OLLI0124 - Meditation and Devotion: Inhabiting the Divine

Course Description

This is a meditation class, open to both beginning and experienced meditators. We will explore the intersection of meditation and devotion. We often think of meditation as something we do, some practice we undertake. While this is likely how we understand meditation in the beginning, over time we may come to see meditation less as an activity and more as a shift into a way of being. Less as effort, and more as “being surrendered” into something larger than our ordinary, familiar consciousness. Being surrendered is not something we can make happen by will. Being surrendered into this larger consciousness is something that happens by grace. Devotion to the Divine is one pathway to grace. In particular, visualization of the Divine, in both feminine and masculine forms, elicits the energies of Devotion. Devotion in meditation takes many forms, whether through visualization of the Divine in silent meditation, or through sacred chant, or through the repetition of heart-opening words or phrases (mantra). We will practice stabilization of attention in body and breath, and then through visualization we will become familiar with inhabiting the Divine, with whatever expression of the Divine the student has affinity. Chant and mantra are simple ways to carry Devotion into everyday life. In this interspiritual exploration, we will sample Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Sufi ways to practice. Devotion gives us a different ground on which we can meet the challenges of our time. This course will be recorded.