Next Community Gathering Sunday, 3/5: Why am I Meditating? With Jane Rauenhorst

Dear community,

Please see below for our upcoming activities:Community Meditation & Discussion: Sunday, 3/5 at 10amThis Sunday, Jane will offer an opportunity to reflect on the reasons we stick with our meditation practice, offering us the opportunity to consider the meaning and value of meditation for each of us, personally. You can register here.It can be helpful to take time, especially in moments of doubt, to contemplate, “why do I do this?” We will reference the article: 5 Reasons to Meditate, by Pema Chodron. In which she talks so honestly about how meditation has transformed her life. Here’s a link to the article. There is no expectation that you read it, but here are some excerpts for your consideration:

“The essence of meditation is training in something that is quite radical and definitely not the habitual pattern of the species: and that is to stay with ourselves no matter what is happening, without putting labels of good and bad, right and wrong, pure and impure, on top of our experience.”

“Meditation is a transformative process, rather than a magic makeover in which we doggedly aim to change something about ourselves. The more we practice, the more we open and the more we develop courage in our life. In meditation you never really feel that you “did it” or that you’ve “arrived.” You feel that you just relaxed enough to experience what’s always been within you. …..when we’re developing this courage, in which we allow the range of our emotions to occur, we can be struck with moments of insight. These insights could never have come from trying to figure out conceptually what’s wrong with us or what’s wrong with the world. These moments of insight come from the act of sitting in meditation, which takes courage—a courage that grows with time.”

“….the ability to become awake to our lives, to each and every moment, just as it is. This is the absolute essence of meditation. We develop attention to this very moment; we learn to just be here. And we have a lot of resistance to just being here! When I first started practicing, I thought I wasn’t good at it. It took me a while to realize that I had a lot of resistance to just being here now. Just being here—attention to this very moment—does not provide us with any kind of certainty or predictability. But when we learn how to relax into the present moment, we learn how to relax with the unknown.”

“Meditation is about a compassionate openness and the ability to be with oneself and one’s situation through all kinds of experiences. In meditation, you’re open to whatever life presents you with.……. I am talking about awakening fully to our life. It’s about opening the heart and mind to the difficulties and the joys of life—just as it is. And the fruits of this kind of meditation are boundless.”

Full Moon Gathering - Tuesday, March 7th at 7:00 P.M.

Our next Full Moon Gathering will be this Tuesday, March 7th. We hope you can join us to practice together and offer support for reflection and re-commitment to the values and practices that give our lives meaning and balance. Here is information to register and receive the zoom link.

Looking forward to practicing with you all.  

With metta (loving-kindness),

Minneapolis Insight