ABOUT 10 years ago, I began to start my journey of recovery from severe depression and I came to the conclusion that ‘if my mind could make me sick then my mind could make me better’.
What I mean by the mind, is ‘the thinking mind’. So the opposite of constant use of the thinking mind really is to practice meditation.
I began to explore a little further and came to another conclusion that 400 million Buddhists can’t all be wrong – in other words there must be something in it.
This all happened before mindfulness became very popular in the West and I read a book which is free on the internet called ‘mindfulness in plain English’.
When I began to read this book, I began to realise what I was reading was basic Buddhist practice and to be honest I was initially a little scared as I come from a traditional Catholic background with all the traditional messages of Jesus Christ.
I soon came to realise that Buddhism was more of a philosophy rather than a religion and really if it was to enhance my knowledge of the mind to aid my recovery, then that was all the enthusiasm that I required.
I read recently that true ignorance is to ‘reject something totally that you know nothing about’ so I decided to read on.
It brought into my life the real benefits of meditation and how it can enhance the quality of my life – I also was very comfortable with the notion that the practice of meditation is also deep in the tradition of the Catholic Church, even though it is not encouraged enough in my opinion.
Jesus said “be still and know that I am God”.
Meditation is a great way of bringing balance to our lives – it teaches us not to get too high when things are going well and not to get too low when things are going badly.
I once heard it said that a Buddhist is like a farmer. If farming is going well one year, he saves some hay for the following year so that he has a supply in times of difficulty.
That attitude helps him through all aspects of farming life and to take things in his stride.
I must add a little ‘rider’ here – Meditation is something that you practice, not something that you read about or simply do for a short period of time.
The real benefits are truly acquired when practised over a period of time. It’s a bit like cookery – you can buy and read all the cookery books that you want, but they are of no benefit to you unless you are prepared to break an egg.
Also there is no such thing as ‘a good’ or ‘a bad’ meditation – every effort at meditation is simply that – an effort at meditation – and it is simply that the more we do it, the more it reveals the benefits to our lives.
We can learn many great things from meditation like – compassion, loving kindness to ourselves and to others, deep acceptance, how to deal with distractions and of course my own favourite – the practice of being non-judgemental.
It simply is another way of looking at life and thankfully not only did it not get in the way of my Catholic faith I can only say that it has in fact enhanced it.
“If you change the way you look at the world, the world you look at changes” – Wayne Dyer.
Next week I am going to write about ‘The benefits of being Non- Judgemental’
• Roger Harty is a life coach and can be contacted on 087-6128336, on twitter at @Innerjoyz1 or by email rogharty@gmail.com
