My back hurts! Why is he sitting like that??!! When is this going to end?? We were practising around 10 hours of meditation per day (not in one go!). And we weren’t supposed to talk to each other (only to the instructors). 10 days – no talking. A lot of thinking. Principle 2 – Divine Consciousness – The Awareness Principle One moment I was in the hall thinking about these people, feeling bored, excited, annoyed. The next hour I was in my bedroom thinking about dinner, hungry and frustrated. Then I was thinking about my roommate and how tidy he was (shoutout to you Tom!), feeling envious. Consciousness can work like an elevator. You can experience it on the lower floors – for example if you get angry – where the rage takes over and may manifest into violence. Or you can experience it on a higher level. Where you feel that anger and go to the gym and hit the boxing bag. Or you go for a walk. You’re experiencing the same thing – though now you have a whole new perspective of it. As I shared last week, thought creates the experience. And thoughts are always in flux. It’s not about stopping or repressing emotions. It’s about feeling and experiencing it. That’s the beauty of consciousness, we have a part of us which is always at peace. The meditation I learnt in those 10 days was all about experiencing body sensations. Experiencing them come and go. Because when we can experience our thinking and our feeling. Understand that everything that rises will pass away. We can know peace. So it’s that easy? Yes and no. The Space is always there. We’re always on the elevator. I go up and down all the time. Yet the more I experience going up – the more I know I don’t have to identify with my thinking and feeling. That in itself brings me peace. As Sydney Banks said – ‘If the only thing people learned, was not to be afraid of their experience, that alone would change the world.’ Peace, Love and Wisdom Dubem P.S – Interested in a 10 day silent meditation? Vipassana meditation is taught all over the world and courses are free (donations welcome) check out the UK site here . |