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How to create an oasis of calm inside your own heart

In today's fast-paced world, everyone from time to time looks for an 'escape' - time away in a place far removed from the hubbub of today's world. When thinking of such an escape usually some tranquil scenic location comes to mind far away from daily life . However, for thousands of years great sages and meditators have found that you can create a space of calmness inside yourself to take refuge in no matter where you are. What's more, this space of silence is nowhere else than inside your heart, the space in the middle of our chest we point to when we say 'this is me'. We have all been in this space from time to time, for example when we find ourself in a place of great beauty and suddenly feel at peace there; however, with practise you can enter into this inner refuge at will.  read more »

Buddhism and Hinduism: do they contradict each other?

"In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true." - The Buddha

Many of the central tenets of Buddhism and Hinduism seem totally irreconcilable at first glance. The Buddha taught that all things were impermanent, where as traditional Indian belief is that beneath the impermanent world lies an eternal reality. Most Hindus believe in God in some form, whereas the Buddha was decidedly agnostic. However when one begins a practice of meditation in either tradition, one begins to go beyond the limiting mind which generates these contradictions and see that there is in fact a deep oneness of purpose between the two traditions, and that they are two paths which lead the same destination.  read more »

5 ideas to keep a sense of newness in your meditation

We often begin a meditation practice with tremendous excitement, thrilled at the posibilities for self-discovery and inner peace. However, the novelty factor wears off after a while as we realise that meditation is in fact a slow and steady process of self-improvement, rather than a quick sprint to enlightenment. Here's a few hints how to keep that sense of excitement and joy in your meditation:  read more »

Music and meditation

Next to meditation, music is the best way for a seeker of truth to be transported to a high meditative state. When listening to soulful music, one can feel onself carried deep within their being as if they are being carried on the soaring wings of a bird. "Music is the universal language of God", spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy writes, "I do not know French or German or Italian, but if music is played, immediately the heart of the music enters into my heart, or my heart enters into the music. At that time, we don't need outer communication; the inner communion of the heart is enough."  read more »

What is meditation?

Meditation is something that most people have heard about, and perhaps even seen other people doing, but ask someone what it is and most would struggle. In fact, experienced meditators quite often cannot give a clear mental definition. Why? Because meditation is something that lies far beyond the realm of the mind.  read more »

Four tips for giving meditation classes

For the past couple of years I have been giving free meditation courses in Dublin along with my friends in the Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre. I have only been giving them for a couple of years, and there are many more gifted at it than I, but I've definitely learnt my share of lessons along the way. Here are just a couple of them:  read more »

Learning to live in the heart

At the core of my meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is an invitation; an invitation to live life in the heart rather than the mind. The heart is that point we can feel the core of our being - when we say me, we generally point at the middle of our chest, and so naturally this is a great place to start our journey of self-discovery. More importantly, the heart is the place where we feel our connectedness with other people and the world - the phrase 'my heart goes out to him' says it all, I think. On the other hand, the mind tends to build a wall of ego-concepts separating us from the rest of the world. As Sri Chinmoy says: "The mind tries to possess. The heart just expands and, while expanding, it embraces."  read more »

Turning the mind away from negative cycles of thought

We all labour under the illusion that we are in control of our thought process, but even a cursory look at your daily thoughts can reveal the exact opposite. Sometimes your mind can seem like a plane that is on autopilot, and there is nothing you can do to wrest away the controls even though you might be thinking very destructive thoughts that are doing nothing except making you unhappy.  read more »

How a meditation teacher shares his inner wealth

As the West became more and more in contact with the philosophy and culture of the East, there has developed a certain fascination with Eastern meditation masters, and today they are often portrayed on films and tv spouting timely words of wisdom at opportune times. However, these portrayals sometimes obscure the true nature and purpose of a meditation teacher, which is to show the student the vast realm of possibility that exists beyond the confines of the daily working-eating-sleeping grind.  read more »

Heart centred meditation

When we say meditation on the heart, we do not mean the physical heart, but that place in the centre of the chest where we can feel the core of our being, When we are pointing to ourselves, we don't point to or head or any other point of our body; we point to our heart centre because we know that this place somehow lies the essence of our being. As meditation is first and foremost a journey of self discovery, finding what lies deep within the heart when the mind is still and calm is a very natural place to begin the journey.  read more »