Meditation for Thursday 29th February 2024

As we know the key to meditation is to be in the present moment and we train ourselves to achieve this goal with our regular meditation and mindfulness practices. These practices help us to be at ease with being present to our own experience, but how does it affect our experience of others?

To become more at ease with others becomes a lot easier when we are at ease with ourselves.

The major obstacle of being present to others is our uneasiness with what we feel ourselves.

So the more familiar we can become with our self, the more present we can be for others.

Meditation and mindfulness assist us to be present to others, to the world, to all that is around us, to all of creation. By ‘being- in- the- present moment’ our experience during meditation is translated into our day to day activity as we gradually notice that we appreciate the presence of others even those to whom in the past we may have chosen to ignore or avoid.

There is a rhythm to our meditation practice as we move inward during those formal meditation periods and outward as we connect with others; as we connect with the world.

We return to our meditation where we are in the ‘now’ and we go out to where we are present to others, to the world. It is a cycle that will bring with it great joy.

Meditation has wrongfully been labeled as a selfish practice, one that fails to help others. Yet when we place ourselves in the present moment during meditation, with perseverance and practice we gradually find ourselves more able to appreciate the presence of others.

We focus on ourselves to focus on others and in doing so we can make a positive difference in the lives of people we care about.

Meditation

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