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Written by Raymond Brown:
Copyright 1995
Meditation is the answer to your prayers. Literally.
Whenever you ask God for anything, whether it’s to move that mountain
in front of you or bless that person that just sneezed, God hears you.
When God answers you, do you hear him? You generally don’t unless you
have cleared your mind of distracting thoughts and mental chatter, and
all thoughts are distracting. So the answer to your prayers can be found
in meditation. If you want to get the most out of life that you can,
then learning to sit back, relax and listen to that still, small voice
within. This voice has more answers than the best expert that you will
ever find. The still, small voice comes from a world much less affected
by emotion and confusion, it holds no personal agenda, nor does it act
out of fear. When you learn how to open yourself to the influence of
inner wisdom, you will learn to set yourself free.
Meditation is very useful for a myriad of reasons. It
can be put to use by those of us that are seeking higher knowledge. It
can be used to help lower high blood pressure. It has been used by
sports teams to improve their overall performance. It can improve your
creativity whether for art or business purposes. The number of ways
meditation can be applied to improve your life are practically endless.
All you need is the desire to reach greater heights in your own life.
You can use it to clear away buried emotions from your past, or open
yourself up to brand-new possibilities for your future. It can help
change your whole outlook on life and make every day infinitely more
rewarding for you. How do you think it is that an ascetic can go off to
a mountain top with a long cloth wrapped around his or her self, some
minuscule amounts of food and basically nothing else, meditate hours on
end, and come away happy after the whole ordeal? You know it isn’t the
warm clothing, because he’s barely wearing anything. It isn’t likely
to be the meals that he eats, there’s no great culinary school that
specializes in ascetic cuisine. Maybe the view is worth the effort and
deprivation. And then again, maybe there’s more to it. With a great
capacity for meditating and clearing your mind of thoughts, you will be
able to face the most adverse conditions in life and come away smiling.
It’s all in the meditation. The key to success is attitude, and
meditation is the most powerful tool you have for your attitude.
Among the more useful reasons to meditate is the
reward of greater self-control. Who hasn’t tried to accomplish
something, only to find self-defeating behavior cropping up and
sabotaging their efforts at one time or another? Meditation can increase
self-discipline, and not only through repetition, but by the calming and
centering effect that it has on the mind and the body. It relaxes and
opens the mind, so that it accepts positive energy, and allows for the
focusing of personal desire. This allows for positive thoughts to be
planted in your subconscious as you meditate on what you want to
accomplish. This, in turn, leads to more control over desires that work
against your peace of mind.
Another benefit of meditation is to be able to think
more clearly in situations that may demand concentration, such as
academic tests, job interviews, rush hour traffic and emergency
situations of all types. Meditation helps to clear the mind of blockages
that impede the flow of answers that may be useful when there is no time
to think it over before you act. It also helps to overcome a brain
freeze, where, under pressure, you can’t think of a response and your
brain literally freezes up and is unable to work through a situation.
Very often this is the result of nervousness, and meditation reduces
this by calming the mind and allowing it to react more quickly in these
situations, thereby accomplishing more.
Meditation also helps you to understand yourself
better and lets you see just where your behavior plays critical roles in
the events in your life and where you can adjust this to your benefit.
In this way you can gain an advantage by understanding the difference
between the actions of the world around you and your reaction to it.
This can be of enormous value in the world of business and commercial
enterprise.
When it comes to meditation, there are as many
different ways of doing it as there are people who are doing it. Just as
you wouldn’t expect every person to enjoy the same food as everyone
else, not everyone will approach meditation with the same tastes. There
is a way for anyone who wants to meditate to find a way that suits their
temperament. Some people relate to their world in ways that other people
find totally foreign, and still others find that practicing relaxation
in one way can work wonders, while trying it another way actually makes
them more tense. A person may be naturally intuitive and sensitive and
may find that a totally still, quiet and secluded practice of meditation
is the only way to relax and tune in to higher consciousness. Yet
another person may be a very physical person, always active and on the
go, and that the only way for them to relax is to remove the tension
from their muscles first and then work on their thoughts. Whereas one
person may relax and tune into the sound of music, another person may
find a visual image relaxing and calming. One person may relate to
history and ancestors when thinking of higher consciousness, their
neighbor may have images of Heaven in their mind as they relax. As you
can see, there is more than one way to meditate and derive some benefit
from the experience.
Just as there are many ways to practice meditation,
and many reasons to make that effort, there should be a guide that helps
you find which of these ways works for you. In the following chapters
you will find numerous ways to meditate. In these chapters will be tips
and techniques that will help you get the most out of your meditations.
Each of these suggestions will be explained so that you can make your
own decisions about what you want to use and how far you want to take
your experience. It would be good to go through the whole book once
before going through the exercises. That way if you see a suggestion in
one chapter that you would like to use while using a meditation
technique from another chapter, you can incorporate all of them once you
get down to business. I have put the suggestions in the chapters where
they would be the most important to use along with the meditation, but
many of these tips can be used wherever they fit into your expectations.
Of course another benefit of having all of these
meditation practices in one book is that you may want to use different
ways at different times. One may work for under certain conditions while
other techniques may facilitate meditation under different
circumstances. You may find yourself unable to meditate the way you
normally do if you are unusually tense or nervous. A different
relaxation and meditation technique may help you to calm down and center
yourself faster than your normal routine would. As you go through the
chapters and find what works best, you will find that you can tailor a
routine that fits you like a glove. You can also make adjustments to
that glove if you find that it’s not warm enough or if it’s not
flexible enough for particular applications.
As we change with experience and understanding, we
also find that the way we do things changes. This often applies to the
way we feel like meditating as well. Having so many tips and tricks to
relaxing and opening ourselves to greater understanding all in one place
will give you a guide that will remain useful for years. So as you go
through this book you will be drawn to those ideas that are just right
for where you are at right now, and the rest of the book will be ready
when you are to make changes and adjustments in your life to help you
move forward and onward into a better future.
1...This first technique is a well known, often
suggested one, which works well for people who "like to see"
what's happening. Sit or lie in a comfortable position, in a quiet
place. Close your eyes and, using your mind's eye, start to construct a
fairly large projection screen in front of you. Think of the type you
might see slides or home movies on. Be as detailed as possible about how
it is made, how large, what its frame is made of, how it is suspended in
front of you, and so on. Be as creative as possible to give this screen
the "mark" of your own inspiration. Where is this screen
located? Make the room where this is taking place comfortable and
inviting without being distracting. Sometimes a room shaped like the
inside of an egg works well, since there is a strong connection between
the illuminator of this screen and your own personal spiritual rebirth.
The more detailed this construction is and the more
effort you put forth visualizing this and working on its construction,
the better off you are, because this helps to exercise the creative and
inspirational visualization of your third eye. Once this screen is
built, you can just sit back and watch what appears on the screen. It
may project your own thoughts, or it may become the gateway for your own
psychic impressions from a source outside your own consciousness. You
will likely start with images that you create from your own thoughts,
but at some point you will see images that seem to come to you without
an obvious source. You will ultimately use this screen to watch many
scenes, either of your own imagination or of images that appear out of
the ether. Whenever you feel like it, you can modify the construction of
this screen to suit your whims, since this screen is just one reflection
of your current state of mind. There are a lot of things you can use
this screen for. You will like to use it in other techniques in this
book. This screen can be called up quickly in subsequent meditations
without having to go through the entire construction process over again,
but try to see it in great detail each time you call it up.
2...Another time honored tradition in meditation
is the use of color. An entire book could be written on the uses,
meanings, benefits and effects of color during meditation. We will go
over some of the major benefits and meanings here to help you put color
to use in your own meditation. Color has a profound effect on both the
physical and the mental body, as well as the spiritual body, and it’s
effects are often understated and overlooked. From the colors an artist
puts in a painting to the colors you habitually wear in your most used
outfits, color plays an important role in your life. It is often said
that your favorite color is the one that is prominent in your aura
field. The color of the rooms in your home will directly affect the way
you feel after a little time in those rooms. Color also represents very
specific states of awareness and energy radiation. Red, being the lowest
and most physical of the colors, is the one that is associated with
physical energy and aggression. It has the strongest influence on our
lower emotions. Orange acts as a bridge between the energy of red and
the spirituality and joy of yellow. Golden yellow is often associated
with joy and creative energy, with the light of day, and the light of
heavenly beings. Green is most often regarded as the color of healing.
Blue is linked to peace and tranquility, a sort of emotional calming
color. Purple, being the blend of both blue and red, which are the
colors at opposite ends of the spectrum, is touted as a melding of the
tranquility of higher energy and the restlessness of lower energy. This
is interpreted as the color found in one who is searching, and not quite
settled yet.
You can use the screen from the previous technique,
or, if you don't want limits on your field of vision, you can visualize
the colors without a screen. You can use objects to visualize the
colors, you can visualize clothes that you put on in different colors,
or see the walls as changing color. You can see the colors as emanating
from a light source above you, or even imagine yourself eating foods of
the different colors, since whatever you are experiencing when you eat,
you tend to internalize. How you view the colors is not as important as
how strong the impact is on your state of relaxation and intuition.
Start with red, which is the most closely associated
color to a physical state of being, since it is the color of activity,
energy and force. Sit or lie in a comfortable position, and concentrate
on the color, giving as much attention to the presence of the color as
possible. Seeing it as though it emanates light, or as though it is
filled with sparkling points of intensity, helps to charge the color
with as much life as possible. Sometimes you may literally see the
colors flash in front of your eyes in a spontaneous vision. If it does,
this is an example of the higher forces attempting to facilitate your
connection with them, and you can count on their assistance as you
proceed.
Once you are satisfied that you have really seen and
experienced the color red, you can go on to the color orange. This color
has been described by some as a bridge of sorts between the world we
know and the higher realms, which meditation can bring us to. Bring as
much emotion and feeling to this color as possible, so that it really
impresses a deeper relaxation back on your body and your mind. All the
colors should make a conscious impression of deeper and deeper
relaxation on your physical as well as your mental state. From your toes
to your fingers, to the middle of your chest and into your brain, your
body and your mind should feel a calming effect from each of the colors
as you concentrate on them.
The next color, yellow, should be seen as a golden
yellow, as the lighter, or more lemony yellow tends to be a weaker color
for meditation. But whatever shade of yellow, it should be visualized as
completely and intensely as possible so its effect is as emotionally
relaxing as possible. This is the color that is most associated with
connection to the higher worlds or heavenly forces since it is often
described as the color that emanates from angelic beings and is also the
color used to represent the halos around saints.
Green, the color of healing, should be a strong and
intense shade the color of an emerald forest. A light, lime or yellow
green is often associated with deceit or deception and may have a
debilitating effect. Green can be lingered on, and sent to particular
parts of the body as you visualize it, if you need its healing energy
for some physical or emotional ills.
The next color, blue, is regarded as the color of
deep immersion, and calm. It is seen as the color that emanates from
someone who has found his or her life’s work and is happily absorbed
in it. So blue is the color that can bring very deep relaxation to the
mind and the body. As with the other colors, an intense or deep shade
works best. And remember to give it as much emotional intensity as you
can, so it can give back as much to you.
The last color of the rainbow, purple, is called the
color of the seeker. It is made up of blue and red, or you can say it is
made up of peace and force, or activity. This can be translated into
actively seeking peace and contentment. Here, if you would like, you can
use a lighter shade of purple like lilac. Purple in general means
activity of some sort rather than eternal bliss and peace, and a lighter
shade will lighten the intensity of the red influence by infusing it
with some white light. Remember the intensity of the color will still
matter, even if the shade is light.
After you have reached the end of the color spectrum,
you should be very relaxed and, with practice or luck, your mind should
be very quiet and relaxed too. When practiced, this exercise can bring
you to deep states of consciousness that will open you up to many things
that the higher realms have to offer. Your intuition can be very strong
and clear, giving you access to information that you can use to your
benefit. Very often, at least in the beginning, you may find yourself
falling asleep before you get all the way through the color spectrum.
You will need to practice this exercise when you are not tired so you
can avoid its other benefit of putting you to sleep. A good way to come
out of this relaxation is to visualize the colors in reverse order. This
helps to train your mind to keep this level of relaxation without being
easily snapped out of it by extraneous noises or distractions.
One variation on this rainbow visualization is to see
a spinning ball of color in front of you as you visualize each color.
You may see this appear naturally, and this would mean that you have a
natural propensity for meditating.
3...This next technique is good for keeping you
awake if you tend to fall asleep while visualizing colors. This involves
counting down a set of numbers. This is the reverse of counting sheep,
including the goal of staying alert rather than dropping off into
slumber. As you count down, your mind will naturally relax, you will
find yourself concentrating on the counting process and you will have
fewer thoughts that intrude on you. The first time you do this it is a
good idea to start with a fairly high number, so you give yourself a
longer time to reach a state of relaxation. Depending on your ability to
concentrate and relax, you may try starting at 50, 75, or 100. Count
down slowly, and deliberately, setting up a cadence with your voice that
helps you concentrate on the numbers and the sounds, and cuts down on
distracting thoughts. With practice this technique will take less time
as it becomes more automatic or effective, and you will be able to lower
the number that you begin with. After a few days or a week, you can cut
the number you start at down by 10 or 20 and try it from there. Again,
after a few days, cut the number down again. And again. This way, with
practice, you can shorten the time it takes you to relax. With practice
and effort, some people can enter a trance-like or deep meditative state
just by counting backward from the number 5. This happens because your
subconscious mind recognizes your intent when you train it over and over
to relax when you start counting down, and it will automatically respond
by relaxing with just a little prompting.
4...Another common technique for relaxing
involves tensing and relaxing your muscles to shake out the tenseness
that is so often stored in the body. This excess energy often makes it
hard to relax and let go of distractions that intrude during meditation.
For this exercise, lie down in a comfortable
position, start at the far end of your body, and work your way up to the
top of your head. This is a great exercise in relaxation for people who
are very active physically, or who work out regularly, and need to
unwind the muscles in the body before they can meditate, because this
can kill two birds with one stone. Start at your toes, wiggle them back
and forth a bit, then tense up all the muscles you can that are
connected to your toes and your feet. Make sure that you feel all your
muscles that you can possibly find in your foot, including those along
the bottom, all those along the top, and that everything back to your
heel is tensed up. Then relax these muscles and release all the tension
that you can and let them go limp. Do this at least twice.
Next, go to your calf muscles and do the same thing
with them, finding as many muscles as you can, and tensing them up as
tight as you can, then releasing the muscles. Repeat this again, and
then move up to your thigh muscles. Relax them as before and move to
your upper leg. After you finish your legs, you can move into your
torso. Or you may want to do your fingers and hands at the same time
that you do your toes and feet, your forearm at the same time that you
do your calves and so on, so that you radiate relaxation into your torso
from your extremities together. Once you tense up and relax all the
muscles in your torso, you can concentrate on the neck and head. Make
sure that your scalp and jaw and neck muscles feel hard as a rock, then
release all the tension from them, and as one last tensing up, use all
the muscles in your body to freeze up and harden to stone. Then release
them all at once and let them melt into the
floor.
Your body should feeling very heavy and relaxed by
this point. The first few times you do this you will find out just how
many muscles you really have, which are many more than you thought. This
works best upon the body. Those of you who are still active with the
thinking after all this can take another technique to finish the job and
quiet down the mind.
5...A very, very effective technique for getting
into a meditative and relaxed state, is the use of music. After all,
whenever any of us hears our favorite music, it almost always has a
positive effect on our frame of mind, no matter what we're doing at the
time.
There are all types of recordings that can be used
for relaxation. All stores that have a decent sized selection of
recordings for sale will have a section for new age music as well. And
there are lots of things available form the Internet, either as previews
of current Cd’s or even to download for your own use. Any of a number
of types of music can work very well for this, although the more
soothing and relaxing for you, the better. Instrumental music works
best, Gregorian chants work very well, as do most spiritual choral
music. Classical music can work wonders, and organ music is well adapted
to lulling you off into another place and time. Some meditation tapes,
while they may seem boring, have a quality about them that seems to send
the music right through you and helps to carry you right out the door
and into the sky. One woman I spoke to recounted how her husband had
been meditating in their home, when the sound of a gas powered lawn
trimmer out in the yard, rather than ruining his chances for meditating,
had sent him into a deep, altered state of consciousness due to its
droning buzz. The main thing to remember about using music, especially
if it is not specifically meditation music, is to do it in a quiet,
dimly lit room, with a relaxed atmosphere, and the best stereo you can
get. Headphones help to block out extraneous sounds and the music into
personal contact with you, but use them only if they block out noises
you can't control or if they make the music sound that much better.
The environment of the room can be manipulated a
great deal if you have the place or the opportunity to do so. Keeping
the room quiet and burning a candle beforehand , the longer the better,
and preferably blue or purple, will make a noticeable difference in the
effectiveness of meditating in that room. If you're not using
headphones, try to get the music to sound balanced and full, in the
room, or at least even to your ears, so you are hearing the sound
evenly.
Sit or lie in a comfortable position, start the
music, and listen closely and completely. Don’t think of what you are
listening to, or set up some meaningful interpretation of the music. Let
any emotions the music invokes be the only things you’re present to.
Thinking is counter-productive. Let the sound of the music be the only
thing that fills your head. When you can accomplish this, you will be
swept away from the here and now and deposited in a space and time that
is unknown to Earthlings. You may feel your body vibrating, moving back
and forth or up and down, or in fast circles. This is a positive sign
that you are reaching up to higher realms in you quest for greater
awareness, and is a very real sensation, often felt through the
effective use of music. Always record your thoughts when you are
finished so that anything that you experience is not lost. This is most
important when the experience seems unusually vivid, poignant or
unusual.
When you come back to normal life, the music may have
stopped long ago, but you will often remember extraordinary things that
you went through. these happen to you when you can truly shut off the
flow of thoughts and just go with the flow of the music.
6...Here's a technique using paintings I heard
recently which is a variation of one I learned long ago using doors. The
idea of paintings is more appealing to me for some reason.
For this you can use the silver screen in technique
one, or you can just visualize the scene in your minds eye. Sit or lie
comfortably with your eyes closed, and visualize a door which opens to a
long hallway stretching off to your right and your left. On the wall
that you are facing there are paintings hanging, as you would see in a
Gallery or an art museum. Each one of these paintings belongs to a scene
of your life. Those off to your left are from your past. If you walk
down that way far enough you will find scenes from past lives in these
paintings. The hall as it stretches to your right is filled with scenes
from future possibilities in your life. The paintings on these walls,
either on your left or right, may remain still or as you focus on them,
they may become animated like moving pictures. The titles of these
scenes may act as guides, or advice, to help you bring these
possibilities to your life or to avoid them if they’re
counter-productive. Sometimes the size of the painting will help you
determine whether this scene is a big possibility or a small one, or a
major issue for you or a minor annoyance not worth much fuss. The better
you are at visualization and at being sensitive and receptive, rather
than forceful and rational, the better your focus will become in this
hall of artwork.
When you leave this place, or any visualization place
you find yourself, remember to go out the same way you came in, as this
will help you to hold your focus more easily, and this will make these
trips more productive for you
7...This next technique is very common, and much
endeared. Many people find themselves going down this path automatically
when they meditate, and I think it is one of the most natural things for
people to experience. This is the Garden, or secret garden, or as some
refer to it, the Garden of Eden. It’s a place where you are the one
its existence is for. It doesn’t belong to anyone else, and it is
filled with a world that’s tailored specifically for you and your
needs.
Sit or lie comfortably, and close your eyes. Imagine
yourself walking down a path through a woods or a meadow, towards a wall
or a dense thicket, or even a small stream which is easily crossed at
one point. On the other side of this barrier, through a door, an opening
or a bridge, is a garden which is a private place for you to enter. You
may see guards at the entrance waiting for your arrival at any time. It
is difficult for me to tell you much about what is on the other side in
your garden, as it is really a private place for you alone to know. Many
people find streams of crystal clear water, waterfalls, lakes, fields of
flowers, friendly animals of all sorts, even other people or higher
beings are sometimes there. What you see there, and especially any
animals or individuals you find there, make a note of them. They are
very often guides and helpers from the higher realms, who come to you to
help you in many ways. When you find yourself being given something
while in your garden, whether it be an object, artifact, or a food, make
an offer of thanks to who or what gave it to you and remember that you
can bring this back as the form of a thought or memory to use or rely on
at times. Often the reason for this gift will be given, or will become
clear as you meditate on it.
This garden is a place where you can go when you need
to escape from the ordinary world. It is full of renewal and
rejuvenation for you to use whenever you feel the need for it. This walk
in the garden should also be used whenever you feel any resistance to
going there, as when you are upset, tired or short tempered. Many people
like to begin meditation another way and them head for this garden, but
even more so than music this place can have profound effects on you and
the way you feel when you leave, for it is a very real place where
healing and cleansing of the body, the mind and the soul takes place.
8...A good technique for expanding your
perception of the world around you and your own physical limits is aura
expansion. This helps you to pick up sensations that normally fall
beyond the reach of your five senses.
You start this by getting in a comfortable sitting or
lying position, in a quiet room, away from all distractions if possible.
It usually helps the first few times to close your eyes, but if you get
proficient at this, you will find this is no longer necessary. As you
sit there, try to get a clear feeling of the sensations of feeling in
your hands, arms, legs and feet, as well as your chest and head. Get a
good sense of where the outer edge of this feeling and sensation is.
Then, as you are concentrating on this, try to feel your outer limit
expanding a few inches into the space all around you. This space
contains the bulk of your aura and you are filling it with your energy
all the time anyway so you can, with practice, get a feeling for this
energy field in a concrete way. Next, expand this feeling farther out,
trying to reach the walls of the room, until you feel as though you are
as big as the room, or as though the room and you are one. With
practice, this really does feel as though you have increased your size
to the point where you are as long and tall and large as the room
itself. You can then try to extend your body out even farther until it
encompasses a huge area. The expansion can be felt to encompass the
entire universe and beyond, This always entails at some point that you
stop thinking, rationalizing or discriminating and just start observing
and experiencing without judging or explaining of any kind whatsoever.
Success in this expansion of your awareness will help you to lose those
limits that separate you from others and even from the higher realms. It
will, in the long run, help you to become more sensitive and tuned in to
the feelings, emotions and thoughts of others around you, and to those
of people you feel close to, no matter how far away they may be.
9...This next technique can be a lead-in to other
adventures such as the Garden, or the hall of artwork. It can be the
start of any adventure, visual or nonvisual that your higher self wants
you to go on. It involves seeing yourself walking through a marble
hallway to your current destination. This hall uses stone for its
vibrational qualities. Natural materials, including stone, can exert a
subtle but powerful influence on a person, according to the natural
energy of the material, its color, and even how it was formed. For
example, A pearl is formed by agitating an oyster with a foreign
substance and making it react to an uncomfortable situation, like
getting a pebble in your shoe and making you stop to remove it. pearls
may make some people more agitated than usual, although most of us don't
recognize this link, and it doesn't necessarily work on everyone this
way. A piece of granite, or limestone or some semi-precious stone such
as Turquoise will also make you feel a certain way, especially if you
are surrounded by it as in a hall lined with it. Anyway, this marble can
be any stone you can imagine, from Granite, Jade, blue chalcedony,
rutilated quartz or even unpolished Sandstone. This hall has steps in
it, representing different levels of consciousness, which will bring you
to deeper levels of awareness and relaxation. The number of steps is
closely tied to concepts found in numerology, in that specific numbers
herald their own specific vibratory energy. The number seven is the
number of wisdom. It in an introverted number, and the wisdom it
represents is found within oneself. Seven, in numerology, has a dual
nature in that it can represent knowledge on a scientific level or on a
spiritual level. On it’s spiritual level it comes as a call to
understand the nature of the human spirit and it’s relationship to
God. Seven also represents patience and inner guidance, and is generally
a quieting and introspective influence. You can, therefore, choose to
see seven steps in front of you as you walk down the hall. For those
with a more active and restless connection to the world, the number
eleven is also a number that is closely associated with spiritual energy
and insight, but on a more restless level. It is a number that brings
high energy to the receiver, and is seen as emanating large amounts of
power, similar to a thunderstorm. If you feel up to the challenge, you
can create eleven steps in front of you as you walk down the marble
hall, but unless you are ready for the high strung, nervous energy of
the eleven, you might want to stick with seven steps at first.
Sit or lie comfortably, and imagine a set of doors in
front of you which open to reveal a hallway made of marble, full of
light and highly polished. It has a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, on a
refreshing sort of way. Remember that this hall is a part of you, your
desires, your experience and your needs. So what it's made of, in part,
is up to you. Next, as you walk down this hall, you come to a set of
steps that lead down. This leading down is a way of going deeper into
yourself, reaching a deeper level of the mind. You then continue down
this hall a ways, and come upon another series of steps, which lead down
to a doorway, which marks the end of this entrance hall. Beyond this
door can be your garden, the hall of art work, or someplace new that you’ve
never been to before. If you want to see what other possibilities there
are, you might do well to summon a guide from heaven to walk with you
through the doors and show you what's there. The possibilities are
literally endless. But whenever you travel deep within yourself with no
specific destination in mind, It is strongly recommend that you ask your
higher self for a guide to assist you in traversing uncharted territory.
10..This next technique has a lot in common with
the last one, but it has some major differences. This is the proverbial
Stairway to heaven. Instead of going deep within yourself, you head for
a higher plane. The experiences that can be found here are likely to be
very uplifting and rejuvenating, like a short trip to a magical place.
Instead of being surrounded by something of a grounding, or earthly
nature, you are surrounded by air, the stars, the planets and the
heavens. You can start this anywhere, a silver screen, the path to your
garden or even in your garden as well as starting it from right where
you are meditating.
Sit or lie comfortably, and when you are ready,
imagine yourself walking up a staircase that extends high into the sky
above you. This staircase is made of glass, or crystal, and it tends to
glow with light from within. You will also notice that it has a nice
ring to it, like a personal song, as you touch each step on the way up.
As you walk along, climbing higher and higher, you may find at some
point that you are literally flying up this staircase at a faster and
faster pace. You also find yourself feeling lighter and lighter, as
though you have stripped away your Earthly body as you reach toward the
top of the stairs, and as you reach the top you may become aware of an
unearthly music, and possibly an intensity of light which you are
unfamiliar with.
What you find there is not for me
to know, since you have reached another world that you will experience
and bring a little piece of back with you when you return. This is a
glimpse of Heaven which your higher self brings you to for your benefit,
and sometimes the benefit of someone close to you. Remember that when
you return, come back the same way you went, as this reinforces the
existence of the path you took.
11..This technique comes from shamanism and can
be very good at releasing you from physical limits, but if you like this
way, you had best get a book called "Secrets of Shamanism" by
Jose Stevens or some other good book on shamanic journeying since
advanced meditation in this vein is not without its pitfalls.
For this you should lie comfortably on a mattress,
couch, floor or soft or semi-soft surface far away from any distraction.
As you relax, become conscious of your breathing rhythm, and try to
alter it to a more and more relaxing pace. Feel your body as though it
is getting heavier and heavier. Imagine roots coming out of your body
and growing down into the surface below you, anchoring your body and
fixing it firmly into the earth. As your body gets anchored and fixed
into place, imagine your thoughts getting lighter and lighter, as though
there is no weight to them at all. They can float up and soar as high
and far as they feel like going. They become limitless and free to go or
travel any where and in any direction that they can imagine.
This exercise helps to separate the mind from the
limits of the body and can help promote astral travel in itself, which
should not be taken lightly, but can be a very profound experience.
12..This next technique starts with audience
participation, which can make many of us very hesitant. It involves
chanting, and can do wonders for centering the mind once you get over
any hesitancy you may feel. The active use of your own voice and the
force expended here is the key to making this effective at relaxing and
focusing yourself.
If you are really interested, you should go looking
for some chanting tapes at a metaphysical bookstore, or you can just
start sounding out a rhythmical and somewhat repetitive song of your own
fancy. Native American songs or sounds are a good chant to pick up, as
are any Far Eastern songs that you might find being sung in a monastery.
Chanting a specific word or phrase over and over such as "Om",
or even "Lord be with you", will work. Active use of personal
energy while concentrating on peace and oneness, while not bringing you
to a wild meditative experience by itself, can be very good for
releasing pent up emotions. But most importantly, combining this with,
or preceding any other technique with this one will bring a very big
return for you in your feelings and state of mind. It is absolutely well
worth the effort if you can incorporate chanting into your meditation
practices.
13..Drumming is a practice often combined with
chanting, above, in shamanic rituals for reaching a non-ordinary state
of reality. It can be used by itself to focus and center you, but
shamanic drumming, as opposed to rhythm, quickens the state of being and
draws you into a different state. You may be able to find a tape of
shamanic drumming, but you may have to make your own. A good way to use
this is to have someone actually sit near you and do the drumming. If
you need to set it up yourself, then find an inexpensive Bongo drum or
any reasonable alternative, and set up a beat that starts out slowly,
and builds up speed slowly, so that after four or five minutes, you have
a pace of drumming that quickens your heartbeat as if something
immediate is about to take place. At this point stop drumming and let
the mind go. Your mind should focus very closely on the drumming and the
increase in tempo. The more you are able to focus, and stop thinking or
arranging thoughts to rationalize, or intellectualize, as the drum
beats, the more effective the whole process will be.When this works
well, you will find your thoughts taking on a life of their own. You
will not need to make up thoughts, or images, or sounds, as they will
flow from you as though something inside you turned on a higher faucet
and is bringing you where it wants you to go. A short, but honest prayer
for divine guidance before you start this is definitely in order here.
14..Here is a technique which I use a lot, since
I am partial to color. It is an expansion on the use of the rainbow,
which helps to make it possible to reach out and touch the colors
themselves. Sit or lie in a comfortable position, and tell yourself once
or twice to quietly relax. Next, imagine a large, crystal clear or milky
translucent,(like a Moonstone) polished gemstone, about 8-10 inches in
diameter and 1-3 feet high, coming out of the floor or table right in
front of you. If you are lying down, you can imagine this stone coming
out of your solar plexus, at the bottom of your rib cage, as an
extension of your Heart center. As you lay there, start to see the stone
glow ever brighter and brighter red, to where it reaches a point where
the color red is visible, but the stones surface is blurry, or fuzzy to
the extreme. At this point you can reach out and touch the color itself,
as the hard edge of the stone is no longer a barrier to you. See the
color become a part of you as you reach out to it, and blend with it. Do
this with all the colors of the rainbow. This will break down barriers
that you normally set between you and the outside world. These barriers
are only your imagination anyway, so what you are really doing is
reestablishing a link with the rest of the world.
After you finish the color purple or lilac, you can
end by going in reverse order through the colors, or you can reach out
to other objects, or even other people. This can do wonders for your
sensitivity to loved ones around you.
15..Prayer and meditation. This last technique is
a time honored way of spending your free time in holy Christian circles.
But despite this, it works the best for long term raising of
consciousness, especially when entered into in a spirit of humility and
honesty.
The praying beforehand is a call for God to listen to
your request. The more loving and honest this is, whether personal or
for others, the better off you are. The quiet meditation you follow this
with, is your willingness to listen to God when God speaks back. Your
willingness and openness to God's response is the key that makes or
breaks the effort here to grow towards a better world, as is usually
sought through meditation and relaxation. Remember, the still, small
voice within, is your best friend. And it never leaves your side, if you
will but open your ears and hear.
There are over two hundred million people in the
United States, and each one of them is likely to have a different
experience in meditation when compared with the next person. And, each
meditation is likely to be different to some degree from the last time
they meditated. So you can see that what you will find, or experience,
or receive from meditating is a personal matter most affected by your
own inner self, or your own subconsciousness. But, the single most
important factor in what you get out of meditation depends on how well
you get step one achieved. Step one consists of becoming receptive. This
cannot be stressed enough, because it is so very, very important and it
is the hardest step to achieve. For most of us it is a stumbling block
which we "just don't get" at first because we spend so much
time thinking, that we don't know what it means to stop the mental
process and become receptive to forces beyond the mind. I say several
times in this manual that you need to stop structuring or putting some
kind of reasoning into what you may experience while practicing
meditation. This is because our own mental flow or attention very often
acts as a wall to our own intuition and any flow of information from a
super-conscious source. It is a lot like a soft spoken person trying to
talk to a group of people, and a person with a strong, forceful presence
keeps talking over him or more likely her. To shut off, or at least slow
down our own thinking you need to distract the mind, or focus it on a
calming thought or image or sound etc.. The better you are at thinking
and acting in rational, orderly, or concretely proven ways, the more
effort it is likely to take to stem the flow of rationality. Many times
the first tapping into the intuition comes to us when we aren't paying
much attention to anything, sort of in a daydreaming haze. This is the
sort of receptive spirit that the mind needs to get into to achieve step
one. It is often described as the "still, small voice within"
and that's because it is a very accurate description of your intuition.
Once the quieting of the mind is achieved, you will
find much to talk about, or to ponder, in the way of exciting
experiences, or new experiences. Because the successful attainment of
being this sensitive is often a pronounced transformation within you.
This is the real beginning of successful meditation, and your intuition
flows readily from a clear, un-blocked channel that doesn't get in it's
own way.
What you can do with this, or how you can
successfully use this flow for changing your life may sometimes be
answered by the flow itself. Or, you can use the bibliography at the end
of this manual to search for books that will direct you in this aim.
Since the aim of this manual is to help you over the hardest part and
the most common stumbling bock, I have concentrated my efforts on these.
Instead of giving you one or two ways to achieve step one, followed by a
bunch of things to do after that, this manual gives you a bunch of
things to do to achieve step one, and a list of books to help you use
step one in your life.
Step one can be achieved by anyone! You have to want
it badly enough that you never give up trying to get it right. After
all, the only losers in the world are the ones who give up, and these
super-conscious sources work best with a positive attitude. A very
positive attitude.
Meditating, or opening yourself up to forces beyond
the five senses is not without its pitfalls, as I have alluded to, and
for that reason I have deliberately left out discussions on the power
referred to as Kundalini, or the opening up of the seven centers of
spiritual consciousness referred to as chakras in Hindu and Buddhist
philosophy. I have also left out certain breathing exercises which will
lead to the arousal of said forces. Much more knowledge, and
instruction, and guidance than I have time to give here is needed for
this type of meditating as anyone with a good knowledge of this subject
knows. I have seen writers who profess that it isn't dangerous to open
up or arouse the Kundalini force, but I have seen more experienced
writers give accurate accounts of problems arising from awakening the
"Serpent Power" as it is called. My advice is to concentrate
on awakening your own personal higher self as it will be self guiding as
you become more sensitive to it.
As far as scientific knowledge, studying, and
intellectual pursuit can take us, the greatest source of wisdom comes
from tapping a vast pool of possibilities that exists at all times. A
pool that is reached through inspiration and creative thinking. Benjamin
Franklin didn't invent electricity, he discovered its usefulness. Edison
didn't invent the useful light bulb either, but merely discovered the
possibility of its existence and made it a physical reality.
The same source of these inventions can be, in fact
has been, used by many over the centuries for living a productive, and
positive life. The greatest contributors to civilization have all had
one thing in common, and that is inspiration. Each one of us can open up
a flood of inspiration and understanding leading to motivation for a
more successful life through the use of meditation and relaxation on a
regular basis
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Association for Research and Enlightenment; A
SEARCH FOR GOD, Book 1, Book 2: A.R.E. Press, Virginia Beach,
Virginia 1942
Bloodworth, Dr. Venice J.; KEY TO YOURSELF: De
Vorss and Co., Marina del Ray, California 1952
Campbell, Dan; EDGAR CAYCE ON THE POWER OF COLOR,
STONES, AND CRYSTALS: Warner Books, New York, New York 1989
Cayce, Edgar; AURAS: A.R.E. Press, Virginia Beach,
Virginia 1945
Krishna, Gopi; KUNDALINI: WHO KNOWS WHEN, Shambala
Press, A. P. Ala
Nikhilananda, Swami; VIVEKANANDA, THE YOGAS AND
OTHER WORKS: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York, New York 1953
Reed, Henry; EDGAR CAYCE ON CHANNELING YOUR
HIGHER SELF: Warner Books, New York, New York 1989
Roman, Sanaya; SPIRITUAL GROWTH: H. J. Kramer Inc.
Tiburon, California 1989
St. Clair, David; DAVID ST. CLAIRS LESSONS IN
INSTANT ESP: Prentice-Hall, Englewood cliffs, New Jersey 1978
Sanders, Pete A.; YOU ARE PSYCHIC: Ballantine Books,
New York, New York 1989
Silva, Jose; SILVA MIND CONTROL: Pocket Books, New
York, New York 1977
Stevens, Jose and Lena; SECRETS OF SHAMANISM: Avon Books, New York,
New York 1988
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