Snipped from A Map of the Journey...u jotika For free distribution only When we meditate what do we do? We pay complete attention to our sensations. Today I want to make the word sensation very clear. Have you understood the word as I mean it? What I mean is: when you feel cold that is a sensation, when you feel hot that is also sensation, when you feel pain anywhere on your body, that is also sensation, when you feel pleasant, that is also sensation, when you see something, that is sensation also, when you hear that is also a sensation, when you smell, that is sensation, when you taste something that is also sensation. That is what I mean by sensation. So when we meditate we pay complete attention to sensations. So you’re now getting a gist of what meditation is. When we pay close attention to say feeling cold, is there any shape? There is no shape; a sensation of cold has no shape. So when we pay attention to feeling cold we don’t think of the shape. We pay attention to the sensation only. So direct experience is something unthinkable; this is another point; do you agree with that? Do you have any doubt about that? Is there any confusion? Direct, immediate experience is unthinkable. You can only think about a concept, an idea. Whenever you think about the past it’s not your direct experience anymore. It’s a concept, an idea you have formed in your mind, your interpretation of the experience you are thinking about. You cannot really think about the real experience actually. It’s only your interpretation of the experience that you can think about. The same thing with the future; you are projecting your past into the future. So you can only think about ideas and interpretations not direct experience. When we meditate we pay complete attention to our direct experience in our body and in our mind. Whenever thoughts arise we pay direct attention, complete attention to the thought. Sometimes there may be no thoughts, the mind is just calm and quiet and peaceful, and you pay attention to that mind also, that mental state; not a thought, it’s a mental state, no thought, very clear, very calm, very peaceful, you pay attention to that too “This is happening now”. We don’t do anything about it; we don’t try to change it. When we meditate we are not trying to do something, to make something happen, we are trying to pay attention to what is happening as it is. So this is a very important point: looking deeply at life as it is; looking deeply only, not doing anything about it. Many people ask what to do when meditating. Just pay attention!