Meditation on Father's Day

 An unusual event on Father’s Day. My daughter and I stopped by the Lake Shrine near Malibu. This was the property given to Yogananda, the great meditation scientist, and it’s a lake with swans and roses. Above the lake is a temple where they hold weekly meditation services.

My daughter and I just thought it would be fun to stop by — and since they’re now requiring reservations, we signed up for the meditation session. Not something we’d planned to do, but were happy to participate in.

The Father’s Day service was presided over by one of the monastics that is part of the teachers at the Lake Shrine. He noted that the last time he spoke, was at Mother’s Day, and he was happy to share insight into both — as the lessons and teachings and observations apply to both.

He quoted Yogananda on the topic, as well as Jesus, Krishna and others — it’s an all inclusive place, where they “teach the science of meditation.”

Now for those familiar with “Hacking the Afterlife” research, they know I’ve mentioned often how people on the flipside claim that “If they could have done anything different in their lifetime” the topic comes up.

Anthony Bourdain was the first one who mentioned it — Jennifer Shaffer, the medium I work with on our podcast HackingTheAfterlife.com said “Anthony is here.” I said “What does he want to talk about?” And I proceeded to ask him some questions that Jennifer couldn’t have known the answer to, but I was able to research. I asked him who “greeted him on the flipside.” He described Bernard Loiseau, his chef friend who had also taken his own life.

Anthony made a joke about his friend “drinking alot” and I asked him if there was anything that might have helped him to stay on the planet. Jennifer said “I’m seeing monks chanting.” I said “Oh, Anthony did you used to meditate? Is that why you’re showing her that?”

He said “No, you idiot, if I knew how to meditate I’d still be on the f*&cking planet.” In that way that only Mr. Bourdain could have said it.

I’ve heard it often — meditation can heal people.

Richard Davidson’s work at the University of Wisconsin proves scientifically that meditation can “cure or alleviate symptoms of depression.” That’s not opinion, theory or belief — and has zero to do with religion or philosophy — or even yoga — but Davidson’s research shows that a single session can “change the shape of the amygdala.”

Which of course is the regulator of emotion, the regulator of Serotonin — and something that people would benefit from “making work better.” Davidson’s “Healthy Minds” should be a must visit location for anyone concerned with depression or mental health. Not to circumvent or prevent a doctor’s desires or wishes — but to supplement. As any doctor I’ve ever heard — who has no idea of the science behind the research say “If it doesn’t harm the patient, I have no problem with them using alternative methods.”

Meditation is one of those methods. I’ve had numerous people reach out to me to report that it has helped their PTSD, or other mental issues — and I’m just a filmmaker reporting about it.

So back to the Lake Shrine.

Yogananda was someone who came to the US to pass along the good news, nearly a century ago, that meditation can help and heal. Going within. Med means measure in Latin — so measuring one’s thoughts.

But as I was at the Lake Shrine, listening to the speaker talk about meditation, I thought I’d try one. I focused on my father, an architect, who has spoken to me in the past from the flipside. But here it was father’s day and I just put him in my mind and asked him “What are you up?”

And I heard him say “Designing” and saw some incredible structures in the Prairie School of Architecture (which was a part of in the 1940’s at Holabird and Root in Chicago.) He showed me structures I’ve never seen before — but someone might find in a Frank Lloyd Wright kind of catalogue.

Then I remembered that during one of our sessions, Jennifer had said “Your father is telling me that he has met the famous architects and is working with them.” He was referring to Brunelleschi — and if one isn’t aware of his work, it’s in a number of Florentine buildings. I was seeing hallways and buttresses in my mind.

At that point, I turned to my daughter and asked how she was doing. She said “It’s strange, I had my eyes closed, not thinking about anything, and suddenly these images of Italian architecture came into my mind. Hallways and structures.”

For those who are fans of the book “Flipside” they’ll know that it was our daughter who ran into from the kitchen at age three to say “Grandpa’s in the kitchen!” Resisting the urge to jump up and run in — I said “That’s nice. Why is he here?” She looked at her baby brother in her mom’s arms and said “He came to see the baby.”

I said “Does he want to tell us anything?” She looked around at our crowded apartment and said “He says “You guys need a bigger house” and then “He loves you very much.”

So the idea that my dad would project the same images to me and my daughter at the same time during this meditation doesn’t surprise me. It’s not her focus, never has been — and she’s never been to Italy.

But I have. And so has he.

And here we are, a decade after his passing, on Father’s day, getting a direct message from him.

It’s not hard, but worth exploring.