New Years Resolution

Christine and I recently went to hear a talk at the Himalayan Centre in Whangarei by a Nepalese Buddhist Monk. It was an introductory talk about Buddhism. I am not sure why I wanted to go to this, I have read enough about Buddhism and meditation not to be in need of an introductory talk but I think I went because I wanted to hear something about meditation from an accomplished practitioner and make some sort of contact with a community that has meditation at its center. I was curious.

The talk was a most complicated affair. It was done via a Skype link with someone in Auckland. The monk talked to the computer screen and a disembodied Kiwi voice made the translation from Nepalese for us. Except for a brief connection with the computer screen at the very end we heard only the voice translating the easy on the ears Nepalese language. Despite all of this the talk has proved useful to me. It was the small beacon I had been looking and praying for and I have gained a sense of strength. I am now determined to pick up where I left off in my own personal meditation.

My meditation practise has been stop and go for years. About 18 months ago I started to take it a little more seriously but this was stopped short by a heart attack and By Pass heart surgery.

After the heart operation I found it quite difficult to meditate. In fact I found a large number of things difficult to do. The heart operation was such a physical assault on my body that I found myself somewhat disorientated for a long time. Some things once easy, now became hard, both physically and emotionally.

I had expected meditation to be some sort of solace in all of this but it proved not to be so. I found that I simply could not concentrate at all for any length of time on many things including meditation practise. I know a seasoned practitioner would obtain great solace from their meditation practise.

So my new years resolution is to attempt to meditate at least once a day and come to grips with all this meditation malarkey - and the local Buddhist community run meditation classes.

In 9 days time it will be the 21st of June which is the first anniversary of my heart operation. New Years day is the next day - the 22nd of June - Om mani padme hum.