Everything has got EV (entertainment value) now. Even meditation.
Last night I went for a talk on this very subject matter. Though I was ready for some hands-on stuff, I wasn’t quite expecting the rest.
As we waited for the main event to start, soothing music enveloped us and words of encouragement promising us inner peace appeared on stage. Very effective.
Then there was a short sketch at the start that sort of explained the “our senses have been taken over by materialism” story. Quite well put though I did feel I was back in school. All followed by a short intro, then the main talk.
Did I learn anything? Without a doubt, I did.
Anger, lust, envy, attachment, ego. Our enemies that plunge us into darkness. Yet, there are ways to find inner peace.
Since I am a little familiar about meditation, that’s not what left a huge impression on me. It was the fact that for today’s audience, no matter what the subject matter is, you have to jazz up everything.
When I do training, I try to remember that. This means that for most participants, I have to dig deep for interesting facts (not unlike Discovery Channel), or get them involved in some interesting activity or other.
Ignore this, and you can expect a feedback form that will have you banging your head against the wall.
What I hadn’t realised, and made me feel like the proverbial katak under the tempurung (frog under coconut shell), is that entertaining the crowd has become a staple in every single area, even, or should I say specially the more serious ones. Silly me had assumed that meditation would have been one area that would have been exempted.
But then why should it be?
A couple of years ago, when I used to hit the gym, the fast paced power packed yoga sessions there always left me agog. Having already taken up yoga under a trained in India instructor, I knew that generally hatha yoga poses were meant to be done slowly.
You do them at your own pace, stretching as far as you could. Some poses (like the peacock pose) were not recommended for women. The muscle man at the gym didn’t seem to know this cos he was always hurrying through a gazillion poses in 45 minutes. Gym yoga was a like child given way too much sugar.
So, instead of coming away totally impressed with ideas and thots on meditation last night, I came away thinking how everyone caters to their audiences’ whims and fancies. When you look at the big picture, the danger of this is ….
Well, aren’t there lessons that you have to force upon a teenager no matter how distasteful it is? And if you are going to say we should never “force” anyone to do anything, please take a look at the funny work attitudes that today’s fresh graduates proudly display. It’s all linked.
We now live in a consumer world, where our customers are always right, no matter what it concerns, cos it all affects our goals (bottom line).
