Meditation for Thursday 5th September 2024
We all struggle from time to time to keep up our meditation practice. I don’t think we should be too concerned as it’s very common for all of us to lapse in our practice during times of stress when other commitments in life seem overwhelming. My advice at times like these is to relax anyway you can and find meditation or mindfulness opportunities in ways that don’t cause anxiety.
Meditation is often described as the art of focusing 100% of your attention on one thing, most commonly the breath, a mantra or a mandala. This is easy for me to write and to say but the reality is it is often difficult to achieve. But even when our concentration dwindles we still benefit when we are faithful to our meditation practice. The time we spend and the way we meditate varies from person to person yet a routine is essential if we are serious. It’s a bit like exercising; it might hurt for a while but gradually we get to like it and reap its rewards. To some people a person meditating appears to be doing nothing. Perhaps this story which I’ve told many times but I think it’s worth repeating, illustrates this point. A young woman at the end of her first meditation session turned to the teacher and said, “OK, what’s next?” The teacher replied, “What happens next. That’s it!”
Of course the young woman had a point because as we grow into meditation practice deeper levels of awareness will reveal themselves in all aspects of our life. The teacher had a point too. Nothing is required of us in meditation beyond patience, and the capacity to focus the mind and keep it clear of distractions. As we grow in perseverance we begin to discover that as well as the formal periods of daily meditation we generate moments of awareness or mindfulness during our day. Our formal practice and these mindfulness practices go hand in hand.
And now let’s meditate in a way in which you feel most comfortable remembering always that whilst we meditate for ourselves we also meditate for the benefit of others.
Meditation
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For a listing of the programs offered by the Carmelite Centre go to www.thecarmelitecentremelbourne.org