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Published On: Oct 23, 2004 11:13 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Oct 23, 2004 11:13 PM
A Meditational Catechism
A little helpful information on
meditation techniques
----------------------+===========oOo===========+----------------------
There's no need to "catch up" with the meditations. What we're doing is a little like a barn raising (it's a poor analogy - but I think it will suffice). If you couldn't make it when we poured the foundation, then maybe you can be there when hang the doors. The work is on-going, and other than understanding the "basics," which can be picked up at any time, doesn't require any specific kind of progression.
So - what are the basics? Two kinds: meditation in general, and the specifics of our meditations.
Meditation in general.
We all have a tendency to freak out about how to meditate "properly." But you know what? Once we drop our performance anxiety, meditation is a bit like what Woody Allen says about orgasms: "even my worst one was right on the money."
Here's how to meditate:
Set a timer or alarm for 5 minutes. Sit comfortably in a chair, with your back straight and your hands on your thighs. Close your eyes. Wait for the timer to go off. Viola! You've successfully meditated.
I'm only partially joking. There are all sorts of styles of meditation, different schools, etc... But the bottom line about meditation is your intent to be still. To consciously stop all external activity and turn within. Do that for five minutes and you're successful. Hell, do it for TWO minutes and you're successful. Anything beyond this is icing. Really.
In the broadest terms possible - there are two basic flavors of meditation - those focused on something, and those focused on nothing.
Non-focused meditation
One of the "goals" of a lot of meditation, especially Eastern or Zen meditation, is to still the surface mind and allow the awareness to contact the depths of consciousness. Imagine you're the ocean. Your surface mind is analogous to the waves on top of the water - choppy and chaotic. But there is a depth of being - below the surface chaos - that is calm and blissful. So a lot of Eastern practice is about moving into this depth of being.
But here's the irony of that. It's hard! You struggle to be peaceful, calm, devoid of thoughts, etc. Because the surface mind - the ego construct - is trying desperately to keep you from getting away with that! It's a supremely tuned survival mechanism and it's worried about you. It's afraid that if it allows you to disengage it to that extent that you'll be eaten by a tiger (or something else, equally as ridiculous). So it makes up all sorts of things to distract you from your purpose - to keep you mired in the minutiae (is the baby crying? I hope I don't bounce a check! What's for dinner?)
So, what do you do? Let it prattle on and say, "thanks for sharing." Remember - you are not your thoughts. You have them - like gas - but they're not you. Just allow them to come and go - like waves on the water. A wave is born, it passes and expires. The ocean remains. A thought is born, it passes and expires. Your mind remains. And if you can sit with your eyes closed long enough, the odds are that your mind will tire of making all these thoughts and you'll be able - for very brief moments - to dive down into the depths of being.
In all honesty I've never had much luck with this style of meditation - and I've been meditating for years. I don't think it's conducive to our Western make-up or lifestyle. So I prefer what called "focused" or "guided" meditation.
Focused meditation
There are as many kinds of focused meditations as there are books or movies. But they all share a common approach. Rather than ignoring the surface mind, you give it something to do by focusing on something specific. Could be a candle, could be your breath (a frequent technique) or could be a progression of images (maybe that you experience as a kind of little story).
Our "Wake Up Call" meditations fall into this camp, because we are guiding our imaginations in particular directions.
Specifics of our Wake Up Call meditations
These meditations are predicated on a couple of fundamental ideas:
1) Thought is real. Energy follows thought. When enough people think certain things, this gives rise to "thought forms" which take on an independent existence.
2) There is a "race mind" or "race consciousness" that ties together different groups of people (families, clans, states, countries, all humanity). Actually, it's a misnomer to refer to this in the singular. They're sort of like Russian dolls - nested inside one another. So, you and I, for instance, participate in the group minds of "Americans" and "humans" (and lots of others, as well).
3) The race mind is influenced by thought forms. The vast majority of people pick up thought forms from the mental plane, but have no idea that they're doing it. We have this saying, "Be careful with that thought. You don't know where it's been."
We are in the process of creating a shared thought form - our "astral temple" - which we will use as a focusing tool for the group meditations. This astral temple has, because of our focused thought and intention, taken on an independent existence (which is why it might actually be easier for you now - because the "picture" of the meeting place is much clearer and distinct - more real - than it was when we started).
When you sit and follow a path of guided visualization you are creating things on the mental plane. When a bunch of us do that, and focus on creating the same things, there's a great cumulative effect that happens.
Bottom line
1) Treat yourself with compassion.
2) If you're still having trouble: Print out the meditation. When you have a few minutes, sit in a quiet place and read the first bit, then close your eyes and visualize/imagine that part. Then read the next bit, and so on. It should be fun. Fill it with joy. Anticipate it positively - don't feel guilty when you think about. And if you skip a week? No problem. The world won't come to an end, I promise.
3) It's really all about your intent. Forget the meditations or even the idea of meditating. Sit with your eyes closed for five minutes once a week (or the next time you're stuck in traffic), and think about the American people waking up, taking control and affecting positive change both here and in the world. When each new meditation email come in - just read through it and imagine it as you do. You will be doing the work and contributing enormously to our efforts, to the good of our country and the good of the world. It really is that simple.
Posted: Sat - June 12, 2004 at 09:27 PM