What Does Meditation Look Like?

If someone asked you what meditation looked like perhaps you would describe someone sitting still, silent, and peaceful. Meditation can definitely look like this, however, this is only describing what the outside of the body looks like. To describe what it looks like INSIDE the body a much more metaphorical description is helpful. Matthieu Richard, a French biologist who ordained under the Dalai Lama, writes of the stages of meditation. “Finally, the mind becomes like the sea in calm weather. Ripples of discursive thoughts occasionally run over its surface, but in the depths, it is never disturbed.”

This metaphor from Matthieu Richard is very similar to the “clouds in the sky” exercise that many yoga teachers use. This is when your teacher asks you to view your thoughts as clouds coming and going. This saying is trying to get you to be the observer of your own thoughts, because yes, even the most seasoned spiritual teachers have thoughts arise. We want to observe the present moment and be able to acknowledge our feelings and emotions without getting too attached to them.

Thoughts will come and cause ripples on the surface of the water, and the more we react to these thoughts the rougher our seas will get. By continuing the practice of mindfulness and meditation we can keep the deep depths of our sea calm and at peace. The calmer the water is, the more easily the thoughts can drift by.