Through the ages, wise ones handed down two forms of meditation: active and selective. In active meditation, we sit in an upright way, calm our body, and place attention on the inflow and outflow of our breath. Here we meet our wandering mind. The “practice” of active mediation involves 1) noticing when we drift from breath-awareness and 2) returning attention back to our in and out breath–without judgment of wrong-doing or attachment to the desire for change. Active meditation is a mindfulness practice for seeing and welcoming what is present in the here and now and learning to let go of thoughts.

Selective meditation on the other hand is more of a concentration practice. An outside observer would see no difference between the two activities because in selective meditation we sit in an upright way, calm our body and place attention on the inflow and outflow of our breath. But, once we are stable in our sitting, we invite into our consciousness an object of concentration. For example, an aspiring insight environmentalist might invite into their awareness a question like:

In what way is the beloved Earth impermanent?

Holding such a question with relaxed attention, turning it like a diamond in light of mindful awareness, resisting temptation to shy away from discomfort or cling to desirable answers, this is a concentration practice that leads to unpredictable and meaningful insight.

Active and selective meditation are powerful practice forms to the sacred ecologist. They are tools for cultivating environmental mindfulness, concentration, and insight. Most importantly, they are practices that can steady and sustain activists on the long road to planetary transformation.