Pointing to the Moon

[derekjthomas]

Hello, My name is Derek John Thomas.
I am living in South Korea, but am origianally from the U.S.A.
I have been a meditator for a number of years now, and am currently teaching a beginner's course in meditation at my university.
I origianlly came to meditation through Taize prayer.
I'm sure most of you are aware of it, it is a sung chant prayer form developed to increase inter-denominational understanding and worship within the Christian churches. It sarted in Taize, France.
This led me to explore Centering Prayer, from the Roman Catholic tradition.
When I came to Korea, I explored some of the Buddhist and Hindu based meditation forms.
I finally understood what they always say about the unimportance of technique after all of that.
Well, that's my C.V. in meditation.
Nice to meet you all.

p.s. I haven't really been part of this kind of on-line forum before. It looks there is a little bit to learn about using it.

[GilesC]

Hi Derek and welcome to the Proj. Meditation community.

I'll be honest, I'd never heard of Taize prayer before, though I'm familiar with a lot of different meditation techniques.
In my view, meditation is simplicity itself, sometimes so simple that people struggle to find that simplicity. It doesn't need religion, faith or beliefs to be able to work, yet it can seemlessly integrate with those things if a person desires.

Look forward to seeing you around.

I'm sure if you've any questions on using the forum, somebody will be able to assist. Just ask.

[derekjthomas]

Thank you for your hospitality and kind words.
I'm looking forward to being around. ^&^
And, you're right. Meditation is the simplest thing around. All you really need is a conscious mind. However, rather than integrating meditation into religious or other spiritual practices, I think it is important to remember that meditation, in all its diverse forms springs from a spiritual/religious milieu, and is informed (even if indirectly) by its beginning.
Just a thought. ^&^