Ed Gabrielsen

Sitting in meditation, all distractions are removed. This can be disturbing because suddenly, there is no way to avoid experiencing your own thoughts. People sometimes get interested in meditation because they want to develop more peace and calm in their lives. But meditation can be a shock to the system.

Yes, developing more peace and calm is a possible outcome of meditation practice. But when we sit, we are not trying to create anything special. We just sit, and look at what is happening. The first step in the formal practice of sitting meditation is stopping. We stop and sit. And then, by stopping, we begin to look at what is happening.

When we sit down and stop all activity, we take the position of an observer. In a way, meditation is like being sent to the crow’s nest. Ships used to have an observation point high on the mast called the “crow’s nest.” It was only big enough for one person, the ship’s lookout. The lookout in the crow’s nest had a wide view and could see for miles. In the crow’s nest, high above the ship’s deck, the sailor on lookout duty was supposed to watch for any hazards, approaching ships, land, or even whales. There was not anything else to do. The job was simply to observe and report what was happening.

In the crow’s nest, there was no one to talk to and nothing to do but observe. We can imagine that being in the crow’s nest was probably a lonely, boring, and uncomfortable job. Standing there, looking, watching, hour after hour. Meanwhile, the ship’s crew down on the deck was busy working.