This is an extract from notes for a talk given at a Reiki Conference in January 2013.
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| My flooded plot 30th January 2013 |
At this time of the year it is easy to slip into bleak moods, the excitement of Christmas is gone and many of us are left worrying about bills. and how to make our money stretch to pay for extra heating in the freezing weather. Snow,rain and low light can make us feel depressed and frustrated. Energy can be low and our patience as well. .There seems no solutions to the winter time blues.
However Mindfulness Meditation is a way of finding peace
and quiet in our mind and heart. Meditation not only benefits our emotions and
spirit but also our physical body. Medical
research has shown that just twenty minutes meditation three or four times a
week will benefit our health.
Yet knowing that will not stop us making excuses about
why we cannot meditate. It maybe
“I am too busy”.
or
“Meditate in my household with all that noise! “
You can meditate where ever you are. Mindfulness meditation consists of everything
that is inside your mind and everything in your environment. You can begin each meditation session just by listening to the sounds
around you. Be aware of them but then let them go. It may
be the baby crying, the dog barking, traffic, the ticking of a clock, a petal
falling from a flower or birds singing. The Thai meditation Master Ajahn Chah
said when noise intruded into his meditation hut
If your mind does not go out to
disturb the noise.
The noise won’t disturb you.
When I visited
Chalice Wells Glastonbury, a sacred place, full of legend, symbolism and
atmosphere it was bursting with many different sounds.The gardens were full of people meandering along the paths talking
quietly about the beauty of the gardens or maybe the legend of Chalice Wells. It was a beautiful and tranquil space.
Even there one young man found neither peace nor
harmony. He had settled in a secluded place in the gardens to meditate. Unfortunately it was just by the well where
people were filling bottles with holy water from the spring. He became incandescent with anger because the
noise was intruding on his meditation. Every time he settled back to his meditations
someone would speak or laugh, or walk by and he was disturbed yet again! He spoke very sharply to people and I could
sense his mind and body was filled with rage.
His posture and facial expression suggested he wanted to punch someone on
the nose. We had ruined his meditation,
or had we?
Jarvis Masters is living on Death Row in San
Quentin. A place which The San Francisco Chronicle described as
“An antiseptic form of hell, nearly devoid of
the things, like intimacy and love that give life value.”
Yet Jarvis has become a Buddhist and taken the Bodhisattva vows
of loving kindness. Before an empowerment ceremony given by the Tibetan
Lama Chagdud Rinpoche
Jarvis had many doubts:
”Sitting
on the floor of my cell trying to meditate, I was scared. The prison echoed the
voices of hundreds of prisoners, cursing and arguing all at once. Would I take vows that would eventually call
upon me to sacrifice my life? How would I resist all the violence of the
prison?”
But
he found the courage to take the vow
“From
this day forward I will not hurt or harm other people
even if it costs my life.”
Jarvis Masters has taken an extra-ordinary journey after his conviction of involvement in the stabbing a guard in San Quentin Prison. He admits that if he had been released at the end of his original term he may have continued in his life of crime and possibly been killed on the streets or back in prison. The Death Penalty saved him and led him on process of transformation through meditation and becoming a buddhist.*
Like Jarvis Masters everyone is inherently good but even in less extreme environments a trivial event can start a war in our hearts. A friend told us at a Reiki Share that she had gone out the previous evening with a disabled friend and had pre-booked a taxi to take them home. She was furious because at the end of the evening before she could get to the taxi someone had climbed in to it. This left them stranded in the pouring rain. Each minute she waited for another taxi she had more and more thoughts of revenge: Her anger was reignited with the retelling of the story to us and out spurted the words
“I should have tripped her up and broken her legs”.
When she realised what she had said she felt terrible. She felt she shouldn't stay and started to beat herself up about her violent careless words. As a group we all confessed to being at times irritated, bad tempered, speaking carelessly, and being mean spirited.
We began our Reiki share by Kenyoku Ho, a symbolic brushing off of negative energy and attachments from our mind body and spirit. It also brought us into the present moment. We really slapped off all the accumulated negative energy. As we did this we began to smile at one another and then began to laugh as all our irritation, anger, and negativity dissolved. Next we meditated on the Reiki principals taking them into our hearts and minds. Reaching out for the one we needed most to help us to release negative states of mind.
If we use Mindfulness Meditation, follow the Reiki principles, and if we as individual sow seeds of peace in our own hearts Pema Chodron believes
“our present day actions will bear fruit in our children’s future and
grandchildren’s future”.
When you feel yourself starting to tighten your mind in anger and start to erect protective barriers around your heart:
“Then pause and breathe with that unsettling energy”
and as Usui Sensi taught:
“to abide in compassion for ourselves and all living things.
With Reiki light and blessings
Merry B
*There is evidence that Jarvis Masters may have been wrongly convicted of helping with the stabbing of the guard, his case is progressing through the Supreme Court..
