Being in the ‘now’
As the evening shadows lengthen as if beckoned by the last glow of the setting sun sedately dipping into the horizon, a clay lamp flickers before a small pristine statue of the Samadhi Buddha.
Fifteen men and women sit cross-legged or with knees drawn up and the arms wrapped around them in a hall on the first floor of Siddhalepa Ayurveda Health Resort in Wadduwa, with a gentle breeze making the many trees tap their branches on the large window panes.
Ayubowan, is the greeting with which white-clad Vipula Wanigasekera begins a one-hour ‘meditative session’ to find oneself in this “moment” of time.
A rich experience: Vipula Wanigasekera holds a meditative session. Pic by Athula Devapriya
Measured is his tone of voice, urging the participants to still the mind, grasping the words carefully, while explaining that he would speak slowly. “Listen not only to the words and their meaning but also to the space and silence between those words. Then the mind won’t run around.”
Meditative sessions relax the mind bringing about peace and tranquillity in this modern world. Meditation can also take you to a higher elevation, according to him, as Mr. Wanigasekera explains how he will guide the group through that one hour.
For Mr. Wanigasekera who is here to teach the group “not something I have learned from a book” there is no idea of linking this session to a particular religion. He would not be sharing anything he has heard from another, only his experiences. “If I could experience it, there is no reason why you can’t. You can do your own analysis later.”
Conducting meditative sessions is not his job and there is no money involved, no fee is charged, but it has become his passion in recent times. For a living, Mr. Wanigasekera has dabbled in many fields in both the state and private sectors. Currently, the Chief Executive Officer of the Sri Lanka Conventions Bureau, he has left a mark on trading, shipping, marketing, tourism (as Head of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority) and diplomacy (as Sri Lanka’s first envoy in Norway).
With his interest in spirituality making him undergo training in various types of meditation, he is convinced that the truth has to be realised beyond the “false self”.
“No one can offer the truth to another, other than pointers and clues,” he believes and this is what he was attempting to provide to this group at Wadduwa that day in September.
His words and tone lull the group into a world where the sound of a passing train, the slight hum of the air-conditioner and the call of the geckos looking for insect-prey recede into the background.
The meditative session comprises two components:
n Meditate on tranquillity – calming down, starting to pay attention and relaxing in whatever posture you like
n Taking a hard look at yourself — encouraging yourself to take a hard look at yourself
“When we look at life two things govern us – ‘me or myself’ and ‘our life-story’, with past expectations of the future,” points out Mr. Wanigasekera, who, however, is hoping to ignite an interest in a search that will help discover something language is unable to explain.
Other than language, the senses are also interpretations by the mind. “But,” he promises, “here we will attempt to discover something beyond, something unexplained.” This is not a guarantee of achieving power or wealth but “a glimpse of a moment – a moment of truth, which will go a long way in bringing about peace and happiness”.
There flows forth a simile which he calls “a little rude and crude”. Supposing you have 10 minutes to live what will you want? Take a step into yourself, he urges, asking, where will you go to answer that. What do I want?
It is then that things start dropping off, expectations will start collapsing. That’s where we are heading……..living in the moment. Accepting this moment with no resistance, living only in the now, with no yesterday and tomorrow — for yesterdays and tomorrows bring about wanting and more wanting, making us trapped in suffering, anger, hatred and anxiety.
Do not make an effort, he requests. How does your food digest? Millions of functions are taking place although your body is in total relaxation. The body functions better than at other times, when you are relaxing because you are not disturbing your body with your thoughts.
“It is a perfect body, a perfect machine. The body does what it has to do, but would react if there is a bad thought, a thought about a problem. Close your eyes. Think that you have lost your visual perception. Closing your eyes help,” he says, asking the group what they feel – the warmth of your body and also that you are breathing. Pay attention to the functions of your body. You are breathing, your blood is circulating. Do you realise your body does not know what will happen tomorrow? You are completely relaxed, millions of things happen in your body to rejuvenate you. It rectifies disease, it cleanses impurities.
Although you are breathing, breathing doesn’t need you. It happens on its own. It is the same with your blood circulation, your digestion. So where is the entity called ‘you’? Keep your body relaxed. It’s an unaffected body, unaffected by the mind, by thoughts, he points out. “Similarly, without effort, be the ‘observer’ of your thoughts. This may look difficult initially because if you try to control your thoughts, your mind, a stream of thoughts comes at lightning speed. Your mind is very cunning, shrewd thoughts are very surreptitious. They attempt to come through the front door, failing which they will try the backdoor or the ventilator or the chimney.”
What do your thoughts want, he asks, explaining that they want to take you on a long journey – thoughts about dinner, thoughts about breakfast, thoughts about what you do, thoughts about your family. But you are the witness to your thoughts. Just observe them – witness them. See what happens. Thoughts arise and diminish. Why cannot a thought come and take you — because you are alert, you are observing them, you are conscious, you are aware. “You are in the now.”
“Thoughts cannot replenish themselves in the ‘now’. There would be no food for thoughts without your attention. In the now, you only acknowledge them but – thoughts have to go back, as the kitchen is closed. You just don’t need an effort to be alert and conscious. You can see how thoughts try to get you. But at this moment you are not walking into that trap. You are in the present,” reiterates Mr. Wanigasekera.
Thoughts come and go. You are the railway station. Let them come and let them leave but don’t board the train, for that is the insanity of normal life. You are very much present – only reality – everything else is a thought. This is the moment – only truth, he says. “Enjoy this silence, experience this silence, experience the vast space, nothing can trouble you, nothing can hurt you. Enjoy this freedom for a few moments until ‘I’ come back. It is an effortless effort.”
Who am I? Don’t try to find answers – it’s already with you, he says citing the example of the TV screen where a drama is being enacted. You are a witness but you are not affected. But if you get into a character, the life-story begins.
You relaxed your body without effort and had a glimpse of peace, happiness, tranquillity and freedom. What more do we want in life? In this little time apart for relaxing you dropped what was not you because you are in the now. You cannot do this with effort, for effort becomes a barrier.
Next, he urges the group to open their eyes and asks quietly whether anything drastic has changed. At least the next few moments will be calm and quiet. It is only when the mind comes back and prompts you that may be you could have gone for a swim, checked what is on Facebook or answered e-mails that the calmness leaves.
“But during that period of tranquillity and peace, thoughts lose their power and there comes peace. You need your mind but you shouldn’t be caught up in the lifestyle. You can’t get into the ‘me’ story because it is linked to the past and future. In the ‘now’ there is just a need to experience only this moment,” he underscores, adding that this is a simple form of meditation but there is discovery of you in the moment.
As he winds up the meditative session, we leave, ‘richer’, having experienced a moment of peace in this rat race which overwhelms us with its stressors which we call life.