadhguru busts this limited view of karma as simply “the law of cause and effect” by showing us a more robust meaning of the term and giving us specific practices that will make us embrace our karma fully. After all, the subtitle to his book is “a yogi’s guide to crafting your destiny.” I’m all in; how about you?

The word karma is a Sanskrit term that simply means “action,” but Sadhguru laments that no other word has been so “grotesquely oversimplified or needlessly mystified.” He wants to make the term completely accessible to everyone because it is key to understanding the workings of the world and to unfolding our own destiny as individuals and a world community.
In the first half of the book he lays out the philosophy of karma. He truly has a knack for making the teachings clear! What helps is that he adds stories to illustrate his points. Yes, karma is action, but not just the action of doing something in the physical world. Karma sets things in motion that have consequences. And karma is not limited to simply the things we do, but also what we say, think and even the intention we have when say, think or do.

Another practical point he makes is that our action, or karma, usually settles into routines and habits. We begin to identify with those routines and habits in ways that can take us toward a more liberating life or a more deceitful one. We can convince ourselves that this is just the way we are and that we can’t or won’t change. In hardening our own hearts we seal our own fate of suffering. “Externally, it may be a new day. You may have a new job, a new home. . . But, internally, you are experiencing the same cycles—the same internal oscillations, the same behavioral shifts, the same mental reactions, the same psychological tendencies.”

The second half of his book is dedicated to the many ways we can work with the karma we have to live a life of freedom and joy. No, it’s not a “grin and bear it” attitude that gets us through the pain of life, but rather understanding that our life is our own creation. The error we make is to look to the world to give us answers as to why life is so challenging. The positive step the yogi takes is to turn inward, to see oneself as part of the greater whole, and thereby take full and complete responsibility for their own karma.

One of the best practices is karma yoga where the yogi explores how everything we think, say or do is an opportunity to get more entangled in the drama of the world or presents the possibility of being liberated from it. How? “It is quite simple,” he says. “Whether you walk or dance, work or play, cook or sing, just do it with total attention and awareness. Or else, do it with total abandon. Both ways are closer to creation.” You can begin your karma yoga journey today: You can live with awareness, a state in which you become conscious and take in all life has to offer with acceptance and joy. Or you can live with abandon, a state of immersion where you truly lose yourself in the ecstasy and gratitude of living in this magnificent world. Neither path is easy, but it is made easier when we share it with our fellow yogis under the guidance of a learned teacher like Sadhguru.

Sadhguru. Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny. Harmony Books, 2021.

Tonight’s conjunction of Mars and Venus has me thinking about masculine and feminine qualities. The planet Mars is named for the masculine god of war, while Venus is named for the feminine goddess of love. Even popular culture has picked up on this idea as when a psychologist assured us several years ago that men are from Mars and women are from Venus!
 
If you look off into the western sky tonight just below the crescent moon, you should see the two planets Venus and Mars very close to each other.  This conjunction happens every couple of years and it is an opportunity to reflect on the conjunction of masculine and feminine qualities. Such qualities are much more than what makes a person male or female, but rather point to archetypes of the ideal qualities that we all want to cultivate in order to be balanced in our personality.
 
Here’s a brief meditation you can do tonight. It is based on the archetypal qualities in Deepak Chopra’s book The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. As you read the following two lists of qualities, notice how they make you feel—which ones do you like or dislike on a physical level?
 
Masculine qualities of being strong, decisive, courageous, articulate and powerful
 
Feminine qualities of being beautiful, sexual, intuitive, nurturing and affectionate
 
Now that you have a personal connection to the qualities, participate in the following visualizations:
 
Imagine that you are as stable as a mountain.
Imagine that you are as flexible as the wind.
Imagine that you are a shape shifter and that you can be masculine or feminine as you choose.
 
Today’s special planetary conjunction of Venus and Mars is a reminder that a full range of human qualities are always available to us, guiding us to the best response in any life situation.

“Let what comes come. Let what goes go. Find out what remains.” -Ramana Maharshi
 
I heard an interview today with the wonderful actor Michael J. Fox. He is known for his television roles, such as Alex Keaton on “Family Ties” and Mike Flaherty on “Spin City,” as well as many memorable movies, including the “Back to the Future” franchise. He is also a writer and activist since he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the young age of 29, 29 years ago. In the interview he was talking about two things he loves that he had to give up due to the progression of the disease—acting and golf.
 
As a young actor Fox could memorize scripts in record time. These days, he can barely remember his lines. As a golfer he played quite aggressively and competitively. Now, when he steps on the green, he falls down. He explains that he is not upset, just realistic, about what he can do now. Because these activities are no longer available to him, he is willing to give them up. It is simply an adjustment to his life activities. He perks up when he adds that perhaps a treatment will come along one day that will make it possible for him to act and play golf again.
 
Michael J. Fox gives us an excellent example of the attitude and action suggested by Ramana Maharshi, an Indian guru (teacher) who lived during the first half of the 20th century. People traveled to the sacred site Arunachala to sit with the guru and ask him questions. He must have been a good teacher because his quotes are succinct and memorable.
 
Maharshi taught what is called “self-inquiry meditation,” a way for an individual to explore their own identification with the “I.” What the guru discovered is that if we turn the lens of observation on the “I,” rather than allow “I” to run the show, we discover the enduring Self that supports all our efforts to be our individual selves. Once we settle into that awareness of Self, the many activities and commitments that seem to create the “real” world are revealed as merely the comings and goings of life, not unlike the drama played out on a movie screen. And we are audience members taking it all in!
 
Michael J. Fox, known for his comedic skills, would love this take on life. He knows he is not defined by any of the acting roles he has played, nor by any of the activities he was able to do before his illness progressed. At the very center of Fox’s experience is the enduring personality the world fell in love with, defined by his big heart of compassion.
 
Have you ever found yourself running after things that have passed trying to bring them back? Have you been frustrated or sad because certain things came into your life when you rather they had not? To do so is human nature. But to go beyond may very well be the key to the end of suffering and the arrival of pure joy.
 
Maharshi counsels us: “Find out what remains.”
 
This line, my favorite part of the quote, requires curiosity, openness and acceptance. When we let go of our clinging to what was, we embrace the possibility of what could be. The drama of life swirls quickly around us packaged in sound bites and provocative posts. Let it be! Be still and enquire into the “I” who follows the drama and you may just meet the steady Self who is unperturbed by it all.