Meditation and daily rhythms
We may often be like a leaf being blown from one activity to another. A regular meditation practice may create a chance to take a break from outward activity and create a sense of order and rootedness.
The meaning of action
What makes us act, both in life and in meditation? In one sense, our actions have little consequence in a perspective that takes into account the age and size of the universe. Yet, we intuitively know that our actions are important, and our ability to reflect, choose a course of action and be mindful of that action sets us aside from most other beings.
The elephant in the forest
Indian psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar compares the unconscious to a usually good-natured elephant that we cannot really control. He writes, 'the unconscious demands respect, even awe, not only for its uncanny knowledge but also for its terrible power'.
Discussing one’s meditation: reflections from an M – 1 Course
Last week we started an M-1 course at the Acem House in New Delhi. Each time the main challenge that the course leaders have faced is to make the participants reflect on their own experience of meditation rather than only discuss what is theoretically correct or incorrect. A fact that becomes clear to the group very soon is that there is more to the meditation than telling ourselves “just repeat the sound and let all thoughts come and go.”
Inga’s struggle for a good life
Acem Meditation helped Inga Cheng get rid of breathing problems, headaches and other psychosomatic symptoms. More importantly, her communication skills improved, and so did her performance at work and her relationships to her three daughters. Her ambitions no longer made her tense and anxious, and she got a sense of being more in charge of her own life.