Meditation Blog

Last night I held the first of hopefully many online multi person conference calls with other like minded individuals. We had people from all over the UK and as far abroad as Budapest in Hungary join in. There was a range of experience, from beginners to those who have completed their spiritual journeys to "Enlightenment" and in a natural and conversational way we discussed some of the realisations and insights we've had from our meditation.

Topics covered included:

• LOVE, and how our understanding of it evolves as we develop spiritually.
• Practical things we can do to go deeper into meditation.
• How attitude and the mind can be useful in preparing for a meditate.
• Discriminating between expectation, imagination and "being in the now".

I will be organising more of these in the future so I hope you can join us. To find out when the next online meditation discussing and philosophical meeting will be sign up to the free meditation newsletter.

There is a lot of value to be gained from being philosophical. The word itself derives from Latin and literally translates as the "Love of Sophia". Sophia was of course the Greek goddess of Wisdom and so Philosophy means the "Love of Wisdom".

The Benefits of Philosophy to a Meditator

Let's be clear about what I mean by "philosophy". I mean an intelligent and light hearted discussion and enquirey into the fundamental aspects of being human and experiencing stillness. Playing with philosophy (it is fun) helps meditators in the following ways:

• You build more ability to understand and integrate those experiences and insights you have within your meditation.
• You can challenge and go beyond your own limiting habits and beliefs to find more flexibility in your personality, allowing you to get more from your meditation.
• You can explore and directly apply teachings from wise philosophers through the ages to your own life and experiences.
• It can create a more fluid experience within meditation as you have better aligned your lower mind with the stillness. Intention is very powerful and so doing philosophy helps orientate your intentions.

A philosophical discussion with like-minded folk:

How: Well we're all over the country (in fact the world!) so let's make the most of technology. We're going to do this using Skype which is a free program that you can download and put on a computer or laptop. Make sure you've got headphones handy and a microphone too (some laptops have mics built in!). When you've got skype installed just look for the skype account "pureenergymeditation" and add it to your contacts. Be sure to provide your full name and where you are to the invite. Skype allows up to 25 people to talk together!

When: Thurs 5th April @ 7pm for about 1 hour(ish). Pop it into your diary now! Sign into Skype at 6:55 and send me a chat message saying you want to join in. I will then add you to the conference call. - simple. I'll stop adding people at 7pm so be on time :) If you live near someone else who is interested then use this as an excuse to get together.

If you've missed this one then sign up to the newsletter to find out about when the next one will be.

Cost: It's FREE

What: This will be the first one so we'll start with ease and see what comes up! Everyone can contribute as much as they want or simply listen in and enjoy. I would recommend that you do a few minutes of meditation before the call to get into a peacefull and relaxed state of mind before we begin.

Who: This is aimed at anyone who is interested in or already doing pure energy meditation. From beginners to experienced...

I look forward to hearing you there.

ps. A few really handy hints to having a great skype experience:

1. Use headphones otherwise the sound quality of what you hear and say will not be so good. It will also be better for the other people. If there are a couple of you round one computer then you may want to get a headphone splitter which is pretty cheap.(here's an example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001D84CV6)
2. Make sure your mobile phone is not near your computer or microphone as they can create a lot of interference. Go on treat yourself and switch it off for an hour!
3. A strong wi-fi signal will improve the quality of the call.
4. Stop downloading large files or watching youtube videos/facebook during the call. When you watch online videos or download files then there is little bandwidth left for skype and the quality of your call will go down.
5. Make sure the room you are in is quiet - turn off the TV and radio etc. They may sound quite to you but your microphone will pick them up and amplify the signal so that it creates noise for everyone else.
6. If you want to talk privately with other people in your room with you then hit the space bar to put yourself on mute. You will still hear the skype conference but they wont hear you.
7. If unsure then do a skype test call first (https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA265/How-can-I-make-a-test-call) or skype a friend to check everything is setup before the conference call.
8. There will only be audio - no video so you won't need a webcam.

Those of you who subscribe to my mailing list may remember I said I was going to write a book about meditation and I asked for questions and ideas for what you would like to see in it. Thanks again to those of you who responded. I thought I'd give an update and a sneak preview of what is to come.

Well I've written about 24,000 words so far which equates to about 150 pages. There is still more to write but I'm very pleased with how it is coming along. The way I work is to have a question and then reflect on it for a while. Often the words come to me very intuitively, when I least expect it so I keep a notepad near me at all times now. When the words are flowing it's a real pleasure as really I'm just letting them come through me so to say. It's a bit like meditation I guess, the more you let go and get out the way then the more cool stuff can happen and energy flows!

Chapter Listing

Below is the current chapter listing. Most of the titles are working titles but it will give you an idea of what to expect. And please feel free to suggest more things if you want them in the final book. The main section headings are in bold.

Spirituality 3

• Believing is Not Being 5
• My Definition of “Spirituality” 7
• What Do You Believe Now? 12
• The Limits of Words 16
• The Trap of Expectations 17
• Stuck With Information? Within Formation? 19
• Why So Many Forms Of Meditation? 21
• What Are You Paying Attention To? 22
• Where Are You Paying Attention From? 24
• You Have Been Meditating All Your Life 26
• The Seven Levels Within Manifest Creation 27
• Awareness Within Manifest Creation 35
• Beyond Manifest Creation 45
• Love 46
• The Big Picture 48
• The Illusion of Self 51
• The Teacher and The Master 54
• The Illusion of a Spiritual Journey 58

Meditation 60

• Preparing For Spiritual Awareness 60
• Attitudes That Support Inner Stillness 62
• Outside Is A Mirror Of Inside 73
• Practical Advice for All Meditation 75
• Meditation Techniques 88
• Personality and State 106
• Lifestyle Factors That Support Stillness 106
• Diet 106
• Drugs 112
• Alcohol & Smoking 117
• Lifestyle 118

Common Misconceptions 118

• "Women Can't Become Enlightened" 119
• Enlightenment Over Many Incarnations 121
• Spiritual Means Behaving a Specific Way 124
• Can The Blind Lead the Blind? 132
• All Spiritual Phenomena Is Just Chemistry 133
• Spirituality Is Not Entertainment 135
• Waiting Till You Are Ready For Spirituality 138
• You Cannot Get a Certificate in Spirituality 140
• States Do Not Equal Status 142
• You are not invincible 142
• States do not come with instructions 142

Integration 142

• Poles Apart 142
• Understanding Limits, Awareness and Love. 144
• Resistance to Change 153
• Personal Transformation 154
• References 157

I was recently interviewed for an article in Natural Health Magazine about Meditation and how Pure Energy Meditation is a different kind of meditation from the other types that people are generally aware of. To see the article visit the meditation articles section of this site.

Life is full of choices and questions and sometimes the choices are so important or so difficult to make that they can create mental anxiety and anguish. I started meditating regularly during my studies as a student back in the early 90's. It was a busy time and I personally found meditation a great way of sifting through the mental chatter to find meaningful answers. By using the stillness within meditation, I learned to access a more intuitive state of awareness.

Over the years I've taught a number of people this technique, and usually when they really need it. There was my friend who couldn't decide whether to renew his work contract or go for a new job. Using meditation to get him still he knew the answer within minutes. He literally described it being "so obvious, once he had a little bit of space to see it". He had been agonising over the choice for many weeks and it was making him feel sick, so you could imagine his relief!

So this is what I do:

1. Define the question. It might be that I'm working on a creative media project and I've got a bit stuck and so I would like to "get a new idea". Or perhaps it's a choice like "what if I do X, rather than Y?" But finding the answer starts with being clear about the choice/question. If I need more clarity at this stage then I'll simply sit and meditate for about 5 minutes on deep breath techniques before even thinking about what the question is. Once I have it, I tend to write the question down on a piece of paper to "make it tangible".
2. Become still. Whether you are a breath meditator, using a mantra or an advanced pure energy meditator, there is stillness to be had (or more precisely, "to be"). So after step 1, I will read the question once and then literally, "put it down" with the intention that I can let the question go and when I am still I will naturally access the answer. So at this stage I simply go into my meditation and become nice and still and become the space and stillness. The stiller you are the more intuitive you become.
3. Neutrally observe the answer. One of the most amazing aspects of meditation, in relation to the personality, is that it gives us access to states beyond the lower "ego/personality", which is really the personality based on the physical, emotional and mental vehicles. From these higher states we are less biased and are more able to simply observe "what is" rather than "what we want". Sometimes I see the answer, sometimes I simply "know" the answer and other people describe these insights in other ways too. But sometimes the answer will come later which is why...
4. Stay awake. I don't mean become an insomniac! what I mean is that after the meditation stay awake on the inside. The more we learn to stay awake and "coming from the stillness" during our everyday lives then the more awake we are to what is really happening. Many of the insights and realisations I've made about the "human condition" have been while awake in everyday life. I've also had many profound (to say the least) realisations and insights within meditation ;) but that's for another day!

When we are stiller and more awake in life then many of the things that seem like a big deal or hard to resolve seem to just disappear and melt away. The process I've described above is just one way of accessing intuition. One of the things that is really important is to have a clear intention. As energy literally follows thought. Just something to think about ;)