MEDITATION
Meditation: The Joy Trap
Hidden hindrances to a meditative practice
A field of Universal, Unconditional Happiness. I still remember the day I felt this, not just intellectually, but arising deep inside me.
I immediately thought that this is it! Enlightenment! What everybody is talking about! The natural state of all beings. When the mind is quiet, when we are in the present, there is only an endless field of happiness and total acceptance, underlying everything.
Is this true, though? And if it is, is it the final Truth?
The Joy Trap
In a sense, this unconditional field of happiness is true, in the only way a subjective feeling can be: you feel it to be so. Also, it makes sense, in a deep, transcendent way. And although subjective, transcendent experiences are prime territory for society-level slippery slopes, in the confines of our own souls they are as close to a truth as one can get.
This is all great. But there is also a problem hiding here: confusing this state with the final Truth, the end game. Because then you can very easily concentrate your practice on getting back to this warm sensation.
Naturally, experiencing this state led me to actively seek to reconnect with it. I have thought it to be a deep truth anyway, much deeper than my everyday life. So, connecting with the real world cannot be bad, right?
So, I would observe that, if my meditation was deep enough, I had a high chance to connect with this state consistently. And that’s what I did. A session that led to connecting with this sensation was successful, and one where I didn’t was to be allowed to be, as is the idea in meditation, but not really desirable.
Beyond Joy
Let’s be honest. Meditating to connect with a field of unconditional happiness sounds, and is, great. I cannot think of anything wrong with this. Many people spend years or their entire meditative journey on this state. This is ok and very understandable.
But I remember reading in The Mind Illuminated that joy is a hindrance. I also remember the penultimate advice of every master to every novice meditator ever when the novice comes excited with a new realisation or mystical feeling:
This is great. Do not get attached to it.
So, I became curious. Could it be that unconditional joy and love is not the end state but only a stepping stone? And if so, a stepping stone to what?
At some point, I decided to trust this advice and see what happens. I learned to ignore bliss, and joy, and universal love and warmth during meditation. To just let them be.
What I found out after this, I have described in the best way I could in my previous article. But I really don’t think my (or anyone’s?) description can do it justice. To restate it here very succinctly, meditation seems to lead back to where you started. Is this interesting, or useful? I think not, and this is exactly the point.
Conclusions
The true richness of meditation lies not just in reaching elevated states but in transcending all states, even those that feel like ultimate truths, or really nice. It’s a practice that ultimately leads us back to the enigmatic simplicity of where we started, pushing us to confront the question: Why? And then learn to release this question as well.
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