Day 20 Detachment, Wishing Within & Awareness

Today I did Day 20 of the Waking Up course and I read a passage from The Daily Stoic. The meditation was pretty open today. Harris mentioned this idea of positive or negative experiences/sensations that you have while meditating, and how they play a part with consciousness. The part that they play is actually the same, because the awareness that they’re there is the same. This led back to the concept of awareness and how awareness can detach yourself from something positive or negative, which is one of the keys of meditation.

The passage I read today was called A Different Way to Pray, it talked about how, besides religious prayer, people pray and wish for things everyday. People wish for some divine intervention, where they’ll get what they’re requesting. This request is quite often “nakedly selfish”. The passage asks to instead ask for strength or fortitude and clarity on what we control, so you can do what you need to do, because often we may already have what we seek. An example the passage gives is, “a way to get rid of him”, instead wish for, “a way to not crave his demise”. This is interesting because we already have the answer within ourselves, so I think the key is really how to find it. Becoming aware of this tendency, or reading this passage, is the first step to finding that answer.

Fulfillment and happiness occurs in the present, finding what you want within yourself is another way to achieve this. So next time if you are wishing for something, I implore you to try directing the request inward, often you will find your prayer is already answered.