By D.R. Richards
Do Your Part: Breathe
I wrote in a recent post, “As I write this, my wife is sitting peacefully in the mountains of Quebec at a Vipassana retreat center. I feel the ripple effect. Janice Vien, in her Iyengar Yoga classes always closes with the phrase, ‘May the benefits of this practice be extended to others’”.
Knowing that somebody in your family is sitting quietly in a little mountain snow-bound retreat without saying a word for four days, has a profound effect. Through Amanda’s action in meditation, I feel calmer. What’s more, she borrowed my watch, for the alarm function, to wake up at 4am to begin meditation. So I find myself staring at my wrist a few times these past days.
Scientific studies have shown that groups of people meditating can actually bring down the crime rate. One particular study/meditation event in Washington D.C. had dramatic effects. Now I see.
Tolle says “You’re either part of the problem or cleaning up the mess”, and that “No one else it going to do it. If you wait for the rest of the world to become enlightened, you’ll wait forever. Start by cleaning up the inner landscape, and in that way you’ll make a change in the world.”
I’ve been meditating since I was about 11 years old. I read The Making of a Psychiatrist by David Viscott when I was about 12. I’m not sure why, I just took to it. When I was about 20, I read the complete works of Emerson. So I’ve been on my path for while – but to quietly feel the presence of my wife’s meditation in southern Quebec, while I’m south of the border, is quite an amazing experience.
So if you wonder if the inner work you’re doing has an impact on those around you, I definitely say yes.
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