Meditation: A New Experience

By ABIDJAN WALKER

"You have to let go of your sense of time," said ASP student Annie Trowbridge, referring to the first Wednesday afternoon weekly meditation session led by Rick Pacelli, Master Teacher for the Ecology course at the Advanced Studies Program. She said that she had taken yoga before and "wanted to try [meditation], to see if [she] could do it."

"[Meditation] is simple, but not easy," said Mr. Pacelli. A teacher at St. Paul's School for the past twelve years, Mr. Pacelli teaches Astronomy, Physics, Biology, and Robotics, and leads a similar meditation group during the school year. In addition to his work with the Ecology class, Mr. Pacelli will facilitate a weekly meditation session in the Chapel of St. Paul (also known as the old chapel), which is located next to the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul at the heart of the school's grounds; the group plans to meet each Wednesday afternoon during the ASP's five and a half weeks.

More than twenty-five years ago, Mr. Pacelli began meditating when he was working at the Covenant House in New York City, where volunteers work with street youth. Someone suggested that the volunteers try meditation, so Mr. Pacelli attended a talk by Father Thomas Keating, a leader in the realm of Christian meditation. That day, Mr. Pacelli took a chance on something new. He has continued to meditate ever since.

In order to meditate, one must let go of thoughts, let them come in and go out. Mr. Pacelli describes the meditation experience using the metaphor of trains leaving the station to describe these efforts. "It's as if you're in a train station. You sit there at the station and do not get on board," he said.

Ideally, one should meditate twice a day for twenty minutes, according to Mr. Pacelli. There are many ways to meditate and all of them work best when the participant is comfortable. The universal rule in meditation is to resist judgment, since a judgment is a thought.

Ironically, ASP student Jeff Asselin said, "[The meditation session] helped to collect my thoughts." He added that the session also helped him to "rest [his] mind in the middle of the day." Mr. Asselin, like Miss Trowbridge, attended the session to try something new, and liked it.

"I felt like I belonged," said ASP student Meg Jones, referring to the group dynamic. Mr. Pacelli believes that inside the heart of every person is divinity, which can be understood as the ultimate peace. Meditation is the way in which everyone can get in touch with his or her divinity. Meditating as a group, therefore, creates a central fountain of peace.

Miss Trowbridge said that she felt more relaxed at the end of the experience; as a result, she indicated that she plans on returning for the session next week, a sentiment shared by Mr. Asselin and Miss Jones. "If you are interested in meditation, you should give it a real chance," said Mr. Pacelli said. Taken another way, if you do it and do not like it, at least you can say that you tried it.