Releasing the "Why"
Ka’at Ib: Releasing the "Why"
Several months ago, I joined Neb Naba's Meditation class. Although meditation was not something new to me, I have found his classes extremely rewarding. I like the fact that the system he is teaching is purely African in origin. Many of the sitting positions we utilize in class can be seen in pictures inscribed on the walls of ruins of ancient Kemet (Egypt). As we chant the names of the Kemetic gods, I can often feel energy move through my body making me feel calm and invigorated at the same time. We coordinate our chanting with our body positions in order to bring about the greatest effect.
As I began to utilize my meditation skills both at class and at home, I have noticed that I have developed a better sense of internal calmness that continues with me daily. I also have noticed a strange but amazing phenomenon. At times, I may encounter an event on one day and the next day something would occur that had an uncanny resemblance to the event on the prior day. For example, I had watched the movie regarding the career of the Motown group The Temptations. After watching the movie, I noticed that my favorite Temptation song 'Your My Everything" was never played. I went to bed that evening thinking, "Boy, I sure wish they would have played that song". The next morning when I got in my car and turned on the radio. The very first song that come on was "Your My Everything!
As time went by, I began to have these experiences more frequently, to the point where I felt a need to ask Naba about them. His reply was "Oh, that's good!". When I asked him why this was happening to me, he smiled and stated and said that I should not try to intellectualize my experiences, just let it happen naturally. As a result of his response, I have tried to get away from the "why" of the experience and instead just get into the experience itself.
Naba has also taught us songs that are sung during spiritual cleansings and how to purify our spirits. These song will also assist us in our passage through the underworld after death. He has also taught us about the spiritual composition of humans beings, reincarnation, and the African origin of concepts such as the "ying and yang".
Additionally, many of the movements that we have been taught in class elicit an experience of being at one with self and the universe. At the end of class we often lay prone on the floor in order to "bathe' in the physical and spiritual stimulation experienced during class.
By the time you read this article, I would have completed level one of my meditation class. As a result, I will receive my spiritual name and a certificate of completion indicating that I have satisfactorily completed a course of meditation taught by an authentic Dogon priest.