Life is confusing with many twists and turns. We’re bound to encounter great pains and difficulties and these periods of life truly test who we are. There is no greater challenge than dealing with our personal dying process and the dying process of loved ones. In these most emotionally charged and complicated periods, it’s nice to know that I’ll have the anchor of Vipassana.
It’s been a process learning to trust this path, but there is no doubt meditation helped me out of a dark place following my father’s death. The simplicity of meditating made it possible to practice even when my mind was full and agitated. While difficult, no doubt, this experience allows me to be more confident and comfortable with the inevitable challenges to come.
I’m particularly excited about the prospect of providing my pure vibrations to the world around me as an old man. Before meditation I thought of life as a bell curve of contribution. In the middle of life I could do basically anything but as a child and an old man I envisioned myself as a burden. Now I wonder if my mind and vibrations will be at their most pure and productive state at the end of my life after the accumulation of decades of meditation. I’m becoming much more optimistic about the value of old age because of meditation.
I always had a problem with the saying, “Whatever doesn’t kill you make you stronger” because alone, it’s not true. Sometimes, things that almost kill you simply bring you that much closer to death. It requires something like Vipassana to allow a person to transform a difficult experience into a productive learning opportunity. Vipassana is slowly becoming my anchor that I can count on regardless of the life challenges I face. I’m happy I discovered this practice 3 years ago. Time to meditate.