WCCM Logo
World Community for Meditation Logo
The deep dynamic of the friendship is reflected in the logo of the community, the two doves representing the inner and outer, contemplative and active, the yin and the yang. The psychological agitation of our culture can be traced in large part to the disruption of the harmony between these two aspects of our human soul. To teach meditation is to affirm friendship with and between ourselves, which is a preparation for seeing the non-duality of the Kingdom that is ‘within you’ and ‘among you’. Laurence Freeman, O.S.B. What Are The Benefits of Meditation?
* Brain performance benefits
* Improves attention
* Gives access to right-brain thinking
* Optimizes brain performance
* Physical health benefits
* Positive impact on stress related conditions
* Lowers blood pressure
* Boosts immune system
Mental health benefits
* Reduces anxiety/Improves depression
* Reduces stress of living with chronic illness
* Reduces risk-prone behavior
* Other psychological benefits
* Improves emotional processing
* Improves coping strategies
* Improves social function
Spiritual benefits
The personal inner change in us as we meditate, can best be described by what St Paul called the Harvest of the Spirit. (Gal 5: 5) Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity gentleness and self-control. LOVE is placed first “the highest gift”. In its path we also find a new joyfulness in life, even in times of stress and suffering. JOY is deeper than pleasure. It is found in a new taste for the simple and natural things in life. PEACE is the gift Jesus gave us in the Spirit. It is the energy of his own deep inner harmony with himself, with the Father, and with all creation. PATIENCE is the cure for our bursts of irritability and intolerance, and all the ways we try to possess others. KINDNESS is the gift of treating others, as we would like them to treat us. GOODNESS is not “ours” but we are essentially good and our human nature is godly because we are created by God and because God lives in us. FIDELITY is the gift that comes through the discipline of the daily meditation and the mantra. For every relationship to be human and loving, we have to deepen it with fidelity. SELF-CONTROL is necessary if we are to enjoy life in the full liberty of the Spirit. It is the fruit of the balance of meditation, the middle way between all extremes. In meditation, we are sanctified because we are healed. The source of our being is also the source that heals us and makes us whole. The fruits of the Spirit grow gradually in us because we begin to turn to the power of love at the centre of our being. How To Meditate
• Choose a quiet place and time where you will not be disturbed.
• Sit down.
• Sit still and upright, comfortable and alert, with your back straight.
• Close your eyes lightly.
• Be aware of your normal breathing pattern for a minute or two as you relax.
• Silently, interiorly, begin to say a single word.
• We recommend the prayer-word or mantra, maranatha.
• Recite it as four syllables of equal length: ma-ra-na-tha.
• Listen to the sound of your mantra as you say it, gently and continuously.
• Do not think or imagine anything – spiritual or otherwise.
• If thoughts and images come, these are distractions at the time of meditation: keep returning to simply saying the word.
• Meditate each morning and evening between 20 to 30 minutes. Use a timing device to avoid looking at a clock.
• Persist in a daily practice.
This daily practice may take you some time to develop. Be patient. Resist the temptation to judge the "quality" of your meditation. Sit with your breath and your mantra and accept lovingly whatever comes. There is no "good" or "bad" meditation. Be very gentle with yourself. When you give up, start again. You will find that a weekly meditation group and a connection with a community may help you develop this discipline and allow the benefits and fruits of meditation to pervade your mind and every aspect of your life in ways that will teach and delight you.
