“Chaos should be regarded as extremely good news.” ~ Chögyam Trungpa

Waylon Lewis leads Shamata meditation instruction at Camp elephant (our HQ) during Boulder Startup Week.

Meditation is a practice you can bring with you anywhere. You can do it before a big meeting, before you wake up, before you go to bed—whenever you feel like you need to come back to the present moment. The point is not to be perfect or to attain a higher state, but simply to fully embody your life.

With eyes-closed meditation, we have the illusion that less is going on. The notion of Shamata instruction (with eyes open) is letting our crazy world in, we come back to Earth, we come back with a sense of gentleness to our life, to the present moment. It’s the notion of embracing life and not trying to shut it out. We’re trying to work with life, with society, with business, engaging in the world in some way, and meditation can help us do that in an insightful and precise way. Anything that’s important—love, business insight, a first bite of tasty food—happens in the now, in the present moments of life.

Most of us go through most of our lives without ever bothering to get to know ourselves. Maitri.

The point of meditation is not to get rid of anything or be a better person or find peace, you’re trying to be present with whatever goes on—which is unconditionally powerful. Meditation is not getting away from yourself, so you can be better, it’s actually getting into yourself, being okay with that, breathing and relaxing, and having a sense of humor about yourself and clarity about your life.

Suggested Reading (from the video):

>> Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind ~ Shunryu Suzuki
>> Wisdom of No Escape ~ Pema Chödrön
>> Journey without Goal ~ Chögyam Trungpa
>> Cutting through Spiritual Materialism ~ Chögyam Trungpa

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Waylon’s Favorite Buddhist Books:
Best Buddhist Books for Beginners with Simple Meditation Instruction.

Books, hats, mugs (& more, oh my!) mentioned in the video can be found at our Elephant Shop.

Relephant: Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, on Shamata Meditation Practice vs. our Everyday Confused Mind.

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Editor: Lindsey Block