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How to Practice the Meditative Method of Spiritual Study
As discussed in Selecting a Spiritual Quote to Study, you can gain a lot more from your spiritual reading if you focus on those passages in spiritual books or articles that particularly resonate with you. The meditative or intuitive method of spiritual study detailed below will help you to uncover deeper insights into the truth of the quote, speed up your assimilation of that truth, and ultimately lead you to realization—direct intuitive experience of truth, which goes far beyond intellectual understanding.
The world's scriptures are especially good choices for using this method because of their divinely inspired authors as well as the inspiration people have gained from them through the ages. They carry a vibratory power not commonly found in other spiritual writings.
A shorter method of spiritual study
I'll start with a shorter method of spiritual study—less meditative but it still allows intuitive insights to percolate into your conscious mind. It's shorter only in the sense that the process is quicker. You could of course spend as much time with this method as you do with the meditative method.
In this method you read the passage—whether a sentence or two, or a paragraph of several sentences—a few times. Read each sentence several times if you wish.
The next step is to paraphrase the quote: write down the message of the passage in your own words. You might condense it or elaborate on it. You might use different words that mean more to you but have the same meaning as those used in the quote.
This process jump-starts your thinking about it. As you're writing, other ideas might occur to you. Write them down. You might find your understanding increasing, creating more thoughts to express. You might receive intuitive insights that expand the inspiration you receive from the quote. You don't necessarily need to write very much before getting an insight that will enhance your understanding of the spiritual principle you're studying. One new spiritual insight a day would be a worthy accomplishment.
The meditative method of spiritual study
An excellent time to practice the meditative method of study is at the end of a meditation period when your mind is calm, relaxed, and much more intuitive. Some people like to study before meditation. It acts as an excellent preparation for meditation, a transition that gets your mind off the concerns of the day and creates calmness, focus, and inspiration. Anytime you're free from distractions and can concentrate will suffice.
Read the quote you've selected, over and over, slowly, diving deep into the meaning. Ask yourself, "What does this mean?" Don't try to answer that question with your rational mind alone. Allow for an intuitive response to that question, having faith that an answer will come.
Slowing down and reading the same passage over and over with concentration has a calming effect. When we're calm, our intuition is more likely to be active, and intuitive insights are deeper than what we can achieve through reason alone.
Then, read the first sentence repeatedly, and then the next sentence, and so on. As you read each sentence repeatedly, try to memorize them so you can start repeating them with eyes closed. Once you have a sentence memorized, lift your eyes gently to the point between the eyebrows, as explained in How to Meditate, and keep your attention there while repeating the sentence. This will add power to your practice by deepening your concentration and creating a connection with your intuitive superconscious mind.
This kind of repetition fosters greater understanding and intuitive insights—something that can escape us if we're too hasty and assume we've understood everything about the passage. Many have had the experience of gaining deeper insights with each reading of a spiritual book or scripture. More ideas jump out and grab our attention—things we need to hear or are able to hear that perhaps we weren't ready to comprehend during earlier readings. This meditative method of study helps to speed up that process.
Be aware of any thoughts and feelings that come up. Awareness is crucial on the spiritual path. Again, don't rely solely on your conscious, logical mind to get at the meaning. Realize there are deeper truths that can't be grasped easily by the logical mind, and allow the calm, intuitive mind to enter into your study.
Record your thoughts, feelings, and insights. (There’s space provided for this in the Introspection section of the My Experiments page.) This will reinforce and clarify what you've learned and enable you to revisit your thoughts at a later time.
Finally, ask yourself how you can apply it in your life. When you apply a spiritual principle in daily life, it reinforces the truth of that principle in your consciousness and gives you practical wisdom. (See Applying a Spiritual Principle.)
Meditative study speeds up the process of assimilation and cuts deep into the consciousness, becoming part of your storehouse of spiritual knowledge and insight that will come to your aid when you need it. Repeated, deeper practice eventually leads to intuitive realization. With that powerful flash of realization, your experience of truth, and the inspiration that comes from that, never leaves you.
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