Awarded the Padma Shri for 48 years of yeoman service to the
poorest of poor in health, Fr Joe Pereira’s applications of Iyengar yoga in
addiction recovery is today being practised in 44 countries. What is perhaps
not as widely known is that as National Coordinator of the World Community for
Christian Meditation WCCM), his teachings of yoga have reached beyond 120
countries. “When the WCCM invited me to their silver jubilee in 2008, I taught
them yoga for the practice of meditation,” recalls Fr Pereira.
Explaining the precepts of this meditation, Fr Pereira says,
“We use the body for prayer and through Iyengar yoga, I use a unique blend of
science and faith. As much as this is for addiction recovery, I also apply it
to communities of inter-faith for coping with stress. Meditation today is the
key to coping with life which is beset with illnesses brought on by stress,” he
explains. “The use of the body is important because most of the time when we
pray, we do so with the left hemisphere (thinking) whereas mediation and
contemplation activates the right hemisphere of the brain,” he adds of the
‘pure prayer’ aspect which has been practised by great mystics of the church
and other religions as well.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
“All religions
practice mediation. The primary purpose is to reconfigure ourselves with our
inner being. So when you sit together in meditation, you respect everyone’s
phrase (mantra) which, in contemplative practice, is like a password to the
absolute,” explains Fr Pereira of its unifying factor.
In Goa with the
express purpose of starting the practice here and replicating it across India,
he reiterates, “Meditation goes beyond dogmas. It’s pure prayer which creates
harmony and unites.”
(Science of Meditation
by Fr Joe Pereira will be held at the St Inez Church, Panjim on March 19, 2015
at 6.30pm).
