In this post, I discuss what I consider the deepest meditation objective.
In the early 90's I met the Meditar Association in Porto Alegre, Brazil, then led by Enio Burgos and Tamas Virag. In this space I was able to deepen the meditative practices I already knew and learn new techniques, in retreats and weekly meetings. At that time, meditation practices were practically restricted to groups seeking spiritual growth, but from that time until today a lot has changed.
With the dissemination of a method developed at the University of Massachusetts, USA, called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), the term "mindfulness" can now be seen in different contexts, such as the areas of health, education, companies and even even in politics and public safety. With this, a large field of scientific research was opened, aimed at proving the benefits of meditation programs based on this method .
Although the term "mindfulness" is associated with the aforementioned method, it should be noted that its essence is much older, being inspired by the word "sati" from the Pali dialect, from the time of Buddha, which means something like mind intention, mindfulness, alertness, lucidity of mind, awareness and self-awareness. Sati is therefore much more than a method or a technique, it is a state of mind that can be achieved through different techniques, including meditation.
According to the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, this state can be continuous, touching life deeply in every moment of our daily activities. For him, being aware is being truly alive, present and in union with those around us and with what we are doing. This is related to the pillar of the state of presence, within the idea of being a beneficial presence.
It is at this point that an important question arises: why meditate? Widely publicized scientific research points to several benefits of meditation, such as reduced stress, increased focus, better emotional control, cognitive improvements and even increased productivity. In other words, we can become more emotionally and cognitively intelligent, in addition to improving ourselves physically, an important point of self-care.
But to fully develop our beneficial presence we have to develop another important intelligence, the spiritual. Spiritual intelligence is a higher dimension of our intelligence that activates the qualities and capabilities of the authentic self in the form of wisdom, compassion, integrity, ethics, joy, love, creativity and peace. Spiritual intelligence, then, provides a positive meaning to cognitive and emotional intelligence, directing us to our higher purpose.
"Mindfulness is a continuous state, touching life deeply in every moment of our daily activities. Being mindful is being truly alive, present and at one with those around us and with what we are doing" Thich Nhat Hanh
Looking at the pillar of resilient compassion, within beneficial presence, we can use meditative techniques to develop ethics and compassion, generating prosperity in the world, in every way, not just with a vision of individual gain.
When I conduct meditation practices, workshops or retreats, in different contexts, I seek to create an enabling environment for spiritual intelligence to also develop, seeking a fuller realization that meditation practices can bring.
I invite those who already meditate or intend to start meditating, to be open to the awakening of spiritual intelligence, so that we can develop the beneficial presence.
If you agree or not with this position, please put it in the comments, so we can talk more about this subject.
#meditation #mindfulness #spiritualintelligence #beneficialpresence
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