Meditation
is no longer a big secret as it once used to be. Phil Jackson, while
coaching for the Chicago Bulls wrote a book, "Sacred Hoops:
Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior." In it he described how he
had Michael Jordan and the rest of the players practice meditation. While
flying to their next destination, he had the Bulls read books on meditation.
The rest is history. The Bulls won six NBA championships under his
tutelage.
Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior
The Transcendental Meditation movement popularized the practice of meditation. Basically,
one goes to a TM trained teacher to get a mantra and learns how to meditate
using the mantra for twenty minutes. What one does during this 20 minutes
is not to try to solve any problem at hand, rather one simply and effortlessly
repeats the mantra to himself/herself over and over and not think of anything
else. Should the thoughts wander to something else we just bring
ourselves back to repeating the mantra. We try our best to continue the
practice until we have been meditating for 20 minutes. We meditate twice a day.
1 2 3
1) Science of Being and Art of Living: Transcendental Meditation Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
2) Transcendental Meditation : A New Introduction to Maharish…Robert Roth
3) Everything You Want to Know About TM -- Including How to Do It John White
What is our goal with this seemingly mindless practice? By
dwelling on the mantra, we stop the mind from flipping from one thought to
another at a speed greater than the speed of light. This is equivalent to
turning off the engine so the car stops from idling going nowhere. If this is
good for the car it is good for the mind. If during the practice, we find
moments with no thoughts between mantras, that is desirable. We have
experienced a deeper level of consciousness beyond thought, a natural state of
restful alertness. This is the reservoir of energy, creativity and intelligence
found within everyone. The brain functions with greater coherence and the body
gains deep rest.
Dr.
Wayne W. Dyer recommends a similar method which he calls "the gap." Here,
one says The Lord's Prayer word by word slowly, allowing a gap between words.
Once again, the gap between words is our way of reaching inward to make
conscious contact with God.
Meditation
is no longer a big secret as it once used to be. Phil Jackson, while
coaching for the Chicago Bulls wrote a book, "Sacred Hoops:
Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior." In it he described how he
had Michael Jordan and the rest of the players practice meditation. While
flying to their next destination, he had the Bulls read books on meditation.
The rest is history. The Bulls won six NBA championships under his
tutelage.
The
Transcendental Meditation movement popularized the practice of meditation.
Basically, one goes to a TM trained teacher to get a mantra and learns
how to meditate using the mantra for twenty minutes. What one does during
this 20 minutes is not to try to solve any problem at hand, rather one simply and
effortlessly repeats the mantra to himself/herself over and over and not think
of anything else. Should the thoughts wander to something else we just
bring ourselves back to repeating the mantra. We try our best to
continue the practice until we have been meditating for 20 minutes. We meditate
twice a day.
What is our goal with this seemingly mindless practice? By
dwelling on the mantra, we stop the mind from flipping from one thought to
another at a speed greater than the speed of light. This is equivalent to
turning off the engine so the car stops from idling going nowhere. If this is
good for the car it is good for the mind. If during the practice, we find
moments with no thoughts between mantras, that is desirable. We have
experienced a deeper level of consciousness beyond thought, a natural state of
restful alertness. This is the reservoir of energy, creativity and intelligence
found within everyone. The brain functions with greater coherence and the body
gains deep rest.
Dr.
Wayne W. Dyer recommends a similar method which he calls "the gap."
Here, one says The Lord's Prayer word by word slowly, allowing a gap
between words. Once again, the gap between words is our way of reaching inward
to make conscious contact with God.
As we can see, meditation is a practice to discipline the mind so it
becomes a tool responsive to what we want it to do rather than the other way
around. An undisciplined mind goes on its own way, is reactive to
impulses, is easily distracted. This leads to impatience, irritability and
frustration.
Several
other methods are practiced to bring about the same goal. One method is
counting one's breath. We breathe in and as we breathe out we count
"1." We repeat the process and count "2," "3" and
"4" each time we exhale. We start the process and count our
breaths again from 1 to 4. We do this for 20 minutes. During this process
we allow no other thoughts to be entertained except that of monitoring our
breathing. This gives us practice to focus our mind.
A method
especially useful to engage the runaway mind is to watch the flow of thoughts.
Follow one thought as though one is following a bubble from the bottom of the
sea as it flows upward to the surface. Let the thought go and follow the next
one that comes along.
There are all kinds of
meditations. There is the Buddhist meditation, Christian meditation, Zen
meditation, guided visualization, Kabbalistic meditation, to mention a few. We
can explore, try each one for a while and practice what seems to suit us best. Whatever
method we choose, the consistency of practice of collecting ourselves to be
still and get centered rewards us with the joy of functioning more effectively
in our daily lives.
Meditation for Beginners: Jack Cornfield
The Art of Meditation: Joel S. Goldsmith
Why do we meditate? Elizabeth
Gilbert journeyed through Italy, India and Indonesia in search of a way to
restore her balance after a painful marriage followed by a bitter divorce. She
described her experiences in a book "Eat, Pray, Love." She found
enlightenment which she described as understanding how the universe works and
how she fits in it.
The
above summarizes the two main goals of meditation: to understand the
universe of which we are a part and by so doing, we act in accord with the laws
of the universe and thereby function more effectively in our ordinary lives. Since
functioning requires the use of our sharpened tools, we harness and develop our
minds to become instruments fit for our purpose through meditation. Through
meditation, we become mindful of our moment to moment activity, we live in the
moment, not in the past with regret nor in the future with anxiety.
There is another purpose of meditation - to raise our
consciousness. We identify with our physical body for the most part of
the day. But we are more than our body. At times we identify with
our feelings or our thoughts. In meditation we affirm that we are not our
body, we are not our desires, we are not our thoughts that fill our minds. We
are the divine spark within our hearts.
I will close by quoting Leadbeater's Prayer which says the above message
so beautifully. Each word is to be said slowly and thought out carefully. This
is a good way to contact the God within.
http://www.scienceofman.org/home/Prayer.htm
Oh Gracious Lord,
I enter Thy radiance and approach Thy presence bearing with me the service done
in Thy name and for Thee. I seek to become a more efficient server and I
open my heart and my mind to the power of thy love, thy joy and thy peace.
In Thy
presence, Thy love floods my being, love which is gentleness, kindness,
helpfulness. I must therefore be loving, gentle, kind and helpful to all
men.
In
Thy presence, Thy joy pervades me, joy which is light, radiance, eternal youth.
I must therefore bear Thy joy to those who are sad and depressed.
In
Thy presence, thy peace enfolds me and fills me with certainty, rest,
stillness, thy peace which passeth understanding. I must therefore be a
center of Thy love, Thy joy and Thy peace.
I
place my hand in Thine with all love and trust and confidence for Thou art
indeed my Lord. From the unreal lead me to the real, from darkness to
light, from death to life eternal.
At
Thy feet and in the light of Thy holy presence I strive to realize who I am.
I am not this body which belongs to the
world of shadows.
I am
not the desires which affect it. I am not the thoughts which fill my
mind. I am not the mind itself.
I
am the flame within my heart, eternal, immortal, ancient, without beginning,
without end. More radiant than the sun in all its noonday glory; purer
than the snow untouched by the hand of matter; more subtle than the ether
is the spirit within my heart. I and my Father are one.
I
worship Thee, I adore Thee, Thou my life, my breath, my being, my all. I
am in Thee and Thou art in me. Lead me oh gracious Lord through Thy
illimitable love to union with Thee and the heart of Thy love. In Thy
love I rest forever more. Amen.
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