About 6 years ago I had the great good fortune to meet Sylvia Boorstein, a meditation teacher from the Theravada tradition of Buddhism. I loved her at first sight. She was the epitome of The GrandMother archetype for me. Round, jolly, sparkling, and chock full of the kind of everyday wisdom that only comes from deep study and years of personal practice. I assisted her with her 5-day program at Kripalu Center and became enamoured of Metta Meditation as a spiritual practice. Every summer for the following four years I returned to Kripalu to assist, practice and learn from Sylvia all about metta and the practice of lovingkindness.
Metta Meditation is a practice that was given to the Buddah’s students whereby particular phrases are repeated over and over, as in a mantra practice. The difference is that the phrases are first oriented towards oneself, then directed towards someone else, and finally for the well being of All beings. Beginning with oneself is critically important as the following quote of Gautama Buddah suggests.
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”
Nice.
Anahat - The Unstruck Sound
...an experiential workshop for celtic harpers
Anahat is a sanskrit word for 'inner sound'
and refers to the 4th chakra of the body otherwise known as the Heart Center. It is believed that one cannot hear the unstruck sound until one has reached a certain level of consciousness of the Heart.
The human body is a like a musical instrument. When we begin to pay attention to body sensations, heart beat & breath while playing the harp interesting things can begin to happen. Spiritual seekers have used music to reach altered states for eons. The harmonics of the harp provide the exact right tone to connect with the heart.
This workshop is an opportunity to open the heart
and discover for ourselves how the body responds to harp vibrations.
