The 3 skills of Pop Go Zen
There are so many different approaches to meditation floating around out there it can make your head spin. If you’re like me you’ve got a strong bullshit meter and maybe you have a healthy skepticism about all of it. My teacher Shinzen Young has an amazing definition of mindfulness meditation, which I’d like to share for two reasons: The definition is both concise and comprehensive. What I love most is that it’s practical! He clearly and neatly lays out what skills we’re developing when we practice and why it’s useful to develop those skills. This definition is deceptively simple and gets richer with time, like the three basic chords of rock and roll. Who would’ve thought all those genius songs could come from 3 simple chords! It also covers ANY meditation practice you choose to do. All meditation approaches will develop at least one of the skills described below, you just have to find one you have an interest in doing consistently. It’s like any form of exercise or practicing an instrument. You need to develop a consistent routine to see results. Even 10 minutes a day is enough to go on. So my advice is to find an approach you actually want to spend time doing. If it feels like a drag you’ll never get around to it. I developed Pop Go Zen because most people enjoy listening to music and would be willing to take 10 minutes to listen to music they love while practicing their skills. Pop Go Zen develops all three of the following skills:
Attention Skill #1: Concentration Power
Attention Skill #2: Sensory Clarity
Attention Skill #3: Equanimity
In Shinzen’s words: “Mindful awareness is a 3-fold attentional skill set consisting of concentration power, sensory clarity and equanimity. You can think of Concentration Power as the ability to focus on what you consider to be relevant at a given time. You can think of Sensory Clarity as the ability to keep track of what you’re actually experiencing in the moment. You can think of Equanimity as the ability to allow sensory experience to come and go without push and pull.”
In my next installment we’ll get into these definitions in greater depth. Meanwhile, check out this groovy Flaming Lips vid. Just because. I can be a frog
