Arising and Passing...

Today we did prayer at practice and then flowed into meditation. We’re at a good space now where if I don’t say anything then the kids know to just focus on breath in and out of the naustrils. For some reason today felt right to take the next step. As we were meditating I told the kids to now not only focus on their breath, but also be conscious of not moving any part of their body for the next few minutes – meaning no moving their legs up and down, no moving their hands, fingers, head, etc. I did let them know if they felt a dying urge to move something then they can go ahead and do so.

After meditation was done they shared their thoughts. Vicky shared his experience, saying that he was doing good, but then some type of itch came on his face. After trying to not move for over a minute, he finally had to give in because the itch felt too strong and he moved his hand up and scratched his face.

This led me to an example that Goenka Ji always gives during Vipassanna. That if there is an itch or sensation on our body, it will not remain with us for the rest of our lives or even for the rest of the day, if we don’t attend to it. So I was telling Vicky and the kids that next time an itch comes, to really try hard to fight it and don’t pay attention to it. Let it arise and pass. Just watch it. This is the journey of life and all that exists. Arising and passing. Impermanence. If we are able to watch it come and go, we can really take away most of the suffering we are all going through.

We then continued on a conversation of Buddha and his primary teachings of impermanence and equanimity and how important it is to understand this concept. I do hope to dig further into this topic through time with the kids, but for today we had a great introduction.

After this discussion, Bharat raised his hand and shared a story where he was once being bit by an ant. Instead of flicking it off and itching the bite, he just observed it and right at that instant, for some reason or another, the ant stopped biting. Also, he didn’t rub it or itch it, so the bite didn’t actually become worst. It was nice to see his connection with our discussion.  

I’m excited to see how and when we can extend this conversation on impermanence and balance in the future for the kids to digest.

Continue walking.

Love.

In Meditation We Trust

Today was a special day for us. We came to Darpana for practice today. And as usual we get their about a half hour early so that we can do our group prayer, meditation and sharing before the teacher, Kishore Sir, gets their.

As we finish prayer and silence into meditation its always a unique experience. I lead our meditation by suggesting different things for the kids to do each time. Today I suggested, while all our eyes were closed, for all of us to take notice of any specific sound in the environment, whether it be in the room, outside, of nature or machine, anything. And try to keep your focus on that sound for the next minute or two. If your mind wanders away from that sound, no worries. Once you realize it has wandered just bring it back. Then we will share all our respective sounds that we connected with after meditation is complete.

But something was different this time. For the first time, over the many months that we have been doing prayer and meditation, I didn’t feel this internal tension that the kids are restless during meditation. For some reason or another, something in the air, felt like the kids were comfortable in this space of silence.

After meditation was complete and everyone shared their sounds, it just felt right to ask the kids about how they were feeling about meditation. From the many months which we have been religiously practicing, 2 times a day (before and after practice), 6 days a week, have they notice a difference in how they are feeling in this space of silence. The majority of the kids were excited to respond and really shared their comfort and joy in the meditation process. I really wanted to encourage it being okay, if someone was not comfortable and so finally Guddi responded saying that she feels really impatient still in the process. Then Krishna followed up saying that she used to feel really impatient and restless as well, but now doesn’t feel that way.

The question was asked (a question we have previously discussed in depth), ‘why do we do meditation’? To bring peace to our minds and our bodies. To train and exercise our minds. To take out bad thoughts. To quiet the mind and body that is constantly running all day. To just listen without judgement.

Bharat then shared how he just can not find a peace of mind. He said he has a lot of anger inside of him. We continued on a in-depth discussion, as a group, about Bharat’s anger and why it might be there, and what are some potential roads to easing that anger and bringing a little more positive energy and peace.

Its beautiful, that we were at dance class today, but that meditation felt like the more powerful experience of the day.

Love.