Meditation and the Power of Yes

Each moment that we live is made up of diverse components that are in a constant state of change. This is often most evident to us when we sit quietly in the silence of meditation.

We notice sounds all around us and realize that the truly quiet moment is rare indeed. The humming of the furnace, distant traffic, voices, birds, the sound of our own breath and the clicking of keys on a computer . . . an infinite number of sounds arise and meet our eardrums every moment.

Another aspect of our experience in this moment, and the next, are the thoughts that arise in our minds like a never-ending stream. Nowhere does this become more obvious than when we sit in meditation practice. These thoughts can be relevant to our current experience, but also completely random and can easily jump from one topic to a completely unrelated one the next moment. Sometimes we get caught in a thought train for minutes at a time and are so involved that we lose awareness of our surroundings. If we were to examine our thoughts very carefully during this time we would see that for the most part they are not true, but that our body responds as though it believes them.

An additional component of this moment is the myriad of sensations in our bodies, some of them pleasurable, others uncomfortable, or painful. We feel cold or hot and sometimes at the same time in different parts of the body. We feel tension in our shoulders or back, tightness in our chest, face or hands. But, if we pay attention, we will see how these sensations are constantly arising, changing, and passing away.

Yet another element of this moment is our emotions which are felt as sensations in the body. We notice that some of these emotions come and go, whereas other emotions seem to be an underlying theme in our lives and bodies, such as anxiety, fear or irritability, sometimes overwhelming as they appear on the surface of our awareness, other times barely perceptible as they tuck away beneath the surface.

And yet, amidst all of these components that make up the foreground of each moment, there is also a larger presence in the background, and when we connect to it, we feel an acceptance of all that is occurring, that doesn’t have an argument with what is, and that isn’t attached, nor repulsed by anything that happens to appear, be it a thought, a corresponding emotion, a sound or a sensation in the body.

If this presence were a word it would be simply: yes. With this ‘yes’ comes a profound softening into the now, exactly as it is, and from this relaxed place comes a connection to the silence and stillness that feels more real than the details of our momentary experience.

Often when I’m guiding a meditation, I ask students to just say ‘yes’ to everything that arises. Yes to the persistent thoughts, yes to the discomfort, yes to our neighbours sniffling, yes to the fear, yes to the openness, yes to the sleepiness, yes to the doubt. It’s not that we’re agreeing with what’s here, just simply acknowledging that they are part of this moment. With this approach to meditation we become aware of all of the ways that we argue with the now. Not wanting to be with this person, at this job, eating this food, dealing with this problem, suffering from this illness, and so on. We become aware that we are actually always living two experiences, the one we’re having and the one we think we want to have. This creates ongoing division and discontent.

Saying ‘yes’ means being willing to let go of control, to see this moment as it is, and to eventually realize that by saying ‘yes’ we are entering into the flow of life living itself and that all is well.

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