the human condition

I was recently introduced to the work of Pema Chodron (left), a buddhist teacher/author through an interview she did with bell hooks (one of my favorite feminist writers). You can read that incredible, amazing, life-altering, ground-shaking transcript here. So, Pema Chodron is a master of meditation right? And, something I've been increasingly (read: obsessively) curious about recently is meditation. So, finding Pema amongst the vast, lonely galaxy that is information technology was like meeting the Dali Lama on a spiritual quest. Her writing about meditation is so... delicious and simple. She explains the human condition below: It's as if you had vast, unlimited space —complete openness, total freedom, complete liberation —and the habit of the human race is to always, out of fear, grasp onto little parts of it. And that is called ego and ego is grasping on to the content of our thoughts. That is also the root of suffering, because there is something in narrowing it down which inherently causes us a lot of pain because it is then that we are always in a relationship of wanting or not wanting. We are always in a struggle with other people, with situations, even with our own being. That's what we call stress. That's what we experience as continual, on-going stress. Even in the most healthy, unneurotic of us, there's some kind of slight or very profound anxiety of some kind, some kind of uneasiness or dissatisfaction. Have you ever felt like that? I read this and just about burst into tears because it felt so, so, so familiar. So familiar in that I wondered if it was just me who felt like this, like life is so painful for no reason. But not knowing how to shut it off. Not knowing that it starts from within. The mind is so open, so free, so vast and so all-encompassing that there truly is enough for all of us on this earth. No one should have to suffer but we go on suffering because we don't know, we don't know that it's not my [insert source of angst here] that is causing so much stress... it's me. And I can stop it whenever I want. All I have to do is be mindful, breath, find meaning in the "meaningless" and break the cycle of fear that causes my ego to grow and grow, bigger and bigger, comfortable and steadfast. Our minds are so much more capable than we allow them to be because we're so busy "narrowing it down" and focusing on "wanting or not wanting" - this is the human condition. Pema's suggestion is to meditate - to allow yourself to connect with the true vastness of your mind and heart. This lady's point of view on why it's helpful to meditate is great. This guy's ideas of how to meditate are awesome as well. I'm going to go meditate on my cushion. I hope you're mind is as blown as mine right now.