Beware of Beautiful Information
I got an email the other day, from a woman who was keen to bounce her knowledge of Buddhist lore off me, and engage in an exchange of ideas. And she knew a lot – much more than me. And her commentary on what she knew was erudite and incisive. But after a few exchanges I lost interest – largely because, when I asked her if she meditated according to the principles she was so eagerly espousing, she said she didn’t, and had no intention to do so.
At that point, all the brilliant information she’d been writing to me about fell dead on the page and I disengaged from the conversation.
For me, information is like a dream – it evaporates unless it’s put into action. For all the transformative ideas and life directions we might find in ancient scriptures, self-help books and bibles, none of it is worth anything unless we turn what we’re reading into consistent action over a period of time. And this includes everything I’ve written about meditation.
This became clear to me a long time ago, when, back in the 80’s, as I began poking my head out of my confusion about myself and my life, I went to a lot of self help seminars looking for answers. And at each of them, I was entranced by the information I found. I was inspired by the possibilities that seemed to open up as I listened.
Then the seminar would end, and I’d go back to my life – and my old habits would close back over me and I’d find myself in the same mundane prison I’d always been locked within. It took me a few years, and a lot of wasted dollars spent on books and seminars to realize that information, as insightful as it might be, is useless without some course of action to crystallize it as a life reality.
We live in the assumption that information changes everything. We’re sold books that ‘will change your life’, and we listen to speakers like Anthony Robbins and Eckhart Tolle, and their information is so brilliantly, exquisitely right that our heart bursts with joy that it could be that easy. And yet, even as we leave the venue, or put down the book, we revert to who we’ve always been – simply because it’s only information.
Unless action is taken, it’s just worthless dreaming.
The key word in this conversation is ‘habits’.
For any aspiration or skill to come to life as a personal reality, it must become habitual – and research has shown that a habit takes, on average, about sixty-six days of consistent daily practice to become instinctive enough to begin changing what we are.
This very much applies to meditation.
I’ve said it so many times it’s a cliché, but it cannot be said enough – meditation is a skill, just like any other skill. As such, understanding how it works is only the first step to doing it – because, like any skill, it must became habitual. And habits rely on muscle memory. That is to say, our body needs to have built an experiential understanding of what we’re doing as we meditate. Only then will the act of meditating become so innate that, even as we sit down and close our eyes, we’re instantly ready – because our body has the habit firmly ingrained.
The cerebral kind of understanding we get from information won’t do that for us. Only regular practice over time will do it – sixty-six days if the research is to be believed.
This ‘call to action’ is central to my mission on this blog and in my books. Everything I’ve written, and the information I’ve worked at to make as magical as possible, has been secondary to the simple act of sitting down, closing your eyes and meditating. That’s the central core of meditation – simply because the reality is, if you don’t put down the book and meditate every day, the experiential truth of what you’ve been reading about will never happen. And stillness will remain a shimmering mirage in the distance, which will eventually disappear when you get tired of chasing it.
Enough said. As the Nike ad says, ‘Just do it.’
I think the Buddha himself should have the last word. This from the Kalama Sutta:
“Do not believe in what you have heard; do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations; do not believe in anything because it is rumored and spoken by many; do not believe merely because a written statement of some old sage is produced; do not believe in conjectures; do not believe in that as truth to which you have become attached from habit; do not believe merely the authority of your teachers and elders. After observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and gain of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
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Roger’s book, ‘BEING STILL – MEDITATION THAT MAKES SENSE’ is available now. Just click on the links below:
AUDIOBOOK (including ebook & MP3 exercises) – AUD $25.00
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Beautiful information is just Māra. Many thanks for saying what may be inconvenient for some and so vital for others.
It is indeed. And thank you for seeing my purpose.