Kelee Meditation and Ron Rathbun's meditation approach. Notes - Part 1 - A unique meditation approach touch several key bases.

 Kelee Meditation and Ron Rathbun's meditation approach. Notes - Part 1 - A unique meditation approach touching several key bases

This find was completely random and unexpected. It started one evening when spontaneously traversing the Apple App Store and finding an app called "Kelee Meditation". I read some details and was interested in this little app and the meditation approach, which I had never heard about before-- being the meditation buff that I am. I then discarded the idea for several months, and planned on returning again to the Kelee Meditation once I had cleared my plate of some existing work.

Probably 6 months later, I had some free time to explore this meditation again, and listened to a few podcasts with the founder Ron Rathbun. I was immediately interested when he relayed his background and early traumatic childhood, related to his own father's 'stuff' as a returned vietnam vet. My own background was similar and I could related to how messed up growing up with a vietnam vet as a father could be.

The actual meditation approach seemed more aligned with health, medicine, healing, stress reduction and these secular meditation benefits.. there wasn't much religious or spiritual involved from what I could gather. There was a highly unusual vocab / lexicon however, and this would need to be understood to fully appreciate the meditation practice and approach. Another unusual factor was that the founder was into surfing, and there seemed like a small group of people with interests in surfing that had taken up the meditation. Most of the teachers or students seemed from this background. Again, pretty unique.

Another few months passed, and almost randomly, I found a social media post about a Beginners Kelee Meditation course, being offered online (great for my schedule), and based in NSW, Australia (again great for my situation at the time). I enrolled and waited for the 10 week course to start.. and then started some deep dive research. Ordered a couple of booked from Amazon related to the meditation. A beginners guide, and also Troubleshooting the Mind. Noted some key themes in the meditation approach as well.

Key themes:

- Health

- Stillness of mind

- Healing

- Reduction and elimination of stress, anxiety, depression

- Relaxation of tension

- Understanding (insight) into the causes of suffering

- Understanding of emotional triggers and causes that lie in the inner body/mind/'greater kelee' etc

- Minimal time investment-- 5 minutes to 15 minutes x 2 daily ideally

- Long term benefits aligned with the above, and that matched some forms of mindfulness meditation and relaxation type meditations (e.g. TM)

First experiences:

First experiences were good. Felt like a combo of calm abiding/insight with some awareness of awareness at the end or when settling at the 'surface of the mind' area. Nice combination approach with minimal time effort. Also like the emphasis on stillness of mind, reflecting at the end on the experience, journal, and relaxation of stress physically and mentally at the start.

Things that I like about Kelee Meditation:

- It offers an easy to follow, simple, streamlined and basic meditation routine that can be followed by virtually anyone

- It's neutral in language and philosophy, avoiding cultural limitations

- Quick and easy to perform - around 5-8 minutes meditation routine x 2 daily, with journaling after or at a convenient time

- Places emphasis on journal writing and reflection via writing a daily journal. This is a game changer for many people since journal writing can really clarify thought processes, reduce stress and anxiety overall, offer a private platform for emotional release and focus, and so much more. I can't really overstate the benefits in journaling, even random thoughts and topics that occur stream-of-mind. In KM, however, the emphasis is on journaling related to the meditation itself, it's quality, obstacles, and any emotional triggers, 'compartments' and other objects that become apparent.

- Stillness. This is another key aspect that is emphasized in Kelee Meditation. There's not many meditation approaches that make direct use of stillness and silence as their main vehicle, however, KM does this, which is refreshing for a change, and also works very well for those who are hooked into 'doing' and 'tasks' and techniques etc. This nondoing approach can also be a game changer for many aspirants.

- Mindfulness throughout the day, in terms of where one's attention (or 'conscious awareness') is wandering to, and what it is doing, then making use of skills in mindfulness to bring it back to the surface of the mind or what's in front of one.

- The philosophy works well with many other nondual approaches and teachings, specifically Advaita Vedanta and pragmatic Advaita (e.g. teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Nisargadatta, etc), but also works with certain schools of Buddhism, such as Zen, and some of the less complex forms of Mahayana Buddhism.

- The community centred around KM are very down to earth, simple in approach, and not at all like some 'spiritual' communities out there that suffer from various forms of delusion. The people using KM are mostly 'non-spiritual' types, which again makes this approach and community rather appealing for many aspirants that want a break from the usual spiritual community shenanigans.

I really have no issues recommending Kelee Meditation, taking a course in learning it, or ordering course books. It's a great introduction to meditation in general, outside of concentration type practices. It's also a great way to gain some experience in stilling the mind and thought, and abiding in the 'heart' space.