Tidying up the mind

Think of mediation as cleaning up the house.

A regular necessity you perform in order to enjoy living in that house or having it function well.

When the place you live at, or work at, gets messy and cluttered, you can’t reach easily for things you need, you stumble over some stuff which is out of place, you feel uneasy, lacking space, get irritated, you just can’t function efficiently any longer in all that mess (if you are a cleaning addict and your place is always spotless and perfect, just imagine a messy one for the sake of the analogy, or google it)

And as it reaches your “mess intolerance” level (I believe each of us has its own individual "mess intolerance" point), when you can't put up with it any longer - you start your big cleaning. 

In order to get the place sparkle the way you like it, first you have to get rid of all the obvious trash that is on your way, right? 

So, you throw away outdated magazines, papers, clothes you will never wear, books you will never read, last year Christmas gifts you couldn't find use for, etc.  In other words, you are getting rid of all things that don’t serve you any longer.

Then you get to the things you want to keep, those that matter, and put them in its right place, so you can access them easily at no time, whenever there’s a need. 

And once you are done with all that sorting out, arranging and clearing up the space, then only you are able to start the cleaning itself - like moping the floors, dusting the furniture, polishing mirrors, final touches here and there, like lighting incense or aroma candles, whichever is your ritual...

Then you take final thorough look over the freshly made up place, dive into your favorite armchair at your sweetest spot of the house, and let out that sigh of contentment of having the space around you just the way you want it.  Clean, fresh, super functional and ready to serve you at its best potential.

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Well, I think of meditation as exactly the same necessity of tidying up the mind, so you can use its functionality at its best.

It’s exactly the same procedure. 

First you acknowledge that you are at mess, that your mind is cluttered with useless garbage-thoughts. You start getting rid of this obvious trash, the things on the surface, the things that don’t serve you anymore. 

Then you get to the things-thoughts-emotions that do matter, those you hold dear, and find the right place for them, sort them out and put in perfect order.  

Then, you finish up by washing and polishing up that newly created space with your now steady and effortless breath.

Until finally you can see crystal clear, you feel that contentment of being in your own mind space, just the way you want it. Nothing clutters your vision anymore, you know that you can easily reach for anything you want or may want... Any idea, any answer you want to receive. And probably at this point some questions are no longer there, not needing an answer any longer...

Your mind is clean, fresh and sparkling, and it is ready to serve you at its best potential.