![meditation-1777522_1280.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYdUf3tKnRq7X27ezaK8EGdPPKxPYAMpi691sAw76zNvq/meditation-1777522_1280.jpg)

Whew! I've been implementing my "digital Gong Fu" techniques SO HARD these past few days - down at the "Steemit Dojo" - that I've ended up pulling a couple of "mental muscles". All of that throwing, and being thrown, has left me a bit dazed and confused. It simply CAN'T be possible to maintain such intense, advanced tactics for hours on end, day in and day out. I mean, in this information age the boundaries between "on time" and "off time" have become SO muddled, especially now that we have the ability to interact with people across the entire globe 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We need time to process everything; to let all those sights, sounds, ideas, and data-packets PERCOLATE in our psyches for a little while. Like body-builders, we need to integrate those vital rest days to allow our "mental biceps, triceps, and latisimus dorsi" the adequate amount of time to recuperate and regrow, bigger and stronger. For as any good proper bodybuilder knows, the biggest gains you make in your training routine occur on your "off days", when your body parts are strengthening themselves in response to the assault you have brought against them during the active resistance phase.

# Unleashing The Power Of Inaction

The ancient sages were well aware that the Yang of "action" simply CANNOT exist without its Yin counterforce of "inaction". The sun rises, and then it sets. We wake up, and then we fall asleep. The universe is just one perpetual DANCE between states of "on" and "off", and in the digital age this only becomes MORE obvious, as the foundation of our entire experience becomes increasingly based on more and more complex binary combinations of ones and zeros. Like the sadhus of India, sitting atop their mythical, microcosmic symbolic universe known as "Mount Meru", and contemplating the nature of "Sunya" ("zero") through absorption - and then integration - with the in-breath (one) and the out-breath (zero); our lives ultimately exist on this foundation of "no-thing" (more commonly known as "nothing").

# Getting Centered

But before I wax myself lyrical into another dimension, and wax  my READERS into existential dust, let's get back to the matter at hand. We live in "this world", and must function - at least PART-time - in "this world". We wake up to work our way through the day, interacting with other people, ideas, and objects. We CONSUME stuff, like food and information, and we PRODUCE stuff, like BIG ideas, BIG words, and BIG turds. Our lives are a perpetual DANCE between "taking stuff in" and "putting stuff out" - and so it is with our lives on Steemit.

Steemit is simply the next step in human evolution. It is our newest upgrade into "Human 2.0". It is the digital manifestation of our collective mind, into a form which allows a simultaneous monetization and free market competition of ideas and creativity. Through Steemit we "take stuff in" (other people's content) and "put stuff out" (our own content). Yet, just as in the universal interplay of Yin and Ying, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to ONLY "put stuff out" without also "taking stuff in". At the SAME time, it would also be IMPOSSIBLE to ONLY "put stuff out" AND "take stuff in". In other words, we need some time and space to NOT "put out" OR "take in". This is where meditation comes to the rescue.

# Un-Stuff Yourself

In this modern world we are INUNDATED with "stuff". We eat STUFF, we buy STUFF, we read STUFF, we watch STUFF, and on, and on... The problem is that, like ANY OTHER finite system, our bodies and minds have a MAXIMUM CAPACITY for processing STUFF. Sure, we can just keeping STUFFing, and STUFFing, and STUFFing STUFF into ourselves, but we are only going to be able to HANDLE a certain amount of that STUFF. We need a METHOD. We need a MEANS to efficiently process all of that STUFF.     

Interestingly, one of the fundamental misconceptions about meditation is people's common belief that there's an ideal way to do it. In reality, there is a MULTITUDE of different meditation techniques, from a MULTITUDE of schools of thoughts, spanning a MULTITUDE of time periods and cultures throughout history. But one of the essential commonlities amongst most of these meditation techniques is the goal of calming the mind in order to expand awareness. Whether it's walking around a room in continuous circles, concentrating on the stillness in movement, like many of the Zen schools practice, or sitting in the forest breathing progressively deeper until our bodies fall away and we merge with the environment around us, as in many of the yogic tradtions, the ultimate end result is similar - to MOVE OUT of the common state of awareness and into one which is deeper and more transcendant, AND to maximize out ABILITY to process all of that STUFF. 

# Zen Steemit 

This basic principle applies to Steemit as well. Through our interaction on Steemit we are taking in TONS of new, multi-sensory STUFF, in the form of text, images, moving pictures, ideas, etc. But it doesn't matter HOW MUCH input we take in if we don't have a way of DISENGAGING from the INTAKE of this information in order to provide the TIME and SPACE necessary to PROCESS it. After all, that's really all the process of "learning" actually is, right? We take in new information, and then we process it into a form which we can use. Our GROWTH occurs through BOTH the process of intake AND processing. WITHOUT this processing phase all of the STUFF we take in is essentially meaningless - that is, it's just a bunch of sensory inputs floating around in the ether. It's just meaningless STUFF.


# What Does It All Mean?

Exactly! This is the point. We need to provide ourselves the TIME and SPACE to process all of the STUFF we take in - in life, and on Steemit - in order to extract some MEANING from it all. This is where the TOOL of meditation is vital. WHATEVER style of meditation you choose - and there are MANY - the most important thing is that we integrate it PROPERLY into our overall activity. We MUST include an element of meditation into our "Steemit Productivity Strategy" in order to achieve maximum benefits from the LIMITED time and energy we spend on Steemit.

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# Today's Dreaded Homework Task

Take 30 minutes today to COMPLETELY DISENGAGE from Steemit, and ALL other projects which require any substantial mental/physical effort. Brew a cup of tea, or WHATEVER drink/drug gets you into the "meditative" state of mind. Spend this PRECIOUS 30 minutes contemplating the DEEPER meaning of all of your day's efforts on Steemit. If you have connected with some especially interesting people, think about how that new relationship is adding to your overall quality of life. How is the most interesting Steemit content you have consumed this week IMPROVING your daily existence? What types of ADDITIONAL information, and/or people, on Steemit, can you begin to seek out in the near future who will likely help advance you on your overall life's journey? Are they writer? Painter? Philosiphers? Anarchists? Travelers? Write some "journal"-type notes about your experience, and set aside 30 minutes EACH day this week to practice this task.

As always, feel free to share your experiences and ideas in the comment section, and REMEMBER to just take it "one nervous breakdown at a time", yet ...

Full Steem Ahead.

@transcript-junky