Meditating with Jin

Yesterday, I went meditating with Jin at the "Centre Bouddhiste Kankala". The atmosphere at the place was really chill and relaxing. The woman conducting the meditation session invited us to think about something we enjoyed during the day, and how different individuals took part in this adventure, in order to thanks these scattered destiny which worked for our own benefit. For instance, she related about the cup of coffee she drunk at breakfast. She would think of the man who worked on the soil, the farmer who planted the coffee bean, and finally the cashier who placed the coffee pack on the shop shelf, and in between all the different actors involved in this process. Pushing the reasoning, she could thanks Watt for the invention of the vapour mechanisms, which allowed the boat to bring coffee overseas, and even the individuals responsible for the construction of the road between the shop and her place. At the end of the day, we would view humanity as a constellation of individuals directly responsible in the functioning of society, and the whole project of humanity.

On a similar idea, I would meditate on the pleasure I experience when I play a sonata written by Beethoven, let's take the example of the Pathetique. For this sonata to travel through time implies generations of teachers explaining to students how this music should be basically understood. Moreover, classical music labels such as Deutsch Gramophone also take action in the release and marketing of new interpretations of the famous sonata - Glenn Gould or Horowitz would show us two different worlds within the same sonata, each one is a subjective appropriation of Beethoven's creation, and add rather than conflict to the masterpiece.

Glen Gould's interpretation of Pathetique (first movement): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL0u9QXNvEg

Horowitz's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weEYNgeHyDA

Moreover, my personal understanding of the piece is a result of the many lessons I took with different teachers. My first teacher was a student of Le Conservatoire de Paris, while the two others were students at Moscow Conservatory...

Arises the question of society. As a matter of fact, from this perspective, we all take action in the shape of society. Moreover, leaving in an idealistic world where our coffee is really a fair product (thus the money we pay for it would be a fair amount necessary to the well being of the farmer etc.), would make us all better off than leaving in a world where things seems to work less idealistically.

I discussed these political ideas in previous articles, and it seems that everything goes back to this idea of being actor of the change we want to see. In my case, the central subject of my blog, Israel, is a case I feel I have the duty to understand in order to respectfully influence who should be...

A part from the philosophical ideas I showed up here, I believe I felt way better during the day than I usually do. It is a little early to state the link between meditation and general well being, but I will strive to better assess the link during my future sessions.