Tim: Transformation Through Meditation

Buddhism had always been something of an interest of mine. I took some  courses on Eastern philosophies and religions in college and did some reading on my own, but I never really knew where to take my interest. In 2002, my partner, Julia, discovered KMC NYC and in no time we were going to classes regularly. Nineteen years later I would readily say that Dharma is a mainstay in my life. I’m now a long term practitioner and I’m more gung ho than ever. I’m in my mid 60’s now, so I take to heart the Buddhist teachings on how precious this life is and that the opportunity to practice and find real meaning could all end at any moment. Of course the pandemic year has been such a profound teaching in this regard, seeing so vividly how the lights can literally go out for someone in a heartbeat. So in 2021 and moving forward, the imperative for me to practice Dharma could not be stronger.

It definitely took me a while to get my relationship with meditation lined up in the best possible way, and to understand its function and how to really do it. The way I think of it is that Dharma offers profound insights into what to start doing and thinking with respect to your relationship with yourself and with the world. And then meditation is the way to take that extremely important information and plant it deeply, in a way that it will have a visceral impact on you. It’s the delivery system of Dharma. Delivering Dharma to where it needs to go, that’s meditation. You can love reading the books, going to classes, etc., but you’ll only go so far without meditation. It’s very cut and dry in that respect. Without meditation you simply can’t go to the place in your heart where the teachings will profoundly change your life.

A big shift for me has been in allowing myself the time to set up my meditations right. This means, taking the time to experience real stillness in my mind and heart.  Without doing this I’ve found that deeper meditations will not quite work. And there’s such a wealth of calmness and confidence that comes taking our meditations deeper. I really believe we should never stop tweaking our meditations. We can learn, or discover, something new every day.

It’s an ongoing process which I enjoy both as a do’er, a learner and a teacher.