I met him for the first time in the summer of 2013. At the time when, having enjoyed the first stable standing on my feet, received the first recognitions and public evaluations for my work, more than successfully fulfilled my "five-year plan", ...I did not feel what I expected coming into me. Satisfaction - it failed. Passed by. Got lost. Disappointed.

And I started to find out the reasons, to study myself, to look for the unknown quantity in the equation of life.

That's how I came to Elijah's House and got to know Him. With meditation. I was 24 years old at the time.

Ramona [mākslas zinātniece un bijusī Latvijas Kultūras ministre]Met her nine years ago. Because just so recently is the time when meditation entered the space of our lives, became more accessible to everyone, regardless of profession or level of spiritual growth.

"It was at this time that Juris Rubenis was the first in Latvia to start the first Christian meditation lessons in the basement of the Lutheran church. It was something very radically new - a story and method of getting to know the "alien" self and finding/getting a way to live in this world, in this particular reality. How to accept ourselves and reality as we are.

At the same time, a small book "Introduction to Christian meditation" published by "Zvaigzne" publishing house was published - author ..Juris Rubenis. In it, one could read in a concentrated way about how to meditate, what inner discipline to cultivate, and what,

how long and complicated the road is - the road to yourself in silence."

Why would anyone have the need…. keep quiet? Furthermore, how can any practice of silence solve life's problems, help find fulfillment in married life, or relieve the tensions of two interacting hearts?

At the moment when we sit down or lie down during our day, our mind almost never becomes calm or quiet - on the contrary - it spins at the speed of a centrifuge here in the past, here in the future, grabbing even the crumbs from the present moment.

In such noise and activity, we cannot hear ourselves.

We worry constantly; say, - is life like that?! But don't we declare as very important and irrevocable things and problems that come and go, which in a month or a year will be long forgotten and, if written down, will later seem strange to us or, who knows, petty and amusing?

How to give up this squirrel wheel created by the mind? The first thing that anyone who thinks has probably tried is to fight the windmills of thought. Unfortunately, it is a battle that no one has yet won. Even more, such efforts give them even more energy to spin with double vigor.

Perhaps the real answer lies in the ability to ignore them. Pay no attention, let them come and go freely, focusing on what's important. To your life, life, your body and its depths.

To feel that the body is not simply an "element of the physical world" to which I am subject; what needs to be fed, laid, clothed, washed, what sometimes disturbs or annoys us.

To feel that it has its own wisdom and subtle intuition, listening to which we can better feel our needs and use the opportunities it gives wisely.

In the first part of life, we are all naturally focused on the outside - on getting to know the world, understanding it and winning our place in it. We make friends, study in schools, universities, build relationships, realize professional challenges, travel - figuratively speaking - build the ship of our life as strong, big and beautiful as we can. And the moment we feel pretty sure about our ship; its ability to sail in the waters of life and endure the worst storms, it, when finally let into the water, ... collapses in an instant. Because we have forgotten about the WEDGE. About the logical and simple law of physics taught at school - the bigger your ship and the wider its deck, the bigger its draft and the deeper its keel should be. It's the same with us.

The bigger, more exciting, more saturated our life is, the deeper our soul will demand to swim.

Here is also the answer, why.

Meditation, in my opinion, is one of the most effective, safest and, yes, later also - the most beautiful - paths to yourself - to your depths.

• In order to be able to build a true, deep and wise relationship with your spouse, you need to find within yourself the bed for this depth and the inexhaustible well of life, in which the other will always create refreshment.

The most important thing to remember when starting to be in the present is that there are no mistakes in this practice, and there are no failed meditations.

Even the most chaotic, cluttered with thoughts and worries, five minutes with yourself here, in this moment, is much more valuable than a smooth drift in nowhere.

• And also – no one can and will not be able to do it for you. Only you yourself, time after time, minute by minute, months, even in a process lasting years, can break through the cultural layer grown by your everyday life, mind and egoistic nature, revealing the unseen self beneath it, just like the clear ice of the river reveals to us a whole world of depth that lives under its winter cover. And to be able to make these discoveries in your fellow human beings, family members and friends -

behind their talks, actions, agitation and behind your mutual misunderstanding, behind misunderstandings and silence to meet the being there breathing and patiently waiting.

"It must be understood that it will be a long path, full of complications and also inner satisfactions, which can be compared to the way a newborn learns the world over time. Meditation strengthens the character. At the beginning, you have to fight a rather hard battle with everyday thoughts that attack your desire to be free from them. Only step by step, observing this discipline - the hygiene of your inner world - from time to time once, one second at a time, you begin to free yourself in your inner feelings from the reminders of the hurried household and the presence within you." [Ramona]

• The time of engagement, especially for brides, is most often saturated with planning, calculating, searching and organizing work. A concentrate of ideas and hopes. May the path of your breath guide you wisely to where all the answers and unshakable peace of mind reside.

Then the birth moment of marriage will be a strong springboard. An introduction to a long and fruitful continuation, which has its roots in depths invisible to our eyes, but felt by ourselves.

p.s. About how to maintain determination, where to find endurance at the beginning of the meditation path, as well as what are the most important and beautiful relationship benefits and changes that this practice brings - at some point in the future. Because there is enough to say.

Author of the article: Dārta Daneviča

Photo: publicity