This is part one of a reflection given at the Blayney Eco Hub, NSW on November 11, 2023.
What has meditation got to do with our relationship with Creation?
The word meditation is an umbrella term for a variety of practices that are, in effect, ways to practice attention off ourselves and onto some kind of other for the purposes of growth in healing, integration, and kindness.
Examples of body movement meditation are Qi Gong and Yoga.
Examples of guided meditation would be the Ignatian practice of using imagination to engage scripture, and the Buddhist practice of Loving Kindness Meditation.
An example of what we might call nature-based meditation, is the practice of Dadirri (da-did-ee), which was gifted to all Australians by Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr in 1988.
The Christian practice of meditation, with its roots in Christian scripture, is mantra based, with the recommendation of the prayer word: ma-ra-na-tha (1Cor16:22).
This morning, we have already had the opportunity to practice some Qi Gong. After this reflection we will spend some time meditating. And after meditation we will have the chance to practice dadirri.
So how does meditation, in this case mantra and nature-based meditation, help us to discover and reaffirm our place in nature?
In short, the simple answer is that meditation is a way to practice attention off ourselves and into that deeper communion we have with all Creation within the heart.
The basic invitation of Christianity is to engage in the basic, fundamental dynamic of healthy human living: to move past a focus on ourselves and embrace a life growing in other-centredness, in love.
This invitation is encapsulated in the Gospels; for example, in Mark 8:34 Jesus says: “Anyone who wants to be a follower of mine must renounce self and take up the cross and follow me.”
To renounce self, that is to leave self behind, is what we do when we practice love. To be loving is to attend, in growing fullness, to the other – a loved one, to an aspect of nature (a tree, a bird, a flower, an insect), and in Christian meditation to the mantra.
This practice is a challenge for us because we all have unmet needs, and we all require healing. The great temptation is to focus exclusively on our needs first. This tendency permeates the system we live in and has significantly affected the way we see the world and live with each other and nature.
So, this movement into other-centredness is a journey. Christianity calls this practice of moving into the fullness of other-centredness a practice of ‘taking up the cross’. This cross carrying does not lead to death as a final word; it is a carrying that leads to new ways of living, new life, a transformation into compassion, kindness, and love.
Any practice that has us attending not on ourselves, but on something, someone else can be a ‘cross carrying’ that leads to loving kindness: a mantra, a leaf, watering the garden, making a cup of tea. Anything done with kind attention off our selves opens the way in us for healing and other-centred living.