Meditation and the heroes journey

Lately, I’ve been connecting the dots as I reflect on how to best help my clients. At the same time, it’s been a personal journey, guiding me to discover how to show up as my best self. I got thinking recently about how meditation can be a possible access point to connect us to our respective heroes journey.

David Lynch and the power of meditation

Last week, I wrote a blog on David Lynch, which you may or may not have had a chance to read. It’s here if you’re interested. He was a big advocate of transcendental meditation.

I started exploring meditation more myself as I’ve never practiced it so much. David Lynch spoke about it like a process of fishing for ideas which I think made a lot of sense. Sam Harris speaks a lot about meditation too although not the same form.

My personal experience with meditation

Over the past week, I’ve been consistently practicing meditation by using a mantra and spending time in a meditative space. Most days, I’ve committed to practicing for twenty minutes twice a day, whereas on some days, I’ve only managed one session. Even so, the experience has been both calming and grounding, and it genuinely seems to work wonders for a busy mind. In fact, upon reflection, it’s amazing to realize just how easily I can get caught up in the treadmill of life without even noticing. This is precisely why taking the time to slow down, reset, and return to the present moment feels so valuable.

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance – A lesson in quality

As I’ve been practicing I thought back on one of my favourite books. The book is called ‘Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance’ by Robert Pirsig. This is a really great book with lots of philosophical insights. It covers a mans journey with his son on his motorbike. I always remember it talking about ideas of ‘care’ and ‘quality’ as two sides of the same coin. He speaks about the word ‘quality’ and how it can’t be defined. Rather we speak about whether something has ‘quality’ or not.

This knowing what the next thing is we need to do. It made me think lots about our own heroes journey. It seems fair to say that, all too often, we may find ourselves distracted and not truly dealing with what is most important. He spoke about how from a meditative kind of space we can come back filled with gumption. Pirsig spoke about it in the example of coming back from a fishing trip. It’s here where it seems as if meditation can be a possible access point to connect us with our own heroes journey.

This knowing what the next thing is we need to do. It made me think lots about our own heroes journey. It seems fair to say we can so often we may not be dealing with what is truly important. He spoke about how from a meditative kind of space we can come back filled with gumption. Pirsig spoke about it in the example of coming back from a fishing trip. It’s here where it seems as if meditation can be a possible access point to connect us with our own heroes journey.

The modern world and distraction

In today’s information age, especially with social media, we constantly distract ourselves—often without realizing it—and drift away from what truly matters. This is what Pirsig touches on. David Lynch spoke about Transcendental Meditation, emphasizing its role in fishing for ideas and focusing particularly on that practice. I don’t have an opinion personally as to what is best.

Why meditation could be worth trying

For the purpose of this blog, I simply want to suggest that meditation might be worth a try. After all, as Pirsig puts it, “quality is the heart and soul of everything.” With that in mind, it seems fair to say that reconnecting with this—however you choose to do it—can be highly beneficial. Given its potential benefits, perhaps meditation could be an avenue worth exploring for you.

There are plenty of guided meditations online. It’s not as difficult as you think. Sam Harris explains this in the short video if you have a listen. If you are keen in one of the online free transcendental meditation classes see here.

How you can work with me

If you’re keen to work together we can look at figuring out what you want more of in life.

My sessions as always are in person or online via zoom as per your preference.

My in person sessions are all at Highland Park Community House in Auckland.

To book an individual session with me just go here.

For details about my package offers go here.

To find out more about my digital program go here.

I look forward to speaking with you more

All the best

Phil Walker

Provisional Member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors

www.newbeginningstherapy.co.nz

philip@newbeginningstherapy.co.nz

021 058 3234