Meditation – Thursday June 3, 2021
Hope you are coping OK in lockdown; meditation helps so I encourage you to keep up your daily practice. Obviously with the extension we will not be meeting in the Malone Room for at least the next two weeks, stay tuned!
A reminder that there are some zoom activities auspiced by the Carmelite Centre. For details www.carmelitecentremelbourne.org
Reflection
I’ve been making my way through a self-reflection guide “The Map of Meaning and Aging” published by Meaningful Aging Australia at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Website: www.seemeknowme.org.au
Although it’s published to assist older people the points made in the guide are applicable for any stage of life. Isla Hampton, CEO of Meaningful Aging Australia wrote this in the introduction…”We all have a need for meaning, and to grow our resilience and inner strength. To do this involves a process of honest reflection. Part of this honest reflection is about who we are now, and who we are becoming as we age. By daring to reflect on ageing we can turn towards our own future with strength and hope, rather than succumbing to negative stereotypes and promotion of the idea that aging should somehow be avoided.”
The Guide invites us to understand the importance of identifying meaning in our life stating that it is part of what it means to ‘live’ fully as a human being. It goes on to say that when our need for meaning is not met, is frustrated, or downplayed, we can express our upset in ways that sound like complaining.
A great deal of what’s in “The Map of Meaning and Aging” is found in the wisdom literature written about meditation and mindfulness; things like the importance of the reality of self and how we can’t experience meaning when we pretend. It stresses a desire for authenticity and truth and to engage with those things that matter most: our values, sense of self, and wisdom.
There is a section in the Guide about being and doing something we talk about a great deal in meditation; the need to focus inward and reflect in silence, patience and taking our time.
As we meditate tonight in the fashion to which we are accustomed I commend to you “The Map of Meaning and Aging” whether your 21 or 91.
(Meditate for up to 20 minutes.)