I do, and I think it helps a lot. It's simply a process of sitting still, calming the mind, and observing the breathing for the most part. I think people get the wrong idea about it that it will "empty the mind" but it doesn't; you hear all the chatter you'd expect. As you learn to get through this though, it brings a different kind of focused attention to who you are, where you are, and what you are doing which I find helpful.
Helpful because:
- If you know what calm & focused feels like, when times get tough you might remind yourself of that feeling and try to return to it, sort of like how a person (when they get angry) might remember sitting on a beach with a cold drink to calm themselves
- gives time & space to explore symbols & allegories. How does the 24" gauge apply to your life, right now?
- it's just relaxing. Anybody got lots of stress in their life? It's good for that.
A while ago I got trained as a facilitator in the Masonic Legacy Society method (https://masoniclegacysociety2026.com). This was an effort to bring contemplative practice to the blue lodge. It's a form of group guided meditation done with brothers, focused around a masonic theme or topic. Anybody who is interested in meditation and Freemasonry should either check that out, or the Academy of Reflection out of the Guthrie OK AASR
Most days, I try to take about an hour or so to sit quietly, focus on a mental image of the seashore, and relax to sound of waves lapping the beach. I do it mainly for pain control, and it helps. Other times, I go downstairs to my pottery studio, put on what I call my "far-out, drug-oriented Hindu space music", slap some clay on the wheel, and disappear into meditative throwing for a while. Clay is very therapeutic! The feel of it slipping through my fingers, watching it take form, calms me. The music I listen to is New Age tonal stuff--Liquid Mind, 2002, Secret Garden, steel drum (Hang Massive), Deuter, and the like. Very relaxing. When I finish (run out of clay or energy), I feel better enabled to face the chaotic world again.
I’ve been practicing meditation, on and off, since I was a teenager. There are many kinds of meditation, with different goals, and done properly I believe they are all valuable. The method that is probably the most important to a Mason is, in my opinion, zazen, mindfulness meditation. The benefits of this simple style are clearly documented, and I myself have experienced them. You simply sit, clear your mind, and count your breaths. When you mind starts chattering again, you clear it and start counting again. Counting usually runs in cycles of 10 breaths. A simple 20-minute session can have amazing results. Over time this method can help with two very important benefits. 1- you learn to stop you mind from chattering. The next time you find yourself getting angry, or scared, imagining outcomes that are harmful but not necessarily real, you can simply stop. In this case mediation is analogous to exercising a muscle, The more you use it the finer your control of it. 2- You begin to notice patterns in what your idle mind does, and realize this is the background noise of your life, and maybe you can decide to change it. Natural consequences of these benefits are usually a person becomes calmer (subdues their passions) and there is a tendency to become more compassionate (charitable). These benefits are totally in line with “making a man better.”
I do, and I think it helps a lot. It's simply a process of sitting still, calming the mind, and observing the breathing for the most part. I think people get the wrong idea about it that it will "empty the mind" but it doesn't; you hear all the chatter you'd expect. As you learn to get through this though, it brings a different kind of focused attention to who you are, where you are, and what you are doing which I find helpful.
Helpful because:
- If you know what calm & focused feels like, when times get tough you might remind yourself of that feeling and try to return to it, sort of like how a person (when they get angry) might remember sitting on a beach with a cold drink to calm themselves
- gives time & space to explore symbols & allegories. How does the 24" gauge apply to your life, right now?
- it's just relaxing. Anybody got lots of stress in their life? It's good for that.
A while ago I got trained as a facilitator in the Masonic Legacy Society method (https://masoniclegacysociety2026.com). This was an effort to bring contemplative practice to the blue lodge. It's a form of group guided meditation done with brothers, focused around a masonic theme or topic. Anybody who is interested in meditation and Freemasonry should either check that out, or the Academy of Reflection out of the Guthrie OK AASR
Riding is my meditation.
Most days, I try to take about an hour or so to sit quietly, focus on a mental image of the seashore, and relax to sound of waves lapping the beach. I do it mainly for pain control, and it helps. Other times, I go downstairs to my pottery studio, put on what I call my "far-out, drug-oriented Hindu space music", slap some clay on the wheel, and disappear into meditative throwing for a while. Clay is very therapeutic! The feel of it slipping through my fingers, watching it take form, calms me. The music I listen to is New Age tonal stuff--Liquid Mind, 2002, Secret Garden, steel drum (Hang Massive), Deuter, and the like. Very relaxing. When I finish (run out of clay or energy), I feel better enabled to face the chaotic world again.
I’ve been practicing meditation, on and off, since I was a teenager. There are many kinds of meditation, with different goals, and done properly I believe they are all valuable. The method that is probably the most important to a Mason is, in my opinion, zazen, mindfulness meditation. The benefits of this simple style are clearly documented, and I myself have experienced them. You simply sit, clear your mind, and count your breaths. When you mind starts chattering again, you clear it and start counting again. Counting usually runs in cycles of 10 breaths. A simple 20-minute session can have amazing results. Over time this method can help with two very important benefits. 1- you learn to stop you mind from chattering. The next time you find yourself getting angry, or scared, imagining outcomes that are harmful but not necessarily real, you can simply stop. In this case mediation is analogous to exercising a muscle, The more you use it the finer your control of it. 2- You begin to notice patterns in what your idle mind does, and realize this is the background noise of your life, and maybe you can decide to change it. Natural consequences of these benefits are usually a person becomes calmer (subdues their passions) and there is a tendency to become more compassionate (charitable). These benefits are totally in line with “making a man better.”