"Contemplative is an initiative to promote the study and practice of contemplation to enable stillness and absorption, deeper consideration and simpler living"
" Have no hopes."
There is no causing or directing the movement that is this moment
Healing with Contemplative Practice
There is no better way to heal than to rely on yourself. Unlike other forms of healing, practices such as reflection, contemplation and meditation are proven to work to help you recover from trauma and distress. With these methods you acquire the skill to gently and consistently realign your mind and body towards stillness, calm and healing. There are various ways to bring about healing such as visualization, body-sensing, breathwork, just sitting, deep reflection etc. Connect with us to find out more about how these time tested ways can help you heal.
Contemplation: The Study And Application Program, Delhi
Contemplation as a practice for generating insight and well-being has ancient roots. However, it has only begun being systematically studied, through the lens of science, metaphysics or philosophy. The program for the study and application of contemplation at contemplative hopes to engender interest in the examination as well as the application of the art of contemplation. We hope to promote multidisciplinary study of the process of contemplation as well as drive informed practice, experience and realization in our part of the world. Connect with us if you would like to be part of this movement or simply learn how you can make the process of contemplation a source of learning, growth and rejuvenation.
Contemplation has been simply defined as the act of regarding steadily. At Contemplative, we hold the view that this act of deep reflective consideration or steady attention has a purpose. That purpose is to connect with or experientially realize what we find most valuable or meaningful. With this attention on realizing meaning, we can free ourselves from what keeps us in bondage and discover spaciousness, healing and joy.
The program for the study and application of contemplation aims to facilitate this very freedom from bondage by looking into the process, the arena as well as the subject matter or the focus of the act of contemplation. As in the wisdom traditions, the program's focus will often be on seeing clearly, the nature of reality, the nature of the mind or the nature of our experience. Not only are these topics worthy of contemplation, engaging in understanding and furthering these insights have been shown since ancient times to bring emancipation, well-being and peace.
Our Vision
We hope to promote contemplative practice, experience and absorption as a means of transformation. The transformation we aim to bring about is a shift from the usual reflexive and automatic way of life into a value and meaning centred approach to all the distractions, activities and distress of everyday life.
We aim to introduce our audience to the experience of contemplation as also to enable them to start and sustain their own unique and individualized contemplative practices drawing from a range of philosophies and fields of activity including the eastern wisdom traditions. Through contemplative practice, we hope to engender compassion, steady reflection, productivity, wellness and a focus on values in the individual as well as the collective. Our primary message is that contemplative practices are an elegant way to well-being and flourishing despite distress.
What is Contemplation
According to the center of contemplative mind in society:
"Contemplative Practices cultivate a critical, first-person focus, sometimes with direct experience as the object, while at other times concentrating on complex ideas or situations. Incorporated into daily life, they act as a reminder to connect to what we find most meaningful.
Contemplative practices are practical, radical, and transformative, developing capacities for deep concentration and quieting the mind in the midst of the action and distraction that fills everyday life. This state of calm centeredness is an aid to exploration of meaning, purpose and values. Contemplative practices can help develop greater empathy and communication skills, improve focus and attention, reduce stress and enhance creativity, supporting a loving and compassionate approach to life."
Contemplative Practice and the Contemplative Way
While there are many ways to engage in contemplative practice, our way of contemplation draws mainly from the eastern wisdom traditions, such as buddhism, daoism and dzogchen. That being said, we are adept at practices such as bodysensing and breathwork as well as focussed attention and open monitoring meditation. We are constantly learning and hope to include in our repertoire other ways of contemplative practice that involve movement and the creative arts.
Bringing contemplation into daily life can be a period of significant change. Not only are we used to the frenzy of our everyday life, we take comfort in it. Contemplation involves a stilling, a quieting of the mind brought about through various techniques so that we can create a space for creativity, compassion, growth and healing.
Our emphasis is often on bringing about a recognition of the futility of the reliance on what is inconstant and impermanent. Thoughts, feelings, sensations, the world, the mind and our circumstances are all inconstant and an ancient way of practice is simply to recognize and realize this fact. This can be achieved through periods of sitting still or via practices such as breathwork and bodysensing.
Another ancient way is to reflect upon what might be absolute. As in, constant and certain. This contemplation focuses on the inherent unsatisfactoriness of that which arises from causes, which is actually anything we can experience. Contemplation of the causeless can be a secular practice and need not rely on any form of religious belief.
Such contemplative practices call for a temporary letting go of our usual enchantments and inclinations and involve some learning. We believe that the only intelligent response to life's vicissitudes are to rely less on that which arises from causes and is hence impermanent to searching for what is causeless and absolute.
Space for the contemplation of impermanence as well as what might be absolute can be created irrespective of religious beliefs and does not have to rely on any dogma or rituals. What is needed is the recognition and familiarization with the value of such practices.
The purpose of any such practices is to create the ability and the flexibility to negotiate obstacles and difficulties as well as to enhance concentration, joyful absorption, creative flow, energy and resilience, present moment awareness and the space to deeply connect with what is most valued, meaningful and important.