From A to zen

by Michael J. DeCicco

Meditation is not as difficult as the beginner may fear it to be.

Serlingpa Meditation Center, 514 Pleasant Street, is downtown New Bedford's highest-profile practitioner of the art of relaxing one's mind and body through meditation. Resident teacher Gerry Donovan explains why people visiting centers like his and teachers like him for the first time shouldn't be intimidated to get started. He said beginners usually think they can’t mediate. "Maybe your mind becomes even more active, like a child who doesn’t want to do what they are told. But meditation doesn't require super powers, just patience and persistence. You don't have to be perfect at it to get something from it."

The beginner should start slowly, he said. "You don't change your breathing," he said. "Just breathe normally and follow the breath with the mind. Two to five breaths will do. Don't do it for a long time at first. Make it as short as you want. It’s much better to enjoy a very short period of meditation than feel frustrated when you attempt a longer one. That's the basis of the understanding, of getting a greater sense of control over what's happening in your mind."

Donovan explained he started practicing meditation as a byproduct of his other profession: "I'm a psychiatrist. I recognized the need for myself and my patients to have a more friendly relationship with the things happening in the mind."

He sees his work as a resident teacher at Serlingpa as an extension of his belief in how meditation and mental health are related. "We all have problems. By focusing continually on them you can get stuck in a rut, feel depressed and discouraged," he said. "When you shift that focus to something peaceful like the breath, it's like taking a break without having to go anywhere."

The Serlingpa Meditation Center, named after a revered 11-12th century Buddhist teacher, has been open approximately 20 years. Donovan has been a disciple of its modern Buddhist philosophy since 2006. He recently completed a six-month intensive teacher training program at Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre in England.

He elaborated on what guided meditation is all about. Thoughts are happening in our heads both good and bad, he said. Most of the time, we don’t feel like we have any control over those things.

"With meditation, we learn that we can shift our attention away from negative patterns of thoughts and feelings into healthier and more productive patterns. In this way, meditation helps us lead happier, more productive lives," he said.

His center's meditations are in the Buddhist tradition, but people attending Donavon's center don't have to be Buddhist to benefit from and learn from meditation.

His center offers weekly drop-in classes (Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings), retreats, and in-depth study programs and classes. A prime example of the latter; an introduction to Buddhism workshop that will start January 3 and run the next five Tuesdays.

He also conducts regular chanted prayers, which are for those who wish to pray in the Buddhist tradition. "The Prayer Sessions are a guided meditation drawn from Buddhism," he said. "But our classes are for anybody with an interest in meditation. Regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or faith. You don't have to be a Buddhist to learn how to meditate or to benefit from it."

The center website boasts that the majority of its weekly classes are drop-in and are designed to be easily accessible to new meditators while being very engaging for those with more experience, allowing experienced meditators to go deeper and enhance their meditation practice.

More information is available at meditationinnewbedford.org.