The Impact of Meditation in Community - Flipbook - Page 22
Final reflections
Returning to the question we opened with. Can the practice which many of you have
built into the rhythm of your lives help bring about the renewed humanity that is so
desperately needed? Can it help us become the kind of people that the world needs? The
data strongly suggests that meditating in community, within a clear ethical framework,
helps cultivate greater peace, compassion, connection with God and each other.
Much points to the role of the practice community to help nourish and sustain a personal
practice. Beyond the obvious characteristics, what do we mean by 8community9?
A place where the experience of communion - of our fundamental
connectedness - becomes apparent in the shared silence.
A place in which the realisation of the Spirit becomes evident – where we
can perceive the Divine in ourselves and others (from the person who tells
their story, to the person who asks 8that question9, to the person who
delivers the teachings, to the person who is sitting with us in silence).
A place where we can share our lived experience with others, and help
illuminate and pay testimony to the countless witnesses of wisdom that
have gone before.
One of the greatest challenges of introducing meditation to Christians is the widespread
idea that meditation is not Christian. Many people (Christian or not) are largely unaware
of the riches of the Christian contemplative tradition. More widely, Christianity is
increasingly regarded as irrelevant or toxic (though 50% of people included in the last UK
census who said they don9t identify with a religion said they do believe in God).
There is much to be done to share the gift of meditation and your responses provide both
rich food for thought and inspiration as we develop and expand our work. The powerful
words you generously shared in your survey responses will be posted on social media in
the coming months (if you gave us permission to do so). We know these will provide
great encouragement to those who have not encountered this ancient wisdom practice.
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