At the Deer Park Institute in Himachal Pradesh, modelled on Nalanda, the renowned Buddhist University, the Author Experiences a profound peace that passes understanding.

Eureka Moments

The present moment meditation is not simply about refraining from words but about silencing the constant running of the mind. I discovered that the most difficult thing to do was to do nothing. You sit for the meditation and a conversation ensues:

Me: “Ok, now sit quietly.”

Mind: “Ok done.…. Now what do we do?”

Me: “We do nothing.”

Mind: “Nothing. Fine but then what do we DO?”

The voice in the head gets louder. "This plan for two days ahead must be chalked out NOW!” “This thought connected with an event five years back must be thought of NOW!” “This grudge against a former mate must be resented NOW!” It was bewildering to realise how much of needless chatter constantly goes on inside our heads at any given moment. Then as I kept sitting in every session that voice in the head got a little more subdued. Slowly, I learnt to say, “shhh!” and somehow, it began to listen.

On the following day, we were ready to focus on our body sensations. I began to watch my body, felt the sensations within. I felt my left arm. What did I feel here? I begin to realise the tingling sensation of the life force flowing through my arm and my body. Over the next few days, I began to truly experience the thing called the life force or Mother Nature.

On the third day, I made my most intimate contact with Mother Nature during walking meditation. I saw her revealed in everything that exists. She is there in the sensation of life that runs through the foot that steps on the grass. She – the slightly prickly feel of grass under my foot. She – the softness of the grass, the firmness of the earth, the damp feeling on the soles of my bare feet. Looking around I saw her revealed in the very exuberance of nature. The woodness of wood, the treeness of the tree, the blueness and the spaceness of the sky, the watery waterness of water. Everything is SHE.

Layers and layers of my being opened up during those four days. Never in my life had I realised or experienced the vibrant life that runs within me, the very basis of my existence. And underlying all, came the awareness that I AM.

A.S.