By Shalini Parekh| Posted: July 22, 2019
Our times need connection, celebration and curiosity
Humans crave connection. Have you thought of the moments in your life when you felt most connected to larger humanity? Large concerts, musical events, and performances all supposedly help us feel intrinsically involved in the river of life.
One may call this social connection or consider these as cultural experiences that enrich us. As a result of participation, our problems seem distant and our relationship to the universe feels a little more tangible. Celebration is an extension of being connected. Now let’s ask ourselves -- Are we consciously celebrating in a space of curiosity and connection or is it a mindless celebration?
The problem of alcohol
True as that may be, all these situations are also ‘companionably’ linked to alcohol and a good deal of drinking. And then, voila, there comes a time when the whole experience obliterates spontaneously in a drunken blur. Socially, one didn’t register much, and emotionally, the chance to connect actually left one drained.
Einstein wrote about being in a space of wonderment. He stated, “Still there are moments when one feels free from one’s own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments, one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold, yet profoundly moving, beauty of the eternal. The unfathomable: life and death flow into one, and there’s neither evolution nor destiny, only being.”
An opportunity to actually connect dynamically is presented by group meditation. Meditation is this wonderment and curiosity about the universe that expands us every time we immerse ourselves and deepens our connection to ourselves and the universe. Perhaps the words “curious and sober” also sum up two powerful trends of this year!
Sober and curious
The burgeoning ‘sober-curious’ movement is coming of age. Cities are having dance parties where sober people dance, sweat, and socialize before their work day. Curiosity occurs in the openness and innocence of pure being.
Being present, empty and ready for new discoveries is the necessary climate for being. Being present is another way of experiencing meditation.
Curiosity and wonderment are joined at the hip! Why? Because a curious mind resides in the space of saying, “Wow!” This exclamation creates a beautiful space of humbly admitting, "I don’t know!" rather than asserting a dull and arrogant “I know everything.”
And that space of thinking “I am nothing, I do nothing and I want nothing,” is one where meditation happens, according to renowned meditation master Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Collective WOW
Imagine that “Wow!” happening collectively. The largest group meditation can happen across 80 cities or more at the same time. Numerous studies have shown that large groups of people meditating together have a tangible, peaceful effect on the greater population.
The ripple effect is scientific and measurable: If a butterfly can flap its wings in South America and cause a hurricane in China, then surely a group of people in a positive and powerful state can contribute to the biggest need of our time, peace.
The largest meditation event, called America Meditates, resonates with performances by major bands and a guided meditation by the humanitarian leader and meditation master, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. This huge gathering of individuals participating in a group meditation will occur on July 24th in Denver, Colorado.
By joining from many locations, we will all experience the connection that is multiplied with a ripple effect. Find, initiate, and hold local gatherings in your city on July 24th and be there. Be a part of the ripple. Be connected. Be there for peace.
Shalini Parekh has taught yoga in the Chicago area for almost 20 years. She is dedicated to the yogic wisdom that is reflected in the intelligence of the body informed by the philosophy of yoga and its sister science of Ayurveda. She is also a journalist and writes about issues of identity, culture and politics -- and says she is only just beginning to notice the spaces one inhabits are a sum of many intangibles.
