Rituals in Practice: Embodying Transformation Beyond Meditation

Chapter Six | Free One Million Minds: Rituals in Practice: Embodiment as Transformation

12/23/2024

Duration | 2 minutes 52 seconds
Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger

synopsis

In this chapter, Dr. Symeon Rodger and Jamie Meyer explore the concept of transforming spiritual practices from rituals into embodied experiences. Dr. Rodger critiques the reliance on brief, scheduled meditation sessions to achieve balance, suggesting that real transformation occurs when individuals embody the principles and mindfulness of their practices throughout the day. They discuss how Eastern traditions, like Tibetan Buddhism, emphasise the importance of integrating meditation into daily life beyond the cushion, helping maintain focus and a state of mindfulness even when not actively meditating. The chapter underscores the necessity of living with intention and awareness continuously, rather than relying solely on short, isolated rituals.

dialogue summary

Jamie Meyer:
We become attached to the idea of having to meditate, right? So, if we don’t meditate, we feel off-kilter for the entire day because we haven’t set aside those 20 minutes. The difference between fast food and the depth of personal development you’re describing is that you don’t need to rely on small daily rituals to find that peace and balance. You can actually embody the benefits of those practices 24 hours a day.

Dr. Symeon Rodger:
To a great extent, that’s really the core of it. You could say a little more about it in the sense that if you’re only relying on the 20-minute ritual—let’s even make it 30 minutes—you meditate for half an hour, feel great, but then you get up, and your brain starts going in every direction. You spend the next 15.5 hours of your day in your old default setting, not in the peaceful meditation setting. What you’re really doing is reverting to your past harmful practices for 15.5 hours a day. How is 30 minutes of meditation supposed to counterbalance 15.5 hours of old behaviour? Clearly, it doesn’t.

And that’s why, if you look into some of these traditions—such as Tibetan Buddhism—they’ll talk about not only the meditation session itself but also what comes after. In these traditions, you’re always trying to keep your mind focused on a particular object or concept. It could be an energy center in the body, a specific relationship to reality, or something else. The key is to carry forward what you’ve done in meditation, even though it might not be exactly the same. The idea is that you can approximate that meditative focus throughout your day.

Credits Roll

references

Tibetan Buddhism is a rich tradition of meditation and mindfulness practice. It emphasizes integrating meditation into everyday life, with a focus on maintaining mindfulness even outside of formal meditation sessions. This holistic approach is reflected in the post-meditation practice, where practitioners aim to carry the calm and clarity developed in meditation into their daily activities.
Source for further reading: “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” by Sogyal Rinpoche
This book is a comprehensive guide to the principles of Tibetan Buddhism, offering insights into its meditation practices and how they are applied in daily life.

reading recommendations

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk – Explores the relationship between the body and mind in trauma recovery, showing the importance of somatic practices like Tai Chi and Qigong.