The Role of Meditation in the Work

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:

Joe said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
Joe said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Laura said:
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.
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Thanks Laura -very well communicated 🙏
 
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