What a beautiful discussion last evening on meditation and prayer at Main Street Yoga! Thank you for hosting Debra Risberg! Love the analogy about the individual being like a drop that is washed up from the Ocean. The drop recognizes its individuality and wants to preserve it. Ego sets in. But in its very being is a longing to return to the Ocean and a longing to bond with others in that journey back to the sea. Mediation is self reflection where we look inside of the drop or soul and begin to find the qualities of the sea (that we all have in common). The essence of prayerful meditation/ prayer is the drops desire to reconnect with that sea. Our interactions with others is an opportunity to bond -like the chemical attraction of water molecules to each other. (Thanks for bringing up the physics driving the bonding water molecules Christian Kenney. :) We had a brief yoga and breath work session followed by a meditation opportunity to reflect on the beauty of friendship in our lives. Then we took turns reading and responding to questions about the readings. Here is the material we used for that: How can meditation and prayer benefit the individual and the community? Meditation can lead to… “A mind unruffled by the vagaries (unpredictable changes) of fortune, from sorrow freed, from defilements cleansed, from fear liberated…”1 “Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”2 According to the quotations, meditation has the potential to lead one to greater liberation from materialism, sorrow, defilement and fear and towards greater wisdom. Why do you think meditation may help people in these ways? “The meditative faculty is akin to the mirror; if you put it before earthly objects it will reflect them. Therefore if the spirit of man is contemplating earthly subjects he will be informed of these… if you turn the mirror of your spirits heavenwards, the heavenly constellations and the rays of the Sun of Reality will be reflected in your hearts, and the virtues of the Kingdom will be obtained.”3 One’s meditation can lead to a state of deep contemplation. This contemplation can be focused on material or spiritual objectives. What might result from meditation about one’s work? What are some examples of the virtues that might come about when the heart reflects the light so to speak? “Prayer and meditation are very important factors in deepening the spiritual life of the individual, but with them must go also action and example, as these are the tangible result of the former. Both are essential.”4 (BALANCE of individual development with the needs of those around us) According to the quotation, meditation in our internal world should result in showing positive virtues in the tangible world outside us. Why is this important in terms of community? One hours reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious worship 5 (Pious -“talking or acting in a falsely, hypocritically, or affectedly moralizing way”) We had a great discussion here about sincere and heartfelt meditation and prayer verses other reasons... The meditative state, prayer and living prayer “There is nothing sweeter in the world of existence than prayer. Man must LIVE in a state of prayer… (Prayer) creates spirituality, creates mindfulness and celestial feelings, begets new attractions of the Kingdom and engenders the susceptibilities of the higher intelligence.”6 O thou spiritual friend! Thou hast asked the wisdom of prayer. Know thou that prayer is indispensable… The wisdom of prayer is this: That it causeth a connection between the servant and the True One, because in that state man with all heart and soul turneth his face towards His Highness the Almighty, seeking His association and desiring His love and compassion. The greatest happiness for a lover is to converse with his beloved, and the greatest gift for a seeker is to become familiar with the object of his longing; that is why with every soul who is attracted to the Kingdom of God, his greatest hope is to find an opportunity to entreat and supplicate before his Beloved, appeal for His mercy and grace and be immersed in the ocean of His utterance, goodness and generosity. Besides all this, prayer and fasting is the cause of awakening and mindfulness and conducive to protection and preservation from tests….”7 A prayer for unity:(OF THOSE DROPS!) “O thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home.”8 Journaling/ reflection: When in my day can I consistently meditate and pray? Keep track of the feelings meditation and/or prayer engender and how those feelings affect mindfulness and behavior. (Quotations 1 and 2 are attributed to Buddha, quote 4-Shoghi Effendi, 5-Baha’u’llah, others-Abdu’l-Baha) Katy AdebayoJessi DelostJay Bryan DelostMatthew DonovanMark L. AndersonJenny WilliamsJeffrey ShoafPerry RockMarcia Rock Marlysa SullivanZyna Z AdamsPeg ToliverDoug SizeloveCrystal Sizelove
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 13:58:14 +0000
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