THOUGHTS ON MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
I SEARCHED FOR GOD
IN MY MIND
IN CHURCH
IN BOOKS
EVERYWHERE
BUT YOU FOUND ME
IN STILLNESS
PEACE
AND LOVE
I know without doubt that we have peace, love, wellbeing and joy as our essential being, just waiting to be noticed beyond the busyness of our minds and our focus on the external world. I found this space in myself a few years ago, and I love facilitating others to find it in themselves.
It’s life changing - living in peace irrespective of our outer circumstances.
My interest in meditation started as an unhappy teenager when I heard about the bliss of enlightenment. I can remember sitting in my room, searching around in my brain, trying to find this elusive inner joy. I went on to learn many methods from the many books I devoured, and I attended courses in meditation whenever I could access them. I learnt to meditate with mantras and beads - I tried walking meditations, visualisations, anything that sounded mystical.
I became confused with so many methods - for example I would start meditating by chanting with beads, and then change to another method, then another. This was obviously unsettling and not conducive to a satisfying practice, so I decided to learn one more method and stick to that in all my future meditations.
I undertook a course in Mindfulness Meditation. I loved this method so much I went on to do the advanced course to teach it - no mantras, no beads, no walking, no visualisations - just observing the breath and body sensations as they happen in the present moment. So easy, yet so profound.
At first the thinking mind freaks at the seeming boredom of the present moment. When we meditate we turn inward, toward our inner self - a vast energetic space which is like a reflection of outer space - still, limitless, nothing to speak of. Our thinking mind doesn’t understand the present moment, and brings up every reason we should stop meditating now! The secret is to identify with that silent ‘observer’ and ignore ‘the thinker’.
This inner presence is accessible to anyone who wants to find peace, joy and love. In that way it feels like a spiritual experience, but it doesn’t need to be aligned to any religion, culture or rituals to gain maximum benefit. It doesn’t rely on any special postures either, though sitting upright allows the bones to support the body and the muscles to relax. All you have to do is put your attention on the body while it breathes - observe and enjoy - notice any thinking as it arises, and allow the thoughts to float away. If we don’t identify or fuse with our thoughts, they lose their influence over us - after all they are just words that have meaning only if we allow it.
Behind our thoughts we are our true selves - the timeless, ageless, all-knowing intelligence that we were born with.
If you feel moved join our guided Mindfulness Meditation group
Varsity Lakes Community Centre on Tuesdays mornings
We will love to welcome you.