Why meditate?

for ex-BKs to discuss matters related to experiences in BKWSU & after leaving.
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Wonieka A. Meuter

  • Posts: 29
  • Joined: 28 Dec 2012
  • Location: The Netherlands

Why meditate?

Post01 Jan 2013

You can order many different reasons to meditate and there are perhaps as many different forms of meditation. Even within one (religious) movement are several distinct ideas about meditation, like Buddhism, for example, where you can practice Zen and vipassanameditation and on which mindfulness is based.

Because of the chaos in my life and in my head I was 24 years old going to walk a path where meditation was an important part. Fearing emotions I chose (in retrospect) to a form that was pretty mentally. In Raja Yoga meditation was a strong emphasis to focus your attention on your soul (a point of light in the middle of your forehead) and God, a point of light somewhere in the universe. We meditated with the eyes open every morning at 4 am and also at other times of the day with the intention that you are at any moment would remember God. Through meditation and the lessons that were given (and which I have given myself), I became aware of my thoughts and I developed a mental discipline, so I learned to focus my attention. Eight years later I still found it hardly to grasp my emotions , but my understanding of myself had increased, so that I could allow myself to feel more.

After that period I did Osho meditations, which seemed the opposite of the Raja Yoga meditation, which exercised control and majesty, while for example the dynamic meditation of Osho invite you to discharge totally the emotions that you stuck into your body. Physical movement as a way to find the silence and the beauty within yourself. For instance, they freed me from my fear to let me hear and seen. I did enjoy the movement of my body to music so to express that what lived in me.

Since the vipassana meditation much resembled the Raja Yoga meditation I have only briefly practiced. Just sit or walk slowly, I felt as too restrictive and too little added to my life. Intuitive development has brought me in contact with my own flow as part of the larger whole. My body became for me a sound box that made visible what went on inside me. As well how I myself experienced something as what I perceived by others. I became aware of the signals of my body and how to interpret them.

I have long hesitated to include meditation as a course be in the program of Amala Insight, although meditation was always part of the courses that I gave. Through the ages there have arisen too many ideas and concepts about meditation, which can hinder you. Both as regards the method as what you eventually would like to achieve. At the Brahma Kumaris I meditated to contribute to the world by pure behaviour and to experience God. The Osho meditations I did mainly to discharge secured emotions and to heal old pain. And to the meditations that I did from the courses Intuitive development the intentions to meditate were differently. Partly to lift inner blockades, partly to deal with what I experienced energetically of others and ultimately to live unconditional love.

Due to the various forms of meditation that I practiced , but also by guiding people in it I have seen and experienced what meditations can give you, but also what ancient beliefs about meditation can trigger in people, which may not always be desirable or appropriate to the time and the society in which we live. Although any form of meditation ask a certain effort and willingness, for example there is no need to work very hard or suffer physical pain by forcing yourself in a posture that your body is not accustomed. The kind of meditation which you choose may simply reflect what you Inherited from your upbringing, so you might choose a strict form in which they give you a lot of time to your fate, and right that can give you the feeling that you are doing well , but you are still captive.

Meditation can be supportive and working in your daily life, it can make that can do what you want to do from inner peace and overview. It can help to ensure that you gain insight into your survival patterns, so you can recognize them in dealing with others and also you can heal. Your inner freedom can increase and so does your joy of life. If that is your intention to meditate, you will experience how you can exist and remain on earth, regardless of what is happening in the world around you. It shall be safe for you to experience everything and you do no longer need to go away from your daily experiences (and often out of your body) by pushing it away and by creating another (ideal) world in your meditations.

At any time of the day you can meditate, in other words be present in what happens. Different situations and how you want to go along with it, calls for different forms of meditation. For example if you drive or you are cooking, you will do another meditation, then when you have the time and take time to sit with yourself. It is useful when you have several ways available to you and that know how you can apply them. Guidance to meditate and what you can experience therein is therefore indispensable.

© Wonieka A. Meuter


I made an English translation for this blog, I have written d.d. 19-04-12 at Ont-wikkelen naar heel-zijn. I am not very good in English, so excuse for the insufficient translation.

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