A short introduction...
In meditation, we allow our mind just to be, and so to reveal to us the sky-like nature of all things. Dwelling in that dimension more and more, we are clearing away the veils that usually cover our senses and we come to have a more direct experience of life and the world around us.
When we stop holding on so tightly to the idea of who we are and stop maintaining that view by the stories we tell ourselves and others about us, we can relax. Relax into the open space that is always there for us and has never shut us out.
Meditation allows us to re-integrate ourselves effortlessly into space and discover that so much more is possible than the small story of 'I', the box in which we usually try to contain ourselves and all that occurs.
Some possibilities for the practice of meditation are here.
A longer introduction...
Meditation practice is something we often connect to an Eastern spiritual path, or Eastern culture or religion. In the West as well though, the interest hast been growing for many years, and, as will quickly become clear to anyone, who gives it a go, it is very relevant for people living in modern Western cities.
The function of meditation is not to discover something new, but instead to remove the veils that stop us from seeing what is really there. Often meditation is being described as a practice that helps us to regain balance and create points of stillness in our lives. This meets with a lot of interest for people living busy, sometimes stressful lives. While this is one of the effects meditation can have, it goes deeper than that and it can support us in being more fully present and alive, wherever we are, also exactly here, within the noise and busyness of modern living.
Jaya has been practicing meditation within different parts of the Buddhist tradition since 1981 and can pass this on in her teaching and coaching in a way that is tailored to the individual concerned. She often uses simple physical exercises in support of teaching meditation, so as to support both body and mind together in being present and aware within this moment. In this way meditation becomes a practice that allows us to be anchored in the Now, which is not separate from the world we live in, but connected freely and deeply in a meeting that takes place within the open heart.
Unknowing - some personal thoughts ...
Unknowing, not knowing, is at the centre - of my life, my spiritual life, my way of thinking.
This has been quite a turn-around. I used to seek the security of knowing and of being with those who know or seem to know. Who can guide me, tell me, let me know where to head.
Now, when I feel I 'know' I notice how it can often be the path to dogma. When I feel I 'should know' I might be rushing downwards on the slide to panic, via defensiveness.
While the simple truth is I do not know. I do not know what will happen next year, week or even within the hour. It's a very plain fact. I do not know a lot about politics, how to save the world or even how to talk to an aggressive teenager who blasts her ears - and mine - with her music. I often feel at a loss, not equal to a situation, ill equipped and under qualified. And I say that without any sense of putting myself down.
Not knowing, it is easy to fall back on ideas. Especially ideas as to how I and others ought to be. There is no end of them, and I do know a lot of them. The ultimate rule book, which would make everything ok, if only people would stick to it.
And really why should people not take their rubbish home rather than drop it
in the streets? It is just lack of manners and it ought to change.
The world where people do not live by that rule book, not even by the
very minimal requirements is a very scary place.
What is there to rely on?
The commandments (of any religion) used to be more respected -
I think - yet any code of ethics, or any nice group dynamic or
agreement can take on that role of The Book: to control the unruly.
My mind always has been harder to control. I used to try and calm it with all the various means I have been taught, used to find some way of dealing with the wildly chattering crowded bunch of ideas that constantly seemed to beget new and more outrageous ones. And I often felt overwhelmed and helpless in the face of them, when all good educational methods seemed to not make any lasting difference.
