~ Among-Friends Meditation

Meditation is Not a Technique - It is Our True Nature

~ Among-Friends: Meditation, Teachings, Retreats & Personal Guidance

There are a great many approaches to meditation and spiritual instruction. Most are based upon one of the great spiritual Traditions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism. Others hearken to the traditions of the past, while still others follow along more New Age lines. However, as the saying goes, 'paths are many; the Truth is one.' There is more to this.

There is more commonality among paths than most people realise. Every human being is comprised of the same basic elements: consciousness and stages of consciousness, and faculties of increasing subtleness. And all are moving toward the same ultimate goal, regardless of the vocabulary and techniques employed.

At Among-Friends we focus upon our commonalities. We encourage people of all paths and no path to come, share their experiences and deepen their own personal Path to the goal. By not restricting ourselves to the formalised vocabulary of any particular path, but rather to the states and experiences the vocabulary denotes, we come to a deeper, more experiential grasp of the truths embodied in the concepts of our particular Path.

Meditations are suitable for both experienced practitioners and beginners. Experienced practitioners are facilitated to deepen their practice, while beginners learn ways to stabilise the busy mind to achieve stillness, silence and ease of being.

~ The Importance and Relevance of Meditation in our Daily Lives

We combine a program of deep relaxation, meditation, instruction, discussion and spiritual videos from a variety of traditions that inspire and deepen our quest. Group instruction is combined with personal guidance because no two people have exactly the same needs, and adaptations must be made to suit the tastes and temperaments of each individual. Each of us is unique, and instruction must honour and cater to individual requirements.

A variety of techniques are taught to facilitate the attainment of meditation: techniques to relax the body and eliminate tension, to free the mind of thoughts and focus it without the need for undue effort or concentration. We ˜fall into meditation" much the same way as we fall asleep. People from all traditions find these techniques in no way contradictory to their own practices. Complementarity is one of our hallmarks.

During workshops and retreats both guided and non-guided meditations are offered, together with personal counselling sessions, according to the needs of attendees. CDs are also available to facilitate practise at home.

Image: Nadhia Sutara

Many techniques go by the name of meditation: relaxation, yoga asanas, breathing exercises, visualisation, chanting, and so forth. In the classical sense, however, these techniques are more properly called aids to meditation. Meditation is not a technique; it is a state of being in which one abides in one's pristine purity, stripped of thoughts, concepts, desires, cares, and all sense of separateness. Ramana Maharshi said, "Meditation is your true nature. You call it meditation [now] because other thoughts distract you. When these thoughts are dispelled, your real nature shows itself as true meditation."

Image: Nadhia Sutara

How can we relate to this statement? The vast majority of us have not experienced meditation, but we are very familiar with the state of deep sleep. Nothing resembles the state of meditation so much as deep sleep. In fact, the only significant difference between the two is that in deep sleep we are unaware, whereas in meditation the light of awareness is intensely bright. It is well known that the body can achieve sufficient rest without actually sleeping; yet without a minimum of 10 minutes a day of deep sleep, the mind will begin to disintegrate. So, deep sleep is needed for mental - not physical - health. It is also well known that the stress of our current life-style robs many people of even those 10 minutes, which gives rise to both psychological and physiological health hazards. Alas for most, their only recourse is to sleeping pills and mood stabilizers, which have their own undesirable side effects.

What occurs in deep sleep is clearly essential to our well-being. Besides the various physiological changes to heartbeat and respiration, the mind attains complete stillness. We are not aware of the world, our body or its ailments, our problems or irritations, successes or failures, our loved ones or enemies. We are not even aware of ourselves. A rich person who spends all his waking hours planning and scheming to amass more money than they will ever need eventually lays everything aside to seek a state of apparent oblivion in which none of these precious things is present! Should they be too restless or careworn to attain this state, they will spare no expense to obtain a remedy. Yet a pauper sleeps no differently than a king. A rich and famous movie star sleeps no differently than a street person except, perhaps, with less disturbance from the constabulary. Because all minds, regardless of physical circumstances, need and seek these minutes of complete repose.

Relaxation precedes meditation

Just as it resembles sleep, meditation takes place in much the same way as sleep. There is no effort we can make to induce sleep. All we can do is create the conditions in which sleep can overcome us: make our bed soft and comfortable, relax our body and still our mind. Everyone knows how trying to fall asleep is the one sure way not to fall asleep. It is particularly difficult to fall asleep if we are over-tired or extremely stressed. Then, even if we do fall asleep, we are more likely to have a restless night, dreaming and tossing till the alarm rings. Deep sleep, the essential factor, is likely to elude us.

In exactly the same way, effort will not produce meditation, and a stressed mind and body will prevent it. We can concentrate with effort, keep thoughts away with effort, sit erectly for long periods with effort, and so on, but none of these constitute meditation in the same way that a bed does not constitute sleep. For the purpose of composing ourselves for meditation, there are a variety of techniques that help us go beyond techniques into the natural spaciousness of meditation.

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