– Excerpt of an interview by Charito Calvachi for Radio Centro WLCH, 91.3 FM, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the United States

What do you recommend today, Mayte, to facilitate our process of living in harmony and peace?

I consider it valuable to dedicate several minutes a day to meditation, to a voluntary retreat that permits us to center ourselves in a reordering to fulfill our potential. The Mantra of Good Luck of Nepal suggests, “Spend some time alone.” Marc Edmund Jones said it is necessary to maintain a balance between the requirements of the external life and the simple calm that resides within the being, in solitude or in company.

We are speaking about spending a few minutes in silence, every day. I do it every morning. People have used various reasons to practice meditation through time. In some traditions meditation is used as a method of praying. In other traditions it is used as a method to discover self-knowledge of ourselves. In modern psychology, meditation is used more and more as a therapeutic practice. It is easy to do. It is as natural for humans as it is to eat, sleep, drink or breathe!

A general axiom to keep in mind is that methods may differ but the goal is the same. Meditation is simply the discipline to look inwardly. When we manage to relax and suspend our attention to the distractions and complexities of the outer world and go inward, we open the potential to know ourselves more deeply and to act in a way that better reflects our higher ideals.

Sometimes, when I meditate I like to reflect on:

• How can I fulfill my purpose in life today?
• What is my social responsibility in the activities I’ve planned for this day?
• How can I expand my service to others?
• What can I change to live more in harmony with the universe? … to live in consonance with my higher understanding? … to live according with my core values?
• In other occasions I simply focus in the Now and experience the Divine Presence.

Mayte, what is the best method to meditate?

Any method we have developed which touches the fiber of our being or is more successful in giving us an experience of reality is the best for the individual. We can add a great principle as a test, if our usual approach to meditation has served to bring us closer to life, giving us a deeper understanding or empathy in our daily relations with people, in spirit and in truth we have discovered true meditation. This practice is conducive to an expansion of self, in compassion and understanding of others.

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