… Doing meditation is selfish for I do it for my own sake, for my own self-realization.
… One may argue that it is for my peace of mind, or for my better understanding of self, or for a proper meaning of my life, or for my joy and enlightenment, or for a divine experience for me, of for my Nirvana, or for my this or my that; each and every of it is for my own sake, that is in the main, and that’s that…”
The master was not present during this particular gathering, and that suited my motive for experimenting certain "wild thoughts", if you may, as above in a general forum for open discussions. To be honest, I had expected quite an acidic reaction from the audience since for many meditation usually become the "final resort before insanity" so to speak for justifying their existence and being alive in this world. And, by Jupiter, they would fight tooth and nail to uphold their ideal, striking a similarity with the fanatism stemming from the deserts of the East.
Surprisingly no opposition came save a couple of minor grunts and “ohhs” or “ahhs”; giving mixed fillings. On one hand, the fellow mates seem to see enough merit at least to contemplate on this wild thought before reacting wildly (excuse the pun :-). That was the good part. The bad part was that I had expected an argumentative and infuriating debate (also testing the personal vigil and stillness of mind that the fellows suppose to exercise when provoked). No debate happened, at least none started at that immediate moment, and that was a kind of a let down.
After a while though, the toast started sinking in and the soup seemed to simmer, letting out its first aroma and setting the stage. “Well, meditation - or whatever that I do right now in its current form - seems to be selfish.” came the first reply, continuing: “But at least I am reflecting on it myself and accepting it as it is. Not that I want it to be as such, but that’s what it is… and I bet many of us are in the same state, whether you want to admit it or not…”.
“Well, I see where you are coming from,” I put in encouragingly, “and first off, I must appreciate your not accepting the illusion of being in a state otherwise. As master puts forward in more ways than one: Leave your footwear, ego and illusions outside while entering this room…” I was also appreciating the personal courage that middle-aged man had shown in facing his own Self in this statement.
“But, that’s not we wanted to, isn’t it?” came the next point immediately from my friend who had argued at length previously while discussing celibacy. As if in protest of being cheated for the product differing from its depiction and description on the box, she continued: “I thought being selfish is un-spiritual? Uh?” She was right for she was too new to appreciate the magnanimity and depth of both the words - Meditation, and Selfish.I wished the master was around.
“Heck… Sometimes meditation can be un-spiritual also” someone interjected triggering a quick round of giggles. “I mean, look at Bill Gates… He is a perfect meditator, if you will, only that his subject of meditation is Dollars… Billions of Dollars… And he does it really well, by god!” some more giggles, but the point was not lost. Bill Gates indeed is an accepted Guru (of capitalism) by hundreds of thousands (if not more) of people around the world that some of the smaller established religions and cults would envy I suppose. (Money making cult, anyone?)
“Okay, so we are saying that selfishness is un-spiritual, and meditation can be un-spiritual also…” but before I could proceed further, someone else jumped in, “Not exactly… You see, meditation and selfishness both can and can not be un-spiritual. A context is required for both to ascertain their un-spiritual-ness, or the other way around. Being selfish while dealing among goons to profit from them and then donating it to a charity or say to a meditation spa is, in my opinion, a virtuous and spiritual act.” Robin Hood immediately came to mind, but it was not my intent to debate on Robin Hood’s spirituality at that moment; it was better to steer the discussion away from it: “interesting… but then, I suppose these are two different ‘things’ really… Unless you want to consider meditation as an ‘act’, and treat it in parity with selfishness…”So, there we are - is Meditation an act? Is it a practice? Or a method or a discipline? Is it universal, or say, ubiquitous among spiritual paths - historical as well as contemporary, organized as well as unstructured, wealthy and also the poor?
The soup continues to simmer further...