‘Meditation is the only thing that can help us’, Pablo d’Ors arrives in Guayaquil with three conferences on spirituality, silence and dialogue

He is a reference in the field of meditation and spirituality, and one of the main guests of the “Sadhana Yoga” conference, which will be held on September 8, 9 and 10 at the Guayaquil Convention Center. And he is also a Catholic priest who starts his interview with this newspaper by talking about Christ. Pablo d’Ors from Madrid has a number of other facets (author, speaker), but this is where he begins his presentation to the Ecuadorian public.

Pablo, meditation is something that several religious practices have in common, in your case Christianity, but also Buddhism. What distinguishes Christian meditation from that of other religions?

What separates Christian meditation from meditation in other traditions is clearly Christ. Of course, Christ is not simply Jesus of Nazareth, but rather the one in whom “we are, we move and we exist”, to put it like Saint Paul, that is, the mystery of being. At the risk of oversimplification, I would say that the horizon towards which we Christian meditators aspire is not simply the ‘I Am’ that every seeker points to, but rather an ‘I Am Love’, meaning the transpersonal thing to see in the spiritual quest is pursued is also still personal in Christianity. I am aware that my answer is a bit technical, and I am really sorry.

You have stated that you are sure that the Pope meditates, because he has great power. How does meditation strengthen us spiritually, emotionally and mentally?

The Pope will meditate in his own way, I have no doubt. Whether he does it in a silent way, I don’t know. Probably not. But I have only met two men before whom, as soon as I saw them, I felt the need to kneel before them, because they conveyed to me something mysterious and sublime: Pope Francis and Franz Jalics, my teacher, who, by the way, met. each other. Meditative practice helps us detach from the emotional and the ‘sentimental’ since that is not what we radically are. On the contrary, it helps us to identify with the witness, with the consciousness, with the soul, we could also say. I know of no form of “self-knowledge” so powerful in human history as that which comes from meditation or contemplative prayer.

Do you think it is essential to meditate for balance and well-being?

It is clear that there are people who live with a certain well-being and with sufficient balance without ever having meditated, in the strict sense of the word, which does not seem essential to achieve such a goal. However, I would venture to say that without silence, without calmness, there is no possibility of personal equilibrium. And meditation is nothing more than a practice that ritualizes silence so that there is at least some room for listening and calmness in everyday life.

For our readers, how can someone who has not done it before go into meditation?

Usually I recommend that they set the timer on their cell phone for ten minutes and sit with their backs upright until the alarm goes off, try not to move and just watch their breathing. That alone is usually quite an experience. Before this exercise, we realize that silence brings out the inner restlessness in which we usually live, our inner anxiety, which manifests itself in all kinds of physical discomfort, as well as noise and mental distractions. If all this is not looked at, and that is meditation, at least in the first phase, if all this is not gone through, we will simply live on the surface and, in a word, we will not know what life is about. . I recommend starting to meditate alone until we realize that we need the teaching of those who have already walked these paths.

How can we notice that we are doing well?

In many things, although almost never before three months of systematic practice of at least 25 minutes a day: less hot temper, more patience, more understanding and generosity… In short, the fruits of inner cultivation are peace, love, and joy, in that order. The road is long and steep, I’m not going to hide it. Jesus of Nazareth said the door was narrow. But the benefits are huge. So much so that life without them is a simple caricature of what it really could be like if we were awake.

Do you need a teacher or companion?

Definitely yes. Although maybe not at first. You can only learn to read and write, but of course It goes much faster when you go to school and when a teacher teaches you. The same as with words, happens with silence. The great things in life, like love, spirituality or art… we don’t learn them without others. The Spirit passes from person to person, it is an energetic transfer, not a simple technique.

Which teachers do you recommend listening to or reading right now?

There are many deaths that are very much worth listening to or reading. Among Christians: Jalics, Main, Merton, Enomilla Lasalle, Father Dávila and Antony De Mello… Among non-Christians: Yogananda Paramahansa and Ramana Maharshi above all others. Also to Dr. David Hawkins. Among the living, Gonzalo Rodríguez Fraile, Miguel Ibáñez and Anton Tekkei Coppens helped me.

You are the author of biography of silenceWhich books do you recommend? Can you meditate with the scriptures?

I recommend reading The Russian Pilgriman anonymous Russian, and of course Contemplation exercisesby Franz Jalics, plus my own essay Biography of light. The meditation I am talking about is silent, so it is not done with the Holy Scriptures. The Bible helps a lot in inner growth, especially the Gospels, but they are for study and mental and emotional prayer.not strictly for contemplative.

Based on the books you’ve written, you define yourself as a “dear disciple.” Is it necessary to do yoga or be a committed, practicing Christian (be a disciple) to meditate?

To do meditation You don’t have to belong to any religious denomination at all. Yoga on the other hand, and I am not a yoga expert, is a form of meditation in itself. All that is required to meditate is that you are thirsty for life and truth, and that you do not suffer from any mental disorder. I am a good disciple because I have had and have good teachers and because I follow very faithfully the disciplines they suggest to me.

We believe that spirituality is always religious, what is that from your perspective?

Spirituality is the cultivation of mind and body through mindfulness that produces fruits of harmony and compassion. If you pay attention to your body and your mind, and that practice makes you more compassionate towards others and more harmonious with yourself, whether you know it or not, then you are a spiritual person. Religiosity is the glass and spirituality is the water. If a religion allows us to drink the water of life, that is welcome. If not, then that religion is nothing more than culture at best and folklore at worst.

How would the growth and spread of the practice of meditation help us in societies ravaged by violence?

I’m not going to say it would help us much, because that’s obvious. I will say that It’s the only thing that can help us, as any external change that is not supported by an internal transformation simply has no basis and will not be sustainable. Everything we see outside is nothing more than a projection of what we have inside, so we’d better look inside ourselves a little if we want the world to change for the better.

Pablo d’Ors arrives in Guayaquil to deliver three lectures:The Art of Meditation”, “The Spirituality of the Desert” and “The Power of the Question”. He is 60 years old and his work includes eight novels, short stories, essays, translations and collective works. These titles include the “trilogy of silenceis made from The friend of the desert, biography of silence And Forgetfulness of oneself.

The “Sadhana Yoga Conference” will be inaugurated today, September 8 in the Clemente Yerovi room of the Convention Center with an event open to the public, the forum “Yoga, proposal for peace”, which will bring together all the teachers participating in the meeting: D’Ors, Madhava Naidoo, Swami Premananda and Zain Syedwith the special participation of the chamber orchestra of the República de Francia school.

On September 9 and 10, admission costs $150 (for one day) and $250 (full weekend). Registration for the event is done on the SadhanaYogaConference.org website. (JO)