Spiritual Practices

Meditation

Spiritual Practice: Preparation for meditation (part 1): Practice this preparation for meditation—breathe in for a specific count, hold for the same count, breathe out for the same count. Practice at least six times. Don't strain or it will defeat the purpose of the exercise. This is an excellent transition from ordinary waking consciousness to meditative consciousness. It calms the breath and heartbeat as well as the mind. Next, inhale and tense the whole body, then exhale and relax. Practice at least six times. After the final tensing and relaxing, inhale and exhale and leave the breath out for as long as you comfortably can. When you need to breathe, begin watching each inhalation and exhalation.

Spiritual Practice: Preparation for meditation (part 2): At the beginning of meditation, tense and relax the body several times. Then try to sit still and relaxed without moving a muscle for five minutes. Complete stillness helps you feel peace more quickly. If energy isn't used up in the muscles, the breath slows down and the heart slows down. The breath and heartbeat are inseparable in their effect on each other. And they affect the calmness of the mind and vice versa.

Spiritual Practice: A simple method of meditation: Sit in a relaxed posture with spine erect and shoulders back. Raise the eyes without straining to the “horizon" of the eyebrows. This takes some getting used to and you might find that the eyes fidget a lot at first. Concentrate at the point between and slightly above the eyebrows, the seat of the spiritual or third eye. After the breathing and tensing exercises (see “Preparation for meditation" parts 1 and 2, in this section), exhale and wait for the breath to flow in. When it does, simply watch it in a detached manner, as if you were watching someone else breathe. After watching the inhalation, watch the exhalation. If there are any pauses between inhalation and exhalation, or between exhalation and inhalation, enjoy that experience without controlling it. This is not as easy as it sounds, because the natural tendency is to control the breath when you put your attention on it. Detachment is essential. Some meditators prefer to associate words with the inhalation and exhalation. For example, you can mentally repeat “I am" during the length of the inhalation, and “peace" throughout the exhalation. Just be sure you don't get into a rhythm of mental repetition that the breath follows. Let the words follow the breath, not the other way around. If the mind wanders, bring it back to what you're concentrating on. Practice as long as you like or have time for, and then feel the presence of God in whatever way you're experiencing it.

Spiritual Practice: After practicing any technique of meditation, exhale and forget about the breath. Just sit and feel. Enjoy whatever you're experiencing at that moment—whether it's peace, joy, or love. Pay attention to any other feelings that may be present as well, since they give you awareness about the state of your consciousness. Reject nothing. Peace is usually the first manifestation of divine consciousness in your own consciousness. It's an attribute of our true soul nature. Don't belittle it or take it for granted, no matter how small the feeling, but concentrate on it and let it grow. Out of peace, other manifestations of divine consciousness bubble up from within.

Spiritual Practice: At the end of meditation, ask a question that you want answered, then feel for a response. Intuition is more awakened during the calm states of meditation, so take advantage of it. Keep asking and feeling for a response, without straining. Have faith that a response will come sooner or later—perhaps not during that meditation or even the next one. The answer might come at a time when you least expect it. Just keep asking and feeling.

Spiritual Practice: Practice repeating mentally an affirmation or short prayer over and over at the end of your meditation. Repeating a statement of truth or a prayer will help you spiritualize your consciousness and create attunement with truth or God.

Spiritual Practice: During your meditation, chant Om mentally or aloud, and then more and more softly until you are chanting mentally. Om is the creative vibration responsible for creating the universe, including your own body. Getting in tune with it will help expand your consciousness. After chanting for as long as you wish, sit still and listen. When you reach deep stillness, the thoughts are stilled also, so this isn't about thinking. It's about a natural, intense concentration on what you're feeling.

Spiritual Practice: If you're struggling with sleep in meditation, be sure to keep your eyes lifted to the horizon of the eyebrows. You know when you're concentrated and what you're concentrating on, so if you are vague about what happened during your meditation, chances are you fell asleep. If you can keep your eyes lifted, and focus your attention at the point between the eyebrows, you won't fall asleep.