 | LIVING SPIRITUAL : 1. My Encounter with Spirituality | by Thimmappa for everyone |
HOW I CAME TO MEDITATION
Born in a Indian joint family in the early 1940's,members being very orthodox and ritualistic,bathing and worshiping gods thrice a day, celebrating all the religious festivals of the year with great devotion, I, not knowing the meaning of it all and not being explained to me either became too sick of anything religious, even athestic, during my childhood and youth.It was somewhere in the early 1970's after finishing my training and internship in Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, as I was practicing, I came across in professional/technical journals of repute, articles chronicling the beneficial effect of Meditation on Anxiety disorders.As a Psychologist, I knew too well the effect of mind over matter,yet, this is something different, Spiritual, which I was shunning all along as untrue and unnecessary.It was indeed a moral crisis for me.There is a better treatment, more economical, effective and long lasting but I do not opt for it because I do not believe in it or I do not know about it; am I not doing disservice to my client? Either I should give up practice as I donot want to engage in anything spiritual or start learning about Meditaion and other thing spiritual. I choose the latter more as a curious researcher to start with, I thought. It was not to be.When I went to a Meditation Trainig Centre in the Town to enquire whether I could send my clients to learn and practice Meditation so that I can make a pre and post effect of Meditation, I was simply laughed off by the Teacher."You want know about Meditation by others' practice? no way.It is known only by self practice" he said.Yes, indeed. If I want to become a medical doctor I have to study and practice myself. So, why not here.I said teach me then.I started practicing Meditation since then, somwhere in the year 1973, believe me, I must have missed meal or sleep or meeting friends and dear ones owing to pressure of work but, never, not even a single day missed my Meditation.A deep relaxation, a calm, fresh and expanded and expansive consciousness I enjoyed with every Meditation practice.
Born in a Indian joint family in the early 1940's,members being very orthodox and ritualistic,bathing and worshiping gods thrice a day, celebrating all the religious festivals of the year with great devotion, I, not knowing the meaning of it all and not being explained to me either became too sick of anything religious, even athestic, during my childhood and youth.It was somewhere in the early 1970's after finishing my training and internship in Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, as I was practicing, I came across in professional/technical journals of repute, articles chronicling the beneficial effect of Meditation on Anxiety disorders.As a Psychologist, I knew too well the effect of mind over matter,yet, this is something different, Spiritual, which I was shunning all along as untrue and unnecessary.It was indeed a moral crisis for me.There is a better treatment, more economical, effective and long lasting but I do not opt for it because I do not believe in it or I do not know about it; am I not doing disservice to my client? Either I should give up practice as I donot want to engage in anything spiritual or start learning about Meditaion and other thing spiritual. I choose the latter more as a curious researcher to start with, I thought. It was not to be.When I went to a Meditation Trainig Centre in the Town to enquire whether I could send my clients to learn and practice Meditation so that I can make a pre and post effect of Meditation, I was simply laughed off by the Teacher."You want know about Meditation by others' practice? no way.It is known only by self practice" he said.Yes, indeed. If I want to become a medical doctor I have to study and practice myself. So, why not here.I said teach me then.I started practicing Meditation since then, somwhere in the year 1973, believe me, I must have missed meal or sleep or meeting friends and dear ones owing to pressure of work but, never, not even a single day missed my Meditation.A deep relaxation, a calm, fresh and expanded and expansive consciousness I enjoyed with every Meditation practice.
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