What organisers says is the most comprehensive meditation course ever offered in Canberra comes to The Griffin Centre this month. The free Meditation For Life course by the Sri Chinmoy Meditation Centre Canberra runs for seven sessions on Monday and Thursday nights from 7 to 28 November.

The progressive sessions approach meditation from different angles, aiming to engage the numerous reasons someone may seek the practice. These reasons include meditations for love, freedom, happiness, and fulfillment.

“Everyone is looking for something different; it depends on what your goals and motivations are. That is [the other] reason we don’t charge a fee, there is no guarantee for success,” says Prachar Stegemann, programs co-ordinator for Sri Chinmoy Meditation Centre Canberra.

Stegemann has been practising meditation for the past 40 years. Being a musician, he thought it might be able to help him with his performance by reducing nerves on stage and entering more into the source of the music. He found not only did it improve his musical practice, but it also improved everything about his day.

“The results were so good and surprising, I realised that there was something here, I thought I need to explore this further,” he says.

The exploration led him to the Sri Chinmoy organisation where he has been for the past 39 years. During that time, he has travelled to 30 countries sharing what he learned. Stegemann says he doesn’t like to refer to conducting courses as teaching because he believes it is something that everyone has the capacity to do. The courses remind people that they can awaken the spiritual heart, and quiet the mind, with those practices being the foundation of meditation.  

“When the mind is very busy or when it is stressed or worried or upset or concerned, it is like the sky being overcast on a rainy day. Those good qualities are there but we can’t see them, and we can’t feel them.”

Mr Stegemann says meditation is like exercise for the mind. Once you have exercised each day, even if it is just for a short time, your day is improved and there are physical feats you can achieve that you otherwise wouldn’t. If you master the art of meditation, depending on your motive and goals, you may be able to improve your work output, creative flow and general happiness.

Find out more about the free Meditation for Life course to be held at The Griffin Centre each Monday and Thursday, 7-28 November; canberrameditation.org

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