The Role of Meditation in the Work

[Babylion]

Some good advice. Many thanks
Much love

 

[Il Matto]

With Laura's guided mediations now available on the Cassiopaea YouTube channel, I thought I might bump this thread in order to reflect on some recent experiences, particularly with the mediation for Protection, Wellness and Prosperity and the role this has taken on with the Work:

The first thing to say is that, a while ago now, I really stepped up my use of breath work, from doing EE a few times a week to doing at least the breath work aspect of EE each evening and beginning each day with other breathing methods according to needs and aims. Although this breath work goes quite some way to calming my mind for meditation, I don't try to meditate without seed (and I find Laura's voice on both the EE recording and the guided meditations to be very helpful).
Since the guided meditations have become available, my wife and I have done the above linked guided meditation together most nights.
For myself, I've noticed quite a difference in how I approach each day and meditation itself. Joe captured it nicely earlier in the thread:

It seems to me that meditation's real benefit is as a way to practice non-dissociation and to practice getting a handle on emotions. In essence, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It's like practicing for being able to successfully face reality, not escape from it.

Exactly. Meditation, as a part of the Work has, for me, become the means by which I am better able to self-observe; stay attentive and alert; recognise the subtle movement of emotion and press pause before long-ingrained programs kick-in, with a greater deal of success.

Also, in these tumultuous times, being able to face reality and the terror of the situation with more composure, awareness and - slowly - diminishing self-importance has been, and continues to be, a tremendous help. 'A influences' also seem to have far less of their ability to distract as well, happily.
In my recent experience then, the EE breathing in concert with guided meditation, have shifted the Work into a whole new gear.

 

[EmeraldR]

found this useful in terms of the Work

CHAPTERS:00:00 Intro00:34 Guided Meditation31:53 Dhamma Talk1:10:12 Q&A1:47:24 Paying Respects

 

[Vajra2]

I haven't followed the thread and my apologies if I've missed something or if the following is unwelcome - but the mention of a meditation for protection, wellness and prosperity caught my eye in that it risks missing the point.

It doesn't happen overnight but meditation is essentially about over time cultivating a peaceful mind. This isn't necessarily one where thoughts don't arise - it's more about developing the ability to have them arise without our becoming identified with or attached to them. In time a 'watching' position develops and as the mind calms both the incidence of stray thoughts arising and our tendency to get sucked into them reduces.

The resulting space makes possible lots by way of healing - as the noise/static reduces our higher connection/guidance and access to higher energies strengthens. We may if we're watching find topics of relevance to our path somehow finding their way into our awareness. Causes of past trauma/karmic hang ups previously buried in the subconscious may eventually start to surface so that they can be seen in perspective, made sense of and released. Our frequency may increase over time leading to further openings and realisations.

We of course have a part to play in determining our path, but it has a lot more to do with 'sticking with the knitting' (the meditation), continuing the calm self enquiry and listening for intuitive guidance than it has with derring do.

The difficulty with seeking specific outcomes such as prosperity is that it risks identification with egotistical desires and opens the possibility that (in what is a free will reality - we can do it if we wish) we may embark upon a path that is not correct for us.

Experience suggests that as the higher connection strengthens that guidance starts to come in...

The freely accessible traditionally rooted basic Tibetan Buddhist teaching on meditation put out by the various groups tends to be very good. There are of course other factors in play such as lifestyle, beliefs, diet and many more but the book 'Full Catastrophe Living' by Jon Kabat Zinn is an excellent manual on how to utilise meditation and mindfulness for health.

 

[EmeraldR]

It seems to me that meditation's real benefit is as a way to practice non-dissociation and to practice getting a handle on emotions. In essence, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It's like practicing for being able to successfully face reality, not escape from it.

meaning a person experiences a continuous and integrated sense of self and reality,

Ive seen alot of folk meditate for years but alot of them have never really asked themselves what their true motive is in doing so ,other than developing some peacefulness and limited awareness of the present!And thats as far as their meditation practice goes!

In connection to The Work there is alot more to it than that !
cultivating/developing kindness toward self and others through insight and a deeper understanding of what and how self delusion,hatred and ignorance operates in terms of habits /tendencies etc.

plenty of people who are sts orientated practice meditation -again it goes back to the intention and motive.

is this practice of meditation beneficial to me as well as others .. or just for me and my personal benefit excluding others..

In essence, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It's like practicing for being able to successfully face reality, not escape from it.

 

[EmeraldR]

Some people ought to meditate one way, some people ought to meditate another way. Each individual has specific requirements as to type and duration of meditation. Every case is individual.

Meditation, taken in proper doses, along with "tuning the reading instrument", can certainly accelerate one's "progress."

There are two basic ways to meditate: with seed and without seed. That is, to have something to focus on, or to attempt to completely empty the mind. It is generally more productive to meditate with seed in the beginning. Depending on your "type" the "seed" will be different. If you are a visual person, holding a visual image in the mind works. If you are an auditory person, holding a phrase and "hearing" it in your mind works. If you are kinesthetic, holding a "feeling" or trying to achieve that feeling, works best.

Also, at the point when you begin to have some success in stilling the "chatter," you can experiment with changing the seed or combining. You might have a visual and auditory, or feeling and visual, or auditory and feeling, or all of them at once.

My personal preference is a phrase that I can also "see" as letters forming words that appear and dissolve. With this, I have both "thought content" as well as visual image and can easily add "feeling" and sound at will. I can also discard visual, auditory and feeling elements and simply concentrate on the "content."

Breathing is very important for a number of reasons. Very slow, controlled breathing with counting to start the process works very effectively. Breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Once the breathing (that your are counting in order to regulate) becomes deep, slow and regular, then introduce either your phrase, visual image, or whatever you have selected as "seed." The breathing ought to continue as you have set it.

The object, in the beginning, is to set several tasks for your mind to focus on intently and to hold that focus for as long as you can. If your mind wanders and other thoughts come along, as soon as you realize that you have lost focus, just bring your mind back to the focus and don't get irritated that you have "lost your concentration." Most people can't focus on a single thing for longer than two or three minutes. That is why it is useful to begin with concentrating on the breathing and counting the breaths with the intention of setting up a specific depth and frequency. If you breath in for a count of 10, hold for a count of 5, breath out for a count of 10, and do this for at least 25 breaths in a row, you have achieved a respectable first step.

Another very useful technique is to find a poem or more lengthy quote to use as your breathing template AND "content."

For example, the so-called "Lord's Prayer" is very useful in this way.

Recite in your mind: Our Father Who art in Heaven ... on the in breath while holding in mind that the "kingdom of heaven, the "heavenly father" is the higher intellectual center ...

"Hallowed be thy Name...." on the outbreath while holding in mind that this is the part of you that is holy and which you desire to manifest through your self...

"Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done"... On the in breath while considering the fact that you wish to establish a link with your higher centers - the REAL you - via the magnetic center,

"On Earth as it is in heaven" on the out breath, contemplating the fact that once the magnetic center is formed that the will of the spirit, the "heavenly kingdom" can be brought into your life...

You don't have to do the whole prayer, the above is sufficient seed, but if you want to do the whole thing, I think you have the idea. You can visualize the words, consider the content, "feel" them, all the while the words themselves are acting as the "counter" for your breathing.

Some people can achieve very good results with very simple seed, other people require more complexity. Again, the point is to have something that you can focus on and to hold that focus intently. It is more or less an exercising of the Will and Intent, building a sort of "psychic muscle."

You may be surprised at the tenacity of the chatter and its resistance to this one-pointed focus.

Thanks Laura -very well communicated

 

[Il Matto]

I haven't followed the thread and my apologies if I've missed something or if the following is unwelcome - but the mention of a meditation for protection, wellness and prosperity caught my eye in that it risks missing the point.

No, your contribution is certainly not unwelcome. Whilst I can understand your reaction to the title of the meditation, perhaps assuming 'you create your own reality woo woo', I can assure you that that is not the purpose of the meditation. Listen to it, try it even.

The difficulty with seeking specific outcomes such as prosperity is that it risks identification with egotistical desires and opens the possibility that (in what is a free will reality - we can do it if we wish) we may embark upon a path that is not correct for us.

Couldn't agree more, but the meditation linked above is not about demanding anything from the universe.

plenty of people who are sts orientated practice meditation -again it goes back to the intention and motive.

is this practice of meditation beneficial to me as well as others .. or just for me and my personal benefit excluding others..

In essence, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It's like practicing for being able to successfully face reality, not escape from it.

Yes, I can see that (plenty of wishful thinking / magickal meditators out there!). The practice of meditation in and of itself is, perhaps, of no particular orientation. It very much depends on the end to which it is aimed: are you trying to command spiritual forces / the universe for the benefit of self and thus impose your expectations on the world and others, or are you seeking to be able to better face reality as it is, without imposing your expectations on it? As you say, intention and motive matter.

 

[Vajra2]

It's probably better to not get too far into discussion of the whys and wherefores of meditation in that it risks the creation of confusion - if only because there are no simple one size fits all answers.

What matters if we can manage it is to establish a regular practice of genuine meditation.

It's been called the practice of 'not doing'. It in the end just makes space for clearer internal and external seeing, opening the higher connection and consequent healing and development at all levels.

The risk is always that we can end up chasing objectives - accumulating more attachments/making it even harder to hear our (sometimes called intuitive) guidance rather than the opposite. The Zen maxim of 'caring but not caring' is significant in this context

With continuing practice mind (which when to varying degrees freed from the obscuring effects of ego is essentially self healing) eventually guides us on to a path that works for us - the required will somehow manifests. There's no knowing given individual vagaries how or when stuff might happen, and it may well be a bumpy ride...

Codified Eastern perspectives (which are pretty academic/oriented towards how to structure teaching institutions) tend to say that the starting point for the person coming from an STS perspective (almost everybody) is to first learn and so far as we can manage it apply the basic rules of how to behave properly towards ourselves and others - as in try to live for the greatest good. Moving on to the cultivation and enhancement of those qualities which generate the genuine will and skillful ability to live in this manner - wisdom and compassion. Beyond that openings may or may not occur which enable a more immediate connection with higher guidance...

 

[axj]

In essence, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It's like practicing for being able to successfully face reality, not escape from it.

Exactly, meditation is basically about facing the reality in our inner world (mental and emotional, as well as deeper levels) with non-dissociation, 'brutal honesty', acceptance and love. Which in turn makes it easier to perceive everything more objectively and face reality in the outer world.

 

[Vajra2]

The subtlety is perhaps that while we must lead with a level of light but consistent intention that the process is mostly emergent. It brings to light and enables the resolution of stuff that we would never have thought of. It's often only when looking back over time that we can see that guidance is in play.

Even meditative technique falls into this space. With practice we for example eventually find appropriate breathing patterns establishing themselves. Cause and effect become mixed - are you achieving a mind state because you are breathing a certain way, or is it the result of the mind state? Or are they both part of a whole?

To attempt to work topics in the intellectual or conceptual sense while meditating is often highly disruptive - it tends to break the connection that is the source of intuitive insight. Hence the Zen admonition - 'just sit'.

By all means read, study and consider stuff afterwards - lightly.

To reach the point of having established a stable meditiation practice is already an achievement - most will deny any requirement for self work and won't even start. Even if they do get going the motivation may quickly fade because it was bound up in egotistical wants and needs.

Given time and presuming reasonable progress the motivation becomes established and the vantage point of the intuitively connected caring but not caring observer may eventually develop and move out into everyday life...

 

[Vajra2]

My apologies if I've not been very conversational on the topic - I've been trying to communicate a 'view'.

From the widest perspective we exist in a free will reality - one where higher guidance or assistance of any sort will not be forced on us. (the Law of Free Will is paramount) We must show that we truly want and are open to receiving it.

Most of us are so deeply caught up in external and worldy perspectives, egotistical delusion and rationalisation (ultimately karmically inspired) that we can't, won't and don't recognise never mind admit to ourselves or others that we want and need this help - it often takes some sort of a life crisis to make a crack in the shell.

It's not even external help. Opening the higher connection starts us down the road of re-integrating our total multidensity complex - our true self.

Meditation seen in this context calms the mind and opens it to alternative perspectives and insight. Initially perhaps enough that we can in starting to see what is truly in our greatest interest (which turns out also to be for the greatest good of others) start to clean up our everyday life. Further work develops our skills in these regards.

Higher assistance is always available but with increasing stability of mind and reductions in the compulsive need to dictate our life path we with opening and integration of the heart/intuitive side become capable of meaningfully inviting, receiving and utilising increasing levels of guidance.

It may not always be a comfortable ride, but given right intention we're ultimately well protected and looked after - we get only that which we are ready for and need...

This path
Brings Light
Makes space to see
Mind’s chatter eased
The view makes clear.

This path
Brings calm
Relieves the angst
Wakes Love that knows
And sight renewed.

But sight
Brings pain
When all that’s seen
Seems wrong to mind
Brings only fear.

But sight
Brings Light
Shows beauty too
Makes all so right
So very clear.

So life
Goes on
Midst fear and joy
Whilst day by day
The onion’s peeled…