Thoughts (or Lack Thereof) on Meditation

The spa trip was relaxing, though there wasn’t much downtime. Day 1 – arrival, lunch, massage, stroll on the grounds, live blood analysis, meditation, dinner, stroll, sit under the mango tree, bedtime. Day 2 – sunrise silent meditation, yoga, breakfast, guided walking meditation, lunch, cookies and herbal tea, stroll/sit by the waterfall, dinner, stroll, bedtime. Day 3 – sunrise silent meditation, yoga, swim, breakfast, stroll, sit by the waterfall and mango tree, time to depart. Everything was done at an unhurried pace, and the mealtimes and appointments, though scheduled, were flexible. I didn’t feel overprogrammed, and I did a lot of be-ing instead of reading or thinking or planning the next move. It was that kind of place. Each day also included two hot outdoor showers – ah, hot showers. We experienced all sorts of weather – warm when we got there, cool evening, windy morning (Typhoon Tino?), cool and breezy afternoon, rainy morning and departure - all made more dramatic with the mountains in the background.

Last week in the supermarket I saw a sign for a talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I didn’t think it was the Beatles’ one (it isn’t), but I still thought I would definitely have gone if I weren’t going to the spa - something made me notice. Well, it turned out that before his Tuesday Mall of Asia talk, he stayed at The Farm for three days and (by his own admission) did nothing! On Monday night, he offered to guide a full-moon meditation for the guests – so I saw him anyway! Look up The Art of Living to find out more about him.

As for the meditation – it was great. Joyful, I would even say. Here are some impressions and quotations after-the-fact, for anyone who is trying to incorporate more meditation into your life (and we all should!):
- be nothing, do nothing, want nothing
- embrace everything
- let thoughts pass, like the clouds passing over the moon
- three things – effortless, relaxing/comfortable, before food (or two hours after)
- get a meditation pillow (this one is from me, not him)!
- must be sitting – if sitting you are still conscious – lying down, you may fall asleep – still good, but not conscious (I was later told that this is also for polarity – head is positive and bottom is negative – when you sit, it balances out but when you lie down, it mixes up).

The guided walking meditation was also wonderful; James, the yoga (also top-notch) teacher, led it – and I was the only taker, so it was a private session. I had learned walking meditation before and often took walks along the lake to clear my head – needless to say, James told me to slow down. Take everything in – embrace everything. Use all five senses. When we turned around, he told me to look down in front of me and just use one sense, either smell or hearing, for the way back, and see how much more I take in. When I went back later on a stroll, I was shocked to see how short the path was – we had been on that meditation walk for so long! I really did take it slow.

I’ve been trying to do more meditation, but I haven’t consistently incorporated it into the day. Maybe this will be my transformation from the weekend. Though I could also see taking a quantum leap in eating habits, or dry brushing, or detoxifying, or yoga improvements (e.g., mountain pose with feet together instead of apart – makes a big difference) coming out of this. Or maybe I will just have lasting memories. Whatever the case, I said I would tell my friends – if you can make it here, it’s worth it!