20/05/2024
Meditation ๐ง๐ฝ๐ง๐ฝโโ๏ธ = Cultivation & Development of the Mind ๐ง
At 23 years old I began to work as an International Agricultural Commodities Broker ๐พ๐ซ in Sevilla, Spain ๐ช๐ธ By 26 I was materially โsuccessfulโ as societyโs standards, and I looked good on the outside, even flashy โจ
Inside however, I was in complete despair. I felt empty and shallow - I knew there was so much more to life than just money and nice things ๐ธ
Until then I had been trying to balance my โMatrixโ life ๐ with my spiritual life ๐ by 2019 I had no choice other than to leave my job, responsibilities, Europe and Western society completely ๐ฃ
I was going to study the ways of the Jedi โจ๐๏ธ
The universe guided me to Australia ๐ฆ๐บ and then Sri Lanka ๐ฑ๐ฐ before I would to make my way over to India ๐ฎ๐ณ
In Sri Lanka ๐ฑ๐ฐ I began to hear people talk of this โVipassannaโ meditation retreat where you sit 10 days in silence ๐ง๐ฝโโ๏ธ๐ I didnโt understand why anyone would subject themselves to 10 days in a cell without speaking. I heard strange things as well as good about it.
I booked myself onto a 10-day Mahasi Vipassanna retreat in Nilambe Meditation Centre, Sri Lanka โธ๏ธ
March 13th 2020 I found myself in a tuk-tuk 3-wheeler driving up a dangerously steep mountain in Kandy ๐ฑ๐ฐ I made some calls and remember saying โit feels like I am going into Jedi-training schoolโ โ๏ธ
March 18th 2020, at 9:30pm on day-5 of the 10 day silent retreat, one of the teachers came into the room. He put his spectacles on, and began to detail how the world was unfolding amidst the panic of Covid-19 ๐คฏ๐
The rest of the world was in chaos ๐ท while we were sat upon a mountain top meditating in silence ๐๏ธ๐ง๐ฝโโ๏ธ
โฆ. (tbc) โฆโฆ..
From my heart ๐ with karma yoga I am offering a weekly meditation circle Tuesdays 7-8pm, beginning TOMORROW Tuesday 21st May ๐ฑ
Ana pana sati meditation ๐ง๐ฝโโ๏ธ is an ancient Buddhist practise of simply drawing awareness to the in-breath, and out-breath ๐ฌ๏ธ
This offering to the Bristol community is on a donation basis, as the teachings were offered to me. Donations go to St Dunstanโs House ๐
