Meditations...

I don't know if this makes me old-fashioned, or new-fashioned, but I think meditation is the single most important thing you can do in your day (next: eat a good breakfast). I'm not an expert by any means, but even 2 minutes of trying makes my day go in a whole different direction.

In April, The New York Times (magazine) conducted an interview with hip hop guru and mogul Russell Simmons, who is a great believer in meditation and yoga (which he focuses on in his recent book Do You!). Anyways the reason the article stuck in my mind is because it highlighted, unintentionally, how little we understand what meditation means, however commonplace the topic has become:

Your book basically advocates for old-fashioned American values — i.e., work hard, don’t give up. The book doesn’t say just work hard. It says meditate. That’s the most important thing in the book. I go to yoga every day. I meditate every morning. Do you meditate?

I prefer reading in bed. That for me is meditation. No it’s not. It’s noise. It’s the opposite. To be awake is to be fully present, no noise, just you and God. Most of us only have seconds of full consciousness. To live in a state of samadhi — that’s what we’re here for.

Yeah, he said it. Noise. The absence of meditation. I bet a lot of people think meditation means reading in bed. It's nice, but maybe not what they were going for...

This lens gives a quick intro on what meditation can mean: http://www.squidoo.com/preksha/ - its goals, its benefits, and how it can work.

There are a lot of lenses on meditation on Squidoo, all featuring different techniques, tricks, philosophies and beliefs of how it's done, and all good. I'm giving you this one because it shows you the possibility of what meditation can mean for you. Once you're hooked, you can go looking for more.

So get hooked.