Knowing you are truly good

Knowing you are truly good

Meditation helps you sift through all this doubt and fear, and feel your way home to your true self, to the knowing that you are naturally and inherently good — no exceptions.

by Diana Lang — 

Meditation is a state of consciousness. It is a living thing that, when nurtured and cared for, grows strong and constant, like a big, old oak tree. You can count on it.

Every time you meditate, it is as if you are building a mountain, one layer at a time. Meditation is like strata; once a layer is set down, it becomes a permanent part of your landscape. It is cumulative. When you meditate again, you add another layer to your mountain. You keep getting stronger and stronger. Even if there is a gap of many years in your meditation practice, this stratification does not go away. It is right where you left it, and you can pick up where you left off. Usually, it will have grown some on its own, too.

Meditation is a discipline of mind blended with spirit that teaches concentration and focus. It brings clarity to every area of your life. It broadens your perspective, opens your mind to new ideas and helps you feel free.

Sometimes we associate it with prayer and, of course, it is this, too. Meditation is an elegant mental discipline that increases spiritual connection. In the oldest recorded teachings that are thousands of years old, it is stated that meditation is the settling of the mind into stillness. This is true, and yet to meditate is not to silence the mind, or not to think or to be without thought. It is to be full of mind, without attachment and judgment.

This growing knowing is deep within you and available to you. It is right there, always. It is a conscious breath away. You are never separate from knowing. It is an infinite continuum of everlasting love and appreciation, ever available, ever knowing, ever loving. All you have to do is be open to it. If you become disconnected, it is only because you have disconnected yourself. And that is all right. All you have to do is choose again. The moment you do that, you are reconnected instantly and always. And one of the easiest ways to connect is through meditation.

You are good, and through the process of meditation you can discover your true goodness. It may take a while, and you may have to wade through doubts and fears at first, but at some moment you will discover — at the inner core of you — your authentic, worthy, beautiful self.

Anything that says otherwise is the ego’s doubt, and if there is a devil, this is it. It causes you to become confused and forget who you really are. When you doubt, you empower fear. Doubt is at the heart of any fear-based decision — the decision to not trust, the decision to not be open, the decision to not love. Doubt is the stuff of insecurity. It is at the core of any act that is less than your best.

Meditation helps you sift through all this doubt and fear, and feel your way home to your true self, to the knowing that you are naturally and inherently good — no exceptions.

What if you knew that? What if it were not even a question? What if you were a given in your life? Feel how much this would change how you express yourself in the world.

You are good — not in the sense of being righteous or superior, but in the deeper sense of it all, you are truly good.

This is the truth. You are good beyond your wildest imagination. You are good in a way that is immeasurable. You are as worthy as your greatest hero or anyone else you have ever thought of as admirable, inspired or blessed. You are that.

Meditation is a journey that unifies the mind and the heart. Meditation uncovers the layers of belief, limitation and doubt to quietly reveal the pure and simple heart that is always there.

I like to do things in the most direct way I can — as the crow flies, fast and true. Meditation is the most direct route home I know. It is a process, a discipline, an art and a practice that will teach you to trust yourself, to be at home with yourself, to know and be who you are — authentic, free and unlimited. Meditation may not give you anything new, but it will give you yourself.

Diana Lang is the author of Opening to Meditation: A Gentle, Guided Approach, and the owner and director of the LifeWorks Center for Growth in Los Angeles. She is also active in a variety of nonprofit international efforts to teach meditation and yoga. dianalang.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 34, Number 5, October/November 2015.