Meditative Self-inquiry with Mukesh Gupta, June 5, 2024

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Meditative Self-Inquiry with Mukesh Gupta
Esquimalt Gorge Park Pavilion
Wednesday, June 5, 2024

We are happy to have Mukesh Gupta facilitating dialogues with us after
a fairly long break. Ten people in total showed up to participate in a
dialogue session in the pavilion on a lovely warm day which promised a
pleasant spring to come. Mukesh began with a silent sit, followed by an
introduction to the concepts of “meditative” self-inquiry, many of which
the group members seemed familiar with. Also a good deal of what
Mukesh communicated was very much worth reviewing for everyone
present. He reminded us that the spirit and nature of this work was a
deep togetherness wherein we could look into fundamental questions in
our lives and feel safe to really explore the issues and our responses to
them. It is best if there is no hierarchy or psychological separation and
therefore a minimum of fear in our interactions. We are not interested in
judging each other or comparing ourselves with each other. We can
listen to each other from the heart and from beyond the words we are
using. Listening is much more than simply hearing.
Listening, Mukesh maintained, is more than gathering information. It is
about what is really true in the here and now. It is sharing a field of
compassionate learning wherein each moment can be a healing. We can
open up issues and look at them without making them “personal”.
Problems in this context are universal and shared by all humans.
In order to look and listen in this way, slowing down is important. The
mind must be quiet for listening to happen. “Seeing” is not separate from
listening.
One participant spoke of how being listened to can be powerful in
opening and deepening our experience. It can also be a part of the
process of dissolving the “me” or the “ego”. Another group member
stressed the importance of what he called “Presence” and others added
the significance of keeping a connection with a sacred space – a space
of “the unknown”. We all seemed to agree that emptiness has a great
beauty and that holding a question without finding a quick answer can be
a very meaningful “practice”. In this “meditation” there is no purpose, no
motive or goal. Listening can bring an end to separation, which is a great
gift.
We had one final period of silence in which the sensitivity of a deep
quietness was appreciated. It had been a very peaceful and yet rich
sharing of a gentle love and joy, and many participants seemed reluctant
to take leave.

DB