{"id":2223,"date":"2013-01-28T03:00:50","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lettinggo\/?p=2223"},"modified":"2013-01-27T20:47:01","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T01:47:01","slug":"the-gift-of-meditation-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2013\/01\/the-gift-of-meditation-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Meditation (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you go outside on a beautiful day, do you step into the sunlight and try to enjoy the warmth, or isn’t the enjoyment inherent in the experience? Similarly, when you see a falcon fly amongst the trees, land, shake its tail, and then survey its domain\u2026 or a great buck with its massive horns, broad chest, and strong neck\u2026 do you try to feel the nobility of these creatures? Or isn’t that feeling just part of the whole moment that you yourself have become one with?<\/p>\n

In the same way, real meditation is effortless. It is the fulfillment of relationship, not the attempt on our part to create one. Our being itself is meditating; it is naturally one with everything occurring in the moment. Our thoughts and feelings are all a natural part of the whole.<\/p>\n

All of the preparatory work we do to develop our attention is to help us be in the moment where life is unfolding. By contrast, it is the propensity of our present mind to always be wandering around “out there,” somewhere in thought. This tendency is so ingrained, it even prevails while we’re meditating. Instead of just being in the moment, consciously experiencing whatever the moment brings, our yoyo mind is busy running back and forth — looking for something within which it can come to a rest. Real meditation is the end of seeking, not a means to an imagined peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you go outside on a beautiful day, do you step into the sunlight and try to enjoy the warmth, or isn’t the enjoyment inherent in the experience? Similarly, when you see a falcon fly amongst the trees, land, shake its tail, and then survey its domain\u2026 or a great buck with its massive horns,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,514],"tags":[19,1512,950,951,34,35,269],"class_list":["post-2223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meditation-prayer","category-wholeness-happiness","tag-attention","tag-busy-mind","tag-meditating","tag-peace-of-mind","tag-present-moment","tag-relationship","tag-wholeness"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Gift of Meditation (Part 1) - Letting Go with Guy Finley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2013\/01\/the-gift-of-meditation-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Gift of Meditation (Part 1) - Letting Go with Guy Finley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When you go outside on a beautiful day, do you step into the sunlight and try to enjoy the warmth, or isn’t the enjoyment inherent in the experience? 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His ideas cut straight to the heart of our most important personal and social issues - relationships, success, addiction, stress, peace, happiness, freedom - and lead the way to a higher life. Finley is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit Center for Spiritual Discovery. He is the acclaimed author of \"The Secret of Letting Go\" and more than 45 other books and audio programs that have sold over two million copies in 26 languages worldwide. His work is widely endorsed by doctors, business professionals, celebrities, and religious leaders of all denominations. Through Life of Learning Foundation, Guy has presented over 5,000 unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students throughout North America and Europe over the past 20 years and has been a guest on over 700 television and radio shows, including national appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and NPR. 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