The western world has made tremendous achievement over the last century. Today we enjoy a degree of abundance that no previous society has ever had.The emphasis of the material world has led to a world-view that leads to inevitable addictions, depression and a break down of community. Why Since the beginning of time it has been understood that the important things that lead to happiness are the immaterial. Love, joy, connection and spiritual experience are all internal.
In our culture we have continually looked externally for our source of contentment and joy. We’ve lost our connection to source and we continually project it onto further material needs and addictions. When we aren’t happy we either blame someone else or reach for the next novelty to please ourselves.
What if there were a way out of this trap? Is it possible to find contentment within and then from there manifest an abundant life that embodies sustainable values? Holy men from all philosophies would agree with a resounding YES! By learning to quiet the mind and embody compassion all things come to us. This is the value of meditation.
Over time the mind becomes quiet, peaceful and from this your natural state of joy begins to emerge. From there a new understanding of yourself and the world around you become patently obvious allowing you to better choose a path in alignment with who you really are. Many of us see the world through our past experiences and pain, not how it truly is. Meditation is a way of clearing these past filters allowing us to see the world clearly as if a window had been washed of all the dirt and grime preventing a clear view. Interestingly, many health problems are related to mind-body communication problems so as one’s mind becomes quiet many health concerns improve dramatically.
What kind of meditation should you do? There is quiet meditation, breath work and mantra meditation. I do all three and found all of them to be compatible and beneficial for me. I often advise people to listen to what seems to work for them but there are some options that I’ve found to be helpful for most people. Two websites that contain a vast resource of various meditation materials are www.sanskritmantra.com and www.tybro.com. These are two trustworthy resources that I suggest you peruse to learn about the vast world of spiritual work. Dr Wright’s cleaning out technique from www.sanskritmantra.com is highly recommended. It is a simple practice that brings profound results. For those who want to work on their subconscious a meditation called “Conscious Mind Cleansing” is available on the www.tybro.com website.
When you start any meditation practice your mind will come up with all sorts of reasons to stop doing it. Try your best to be consistent for 3 months before you decide whether or not it is good for you. I guarantee if you do 15 minutes a day of Dr. Wrights cleaning out technique you will understand why I’m recommending this to you.
Dr. Jamie Gallant
(604) 465-7745
www.doctorgallant.com