There is a contemplative stage between pure concentration and deep meditation that you might experience. It isn't necessarily detrimental, but it is the point where you can hallucinate and relate what you think are mystical experiences. You should be very wary of visions encountered while attempting meditation. You could be easily fooled with false notions from this curious limbo region between hypnosis and meditation. Just observe, proceed and experience any visions encountered, without judgment. Actual attainment of meditation occurs when you are able to focus entirely on one item, and then remove the item from your mind and become attuned with the universe. It's not making the mind go blank, but allowing it to go empty that creates this experience. Then you feel like you become one with everything and in control of your total being. In one way or another, you spend your entire life trying to find this web of kinship which joins you to all living things and to Universal Love. Finding it, you realize then that the Kingdom of Heaven truly IS within you. For beginning meditators, the simple exercise of observing and attending to your breathing is a good one. Choose a quiet place and assume a comfortable position in a chair with your spine erect. Relax, close your eyes and bring your conscious awareness to the rhythm of your breathing. Say to yourself, "I am mindfully aware of breathing in," and then "I am mindfully aware of breathing out." You don't even have to recite the whole sentence. Just say, "breathing in" and "breathing out," to keep your mind on your breath. Notice the rising and falling of your abdomen as you breathe. Let your body become still while you inhale steadily and slowly. Feel the flow of your breathing. Notice how each breath cleanses and nourishes you. As thoughts intrude upon your consciousness, allow them to come and go without giving them further energy. Just witness the thoughts and bring your awareness back to your breathing. As you practice, you will gradually start to detach from these thoughts and cease your background dialogue. Recognize the changing flow of emotion in you, but don’t try to modify your feelings. Know that whatever you may feel is part of your flow of experience, and not a permanent state of your personality. Gently move back to following the movement of your breath. Keep this thought in mind as you meditate, “God is present, loving me as I am, and guiding me.” Realize the truth of this statement, and open yourself to it, but do not consider that by thinking it you are accomplishing anything. After a while, this thought will be in the background of your experience without actually articulating it very often. The length of time you meditate in the beginning can be as brief as 5 minutes several times a day, but gradually you will find yourself extending the time to 30 or 60 minutes in one sitting as you discover the inherent benefits. Another meditation exercise is focusing your attention on the inner sound in your ears. You can perceive this subtle sound in the quiet of your own home. Sufferers of tinnitus hear this inner sound in their ears (generated from the cochlea of the inner ear) as a loud pathological noise. You can also meditate on the inner light in your head by closing and raising your eyes to concentrate on the 'third eye' point in back of the bridge of your nose. (Like when used in self-hypnosis, this physiologically enhances an altered state of awareness.) When you do this, you'll begin to see a speck of illumination. As concentration continues, the point of light expands gradually into your whole field of vision. Then veil after veil of vibrational light reveals itself until finally spiritual vision is achieved. Some meditators initiate the process of seeing the light by imagining it at first or by gently pinching their closed eyelids & producing a phosphene effect. Buddhist meditation involves 4 primary posture positions -- standing, walking, sitting and lying down. In each posture, you become mindful about what you are doing as you are doing it. For instance, with your eyes closed, bring your awareness to the act of standing and reiterate internally, "Standing, standing, standing," over and over to yourself as you stand quietly with your hands in front of you. When doing the walking meditation, walk very slowly forward and say, "Left ... foot ... touch," then "Right ... foot ... touch," etc. Then turn around slowly and say, "Turning, turning, turning" etc. By being mindful of each step in the process, your focus is brought totally to what you are doing as you are doing it. The same procedure is followed with the sitting and lying down postures, and for all other daily acts -- eating, driving, working, etc. By becoming as conscious as possible throughout your day, you achieve the meditative purpose and all its benefits. In fact, it has been shown that crime is sharply reduced in the immediate vicinity of a group of consistent meditators. Beneficial health effects are also prevalent amongst meditators, especially in the relief of stress and its corresponding related diseases. Like all skills, meditation takes practice to derive its ultimate benefits. The more you practice it, the better you get at it. Even beginning meditators will benefit though from a growing peace, calmness and relaxation within their inner being.
|
|||||||||||||
Disclaimer
1) E-articles is not responsible for the information contained by this article as well for any and all copyright infringements by authors and writers. E-articles is a free information resource. If you suspect this article for any copyright infringement, please read the terms of service and contact us or use the "Report this article" button on this page to investigate the problem.
2) E-articles is not responsible for inaccuracies, falsehoods, or any other types of misinformation this article may contain and will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by a user through the user's reliance on the information gained here. |
|||||||||||||