You feel light, weightless.
Your eyes are shut; each inhalation is a rejoice in oxygen.
Each exhalation is a release of stress; a release of the suffocating carbon-dioxide.
With each breath, you sense the feeling of getting lighter and lighter.
Your mind slowly clears away from any thought, any feeling, any worries.
You look within and your heart is smiling; you are at peace.
Your eyes slowly open. Your gaze is soft.
You open your eyes and look down.
You see your body,
eyes closed,
sitting in your room in a cross-legged position.
You are no longer in your body but in your very own essence; your soul.
For school I’ve been taking classes of Christian Theology and on different religions which include Hinduism and Buddhism. I have noticed various differences as well as many similarities between these religions. One similarity that attracts me is the idea of meditation; meditatio.
During my readings of the Bible and in the text, Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, it is depicted that the human body is seen as the temple.
Our bodies are temples, but yet a temple can fall if it is not built on the right foundation. Therefore is it seen that the human body is weak unless it is supported by a higher power greater than oneself: God.
This can be obtained either through the power of prayer, through meditation.
Believe it or not, but Catholics meditate! We meditate and we might not even know it…It occurred to me this past week how meditation is such an important aspect in our prayer time as it is one of the steps we must keep in mine during Lectio Divina: Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, and Contemplatio.
It is essential in communicating with God.
When one meditates; it is the notion of trying to get our minds away from the things of this world. Meditation is a way to clear our minds of worries, emotions, and thoughts of anything that is lingering in our heads and to focus solely on God.
This sounds easy, but it very difficult.
It is very difficult due to the fact that our minds and our brains are constantly processing thoughts and ideas back and forth subconsciously.
Therefore, once we try to focus and clear our minds it is difficult because, for most people, we are not accustomed to it.
Meditation is the work of the mind and soul
and not of the body and its surroundings.
This is why some people find it hard to concentrate
because they are so preoccupied with what the body is trying to tell them
rather than what God is.
For example, we might be thinking to ourselves,
“It’s so hot in here!”
“Is he looking at me”
“is my hair ok?” or
“I’m hungry!”
The body sends us so many signals
that it hinders us from the true beauty of meditation.
We have difficulties concentrating because it is a fact that
the body constantly desires and longs for satisfaction.
The goal is to not give in to the bodily pleasure
but to stay in tune with the Spirit.
Humans desire and they don’t know what they really want. But in the end, our ultimate desire is true happiness, which can only be obtained through God.
We want to be inspired. We can question on our own.
But we can all agree that human desire is strong and can be selfish at times. However, in this book, I found it very interesting how a Hindu practitioner refers to Therese Neumann, a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, a Catholic mystic and Stigmatist.
The author, Yogananda, acknowledges Therese Neumann as one of the few people who used their body for good and enabled the Holy Spirit to take care of her. Yogananda wanted to meet Therese because, for one, she was a woman of God, and two she was given Stigmata (the experience of Christ’s death wounds) and on top of that she abstains from any kind of food and eats solely the Eucharist from her 6 am mass every morning. The miracle about this is that even though she hasn’t eaten anything she is more vibrant than ever and she glows. Even though a big fraction of the human population gives in to their desire there are a number of people who counter it with good deeds and sincere minds: Therese was one of them. Yogananda was in awe of Therese’s ability and determination, yet along her love for God where she was able to fully give herself to Him and allow the Spirit to take control of her body through meditation and through the meditation of God’s light and love.
Therese Neumann once said to Yogananda when he visited her,
“One of the reasons I am here on earth today is to prove that man can live by God’s invisible light, and not by food only.”
Brothers and Sisters, this inspires me.
To believe, and for once, to not question.
This goes to show that even though the human body is weak, there are people out there who’s will is strong and believe that the body is sacred and keeps it that way. There are people who are called to inspire.
When we meditate we allow ourselves to be listen and hear God’s word in the midst of our hearts.
The Lord will enable us to do great things.
He allows us to enter into intimate dialogue with Him.
Lord, may we be inspired to take the time to meditate and acknowledge your Holy Presence in our lives. Allow us to seek You as our sole nourishment. Let us question what needs to be questioned, but let our faith be even stronger.
Let our faith inspire.
Lord, allow us to mediate and not to anticipate.
Amen 🙂