During this time at Amritapuri Ashram I have become something of a "bear of very little brain," to quote Pooh. First I have been away from the internet and news media, so I have not had the information overload from the culture around me. Second I took no books with me, only the Bible and prayer book. I have read only the Bhagavad Gita and some material about Amma. Third in such an international setting and with the British impact upon India everyone knows at least a little English. That has meant that just about all conversation had to involve being very conscious about vocabulary and use of colloquialisms in order to communicate clearly. The simpler and more straight forward the vocabulary the better.
So that left a lot of time with no intellectual agenda, time just to be observant, to pray the Prayer of the Lamb or the mantra Amma had given me. That was combined with yoga in which the mind is engaged in being attentively aware of the body. There is no theology to consider when attention is simply with the body and movement and breath, no words necessary, just acute wakefulness. Much of the day became an active form of meditation.
Now the thought of returning home and re-entering the Western culture come with a sense of regret if not dread. Fortunately I have a 2 week silent meditation retreat to look forward to. This part of the sabbatical here in India has deeply fed the inner need for purging the excess stimuli of our "information NOW" society.
The thoughts slowed down and were no longer hyperactive and scattered. The mind rested. The most complex task was interacting with others, and immersed in an atmosphere of love and compassion the interaction seemed most like a creative interchange, a giving and receiving characterized by joy. A gift from my time with Amma...
Keep meditating.
Beverly
So that left a lot of time with no intellectual agenda, time just to be observant, to pray the Prayer of the Lamb or the mantra Amma had given me. That was combined with yoga in which the mind is engaged in being attentively aware of the body. There is no theology to consider when attention is simply with the body and movement and breath, no words necessary, just acute wakefulness. Much of the day became an active form of meditation.
Now the thought of returning home and re-entering the Western culture come with a sense of regret if not dread. Fortunately I have a 2 week silent meditation retreat to look forward to. This part of the sabbatical here in India has deeply fed the inner need for purging the excess stimuli of our "information NOW" society.
The thoughts slowed down and were no longer hyperactive and scattered. The mind rested. The most complex task was interacting with others, and immersed in an atmosphere of love and compassion the interaction seemed most like a creative interchange, a giving and receiving characterized by joy. A gift from my time with Amma...
Keep meditating.
Beverly
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