Awareness Meditation

Awareness meditation is a way of bringing introspection into the deeper inner self. The benefits derived from this type of meditation are many. One of the major benefits is being able to reduce and even stop negative thoughts. This is an enormous benefit. Think about it. If you could eliminate negative thoughts your life would change drastically.

When you observe an incident or event happen that you perceive as "bad," a negative thought almost immediately emerges. That negative thought then produces an emotion such as dread, fear, anxiety, worry, and the list goes on. You don't even have to see something happen. Simply thinking of something that happened in the past dredges up the same negative emotions. It is possible to even imagine negative situations and have negative thoughts and adverse reactions.

If negative emotions become chronic they can eventually make your body sick. Illnesses such as cancer, ulcers, heart disease, depression, chronic fatigue, and skin rashes are just some of the problems we face from too much negative thinking.

To begin, you must sit in a comfortable position. If there are aches and pains while sitting it is doubtful that you will ever calm the mind. Use whatever it takes to sit comfortably. Once your body is comfortable begin focusing on calming your mind. Chakra breathing, progressive relaxation, concentration are some of the ways you can calm your mind. Don't worry about the time. Once the mind is calm the body will become calm. A calm mind will allow the body to distress.

Remember, there is a difference between a relaxed body and a calm body. The body may be relaxed but not calm. For example, you may be sitting comfortably but the body may not be calm due to anxious thoughts. The heart may be beating excessively fast, your breathing may be erratic or labored, and muscles a little tense. So, first the body must be relaxed and the mind calmed. Once the mind is calm the body will follow.

With the body and the mind calmer, your meditation practice may commence. It is important to understand that a calm mind doesn't mean that there are no thoughts. It means you have distanced yourself from your thoughts and are no longer affected by them. Simply observe thoughts and allow them to pass in and out of your mind.

Instead of reacting to your thoughts you become aware of how restless they are. Thoughts only become a problem when you identify with them and react to them. When you identify with your thoughts you will become caught in a never-ending cycle of thoughts, emotions, and reactions. You want to stop the merry-go-round.

Notice thoughts when they arise. Be open to them, and eventually they will pass. Come back to awareness of what is. Notice thoughts, notice your breath, be aware of feelings. Slowly become aware of what is around you such as sounds, smells, a breeze over your skin. Be aware of the subtleties  within your body and thoughts in the mind. Sit in awareness with calmness and assurance that everything is okay just the way it is. There is nothing to worry about. There is no need to try and control everything.

Awareness brings freedom from random and meandering thoughts. It is within this freedom you begin to experience who you really are. You are no longer the inner turmoil.  Inner peace and contentment prevail.

When you carry this peace and contentment throughout your daily life, meditation becomes very therapeutic. Rather than living in the complexities that life can throw at you and you reacting to them negatively, you can bring your awareness to them in a peaceful manner.

There is no way you can't benefit from the practice of awareness meditation. It may not be apparent to you immediately, but slowly and surely the benefits will begin to emerge. The more you meditate the more the subtle impressions of its benefits will be absorbed into your subconscious.  And before you know it, they will surface. You must have patience.

Patience will allow your meditation practice to unfold. Awareness meditation is a tool by which lives may be changed for the better. Most of all, be kind to yourself.

Workshop

Dr. Jim Barrell and I have teamed up offering a 6 week workshop.  This is the first time and are hoping it is successful.  It is called Go Beyond Mind-Body.  I've put together a website that hopefully explains all the details.  The website is http://www.gobeyondmind-body.com. 

Although you may not live in this area (north Florida), you may know someone who does and could benefit from the workshop. Please pass on the information. 

My next post will be about awareness meditation.  In a couple of days or so.

Namaste'

What is meditation?

Meditation is the ability to relax both the mind and the body and then go beyond them.  It is to go beyond the mind and the body and become the Witness of whatever is happening without being adversely affected by those happenings. It is, in effect, going beyond the fourth state of consciousness. The Witness is sometimes referred to as the observer, the knower, the one noticing.

Meditation is actually quite simple and can be learned by just about anyone. All it takes is a little patience and practice to learn the technique. The longer you practice the easier it becomes. There are many positives to meditation: a calmer mind, reduced stress and anxiety, a sense of peace, improved health, reduced pain, and much more.

Although meditation has been used for many years in various cultures, modern science is just beginning to do research of the subject. What they are discovering is it works. This is actually nothing new to those who have been practicing meditation over the years.

Before the body can be relaxed the mind must be relaxed. To relax the mind many practitioners focus on their breathing because it is always present and easy to use. Others may focus their mind on a candle flame or some other object. Some may scan their body with their mind going slowly from the toes to the top of the head one body part at a time. Because there are various techniques for calming the mind, it might take several trials and errors before you discover what works best for you. This is why it is best to practice under the guidance of a knowledgeable teacher.

Once the mind is calm and relaxed the body will follow. When both the body and the mind are relaxed you can then begin to observe your thoughts as though you are an observer of them. You and your thoughts become separate. Thoughts are nothing more than waves of energy passing in and out of the mind, but we often become so attached to those waves we begin to think we and the thoughts are one and the same.

In the beginning, meditation may last only a few minutes before thoughts take over again. The more you sit in practice the longer meditation will last. And the longer you sit in meditation the better you will be able to take the peace and tranquility with you during non-sitting times while working, playing, and enjoying life.

Who knows?

Who knows the path
to enlightenment?
It could be Buddha,
maybe Rumi.

I search and search
for the one who knows.
I've tried them all
but can't decide.

I've looked at the great
Krishnamurti and Belsakar,
at Nisargadatta and Dalai Lama
but don't know who to follow.

Jesus Christ seems like
a good contender.
Or maybe Tolle
or Yogananda. 

After all these
futile attempts,
it dawns on me.

All I need is this
precious moment.



 

Remember who you are

As you walk on Mother Earth
remember who you are -
the entirety of every things birth.

When the universe was created
you were born -
and light was added .

All the stars,
all the planets
and even tiny quasars.

The surf,
the wind,
all the glorious turf.

You are begat
with a lot of this
and a lot of that. 

The love and glory
that's in your soul
will be for ever more .

Universal Energy

The energy that runs through your body is not imaginary or an illusion.  It is as real as sunlight, as true as sound, and as natural as the wind.  Do not underestimate the healing power or magnitude of that energy.

The third chapter of the Yoga Sutras speaks extensively on how energy is important for enhancing power and potency in the human body.  The Vedas calls energy the "responsive energy," the "life force," the "prana" which runs through the body and holds it together.  This force consists of both the physical (paramanus) and the non-physical (akasha) components of all things.

The Upanishads stress that in both the universe and the individual human being there is a power that never changes.  That power is something that is greater and grander than either the universe or the human being.  "It is a power that never changes."   

The Bhagavad Gita (7:4-5) mentions the life-force that extends throughout the universe and is beyond earth, water, fire, wind, space, mind, understanding, and individuality.  The life-force is the energy that pervades all living and non-living entities everywhere.

The person who gets in touch with this never changing energy and can feel its presence flowing through his/her very being will never cease to exist. 

 

Who said

"When you know yourself, then you will be known, and you will realize that you and the father are one?"
a. Jesus                             c.. Sri Nisargadatta
b. Muhammad                   d.  Ramacharaka

"Whoever finds himself is superior to the world?"
a. Jesus                             c. Sri Nisargadatta
b. Muhammad                   d. Ramacharaka 

"Is it not written in your law,  I said, Ye are all gods?"
a. Jesus                             c. Sri Nisargadatta
b. Muhammad                   d. Ramacharaka

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
a. Jesus                             c. Sri Nisargadatta
b. Muhammad                   d. Ramacharaka

Answers appear below:

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They are all quotes from Jesus.

The Old Man and the Quarter

There was an old man who worked in a bar cleaning the floors and the bathrooms.  The owner of the pub didn't pay him much but allowed him to drink as much beer as he wanted and sleep in the back room  He seemed congenial enough and everyone liked him but he never said much.  He would usually speak only when spoken to.

Patrons of the bar would play a game with the old man by showing him a bright shiny quarter and an old paper dollar and ask him which one he wanted.  He always wanted the bright shiny quarter.  He would smile and put the quarter in his pocket, they would laugh and snicker, and he would go about his cleaning. The quarter and dollar game went on for years.  One day the owner of the bar asked the old man why he always picked the quarter.  The old man explained to the owner that if he ever picked the dollar the game would be over.

Misery and Suffering

You must look beyond your self
if you ever want to get out of
misery and suffering. 

The self is the body and the mind.
It is all the beliefs that have accumulated
over the many, many years of life.

It is your values of what is good
and what is bad.
It is your feelings and emotions.

The self is nothing more than
an illusion created out of fear of
death and desperation of living.

It is time to stop the madness.
It is time to look beyond the self
and allow it to dissolve.

Where the self goes
so goes the ego.
They are inseparable.

To eliminate misery
and sufferring
you must rise above both.

Do not try to understand
by thinking.
Understand by not thinking.

The Self is universal.
It is the only reality.
It is beyond misery and suffering.

Concepts, beliefs, identity
are nothing but illusions -
mainstays of the ego-self.

You are eternal presence - now,
before birth and
after death.

When you discover
presence you will
discover Self.

Attachment to body,
to mind, to consciousness
is very strong.

Release their hold.
Allow presence
to fully appear.

The self and the ego
can be the source
of all misery and suffering.

They can also be
the source for all
love and compassion.

Meditate
in order to know
the Self.

Meditate
in order to know
reality.

The sense of "I"
is temporary.
"I Am" is constant.

There is no doer,
no achiever, or
individual.

Misery and suffering
lie within the ego,
within the self.

The ego-self
is the individual doer -
the individual achiever.

Rest in the Self.
Allow ego-self to be
passive and uninvolved.

Meditate on "I Am."
Meditate on the Self.
Meditate on spaciousness. 

When there is nothing
you still are.
You are the Absolute.

The ego believes
it is the self,
the doer, the thinker.

You know you are not
the self, the doer,
the thinker.

You are - - - - - - - - -

Results of the Experiential Method

There were eighty five (85) hits on the last post, "The Experiential Method," but only two (2) people made comments.  And those comments had nothing to do with the experiential method. 

I am at a lose.  Was it too difficult to understand?  Was it too much reading?  Maybe it wasn't entertaining enough.  Maybe the subject of investigation (the mind) isn't important enouth. 

Can anybody help me out?