Dr. Saleh Vallander Abdellatif ’11 Prescribes
Meditation HOW DID YOU ORIGINALLY GET INTO MEDITATION?
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s a medical student in Sweden, Saleh Vallander Abdellatif ’11 turned to meditation to manage the stress of medical school. He ended up embarking on a path of self-discovery which has drastically altered his perception of the world and his approach to medicine. His recently-published book, 72 Meditations for People Who Don’t Have Time to Meditate (currently only available in Swedish) attempts to assist others in getting to know themselves better through meditation. Beyond King’s spoke with Abdellatif to learn more.
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BEYOND KING’S
I was in my third year in my medical studies, and I was on the verge of mental collapse. It was too much packing in of information and not enough emotion or human element. It felt wrong, because as a doctor you’re supposed to develop your humanity so you can help other people. I decided to take a break and feel out what I want. I had been practicing meditation for some time, but this is when I began meditating full time. That was all I was doing, all I was thinking about: finding a way to get more in contact with myself, find more self-acceptance and more peace of mind. YOU HAVE JUST COMPLETED YOUR MEDICAL DEGREE AT A WESTERN INSTITUTION, BUT MEDITATION IS OFTEN CONSIDERED A PRACTICE OF EASTERN MEDICINE. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO APPROACHES? Western medicine approaches the body as if it’s a machine made up of different parts, which are the organs. It doesn’t really view the body as a holistic organism in which all the parts are deeply interconnected. Eastern medicine is more holistic. By healing the mind you’re healing the body, and that’s where meditation comes in. But then again, Western medicine is very important, all the scientific discoveries they’ve come up with are of course very valuable. What I would like to see is a combination of the two.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE MEDITATION? There’s a big misconception that meditation is about being able to sit for many hours without having a single thought. This is of course impossible — even advanced practitioners have trouble silencing their mind, so to start with that goal would be a recipe for failure. Meditation is a continuous process within you of getting to know yourself through observing and accepting. Whatever arises — any thought, emotion, sensation — you observe it, you see it for what it is and then you accept it. As long as that process continues, you can be considered as meditating. My book is designed for people who are curious about meditation but who don’t know where to start, what techniques to use and so on.
WHY IS MEDITATION IMPORTANT AND HOW DOES IT HELP YOU TO CONNECT WITH YOURSELF?
WHAT IS ONE MEDITATION READERS CAN DO RIGHT AFTER FINISHING THIS ARTICLE?
By observing your own thoughts, emotions and sensations, you’re able to understand your inner patterns and what’s going on within you. That gives you greater freedom in your life, because suddenly, you’re not run by these fleeting thoughts and sensations. You’re more in touch with your body and you can use your mind more intelligently. Meditation is very practical and functional in that way. But it’s also rewarding on the basic level of finding happiness, being truly at peace with who you are and what this life has to bring.
There’s this meditation called selfinquiry, through which you go around asking yourself, “who am I right now?” and you observe within you what kind of answers and feelings come up. For example, if I’m walking, I ask myself, “who is it that is walking right now?” You observe what kind of feelings and thoughts arise as spontaneous responses to that question; you’re not actively trying to think, but you’re allowing those responses to arise. The valuable thing about this technique is it can be practiced whatever you’re doing, parallel to your daily life.
FOR SOMEONE WHO’S JUST STARTING TO PRACTICE, SHOULD THEY AIM TO BE MEDITATING EVERY DAY FOR A SHORTER AMOUNT OF TIME, OR SHOULD THEY BE INVESTING IN FEWER PRACTICES PER WEEK, BUT LONGER ONES? Whatever you feel is good for you, you should do. There’s no one right way; even one or two minutes of selfawareness is valuable. Meditation is about changing your whole lifestyle; it’s about changing your whole way of viewing things in life, which is quite a radical shift. It’s a very gradual process, so it should start gradually.
SPRING 2020
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