{"id":244,"date":"2016-02-17T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-17T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/?p=244"},"modified":"2016-02-17T06:00:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-17T11:00:24","slug":"from-thrillness-to-stillness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html","title":{"rendered":"From Thrillness To Stillness."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can out of the world\u2019s cornucopia of delights.\u00a0 While there is something to be said for St. Irenaeus of Lyon\u2019s \u201cThe Glory of God is a human being fully alive\u201d, I believe that the\u00a0<\/span>Essence\u00a0<\/i>of God Consciousness is to be found in silence and stillness: in a word \u2013\u00a0<\/span>meditation<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"park-bench-1062627_640\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I took my first serious plunge into the world of meditation at the age of 18.\u00a0 A newspaper article on TM (transcendental meditation) piqued my interest; and so over a two week Easter break I packed my duffel bag and took the bus to Dublin where (while staying with my Godmother) I attended a nightly course on the history, philosophy, and practice of TM.\u00a0 I \u201cgraduated\u201d and started practicing TM (twice daily) for the next 4-5 years; through college and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having explored other forms of meditation over the years, I now practice a simple form of meditation akin to\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Centering Prayer<\/a>, where the use of a mantra is minimal and the experience is one of resting and quieting the mind in the stillness and silence of Divine Consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Meditation is Not About<\/b><\/p>\n

The practice of meditation is not a luxurious commodity that one uses in a self-absorbed manner for self-indulgent pleasure or stress-relief.\u00a0 While there are many mental, physical, psychological, spiritual, and emotional benefits to meditating, the art of meditation is essentially about the dissolution of ego so that a deep sense of communion with life\u2019s universal energy\/consciousness can be experienced (and applied) for the good and well-being of all.<\/span><\/p>\n

More important than spending time, money, and energy in seeking new spiritual experiences through new teachers and knowledge, is the\u00a0experience<\/i>\u00a0of Divine Consciousness within and the spiritual vision arising therefrom.\u00a0 This can only be attained through regular meditation.<\/p>\n

The aforementioned \u201cspiritual vision\u201d is the acquired ability to view the world, others, relationships, and the whole interconnected web of life, through a spiritually elevated and enlightened lens \u2013 one that (through regular meditation) can inspire real change and healthy activism in one\u2019s life and relationships<\/p>\n

\"heart-667013_640\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Daily Practice<\/b><\/p>\n

Whatever form of meditation you are comfortable with \u2013 in your \u201csacred space\u201d or group setting \u2013 the daily practice of meditation is ultimately about the expansion of human consciousness and the dissolution of ego-fabricated \u201cwalls of separation\u201d we have constructed within our hearts, homes, and global community.\u00a0 We are, and can never not be, One!<\/p>\n

For those who would like to explore some current trends and events in the world of meditation, I recommend these links:\u00a01.\u00a0Maharishi Effect<\/a><\/b>\u00a02.\u00a0How Meditation Can Heal the World<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Until our next yarn: Don\u2019t give me \u201cI don\u2019t have a minute in my crazy schedule for the luxury of meditation: that\u2019s well and dandy for the Tibetan monks but not for me!\u201d \u2013 I\u00a0<\/span>know<\/i>\u00a0you can spare 20 out of a daily 1,440 minutes for a silent encounter with God!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Photos: Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can out of the world\u2019s cornucopia of delights.\u00a0 While there is something to be said for St. Irenaeus of Lyon\u2019s \u201cThe Glory of God is a human being fully alive\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2586,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Thrillness To Stillness.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Thrillness To Stillness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pit Stop for the Spiritually Bamboozled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-17T11:00:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gerard A. Murphy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gerard A. Murphy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html\",\"name\":\"From Thrillness To Stillness.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-17T11:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-17T11:00:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#\/schema\/person\/aa5608648e5b0572a68caea83a994fe2\"},\"description\":\"Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Thrillness To Stillness.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/\",\"name\":\"Pit Stop for the Spiritually Bamboozled\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#\/schema\/person\/aa5608648e5b0572a68caea83a994fe2\",\"name\":\"Gerard A. Murphy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d179225d56f8a110fdf2c61df79c8a?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d179225d56f8a110fdf2c61df79c8a?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gerard A. Murphy\"},\"description\":\"Gerard A. Murphy is a former priest of the Catholic Diocese of Oakland, CA. He has an avid interest in evolutionary spirituality and cultural trends. His debut book, 'Do It Anyway: Deep Spirituality Meets Real Life' was published by Patheos Press in April 2017. It is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/author\/gmurphy\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Thrillness To Stillness.","description":"Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Thrillness To Stillness.","og_description":"Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html","og_site_name":"Pit Stop for the Spiritually Bamboozled","article_published_time":"2016-02-17T11:00:24+00:00","author":"Gerard A. Murphy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gerard A. Murphy","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html","name":"From Thrillness To Stillness.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-17T11:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-17T11:00:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#\/schema\/person\/aa5608648e5b0572a68caea83a994fe2"},"description":"Life for so many is a perpetual whirligig of sensory excitement and adventure; of constant motion, momentum, and mobility as one squeezes all that one can","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/from-thrillness-to-stillness.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Thrillness To Stillness."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/","name":"Pit Stop for the Spiritually Bamboozled","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#\/schema\/person\/aa5608648e5b0572a68caea83a994fe2","name":"Gerard A. Murphy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d179225d56f8a110fdf2c61df79c8a?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d179225d56f8a110fdf2c61df79c8a?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Gerard A. Murphy"},"description":"Gerard A. Murphy is a former priest of the Catholic Diocese of Oakland, CA. He has an avid interest in evolutionary spirituality and cultural trends. His debut book, 'Do It Anyway: Deep Spirituality Meets Real Life' was published by Patheos Press in April 2017. It is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/author\/gmurphy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2586"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}