I have been in Sydney for eight days now. Looking at a map, Sydney is far away from Copenhagen, where I usually live. It is actually more than 16 000 kilometers away. It is hard to get further away, unless you go to New Zealand. Or to the South Pole.
Far away from Copenhagen (where I have lived for the last four years) and Oslo (where I was born and grew up) means far away from fiancee, family and friends.
It also means many things are different. Even though I did find the Norwegian cheese Jarlsberg in the supermarket, and watched a Danish criminal series on TV, I do not feel at home in Sydney.
Right now, my meditation is a home for me. Like a turtoise or a snail carries its home, as a meditator, I bring with me my inner home, wherever I go. All I need to enter my inner home is to sit comfortably down in a calm place, close my eyes and start repeating the meditation sound in my mind. And doing that, I will open up for my inner spontaneous activity – for my impressions from the day, for my emotions, for my impulses. These are of course currently influenced by the fact that I am right now establishing myself in a new place. But they are also influenced by me – by the way I perceive and the way I act in the world, in other words by who I am. So meditating is a way of being in touch with oneself, of being at home.
I know that when I will leave Sydney in December, I will feel the city has become a home for me. And maybe my meditation has helped me in that – by helping me keep in touch with myself, it also helps me being in touch with others and with my environment.
Nice article. Have a nice time in Sydney!
Thank you Kaif!
What is it about meditation that makes you feel at home with it? No doubt the fact that thoughts and feelings that need to be suppressed during the day are allowed to come and go freely. But also, perhaps, the fact that meditation reaches beyond all this, to a point in yourself that is untouched by all that happens to you in the external world – like pristine nature, if you like.
I find it difficult to put words on what it is with meditation that makes me feel at home, and I do like your way of expressing it Halvor! Meditation makes it possible to be in touch with your untouched inner nature, maybe I would call it your core.
I use natural sounds for my meditations, such as the sound of rain, flowing water, a forest or ocean waves. I can reach very deep states for a long time by actively listening to all the different nuances of natural sounds. A site that offers a great variety of such sounds is http://www.TranscendentalTones.com
Interesting. In Acem meditation, which I practice, and write about in this post, I produce a meditation sound myself, in my mind. I have also read in a number af the Norwegian journal Dyade about meditating on the actual sounds occurring in nature.
Meditation is diet of our mind and soul it boosts our spiritual wisdom and refreshes our body