I’m Not Religious Or Spiritual I Just Meditate

Steve Jobs meditated, he even said it was indispensable and became a big fan of Zen meditation. Here are some insights from Steve after many years of meditating:

“…over time the mind becomes quieter, and when it does there is room to hear more subtle things – that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be more in the present . Your mind just slows down and you see a vast expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It is a discipline; you have to practice it.”

I was one of those people who proudly claimed that I was spiritual and not religious. That seemed to separate me from the old traditions, while keeping a certain divine identity intact. But being spiritual came with its own dogma, its own beliefs, and even its own ego. Sure, I did some yoga, burned incense, and had quite a few amethysts lying around the house, even wore tie pants for a few years in a row, went barefoot for most of college, and went to see the Dalai Lama when he came to town. I also wore a beaded mala on my wrist (I still do, actually). But what did it all mean? What makes a person spiritual? And what real need is there to call yourself spiritual?

After thinking about that question for a while, it all came down to the fact that I was a kind and loving person. I still kinda think that. But is that really spiritual or is it just being a good person, being a respectful citizen of the world or even having a healthy mind? Well, who cares that they’re all just labels, right? Only the ego needs a good label. The ego is so troublesome and incessant, even when I just call myself “a regular guy,” there is a twinge of ego that clings to that label with the pride of having found an acceptable identity that is endearing and humbling. So fuck all labels. I simply am who I am in every moment, free to express myself without identity restrictions.

Going beyond identities

I do meditate. Can I say that without calling myself a meditator? I cringe at the thought of creating a new identity. I also go jogging. Am I a runner? I eat, go to the toilet and spend too much time on Facebook, are those all identities too? anyway, let’s get past this identity issue, you get the idea; Meditation is a psychological method and not an identity. It’s really just being very simple and innocent, which by-product brings a certain degree of tranquility and natural intelligence, as a great Zen master once said:

“In the mind of the beginner there are many possibilities, but in the mind of the expert there are few.”

So I recommend not labeling yourself as a meditator, nor giving others the opportunity to define you. I think there is a reason to be a secret meditator. Don’t tell anyone, then there are no expectations about your behavior. Such as ‘shouldn’t you be calm’ or ‘your behavior is not very enlightened, maybe you should meditate more’. The expectations of others can be suffocating. It is better to look wild on the outside but be serene on the inside than to pretend to be calm on the outside but actually have inner turmoil.

Meditation helps to move beyond all identities to a non-fixed identity. It helps to find a silence that is not characterized by actions, sexual orientation, social roles or hobbies; it is a clear inner space of openness that is void of content, but nevertheless fundamental to who I am. As Eckhart Tolle says:

“When your attention is focused on the now, there is alertness. What clarity, what simplicity. There is no room for making trouble. Just the way it is right now.”

My identity can come and go. I was once a student, then a tennis player, then a Buddhist monk, but now I look with amusement at all those passing things while anchoring myself in inner space and silence. Meditation is not about changing and conditioning yourself, or as Buddhist nun Pema Chodron suggests, it is about befriending yourself and not perfecting yourself.

Meditation thus has the potential to transcend both religious beliefs and spiritual identity. Hopefully no one will ever go to war over whose meditation technique is best. There are many brilliant techniques that help focus, clear the mind, transcend the ego and more. Meditation is like medicine and just like medicine, different people need different types. And just like medicine, if you don’t use it, it won’t work; believing in meditation is not enough. This is something my Tibetan Buddhist teacher Geshe Tashi Tsering continually drilled into us, it is a method, it is not a philosophy. It is easy to talk about meditation, but it is difficult to put it into practice. But it’s the exercises that deliver the benefits.

Meditation is good for you and others

Advantages? I thought I was just saying that it’s not about changing yourself, it’s about making friends or being yourself. The positive changes are a natural byproduct of losing your neurosis. You gain nothing, but you lose things by meditating. You lose your ego identifications, you lose your frustration and fear and you lose your distractions and when you lose all your mental chains, you are free. No one can make you do it, or do it for you, as Bob Marley rightly said.

“Only we ourselves can free our minds.”

When you are free, you are happy, and when you are happy, you hurt others less. You no longer try to manipulate the world to find happiness, you can discover peace and a natural way of being that you can then carry anywhere in the world. So meditation also has an ethic built in: you harm other people less if you have disarmed your own weapons of anger, dissatisfaction and frustration. In Taoism they call it ‘The’ or a natural and harmonious form of virtue.

Meditation is a secular, leaderless movement that millions of people quietly participate in, transcending boundaries and uniting people at the core of their being in the pursuit of happiness.

As the Rolling Stones famously sang, “I can’t get any satisfaction,” and it’s actually the first truth Buddha taught. In Buddhism, this means that there is no satisfaction in the ever-changing things of the world. Buddha went on to say that peace can only be found by letting go of finding satisfaction in the world and settling into a natural, peaceful contentment. a method to discover this way of being. As a Tibetan Buddhist master Lama Yeshe would always say: ‘check up!’, see for yourself whether what I say is true or not. Meditation is not a faith, it is something that is directly experiential. The proof is in the results, not the scriptures.

Meditation thus involves a natural virtue and also a certain degree of renunciation from worldly or material pursuits. Meditation is not something you do, it is actually more of a non-doing, a stopping, which is exactly what the Buddhist word Nirvana means: extinguishing the flames of desire. A peace in your natural state, wherever you find yourself without wanting more or less; be normal. This non-activity is hardly spiritual, it is just sitting still and doing nothing. This inaction is desperately needed in a modern world full of hyperactivity, busyness and uneasiness.

Recently my mother met a friend on the street. ‘How is your son? the friend asked. “Is he still unemployed?” “Yes,” my mother replied, “but he is meditating now, so at least it’s better than doing nothing!”

That was a joke, but to me it’s pretty close to the truth. But meditation is just that: sitting around and contentedly doing nothing. Sounds easy? Well, it’s not, but it’s not a big miracle either. It is not being touched by divine angels or being welcomed into a secret society. It can be hard work to stop doing things compulsively and just sit. Sometimes meditation is the only time of the day when you take the time to do nothing and really relax.

Meditation is worth it, mental health is not something you can learn, it is not a convention or belief, it is the natural state of simply being open minded and sensitive to the present moment. That’s why meditation is great for mental health and has many scientifically proven health benefits. It literally helps you become sane in an insane world. It is also called mental hygiene, or as Zen masters say, it is cleaning or dusting the mirror of your mind so that you can reflect or see things clearly.

Mental health is not something to be proud of or believe in; you are just conscious and natural. Does meditation make you spiritual? Maybe. But why complicate it with labels? Just sit down and be yourself. When I started mentioning all the people who meditate, there is no one type of person who meditates. People who meditate come in all shapes and sizes, with all different beliefs and personalities. Even people like the American shock jock Howard Stern meditate. He’s rude, confrontational and argumentative, not the image of a serene Buddha you’d expect from someone who meditates, but he’s just being himself, so what?

When you give yourself the freedom to just be yourself, you find it easier to let others just be themselves, without being judgmental or offended.

So meditation is just being yourself with a certain degree of acceptance, mindfulness and the knowledge that happiness comes from within and not from without. Practicing meditation and mindfulness is as fundamental to mental health as brushing your teeth is fundamental to dental health. Meditation is a sensible thing to do in this crazy, uncertain world – it’s simply the intelligent pursuit of happiness that doesn’t depend on what you do or what you have. I am not religious or spiritual. I just want to be happy and healthy; That’s why I meditate regularly.

Chad Foreman is the founder of The Way of Meditation and has been teaching meditation since 2003, determined to bring authentic meditation practices into the lives of millions of people in the modern world. Chad is a former Buddhist monk who lived in a retreat hut for six years and studied and practiced meditation full-time. He now has over twenty years of experience teaching meditation. Chad likes regularly
Meditation retreats on the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Online meditation coachingprovides three online programs – The 21 Day Meditation Challenge to gradually guide people from the basic principles of mindfulness and relaxation to profound states of consciousness.
Breathwork to help manage stress and go deeper into meditation and
The bliss of inner fire This is a Buddhist tantric method to clear energy blockages and connect with the clear light of bliss. You can also get Chad’s free ebook now Insights on the go.