‘Sacred Spaces’ is a unique way of relaxing the mind completely. One concentrates on the breathing and then moves on to listening to various sounds.

At various intervals, sounds emanating from Himalayan singing bowls, symphonic cups and gongs can be heard. I try to concentrate during the silence and prepare myself for the next sound to be heard. After some time, I get so attuned to the spaces in-between that I am able to predict when the next sound is about to come.

The vibrations of the sound permeate every part of my being and get absorbed in my mind. After some weeks of practising this meditation, I find my mind is able to increase the gaps of thoughtlessness, which is very helpful for going into deep meditation. Whenever my breathing slows down and the darkness in my ‘chidakasha’ deepens, I find myself remembering the childhood story of the Pied Piper, where the last remaining lame child who could not follow the Pied Piper says, ‘The music stopped and I stood still and found myself outside the hill’. The stillness makes me feel as if suddenly some music which was playing has stopped abruptly and I start settling down to the darkness and stillness. The experience of stillness fills me with unbelievable joy and bliss and I feel myself wanting all my meditation sessions to end this way.

Continuous practice of this meditation enables me to live in the present moment, which is the very essence of Gurumaa’s teachings. Worries about the past and future have ruined our lives. If we live in the present moment and enjoy each moment as it comes, we will be able to experience joy in whatever we do. We shall be more aware of each act of ours. However, to achieve this state of the mind, we need to be very patient and consistent in our practice.

This meditation technique of Gurumaa is specially helpful in maintaining the mindfulness and awareness towards the present. This will help us a lot in our daily tasks, as we can concentrate on what we are doing at the present moment, instead of getting distracted by our thoughts of the past and present. This enables us to do each job successfully and in a better way than in the past. ‘Sacred Spaces’ meditation also helps me to be aware of my Guru’s presence and guidance in each task that I do. Practice of this meditation helps in better decision-making since clarity of the mind increases. Problem-solving is done in a more rational manner without wounding the emotions of the person concerned and results in acceptance to change.

The beauty of this meditation is that it teaches us mindfulness without any effort on our part. There is no way in which we can express our gratitude to our Guru for taking immense pains in creating newer and still newer meditation techniques which enable our spiritual journey to take delightful and hitherto unexplored turns.

–Seema