The #68 Madhukar Meditation Monday is to come.  Last Monday, on September 5, Suri broadcasted the #67 of MMM, as we lovingly abbreviate it. If you would like to sit with us – once a week, then read on – then this post is for you.

Madhukar Meditation Monday – every Monday at 8pm Silence for your daily life.

My experience is that stillness is quickly lost in everyday life. I might think. Of course I know that it is not lost – but only covered by everyday life. That’s why it’s all the more important to orient myself back into silence every now and then. I do this in the morning after waking up and in the evening before going to bed. However, I usually don’t have an hour there. For almost 20 years now – since I met my guru – I sit in silence on Mondays at 8 pm. I then reserve an hour to just be with myself, to just be, to be silence.

What do I do in this meditation?

To sit for an hour, I look for a place where I can really spend this time undisturbed in silence and where I feel comfortable. At home I set up a place where I meditate. What do I do in this place – what do I not do? I don’t try to quiet thoughts. I simply apply what Madhukarji recommended: I sit comfortably, make sure my body is upright. Because I noticed – in the podcast I talked about sitting comfortably. What I mean by that is I sit comfortably upright. For you, it could mean that comfortable means something completely different…  the podcast episode #08 (click) is in German language. That’s the episode, where Suri and I talked about how you can get the most out of an online retreat. Sorry, it’s only for you if you can follow German language.

But let me come back to how I meditate.

I sit upright, maybe I unbutton my pants, I close my eyes and focus my attention on presence. I ask myself, “Who am I?” And I don’t wait for an answer – I use the question to orient myself to presence. And I do that for about an hour. At some point, I realize I’m getting quiet. The corners of my mouth pull up, there is a happiness that begins to radiate from within. Sometimes I am so stressed out from the day that it just doesn’t get calm. It also happens then that I am disappointed. But I use that again to ask, “Who am I?” And at the latest when I finally open my eyes, I realize that there is a wonderful silence. I am.

How does Madhukar Meditation Monday work?

At 8pm, a life video begins on the Madhukar Enlighten Life Facebook page (click). Suri welcomes you and she has chosen a quote for you. It is from a book of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri W.H.L. Poonja or from Madhukarji. They are quotes, words born out of this silence. These have the power to help you arrive in that stillness. Then Suri starts playing a guided meditation spoken by Madhukar. You can download it from the website. It is called Chrystal Clear Presence. Madhukar’s words guide you into presence. And from this meditation you glide directly into silence. After about 45 minutes, a gentle gong – or rather, the soft tinkling of a fine cymbal – brings you back into your body consciousness. You open your eyes and are wonderfully refreshed.

Suri speaks English – sit with us even if you don’t understand English.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention that Suri speaks English at MMM. She does that because the participants are there from all over the world. And if others don’t understand English, I ask them: sit with us in silence anyway. I know that there are others sitting with us who understand English only with difficulty or not at all. Why should they? Quite simply, the language that unites us is silence. It is not important that people understand what is being said. What is important is that you are focused inward, that you are oriented. And that is much, much easier in community than alone. And some people have already taken this as motivation to learn English… So happy you – as this is the English blog post, you will understand, what Suri is saying during MMM.

If Suri is unavailable – is it cancelled?

No, the MMM is never cancelled. Sometimes Suri is prevented. In most cases this means that there is an online retreat and on Mondays at 8 pm there is Satsang. If you are not there, but would like to sit in silence on Mondays – then feel free to use the “tailwind” and sit together with the others. You can start one of the meanwhile almost 70 recordings of the live videos of MMM. My experience is that during a retreat I am even more successful in sitting on Mondays.

Silence for my daily life – silence for your daily life

For me, it is so important to establish this stillness in my daily life. 5 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes in the evening, and an hour on Mondays. And how do you do it, to cultivate this silence, to give this silence more and more its place in everyday life? Until there is only this silence left. Are you joining the Madhukar Meditation Monday? Write it to me in the comments. Or in the comment on Facebook at the end of the silence at MMM. Suri will be happy about many hearts!

And have a look at the upcoming retreats (click) – offline and online – if you like the MMM.