How To Be An Agnostic
Meditation
A different option is to turn to the practices of Eastern religions,
particularly Buddhism. Insight meditation, or mindfulness, is
the obvious case in point. It is an option that I have pursued
myself. I came to it not for directly spiritual reasons, though;
more philosophical. As I read about the life of Socrates, it
seemed to me pretty likely that meditation of some kind was at
the heart of the ancient philosopher’s way of life. Parmenides’
appreciation that all is one strikes me as primarily a mystical
refl ection not a metaphysical theory, gained by meditation.
Plato’s account of Socrates often standing still to think, and his
discussion of philosophy as a preparation for death, seem to be
references to a practice of brave refl ection. Aristotle took con-
templation to be the highest activity of the good life. Or there’s
Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, which can be read as a record of
his attempt to detach from the past, not to attach to the future,
and to live in the present.
If that’s so for ancient philosophy, then I found it hard to
resist the thought that exploring meditation may be as nec-
essary as reading books, if I was to take these seminal fi gures
seriously; contemplation as the philosopher’s equivalent of the
theologian’s prayer. Mindfulness meditation was the way I went,
as it is relatively easy to fi nd introductory instruction in its tech-
niques. And I quickly found that it’s conducive to the agnostic
mindset too.
There’s always a debate about terms when it comes to talking
about meditation, which is a refl ection of how it too is best
known not described, best experienced not told. There are tech-
niques to be learned, though the basics can be conveyed in a
few minutes. My best teacher was actually the one who said
the least: we’d meet once a week, and rarely did he do more
than invite us to sit still for an hour. I take this to mean that
meditation is not for anything more than to meet a desire for
awareness; its instrumentality does not reach beyond patience
and perception. Only, it then achieves more.