While swimming in a stream, we do not stay aware of what is happening on the different parts of the Earth and while living on Earth, we do not stay mindful of the forces that are acting on the Earth. Similarly, while stuck with a thought, we lose awareness of different sensations in different parts of our body. We also lose awareness of the various forces working on our bodies.
Mindfulness is all about being aware of the whole of the reality. There are so many sensations present in different parts of our body which are a product of the memories stored in the unconscious self. For example, if we have a bad colleague who uses foul language that we do not like, the moment we encounter him, our body will be full of unpleasant sensations. Similarly, if we have ever encountered a free fall in a lift and have been injured in such an accident, every time we get into the lift, we will have unpleasant sensations in our bodies. The body has a memory of its own. Like the weather system of the Earth, it has a weather system of its own. We keep experiencing different types of sensations in different body parts. However, we are generally so lost in our thoughts that we often stay unaware of these sensations and a wider and larger part of our being, called the unconscious mind in Psychology.
Not only the Earth has different weathers at different places but it is under the constant control of different forces. There are forces of nature that are pulling and pushing it. There is the gravity of the Sun around which it is revolving, there is the force of rotation, there is also the force of gravity of the black hole at the center of the Milkyway that is operating on the Earth, and there is also a force of movement due to which it is roaring and revolving. We remain oblivious to these forces. Similarly, our bodies are also under the influence of the cosmic forces, which we remain unaware of, because we are lost in the stream of thoughts.
It's not easy to stay mindful of all these when we are busy struggling inside a stream. That is why meditation is helpful. It allows us to get out of the stream of thoughts so that we can become mindful of what is happening on different parts of the Earth. We can also become aware of the interplay of different cosmic forces that are working on our bodies. This awareness helps us expand the frame of our lives. We often confine our lives to a very narrow spectrum of possibilities and become sad or happy within that narrow spectrum. We define the life objectives within a very narrow range because we have never discovered the possibilities outside that rage. Meditation allows us opportunities to explore life beyond that narrow spectrum.
Once we get to experience the whole of the Earth, we realize that there are infinite streams. We get free of the fixation with a stream of thought. All psychological disorders are the products of fixation on a particular stream of thought. Once we experience the interplay of different forces of nature, we even realize that there are endless planets like the Earth and we get free of the fixation on this body and life. We understand that the soul's journey is not restricted to a lifetime. It takes different births to have different experiences and the forces of nature create different planets and different solar systems to help the soul have different experiences. That takes away the fixation on life and fear of death. However, these experiences during meditation are also accompanied by deep-rooted fears in the unconscious mind which are the result of a long period of ignorance. Fear often tries to take over but constant awareness eliminates all the fears.
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