After discussing with my friend Maria what the benefits of meditation have been for me in very general terms I asked her to read my autobiographical story on this blog. I explained to her how meditation is difficult for most of us in the beginning because it focuses mostly on quieting and relaxing the brain and mind and trying to remain still and silent without thinking for as long as possible - really focusing on your breathing and keeping the mind clear.
The actual benefits of meditating long-term are rarely discussed in our western culture. Without this information what incentive is there for a busy human being to take time out of their busy outwardly focused life and spend time focusing on this inner stillness?
Here's an example of what happened just this morning that might literally change your mind about meditation. I was resting silently after drinking my 1st cup of coffee this morning and just focusing on my breathing with my eyes closed.
Suddenly the image of a computer screen appeared in my mind and I could see someone struggling to create a document with a table full of text in multiple columns. I knew intuitively that my friend Maria who works as a lawyer in Louisiana was working on a legal brief and struggling to get her multiple tables to look alike.
As I had spent 20 years as a computer trainer it is logical that I would be somehow called to come to her assistance - so I used one meditation benefit (the acquired gift of telepathy) to explain to her how to use the format table, styles command to create a style for her tables and then apply those styles to all her future tables so she would only have to format them once.
Was this a dream or was it real? I guess I won't know until I hear from Maria herself if she actually heard my voice and received my assistance. I got the feeling that her office had been hearing my voice and may have been slightly freaking out about it and so I hinted that she could tell people that she left her speakerphone on while I was helping her.
I hope no one believed this little white lie for very long because actually the miracle of it is just too wonderful!
I just can't believe something like this happened while I was just trying to meditate! Well, actually, yes, I can!
