Gazing in the Mirror

April 8 - After Stillness, in Meditation - What's Next ?

...it has nothing to do with
the breathing. Breathing has
only to be used as a device to
watch because it is a constant
phenomenon in you. You can
simply watch it, and it is the
most subtle phenomenon. If you
can watch your breath then it
will be easy for you to watch
your thoughts.
~ Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Osho

To daily meditate on the
perfect life and to daily embody
the great ideal, is a royal road
to freedom, to that 'peace which
passeth understanding', and is
happiness to the soul of human kind.
~ Ernest Holmes

I still remember when I first became interested in meditation and tried to practice it. I was meditating on a candle flame and had the interesting experience of appearing to pierce a little circle of a window into the wick. Later on in time I would go to this "sacred place" – a large shut-ins which is what these waterfalls are called in Missouri. It is on our perennial creek. It was the first place that my husband took me immediately to when I first arrived here at our farm. In attempting to meditate, try as I might I simply could not stop my thoughts from flowing abundantly. I could not silence my mind.

Bernice Dittmer, my maternal grandmother, noted in her book "Let There Be Light" on pg 106 – "Meditation, like prayer — and akin to prayer — has been discussed, promoted, directed, etc, to the point where the average individual is often frustrated and confused rather than helped. One may feel especially downhearted when he fails to reach the point of seeing white lights, ecstasy, peace or whatever. So again it appears that something is being made difficult out of a simple, natural reality; for no human if he is alive at all, can keep from thinking. It has been said that each of us thinks more than fifty thousand thoughts a day. Meditation is only continued or extended thought centered on a purpose. Through meditation one seeks for the word of God to become meaningful; for the Holy Spirit within to be the director of our thoughts toward enlightenment."

Several concepts have helped me reach a personally meaningful approach and perspective on the practice of meditation that feels the most in alignment with my own individualized perceptions. My first breakthrough was assisted by the insights of Eckhart Tolle. This was learning to become aware of the chattering mind as an automated aspect of mental function as contrasted with the witnessing consciousness. I began to make progress "stopping" that chattering simply by becoming aware of it and thus recognizing it in my own awareness. Then, I gently applied a degree of personal desire that the mind quiet itself. I noticed in it a desire to "interpret" reality for me. I could sense how it slowed down mental processing. The next step for me was reading Elizabeth Lesser's book "The Seeker's Guide". Lesser received formal training in meditation and has a broad awareness of a diversity of meditation techniques describing these clearly enough that they can be applied as a practice. The most effective technique for me was to begin to see the thoughts that inevitably arise as "clouds floating by in a blue sky". I can be aware of them without obsessively attaching my attention to them. I can quickly release them or let them go back from whence they came.

From that point on I found peace regarding meditation. I learned that I do not need to adhere to someone else's ways or methods but whatever methods are comfortable for me. Guided meditations and certain non-lyrical music work well for giving my mind something to occupy it and from there my experiences when at their best take me very deeply in. Sometimes I even find that bliss or ecstasy or at the least very intense emotions in meditation.

Yesterday's reading from "The Lunar Tao – Meditations in Harmony with the Seasons" by Deng Ming-Dao was focused on meditation. Ming-Dao says – "We learn that stillness is meditation. Still, meditation is constant movement". He notes that in Taoism the practice is used to build our perceptions and witness our own internal process of change. There is of course that aspect of stilling the chattering mind and calming one's self to apprehend the inner nature. Deng points out that "certain kinds of meditation are not stillness". The inner body and mind are constantly moving even as the outer body is still. Our bodily processes of heart beating, nerves firing, blood flowing and mind moving do not cease. Yet he notes an important purpose – we are "directing that movement to achieve healing, power, and spiritual presence".

Deng notes that meditation and moving our qi energy isn't a matter of imagination (which some opinionated persons may stress is all that a practitioner is doing). He notes that meditation can become a conscious intention of moving energy into certain places in the body. It can be a real breakthrough to move beyond the belief that the goal of meditation is some sort of achievement such as finding a "stopped" place. Meditation should be a "living" practice. We should be able to live in meditation, witness meditatively, reflect meditatively, walk in nature meditatively; and even find ourselves in the midst of conflict – still in meditation. Awareness is meditation.

~ perspective

In the meditative state of
awareness, we think neither
of the past or the future.
In a meditative awareness
we can reflect in stillness on
all that is beautiful which
surrounds us.
In meditative awareness,
once the chattering mind
has calmed, the still quiet voice
that is soundless speaks directly
into our heart's alertness.
In meditation we become
acquainted with the Presence
within us and can find enjoyment
simply in Being and an
appreciation for our Life's path.
What's next after stillness ?,
the movement of Spirit through
one's Life.

#calm #candle #clouds #energy #love #mind #peace #quiet #thought #unity