Meditation for Thursday 16th June 2022
I have often heard it said by critics that the practice of meditation is passive. My experience is that meditation is an active pursuit requiring a great deal of passion and energy. If it becomes humdrum and a matter of routine rather than inspirational then it probably is passive. But when meditation is an act of love which we intentionally share it becomes an active communitarian quest and one that benefits ourselves and others.
You might ask how meditation practiced in the solitude of your home can possibly affect others? The same question might well be asked of the cloistered monk or nun, whether they be Buddhist, Christian or Hindu, or the solitary who choses a hermit- like lifestyle. The answer often given is that by their presence in the world we are comforted in our quest to cultivate our inner life, our interiority.
A Hindu nun who lived as a hermit in the bush outside of Sydney once suggested to me that there is a hermit niggling away inside each of us. When we practice regularly we can easily connect with that inner-hermit even if it is for just a few minutes. The same nun told me it was of no concern if people didn’t visit as she was supported by the fact that people knew she was there.
Like the cloistered nun or monk’s contemplative practices our meditation is both solitary and communitarian. Like the solitary’s contemplative practices our meditation is energetic, passionate and active. Although we describe meditation with terms such as being in the present moment it is in this moment that we are energetic. Sometimes we say that meditation allows us ‘to be’ rather than ‘to do’. Whilst there is truth in this comment it simply means that the ‘being’ is active. The word meditation is a noun, let’s make it a verb….
MEDITATION
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