Atlantica - 01.06.2001, Page 66

i-site MEDITATION❍
64 A T L A N T I C A
Every Friday, between 12.10 and 12.40, a small collection of
meditators gather on the pavement at the busy corner of
Austurstræti and Lækjargata, downtown Reykjavík. They have
settled there calmly through winter weather, snow and strong
winds, and now the summer sunshine oversees their silent
gathering. But why are they there? “To make people aware,”
says Bergsteinn Jónsson, “and remind them that despite its
obvious shortcomings, this part of the world is, in a way, a
never-never land.” “We’re in the first class of this planet,” he
explains.
Each week these meditators choose a different subject upon
which to meditate, and their only interaction with the people
passing by is a board on which they display some information
about whatever topic they are using as a focus that Friday. The
topic list to date has included the economic differences
between first and third world countries, acid attacks in
Bangladesh, poverty in Iceland, debt bondage and slavery.
This is weighty subject matter, but not aimed at putting a dent
in people’s day. “The media is constantly shifting its focus,
and attention spans shorten, so we are just trying to refocus.
We are exploring the aesthetic power that meditation has on
passers-by, and showing the pan-human nature of medita-
tion,” closes Bergsteinn. JMcC
North meets East
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