Standalone Essays · Character and Virtue

Meditation as a Compass

Meditation can act as a compass when you’re seeking direction in life. It’s an opportunity to ask the vision of your Ideal Self to illuminate the path forward. If you ask honestly, and are prepared to act accordingly, your better self will often show you the way. Don’t expect a comprehensive twenty-year plan, as much of that future is still to be shaped by your actions. However, you can glimpse the next step, the next immediate goal. You must be content with that and trust yourself to manage the rest. Taking care of each “now” generally allows the future to unfold effectively.

To do this, you need to dedicate time to simply being quiet. Meditation is a conversation between the various parts of your mind. Sometimes your deeper, wiser self can’t get a word in because you’re too busy with internal chatter, leaving no room to listen. It’s perfectly fine to mull over your experiences, worries, and concerns, but you must also allow the quieter, often submerged parts of your mind to contribute.

How does your conscience speak? Find a comfortable, safe spot where your body is at ease. Then become silent and simply wait. Observe your thoughts and listen to what your mind has to say without judgment. There will likely be a lot of noise at first, but persist. Allow the waves of thoughts to recede until the waters of your mind finally still.

Your subconscious will often bring to mind things you need to address. Perhaps you’ll realize you’ve offended someone and need to seek forgiveness, or it might present a conundrum you’ve been unconsciously trying to unravel. Sometimes the insights are crystal clear, other times they’re ambiguous, speaking in parables or even paradoxes. Don’t hesitate to ask, “what does that mean?” Either way, it requires careful thought.

Sometimes, sit with your notes open and simply read with an open mind. We often spend our thinking time developing outlines, working, or answering others’ questions. It’s crucial to dedicate time to “purposeless” thinking, to meditate simply to hear the other parts of our mind’s side of the conversation.

There will be times when you sit and sit, and no answer, creative insight, or transcendent feeling seems to emerge. Discouraged, you might get up, only for something to happen a few minutes or hours later, or someone might say something that’s a direct answer to your question. Then you’ll have an “aha” moment, laughing and smiling. That moment arrived because you primed the pump in meditation, preparing yourself to recognize the answer when it came. Even if you never receive a direct answer, simply sitting quietly in your conscience’s presence is never a loss.

However, you will never hear the voice of your creative, insightful side if you are not quiet, if you do not ask, or if you do not genuinely want to hear. You demonstrate your desire to hear when you don’t place limits on the answers. You’ll know you are ready to listen when you are ready to obey your Ideal Self, no matter the cost. If your conscience has already spoken to you about something and you haven’t yet acted, don’t expect further guidance until you’ve taken care of business.