Meditation is frequently confused with various
forms of concentration. The purpose of concentration
exercises is to focus our full undivided attention on a
specific aspect of functioning of our mind and/or the body
in order to accomplish a certain goal or develop a certain
skill. Exercises such as yoga, tai-chi, breathing exercises,
visualization are all forms of concentration.
In contrast, meditation is an exercise, aiming to prevent
thoughts in a natural way, by deeply relaxing the physical
body and then trying to keep the mind completely "blank"
with no thoughts whatsoever. This state may be maintained
for a few seconds or a few hours, depending on your skill.
Purity of the mind achieved during meditation is essential
to gain access to Higher Self. It seems that our Higher Self
does not admit any impurities.
To
reach the Higher Self it is best
to concentrate on the source of the "inner sound", leading
to the "inner light" - a nucleus of the Higher Self, which
initially seems infinitely far "at the other side of a long
dark tunnel". When we get sufficiently close to our Higher
Self, the inner light becomes much brighter than the Sun,
and when we are allowed to join it,
the bliss cannot be described in
any human language. To get that far, we have to achieve a
complete purity of the mind during meditation, have pure
intentions, and then intensively concentrate for some time
on the "inner sound" and "inner light".
The most important role of a
spiritual teacher is to show
everyone his/her individual way to the Higher Self. Then, it
is up to the individual to practice and reach the Higher
Self.
From the above, meditation seems to be an essential skill to
attain the ultimate enlightenment. There are quite a few
techniques for meditation. Most of them use so-called
"mantra" composed from a few words or sounds. Mantra is
repeated mentally to help us achieve and maintain a "blank"
state of mind.
Contrary to popular belief, promoted by people who attract
followers and/or charge money to teach meditation, mantra
has no sacred "meaning" and no mantra is essentially better
than any other. However, regardless of its content, mantra
has two important
functions,
which may greatly assist us in achieving and maintaining a
meditative state of a blank mind.
Mantra is a very simple thought. It becomes very familiar to
us when we repeat it in our mind. This thought is used to
replace any thought that may come to our mind. Every time a
thought comes during meditation, we use mantra to replace
it.
When we practice meditation regularly using the same mantra
(whatever it is), soon we train our mind to associate the
mantra with a calm meditative state. This association is
called an "anchor" by Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
practitioners. After such self-training, even if we are
agitated, a thought of mantra usually brings an immediate
calm of the mind. This makes our mantra a very powerful tool
to deal with stressful situations in our life, a tool which
we can develop ourselves as a result of a regular meditation
practice.
When we understand the above two functions of the mantra, it
becomes clear that changing mantras may be not a very good
idea. Changing mantras may be considered useful only in
special situations, for example when we want to eliminate an
undesirable meditation habit, preventing us from achieving a
deep meditative state, and the existing mantra is identified
as related to that habit.
Also it becomes logical that whatever mantra we use, we
should keep it private and not tell it to other people.
Otherwise we give others a way to control our subconscious
mind by telepathically transmitting to us our own mantra.
The best teachers will take time to give people individual
mantras rather than teach everyone the same mantra.
Mantras are usually composed from alternative vowel and
nasal sounds and may contain several words. The most widely
known mantra is "ooohmmm" or "aaaaummm", but any other
similar word will do when we extend vowel and nasal sounds
(home, room, zoom, moon, zen, boom etc..). It is best if
mantra is an exotic word or a series of words (syllables)
not encountered in everyday conversation.
The posture during meditation is also important. The easiest
posture is a comfortable sitting position, with your spine
straight and erect. If you lay down you will most likely
fall asleep. Joining your hands and crossing your legs is
desirable, because you make the bio-energy field around you
more compact and therefore more intensive. Sitting cross
legged is another good position, but requires some fitness
and training. Yet another good position, although rarely
used today is a squatting position with your arms crossed
over you knees, resembling position of a fetus in a womb.
If you have never tried any meditation, try to find a quiet
place and try the following technique:
1. take a comfortable meditation posture, one of the
postures described above
2. Close your eyes and relax all muscles in your body,
including the face. A few alternate nostril yoga breaths is
very helpful at the beginning of this stage - breathing in
through one nostril and breathing out through another,
closing nostrils with fingers and altering closed nostril
with each breath.
3. Disregard any thought as it comes - do not continue a
kaleidoscope of thoughts - continue this for 20 minutes or
so, maintaining your mind blank. You can use a mental sound
"ooooohhmmm" (a mantra) every time you have a thought.
Alternatively you may keep counting thoughts, discarding
each one as it comes, without analyzing it. When you go down
to 2 or 3 thoughts in 5 minutes, you meditate successfully.
With practice you should be able to attain a blank mind
anytime and anywhere, even in a crowd of people or a
stressful situation with the help of your mantra. But do not
use the mantra when stressed, until you are positive that
you practice meditation long enough and the thought of
mantra is firmly associated with your state of a calm mind.
One of many benefits of meditation is that it opens your
mind to new ideas. When the bowl is full, trying to pour
more water into it just causes an overflow. The same happens
with our mind. When it is full of thoughts, there is no room
for new ideas.
Meditation is a very effective technique for improving your
creativity and problem solving capacity. "Talented" people
do it naturally. Artists and poets call it "inspiration".
Many famous people such as Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison
were known to have practiced various forms of meditation.
Meditation is sometimes described as "listening to the
silence between thoughts". Our effort in meditation is
directed towards consciously increasing the periods of such
silence.
The ability to meditate is also a necessary condition to
receive telepathic transmissions, including those from
Higher Self and other people who may try to assist us.
Without a true silence in your own thoughts, you cannot
listen to thoughts of others.
Before meditation you may wish to define clearly what do you
want to learn, what do you want to ask your Higher Self.
During the meditation, do not expect an answer (although it
is likely that it will come when your mind will be pure) -
this is also a thought!
People who practice meditation on the regular basis look and
feel typically 10 or even 15 years younger than other people
at their age. Giving the mind a regular "break" and allowing
our Nature to perform self-repairs everyday makes all the
difference. Self-healing and rejuvenation seems to be within
reach of everyone who is prepared to learn meditation and
meditate regularly everyday. |
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