Meditation and the right brain

I had one of those wierd coincidences today that has me thinking.

Recently, I purchased a copy of Quantum Wellness: A Tranformative Guide to Health, Happiness and a Better World by Kathy Freston.  I had borrowed it from the library and wanted my own copy to work through in more detail.  She has very interesting ideas on self-motivation and a holistic approach to wellness.  One of the practices she recommends is meditation, something that I have long wanted to try, but couldn't seem to get started.  

First event:  A few weeks ago, I came across a podcast from the Meditation Society of Australia called Learn to Meditate (available free on iTunes) and downloaded the first few classes.  This morning I decided to give it a try after everyone had left for the day.  I watched the introductory videocast, and then went through the first guided meditation.  I had some insights about the connectedness of a living beings, and felt convicted about one relationship in particular.  

Second event:  I watched Oprah this afternoon.  Her guest was Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist who survived a stroke and wrote the book My Stroke of Insight:  A Brain Scientists Personal Journey.  She had an unusual type of stroke in which she (temporarily) lost the workings of the left hemisphere of her brain.  Her description of her experience of no past, no future, and no emotional baggage, and the bliss that she experienced was very much like what I imagine a peak meditative experience to be like.  She spoke of her sense of the connectedness to all living things during the first hours of her stroke...how she didn't experience her body at all, but rather felt like pure energy.  Over the past eight years, she has regained her health but is a different person.  She has lost her anger and anxiety.  Her creativity has blossomed.  She has wise words for health care personnel, and for all of us, about the way we interact with others.  That we as individuals are responsible for the energy we bring to others.  It was a remarkable discussion, and I look forward to reading her story.

Third event:  In today's mail, I received the book Praying in the Presence of Our Lord: Prayers for Eucharistic Adoration by Fr. Benedict Groeschel from a fellow BookMoocher.  I've identified a couple of parishes in town that have adoration on a weekly basis.  This is a practice in which I have had profound experiences of connectedness with Christ.

These three events, happening on the same day, suggest I am being asked to set aside time for a deeper, more spiritual experience of life.