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“Even the most exalted states and most exceptional spiritual accomplishments are unimportant if we cannot be happy in the most basic and ordinary ways, if we cannot touch one another and the life we have been given with our hearts.”
Jack Kornfield
For the longest time, I would wonder:
- How can I find more meaning in my life?
- How can I find my purpose?
- How can I be more fulfilled?
These questions are part of the human condition, reflecting our desire to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life. During a recent retreat, I noticed just how pervasive these questions are. But here’s what sometimes gets lost on us: Meaning and fulfillment in life only happen in the present moment and come out of our direct experience.
The answers to these questions often lie within us, waiting to be uncovered through mindful introspection. This meditation will guide you to rediscover meaning, purpose, and fulfillment by connecting with the essence of life itself.
Meditation For Meaning and Fulfillment
1. Start with Awareness
To begin, sit in a position that feels natural to you and allows your body to relax. When you’re ready, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.
In this meditation, you’re not trying to control your thoughts or focus on a specific outcome. Don’t try to follow your breath, visualize your day, or focus on anything specific. Instead, you’re simply observing what it feels like to be human. Allow yourself to notice your breath, your body, and your surroundings without judgment or analysis. This is the foundation for connecting with meaning and fulfillment in this practice.
2. Observe Your Basic Humanity (Without Judgment)
As you continue to settle into your body and surroundings, ask yourself: What is it like to be a human being? Your only intention is to pay attention, stay curious about your experience, and learn more about yourself as a living, breathing entity.
3. Become Aware of Awareness
As you investigate your own aliveness, can you experience yourself as the energy of pure, loving awareness? How acquainted can you become with this awareness—with what it’s like to be human, with the experience of just being alive?
If you face resistance, take a breath and give yourself some grace by reminding yourself resistance is part of the human experience, just like joy and peace. Embrace it as a natural part of being alive.
4. Invoke Curiosity to Guide Your Awareness
When you inevitably become distracted, imagine you are encountering being a human for the first time right now. See if you can become hyper-curious about the life unfolding within you and all around you, and allow this curiosity to become your anchor.
Put a light smile on your face and allow yourself to explore whatever is here for you.
5. Invoke Amazement
Often, we seek to be amazed by life by looking for extraordinary experiences. But what if we found fascination in the mundane and what we take for granted?
Consider the following:
- How incredible is it that you can see, smell, hear, and feel?
- And that all these senses work together while your body performs countless processes to keep you alive?
- How incredible is it that the sun rises every morning, and the moon cycles through phases every night?
Life is at your feet; you just need to live each moment open and willing to be amazed.
6. Reflect on Taking This Attitude Forward
As you stay curious about your experience, consider:
- What would it be like to live each day with an attitude of amazement and curiosity?
- How would your life change if you embraced every moment with openness and willingness to be amazed?
- How would this attitude transform your moment-to-moment experience and bring more fulfillment and purpose into your life?
Linger for a few minutes with these questions while in this space of your own aliveness.
7. Savor the Gift of Life
As you conclude the meditation, take one more gaze into this vast mystery of humanness and absorb your own aliveness. Feel the interconnectedness of the life within you and appreciate the precious gift of being human and all the experiences that come with it.
In her poem “When Death Comes,” Mary Oliver writes:
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.”
Imagine living your entire life with this type of wholehearted interest and curiosity for everything in your direct experience, both inside and out.
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Anthony V. Lombardo