Dr. Saleh Vallander Abdellatif ’11 Prescribes
Meditation HOW DID YOU ORIGINALLY GET INTO MEDITATION?
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s a medical student in Sweden, Saleh Vallander Abdellatif ’11 turned to meditation to manage the stress of medical school. He ended up embarking on a path of self-discovery which has drastically altered his perception of the world and his approach to medicine. His recently-published book, 72 Meditations for People Who Don’t Have Time to Meditate (currently only available in Swedish) attempts to assist others in getting to know themselves better through meditation. Beyond King’s spoke with Abdellatif to learn more.
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BEYOND KING’S
I was in my third year in my medical studies, and I was on the verge of mental collapse. It was too much packing in of information and not enough emotion or human element. It felt wrong, because as a doctor you’re supposed to develop your humanity so you can help other people. I decided to take a break and feel out what I want. I had been practicing meditation for some time, but this is when I began meditating full time. That was all I was doing, all I was thinking about: finding a way to get more in contact with myself, find more self-acceptance and more peace of mind. YOU HAVE JUST COMPLETED YOUR MEDICAL DEGREE AT A WESTERN INSTITUTION, BUT MEDITATION IS OFTEN CONSIDERED A PRACTICE OF EASTERN MEDICINE. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO APPROACHES? Western medicine approaches the body as if it’s a machine made up of different parts, which are the organs. It doesn’t really view the body as a holistic organism in which all the parts are deeply interconnected. Eastern medicine is more holistic. By healing the mind you’re healing the body, and that’s where meditation comes in. But then again, Western medicine is very important, all the scientific discoveries they’ve come up with are of course very valuable. What I would like to see is a combination of the two.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE MEDITATION? There’s a big misconception that meditation is about being able to sit for many hours without having a single thought. This is of course impossible — even advanced practitioners have trouble silencing their mind, so to start with that goal would be a recipe for failure. Meditation is a continuous process within you of getting to know yourself through observing and accepting. Whatever arises — any thought, emotion, sensation — you observe it, you see it for what it is and then you accept it. As long as that process continues, you can be considered as meditating. My book is designed for people who are curious about meditation but who don’t know where to start, what techniques to use and so on.