Following on from yesterday’s post I’m going to continue blogging about my Morning Meditations book that I bought at Dymocks.
Now before you think I’m some massive supporter of Dymocks, I’d like to let them know that they’re responsible for my personal details being on the dark web. Yes… that data breach. Thanks for nothing.
Well, nothing other than the book I’m about to continue reviewing (sort of).
Morning Meditations gives you a range of ritualistic, mindfulness style meditations, that it encourages you repeatedly do until they become habitual. Not that I think it says it explicitly, but the aim is to know the rituals so well that you get into the ‘flow’.
Exploring such things as the shimmering core of my being and the core of my being connecting to the core of the mountains, the book clearly has a focus on the physical self and its spiritual connection to land and nature in general.
It doesn’t appear to be politically correct to say it anymore, but we used to call this stuff animism.
I still call this stuff animism.
My society considers it very sophisticated but I’ll be up front and say that I don’t. I say it takes us on a bizarre spiritual tangent, so much so that we completely lose focus.
Take the manger scene at Christmas for example.
21st century spirituality would have us focusing on our mystical connection to the harsh wood of the manger, the spiritual essence of the straw on the ground and inner meaning behind the calls from the ox, the ass… and whatever other animals (if any) were hanging around Jesus’ crib.
That’s what we’d do. It’d be all about the animal kingdom and the earthiness of the location, with earth mother, Mary being at one with the land whilst birthing.
I’m feel like I’m channelling too much woo woo right now, so I’m going to stop that.
But it is very popular. Take the Morning Meditations as ‘gospel’ on that.
In one meditation, you visualise yourself in the ocean and hear whales calling. They are calling your name. “Your name blends with the sound of the whale song and you know you are welcome here.”
This just makes me think of the scene in Finding Nemo when Dory speaks whale.
That is, it’s totally comical.
Or, to jump to the farm, there’s the meditation where you ‘chant for your soul’ ‘Ram’ multiple times. Ram is apparently the sound for personal power and self-confidence.
This chant, yet again, reminds me of a children’s movie. This time, Babe.
Again, I’m struggling to take this seriously.
However, HNAC Alison would be loving this eclectic mix of new age, eastern mysticism. And there’s a point at which it comes so close and yet so far to orthodox Christianity.
“On your next inhale, receive divine light and, on the exhale, give out divine light.”
The meditation concludes by stating the affirmation of “I am a being of radiant light.” On my own terms, I completely disagree.
However, remember Jesus being a star?
“…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
The divine light doesn’t come from me. It never could. The divine light comes from Jesus and as his Holy Spirit lives within me, I am able to share his light with others, just like the shepherds did.
So instead of an affirmation to end this ‘morning meditation’, I ask myself a question: ‘Am I giving out divine light to others?’
There’s only one way to truly do that. Why not consider how you might do that today?
Yours speaking whale,
Alison
