Christopher
Christopher has meditated since the mid 1980’s, originally with Transcendental Meditation with came to these shores courtesy of The Beatles and the Maharishi. Since that time he has experienced many types and styles of meditation. In 2013 he qualified as a Meditation Teacher through the British School of Meditation. On this page, Christopher will talk about his daily meditations and why meditation works for him.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
In the mid-nineteen-nineties a book called Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation for Everyday Life was published. It was shortly followed by multiple CD offerings of JK-Z’s guided meditations.
Last night, and this morning, I listened to pieces dealing with Loving Kindness Meditation. My previous night’s sleep had been disturbed pretty much excessively, yet I slept like a top last night.
You might say that it was because I would have been tired due to the previous night’s sleep, which is of course true. However, to my mind, to be able to lay down with a calm mind, a calm body, and a calm clear intention was a much more significant part of the reason for my sleep success.
I have been using these meditations for about a month, having had them lying dormant for the past few years. He has a friendly and soothing voice, though in no way soporific, with which he guides me through the importance of repeating the phrases of Loving Kindness.
Christopher Lloyd Clarke
The Temple Gardens Volume 2 is royalty free meditation music, that is it is the music without the overlaid meditation, the music waiting for the meditators voice to enhance, or disturb it.
Today I listen to it in the raw, wondering what words of meditation I might bring to it in the future, although like a good meditator I soon pull myself out of that future place and back into the present.
I have quite a number of these royalty free compact disks to use as backdrops to meditations, or to video-poems. They have that ability to take the edge off without becoming overpowering.
I sit, contentedly, as the candle flickers and the joss stick burns. The music settles me and seeps into my soul. The bell sounds at the mid-session point, I turn on the light and make a few notes, for posterity, before returning quietly to the contemplation.
Routine & Ritual Meditation
Writing – Contemplation – Reading – Contemplation – Writing
Wake
Rise
Down Stairs
Toilet
Tea
Up Stairs
Enter Meditation Room
Light Candle
Light Incense
Start Insight Timer – Forty-Five Minutes
Put Music On
Sit On Cushion
Turn Lamp On
Writing – A Few Lines
Turn Lamp Off
Contemplation
Mid-Session Bell-Splash
Turn Lamp On
Reading – Beau Taplin’s Here At Dawn
Turn Lamp Off
Contemplation
End Bell
Turn Lamp On
Writing
Make Insight Note
Turn Music Off
Blow Candle Out
Leave Meditation Room
This is perhaps my favourite meditation. Its origins are when the BSM asked the class to prepare their own meditations. I began with music, or pop song meditations, but eventually, for copyright reasons among others, I settled on my own style to include writing, reading, contemplation and music.
The first piece of writing is often stream of consciousness a la Morning Pages. The final piece is most often a poem, or a summary of the contemplation. This gives me something concrete to come away with from my spiritual practice.
Behind the process there is loving kindness and breathing, both of which were gifts to me courtesy of Thich Nhat Hahn, Plum Village, and the Buddhists of Buxton.