01/08/2022
It is said that in true meditation we allow everything to be exactly as it is. In other words, in true meditation we accept our experience without trying to change it. But what does accepting our experience mean in this context? Usually, acceptance is thought to be the opposite of rejection. In normal terms acceptance means to move towards something, to approve or affirm that thing. So, if a company accepts our application for a job it means they have not rejected us. Used in this way, to be acceptable means to have made the grade, to be considered okay, to be worthy.
The problem with this definition of acceptance is that it implies that acceptance is only conditional on some criterion, it is dependent on judgment, assessment and evaluation and thus it is closer to approval than true acceptance. When it comes to meditation the notion of acceptance as being the same as approval is a misunderstanding. In meditation, when we allow everything to be as it is, we are practising true acceptance by stepping outside the world of assessment altogether. In allowing everything to be as it is we are practising the true acceptance of neither rejecting our experience nor approving of it, for rejecting and approving are actions of moving away from or moving towards, they involve either pushing or pulling – both of which create tension. There is always tension in action but in true acceptance there is no action at all. True acceptance is non-action, it is a state of being without attitude. “Acceptance does not mean you approve of your experience, think it’s okay, like it or are happy with it as it is. Acceptance is not an expression of any kind of evaluation or interpretation. It simply means you can allow your experience to be exactly as it is”
Byron Brown: A Guide to Liberating Yourself from the Judge Within
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Without-Shame-Liberating-Yourself/dp/157062383X
