From a young age I can remember being curious about the people I saw in pictures meditating and more specifically about meditation practice itself.
I’m not sure where this curiosity sprouted from, maybe it was all the incense and Latin mystery I was exposed to growing up in the Catholic church or maybe it was the art books in the school library that excited something in me as I leafed through block prints from the faraway Japan and China. Whatever sparked this curiosity I was determined to go about learning meditation or at the very least learn more about it.
For a variety of reasons I’ve had many meditation teachers since my curiosity grew from but an ember. My teachers were both men and women which at the time was not the norm, I suspect it’s still not the norm but I haven’t looked into the statistics to find out how large the numbers gulf still is between men and women who teach meditation. I can say that I’m very glad to have learned teachings from both sexes as it opened up many different parts of my experience I would not have had otherwise.
Mediation at first seemed surround in mystery and possibly magic and today I still see books, courses and videos that offer the power and magic to get what you want through meditation. Some of these tie this magic to leadership and innovation seminars and in house team building. But while the universe is a mysterious place meditation is, as Shunryu Suzuki said in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind “something, but nothing special.” It’s a tool that helps us add depth to the Generative Dialogue Process.
If you’re a business owner who has lots of employees depending on your leadership then bringing someone on board to help your management team think differently is one thing, if they are touting magic or promising out of this world innovation without hard work you probably won’t be interested and your employees and share holders hope you’re not. Mystery make for a great novel but doesn’t wow the board, stockholders or your employees at the end of the year.
We suggest learning meditation as a tool within the Dialogue process to help each member of the team become a deeper listener not only of each other but also a deep listener of themselves. It’s this listening between the thoughts and emotions that we find the real magic, the magic of mutual understanding and genuine creative and innovative juice to power your business forward.
Craig Daniels Owner
10 Simple Ways To Meditate
Further back than I care to admit I once stumbled into a local hall to listen to an introduction lecture about meditation. The small hall was nearly full (25 people) and we sat in those wonderfully uncomfortable metal folding chairs.
The first thing I noticed was the smell of incense burning and a group of men and women sitting on cushions at the front of the room, while my inclination was to escape to the nearest liquor store I instead stayed for the whole presentation.
So, did I ever stick with that group and learn to meditate? The truth is I met someone at the end of the meeting who suggested we visit another group lecture she'd heard about, we went and stayed with that group for about a year and continue to meditate regularly.
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I have 3 tips I'd like to share with you about learning meditation.
- Learn and practice meditation either in a group or with just a teacher, trying to learn reading a book or watching a video will deprive you of the richness of experience others have. If you must learn by yourself find an online group you can touch base with regularly.
- Don't be afraid that meditation will require you to give up your religious or social beliefs. If you run into teachings demanding you abandon common sense or traditional beliefs walk away and find another practice. But I must say, in today's climate there are a ton of paths to follow to learn mediation that don't require anything other than practicing the meditation, it won't bite I promise.
- Lastly, let yourself just practice without needing to achieve anything. Meditation evolves best when you just do it and leave the driving to the practice and not your ego.
Source: http://www.whatisdialogue.com/learning-meditation-adds-depth-to-dialogue/
