When asking the question about whether you have ever meditated before to a room full of people embarking on an introductory meditation course, I am sure to always get a handful of people, at least, who firmly declare “No, never”.
You also may like to contemplate this question, but ask yourself any of the following instead:
Have you ever been at the seaside, looking out at the vastness of the deep ocean and felt something deeper and vaster within you?
Or…
Have you ever been immersed in a forest of trees and suddenly experienced having no thoughts, only a feeling of being at one with nature?
Or…
Have you ever stood on a clifftop and gazed out at the horizon to see a most glorious sunrise or sunset and felt an expansion within your own heart?
Or…
Have you ever had a child smile at you or offer you a hug for no reason, and felt this unconditional love deep within your own being?
Or…
Have you ever played a musical instrument and suddenly not required to look at the notes on the page but instead instrument and musician become as one and you feel transported to a higher space within?
Or…
Have you ever played a sport or gone running and without trying you are suddenly playing or running effortlessly, free-flowing and totally enjoying the moment?
Any of these moments above could be called spontaneous meditations or “magic moments” – they are sporadic and you often have no control over when they occur, how frequently or for how long. You have probably (in one of these moments or a similar situation) felt a few minutes of meditation; a higher consciousness; a space between the thoughts where your own inner state has expanded into peace or delight.
All of these lovely experiences have probably touched you and left you with a sweet memory of this fleeting instant, however when it is 4.30pm and the workload on your desk is sky high, your boss is pressing demands upon you and your stress-limit has hit the ceiling, you can’t just fling back the curtains to gaze meditatively at that gorgeous coloured sunset; or have a beautiful, pure child skip into the room and offer you a radiant smile and loving hug…life just doesn’t work that way. You need to put in the work too.
So instead of getting stressed out all year and waiting for your 4 weeks annual leave to feel a little bit of peace on your holiday, only to come back to work and on Day Two you feel just as stressed out again………..
By establishing a daily meditation practice, you can take control over those once-sporadic “magic moments”, and go on your own stress-releasing, bliss-inducing, peace-fulfilling mini-holiday EVERY DAY when you first awake! You don’t need to wait for opportunities to enter into the beauty of nature to try to feel that little glimpse of peace, you can consciously and solidly bring peace into your very own daily life by meditating first thing – early each day. Then when you enter the busy, stressful chaos that used to be your daily routine, you will have a storehouse of peace from which to draw upon – within your own heart!
~ Hridayinee
Hridayinee, who is originally from Australia, has been practicing meditation for 18 years and offering free meditation classes for 13 years.