Good afternoon blind wisdom seekers!
If you ever wondered what the sound of a silent mind was truly like then maybe I can tell you! At the weekend I went on a Now space meditation retreat with 7 others from around Otago. I’ve always wanted to learn to meditate but the time or the right course has never quite come up. Until now! I met a man, a monk in fact last year when I was away on an artist’s retreat in Flock Hill. A monk I thought – how does that work? He was writing a book and after discovering I had written one, bought a copy of mine. 10 months later, I’m sitting in bed on a Saturday morning, longer than usual, when I hear a man on Radio NZ being interviewed by Kim Hill. A monk, who has written a book, published in fact, Greg Hopkinson! Wow! This was him.
To cut a really long story short, you can read it in his book, Boundless, I found myself on this meditation weekend learning how to still my mind. The photo is of me and our teachers for the weekend, monkesses Durgama and Annada!
Part of the course was homework- 20 minutes meditation in the evening and then again the next morning. On Saturday night, when I finally jumped into bed, I began putting what I had learned into practise. I closed my eyes and before long I was thinking of absolutely nothing! I suddenly panicked. I thought something had happened to my brain. I couldn’t think, or recall, or recount. I thought I’d had a stroke, or a tumor had got in the way of my mental ability! I sat bolt upright in bed before realising that what I was experiencing, was exactly what I was supposed to! I was so excited that was the end of my meditation for the night!
Here are 10 things my senses are grateful for this week:
1 the smell of Spelt bakery as we walked past it on Monday morning – it really was so so good! Jo and I dreamed of cutting off the crust and lavishing it with butter and raspberry jam!
2 the sound of silence as I meditated in bed on Saturday night!!
3 the sound of a clients demo recording – I nearly cried! He sounded so authentic and beautiful!
4 the sound of another client growing inches by the day! It’s wonderful to observe!
5 the taste of papaya chunks! Num num num!
6 the feel of sparkler candles for Sebastian’s birthday cake! Don’t tell him – it will be a surprise tomorrow!
7 the feel of money – $100 notes versus $50! The teller at the bank put the 2 $100 notes in a bigger bag and the $50 notes in a smaller bag so I could tell them apart! I told her she’d make a great blind woman!
8 the taste of Ron’s shepherd pie he made for our tea on Sunday night! He forgot we were going out on Sunday night though so it became Tuesday nights tea! Ha!
9 the feel of the new big that blind woman stickers I bought for my pink hamper boxes!
10 the feel of a $3 postage bag with Margaret and I fighting to squeeze a big ball of wool into it! Fun!
I may not see but I cam smell
And taste and touch and listen
And when I do this every day
I find my optimism!
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