On Walking Meditation

The introduction of reason into the ego's thought system is the beginning of its undoing.

(A Course in Miracles)

They say that that our ego gets formed somewhere between the ages 2 and 3. Into adulthood, the way we experience and react to life events and our environment can be described by Freud's theory of ego, super-ego and "it"; with some SPIRIT shining through on occasions. We grow up,  we get educated and make a living for ourselves; maybe start a family, but then sometime as we get closer to middle-age, many of us experience a wake-up call of sorts. Something appears to be out of kilter; the doubters call it a mid-life crisis, but we experience it as a chance to be born again to something bigger than ourself.

There are many avenues to take during this mid-life awakening. Some use it as an opportunity to find new meaning in what they do; some put new focus into their love and family life, while some reconnect with their spiritual roots. We reevaluate everything that we once took for granted. Similar to Freud's mission, we spiritual travelers also question some norms of our super-ego, and wrestle with the "it" to override some subconscious programs. Otherwise, we don't loose much sleep over the super-ego and the "it", as long as these norms and programs put us in close contact with GOD. 

When it comes to our ego though, we spiritual folks embark in the opposite direction that Freud took. Instead of viewing the conscious "I" as the holy grail of enlightenment, we are much more interested in learning what FORCE lies beneath. Practitioners of meditation report that they perceive this FORCE when their mind gets still. For me personally, I sometimes perceive the fleetingness of the energy field called "ego" as I contemplate. I perceive a feeling that reminds me of how I used to perceive things, followed by a thought that shows the irrationality of that perception. With that thought follows a feeling that demonstrates to me that I have moved away from this point of view. This is Jnana Yoga in action; perhaps we also could call it walking meditation.

Note, however, that I am not describing the philosophic discipline of "thinking about thinking"; this is still the force called ego analyzing itself. It is the spiritual living that generates the shift instead; deriving the insight of the irrationality of the ego system as a mere after-thought of right-minded living. Join us to demonstrate to the scientists that there is the SELF, our personalized GOD-connection, and otherwise, there is only fleeting energy.