Meditation & Me
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
Can’t go outside? Go inside with our guided meditation sessions! (:
Maybe it is only when life comes to a standstill that we are able to focus on our self. Usually our priorities are on earning a living, outside work, our family life, social media etc. Our attention is scattered and frittered away into these areas and the busyness that comes with it.
Who has time to peer into the inner world where most think it is impractical and intangible. Perhaps only introverts! When everyone wanted things fast, now we are being forced to slow down our pace, or forced to face our self. The outer layers of identity, the version of ourselves that we live from, is it truly who we are?
Meditation is gaining popularity as it is an effective way to help us to relax and feel more peaceful during these stressful times. Practising meditation helps us to increase our own self awareness. When we meditate, what we are doing is simply giving ourselves the attention which we give to others when we love them. Usually we invest our time to listen and talk to loved ones or do something for them, and in return we also want the same attention back from them. Attention is Love. Everyone desires to be loved, however, always wanting attention from others is perhaps a sign of neediness and lacking of self love. By directing attention to ourselves whilst meditating, we give ourselves the love which we feel we are not receiving from others and that starts our healing from the inside.
Gradually we may start to feel the layers of our identity being unpeeled, we then reach the place of Silence. The place within us where we are connected to the whole of the cosmos and the self love which was thus limited expands to permeate the consciousness. In that state, we become Love itself.
Here are the 3 tips to start loving ourselves:
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, as humankind, many understood that we have neglected and polluted Mother Nature and misused our powers as human beings. When production factories shut down, we have seen the pollution levels worldwide falling, the ozone healing and the majestic himalayan mountain region becoming clear in punjab, India.
For the aboriginals in Australia, Mother Nature and Mother Earth are part and parcel of their being. They have a profound spiritual connection to land. Aboriginal law and spirituality are intertwined with the land, the people and creation, and this forms their culture and sovereignty. [1]
For the Chinese, in ancient Chinese philosophy or Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theories, holistic or oneness with the whole is one of the key principles. In TCM theories, they often refer to changes in the climate etc in relation to humans as they believe that man is part and parcel of the entire creation.
For the Indians, the Sanskrit term Yoga means union, union with the entire universe. Yoga is a common exercise in many countries. However, the essence of Yoga is to acheive one’s union or one’s Yoga. For that, one needs to be in a state of thoughtless awareness.
From these traditional principles and ideologies, people have love and respect Mother Nature for they believe that we do not own the land, the air that we breathe nor the rivers that run and Mother Nature is deemed as sacred. The Earth and the living beings were created from the creator right from the start of creation but for economic gains and materialism, we damage the Mother Earth, ignore the damages and continue to damage the creator’s creations time and again.
Scientific researches have found that it is highly probable that covid-19 is a result of animal to human transmission of the virus. With the tiger in New York’s zoo being infected by its zookeeper, human to animal transimission of the virus shows the breadth of its infectivity. [2]
Amongst all these happenings, have we pondered about the origins of all type of viruses? According to Dr D Wessner, viruses may represent previously free-living organisms that became parasites. They may be the precursors of life as we know it. [3] From this understanding, viruses are part and parcel of the creation.
Let us apply the traditional wisdoms in modern times by establishing our connection with Mother Nature, with the creator and seek Her forgiveness, keeping our attention more frequently on the nature and praying with utmost sincerity for the virus to return to where it came from.
References:
[1] Jens Korff 2019, creative spirits, accessed 12 Apr 2020, https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/land/meaning-of-land-to-aboriginal-people
[2] Graham Readfern 2020, The Guardian, accessed 12 Apr 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/how-did-the-coronavirus-start-where-did-it-come-from-how-did-it-spread-humans-was-it-really-bats-pangolins-wuhan-animal-market
[3] David R. Wessner 2010, Scitable, accessed 12 Apr 2020, https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-origins-of-viruses-14398218/
Some changes in timing (:
“真正高明的医生不在医院，而是你自己；
真正的灵丹妙药不在药房，而在你身体之内。”
– 陈索索
每天给予自己内心一些时间，静下来享受内心的安宁。
在全球疫情加剧情况中，愿每个人能够唤醒内在这束光，点亮我们，带走担忧，带来安宁、健康、满足，与自然界合而为一。
（图摘自 Finestre D’inchiostro Facebook）
看到别人分享的冥想图，好想跟着试试
随着中医被世界卫生组织（WHO）认可（中医在2019年正式进入世界卫生体系），读者是否会感到好奇中医的原理为何如此精微而注重整体观？
在中国古时，人体被视为是神圣的，所以与古希腊和古罗马文化不一样，中医理论的形成过程中并不包含人体解剖。中医理论围绕着人体和自然界中的精微系统而形成，与现代医学截然不同。
源自另一个古文明社会的瑜伽，也记载着人体内精微的能量系统（见下图），包括了轮穴及经脉。而这些，也是解剖人体所见不着的。
两个古文明社会又如何形成了精微的体系呢？在解剖、病理理论尚未发展时，人们在哲学理论基础上对人体有了些了解，并从精微之中了解人体和形成了医疗和修复的体系。
天地万物之间，存在着精微的生命能量。是祂，滋养着万生万物。心脏自主的跳动、种子的发芽、自然界中的生长收藏等，都由祂所控制。如老子云：道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。中医理论中也认为人与天地相应，根据自然界中能量的运行形成了子午流注和运气学说。
对于一些国家的原住民（如澳大利亚、加拿大等），他们识大地母亲（大自然）为神圣的。他们认为是祂给予了万物生命，也认为我们并不拥有自然界，而是自然界拥有我们（We don’t own the land, the land owns us. The Land is my mother, my mother is the land. ）。
此时，如果读者想感受内在精微能量的运行，
找个舒适的地方坐下，
可以做几次的深呼吸～～～，
双手掌心打开放在腿上，
在内心祷告请大地母亲带领我进入精微能量里。
在中医理论里，
心在志为喜；喜则气缓（气和）；过喜则伤心；
肝在志为怒；怒则气上；过怒则伤肝；
脾在志为思；思则气结；过度思虑则伤脾；
肺在志为悲为忧；忧则气消；悲忧过度则伤肺；
肾在志为恐；恐则气下；过恐则伤肾。
冥想让人进入无思虑状态。无思、无怒、无悲忧、无恐惧，则人体气顺。五脏协调，人的情志亦平衡。故此，心平（心无杂念）则气和。
《黄帝内经》里提及：“心藏神”，“心者，君主之官也，神明出焉”。心灵安宁则五脏六腑安宁。古文字字都藏着许多涵意，需细品。
“事实是，你不是这个身体，不是这些思维、智商、大脑、自我，而是一个纯洁的灵。” –Shri Nirmal Srivastava，诺贝尔和平奖被提名人于1996年公开讲座的小片段
静心冥想，有你想象不了的好处