Meditation

As a young child, I walked several blocks alone each Sunday to go to church. I went to my grandmother’s denomination, Church of Christ. Later, I ran into a Methodist group I liked and joined that denomination. I did become disillusioned with that group because of some of the things some people said and did and because I was entering my teenage rebellious years.

My next big spiritual experience was when I studied abroad in Italy. Our professor was challenging religious doctrines and pushing us to think independently outside of our comfort zone and upbringing. I was also searching and seeking answers as I looked upon another and another Virgin and Jesus painting. I wrote in my journal at that time: “God doesn’t belong to any one faith. God belongs to everyone. God IS love.”

Traveling in Amsterdam after that program, I had one of my first big spiritual experiences. I ran into a homeless man on the street who was selling poetry. Though I normally don’t linger around the homeless, he caught my attention. He told me that he had lived with monks in Tibet. He had very clear blue sparking eyes. He knew my whole life story and encouraged me to forgive some very specific things about my father. How he read my life, I had no idea. He told me that I would meet my spiritual teacher in Asia, probably Japan.

After this experience, I had to wash my feet constantly. I mean constantly…in restaurant sinks and in fountains in Europe. I was having a cleansing that lasted for about two weeks. I later read that in India, the feet are the second heart. Something had awakened in me and was being kindled. I felt an inner shift.

About three years after this experience, I met my spiritual teacher, a yogi from India, when I was teaching in China. I have been with my teacher for 15 years now and have been blessed with an abundance of spiritual experiences as well as personal transformation…though I still have a ways to go.

I believe that one can really know and experience God by spending some time alone, quietly alone with God. Prayer, contemplation, self-inquiry, gratitude practice, scriptural study, yoga practice, and chanting can allow for this kind of sacred time. And meditation especially directly facilitates this kind of quality time.

If you are keen to try a little meditation, just sit quietly after your prayer time. Breathe deeply. Then allow your mind to quiet and relax. Sit for 5-10 minutes to start with. You may find yourself getting filled up from the inside. You may find that you enter into a whole new kind of relationship with you know who. Blessings!