Mawson Helps Others Find Health Through Meditation

As a heart transplant recipient, Robert Mawson has a personal interest in alternative and preventive medicine.  And from his own health struggles Mawson has developed the knowledge and compassion necessary to help others--something he now does through weekly meditation classes in Hastings.   

Mawson conducts workshops on disease prevention throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East.  And thanks to the transformative effects of meditation, Mawson says he is able to subdue the daily and nightly pain that results from heart transplant medications, osteoporosis and kyphosis. 

An ordained Buddhist monk,  Mawson received his meditation teaching certification at the largest monastery in Thailand and the largest Buddhist temple in the world.  But before becoming a monk, he lived and worked in more than twenty countries, first as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist for the British Army, and later for a multinational company.  Mawson has taught meditation to diplomats and international civil servants at the United Nations headquarters.  But he also has extensive experience teaching lay persons in Asia and and in the West. 

Mawson's heart transplant was featured on the Discovery Channel's Second Opinion with Dr. Oz. He has appeared as a guest on international television and radio programs, and has been on the front cover of RX Success and several other leading magazines.

But despite his impressive resume, Mawson is passionate about bringing the mental and physical health benefits of meditation to locals as well.  A Certified Clinical Nutritional Consultant, he is currently president of Vitality by Design, Inc., a company dedicated to the maintenance of health, wellness and vitality.

Both before and after the a guided meditation session, Mawson stresses the concepts of self-love and the power of the mind, two ideas he believes in whole-heartedly.  

Patch asked Mawson to go into more detail about his experiences with meditation.  The transcript of the conversation follows:

Hastings-Dobbs Ferry Patch: Can you explain Dhammakaya meditation, otherwise known as the Middle Way?  Why is it called the Middle Way and how is it different from other aspects of Buddhism?

Mawson: It is based on what we call the Seven Bases of the Mind.  This form of meditation was actually lost.  It is mentioned in the Tipitaka, which is similar to the Bible.  The story goes that an abbot of the temple in Bangkok, a very famous temple, got his monks together and said he was going to sit on the floor of the temple until he could see what this "middle way" was all about.  They were not to touch or disturb him.  He wouldn't open his eyes until he was able to see everything.  He meditated 24 hours non-stop.  They thought that he was dead and were about to touch him, and then he opened his eyes and he said, "I have seen it all." 

The monk started started to teach them.  When those monks started to see something, he separated the ones who could see and got them to draw what they had seen.  They all drew exactly the same thing. 

The same thing happens in my classes.  When I teach, if two or three people see something, I separate them and get them to draw what they saw and they all draw the same thing.  

Patch: How does the Middle Way differ from other methods? 

Mawson: With the Middle Way you get feelings as you do with any form of meditation,  but this method allows you to see something as well.

What happens is that when people are able to see a crystal ball in the center of the body, then phenomena take place inside the crystal ball.  I normally don't discuss what the phenomena are for two reasons.  One, the students may think it is auto-suggestion.  Number two, they will go looking for those things, and by looking they are forcing.  They are so anxious to see them that they won't see.  You just have to allow them to arise by themselves.  

Patch: How have you used meditation to deal with health problems?

Mawson: It has been a great source of sustenance for me.  I had my heart transplant seven years ago.  The drugs from that heart transplant gave me osteoporosis with resulting kyphosis.  I had three operations to put rods and pins in the whole length of my back, so I will never be as straight as I used to be.  I have lost six and three quarter inches in height already in three years.  So I used the meditation to help me take the edge off that pain. 

Patch: Can you explain the transformative effects of meditation in relation to the body and healing?

Mawson: Generally, when people are in pain it has a lot to do with the nervous system.  When we quiet our minds and find that inner peace, the neurotransmitters are not transmitting as much pain.  When we are not in that meditative state, we tend, even subconsciously, to be thinking about the pain.  When one practices meditation, especially this Middle Way, you can go to the center of the body very quickly.  You just remind yourself to go there every day, especially in times of stress or pain.  It may not make the pain go away completely, but it can take the edge off the pain. 

Patch: What kinds of changes do people see when they start meditating regularly?

Mawson: The things I see in people when they meditate are that they certainly find inner peace and they are normally much happier.  I notice that people become more loving in a different way than love as they knew it before.  It is unconditional love. 

I see people becoming wiser through meditation.  How these things come about, I am not quite sure to be honest with you.  We live very hectic lives from the moment we are born right up until the time we die.  It is rare that people take time to be good to themselves and to nurture themselves.  One way of nurturing oneself is to meditate and find that inner peace. 

Hastings' Robert Mawson teaches meditation at Human Bodyworks and Healing Arts Center at 32 Main Street, Mondays at 7pm

Spirit Beat is a regular Patch column in which writer Michelle Garrison-Hough will explore different ways in which people who live and work in the Rivertowns  practice their spirituality.  If you know of a unique spiritual leader or practice, please let us know.