Meditation Blog

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 ;)

Recently I was discussing the Tao Te Ching with one of the people I help guide in meditation. As with all books they can only convey impressions and ideas, they can not reveal spiritual truth. But what they can do is to inspire a person to discover the truth for themselves through their own experiences and realisations.

One of my favorite verses from the Tao Te Ching is the following:

"We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel,
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends.
We turn clay to make a vessel,
But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends.
We pierce doors and windows to make a house,
And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends.
Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not."

For me this is really about meditation and the way that without stillness there can be no form. But what is really important is for you to ask the question "what do I understand by this?" because it doesn't matter what anyone else understands, only what you understand for yourself. Another person's realisations, no matter how profound will not free you from your own limits.

The first line shows not only how all form is made of other forms, for example a wheel is made of 30 spokes. But this line also shows how we (through our minds) ascribe labels to things. For example when you read the word "wheel" you have an idea of what that wheel would be like. But everyone's idea of the wheel may be different. Is it a bicycle wheel, a wooden wagon wheel, or a thick car wheel. Is it 30 cm across or 100 cm? So the label is not the thing.

Then the second line: "But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends" describes how it is the hole in the middle of the wheel that allows it to be "useful". The wheel by its very design has a purpose, to allow something to move. So it is the hole or absense of form that allows the wheel to carry out its function.

The following lines also carry on this theme of the formless allowing the form to function. It is a metaphor, a hint at meditation. Because in meditation our bodies, much like the clay vessel are our form and we focus our awareness on the "space" inside. This space you can also label as emptyness, stillness, neutrality, balance, inner peace, tranquility and Love. By being aware of this "space" we allow our vessel to realise the function of it's form. Without the "space" it is just another form. The last line brings the two together, unifying form and nothingness to say that one without the other has no use.

This idea that usefulness comes from balance between nothingness and form can be considered from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic; a personality and the stillness within, to the manifest creation and absolute Love.

It is the edges of the wheel that reveal, by contrast, the emptyness in its hub. Each exists, and without the other there is no contrast to recognise the other.

So I wonder what you understood as you read the above verse. But whatever it was, be prepared to change, because as we discover more of our truth by exploring this inner stillness through meditation, what we can understand evolves with our ability to be still. The stiller we get the more clarity and understanding though being we enjoy...

Sitting on the tube today on my way into London I picked up the Metro newspaper (8th April 2010) and two different articles got my attention:

Say Om

In this article they say that saying a mantra like Om can reduce stress and depression by up to 48% according to two studies in the US.

The "Om" sound, like all sounds is a vibration which when repeated internally resonates certain parts of your aura and energy field. A very soothing and calming effect. When I teach people they have the opportunity to experience even more powerful mantras and work with pure sound vibration. Taking thier meditation even further into quite frankly amazing depths of stillness and inner peace. What I really love about this is that this is provable! Every person I have taught in the last 10 years has reported that when they use these mantras and other techniques regularly that they actually feel great and get real positive benefits.

Doherty takes up new vice - Tai Chi

This article (page 32) tickled me too. Pete's probably no stranger to altered states of awareness due to his reported drug taking over the years. The problem is that drugs "force" your awareness and consequently cause damage as the shifts are imbalanced. Now he's experiencing "balance and serenety" in a natural way by using Tai Chi - a physical form of meditation.

I have used Tai Chi with three different teachers over the years and it's a fantastic way of gaining physical and etheric balance. As with all meditation techniques the "object" of meditation also defines the limit of where your awareness is expanded. So a physical meditation like Tai Chi which works with the physical body and chi (etheric body) will expand and balance the awareness in the Physical and Etheric planes. This is great for meditators because it then makes it a lot easier to become aware of the more subtle vibrations beyond these bodies. Well done Pete, maybe you're finally waking up! :)

I've been teaching meditation for well over 10 years now and I've noticed some simple and obvious patterns that apply to everyone I've seen including myself. One of them is that:

"the more regular a person meditates, then the more they get from their meditation and the more it benefits them in their everyday life".

Maybe you've already noticed this too?

Now, being a busy person I can really appreciate that sometimes life throws obsticles in the way. And I certainly don't give myself a hard time if it's just not possible to meditate. I just look forward to the next meditate even more!

It seems it's a really subtle distinction between what is a genuine reason why one can't meditate as much as one would like as opposed to an excuse to miss it. And the reality is that only you can tell if it's a real reason or a convenient dodge. One of the most inspiring thoughts I've heard on this was from a good friend and long time meditator Dan, who said "When I don't want to meditate, that's when I sit down and meditate".

I really get what he was saying there. You see even when a person has transcended the mind, the personality, which is still there, is certainly not beyond the mind and so can still seem to "get in the way" or to put it better "gain your attention". So it's the attitude that a person fosters within their personality that can help then not get stuck in these unhelpful habits. By developing a good pattern of regular meditation then that pattern gains momentum.

I've known some delightful and naturally gifted meditators who, before they knew it had suddenly not really meditated for months or more because they "got caught up in life". It's always a real shame because it's like watching a light slowly turn down. Once they realise what has happened they start to get back into their meditation and rediscover the stillness and peace and all the other benefits. Sadly though they have lost time they will never get back and, within creation, time certainly is never on anyone's side.

So remember, if you want to then it's a great idea to keep your meditation regular. Like healthy exercise and having fun, the more you do then the better life gets.

Keep your light shining

Mark

It's a question I get asked very often. The simple answer is as often as you like.

I generally encourage people to explore their meditation so I may say: "meditate at different times of the day, notice what is the same, notice what happens when you meditate in the morning as opposed to the evening. Meditate twice a day, do one long meditate and then several short ones... notice what's different."

It also depends on where you are in your meditation.

People who are already meditating on pure energy find it even easier to sit for many hours, whereas if you're just learning the breath meditation, then 5 mins is also great. But to turn it on it's head, I recently sat and meditated for 4 hours with one of the people I am teaching, and despite the fact she had only ever done 45 mins up till then, she found it so easy that she didn't even believe she had actually done 4 hours!

The more people relax, and enter their meditation with a sense of adventure and delight then the easier it is to simply enjoy it without referencing time. I have on a number of occassions, taken time off and sat literally for days meditating between 4 and 10 hours at a time without moving. I recently meditated for 10 days, which was an absolute pleasure. Each day I meditated between maybe 10 and 20 hours. Now years ago when I started, I wouldn't have believed I'd be saying that! My first meditate was 2mins and 13seconds! - yes I actually timed it!

Practical Meditation Advice

So here are some handy hints in reference to meditation and time:

1. Use an alarm clock. If you're meditating and you know that in 30 mins you'll need to do something then set an alarm, otherwise you'll be monitoring the time in the back of your mind and you may struggle to become as still as you could if you let the alarm take care of time.
2. The key is to be regular. it is better to do 30 mins a day than one 2 hour meditate once a week.
3. Mix things up! While regular meditation is a good habit to have, if you are always meditating at the same time, in the same place, for the same duration, then do something different, otherwise you're just becoming more unconscious in the habit and less likely to actually turn up and notice what's happening in your meditation.
4. Take care of your body! Especially when it comes to longer meditates, if your body is well looked after, you'll find it easier to sit and be comfortably still for longer periods... allowing you to enjoy the inner peace and stillness more.
5. Challenge your limits.... like my friend who went from doing 45 mins to 4 hours! She found new levels of stillness and inner love by being willing to challenge her limits :) in a nice way.

There's plenty more I could say but this time I'll stop for now :)

Enjoy your meditation!