There is so much written about meditation that I don’t intend to reinvent the wheel.  I would like to share my thoughts on the subject though. I would also like to share some of the benefits that I have derived from it and my general experience as to what has worked best for me.

 

The simplest way that I can describe meditation is the stillness that it has given me.  That sounds like something really deep but it’s not.  If you take the word stillness as literal as possible you could experience some similar things as I have.  Literally making an effort to sit as still as possible is all that it takes to truly meditate.  It is simple but difficult at the same time.  I started out with a minimum of one minute a day in Oregon and before I knew it, time would seem to fly by.  At first my thoughts would wonder but I would gently remind myself that I was sitting and that was all.  I tried my best not to get mad at the constant thought interruption and to concentrate on not moving.  My mind wasn’t the only rebellious part of me in this new discipline that I was practicing.  My body also joined in with not wanting to be restrained and trained.  My leg would twitch out of the blue or my arm would flinch for no apparent reason.  It wasn’t until later on that I realized why those things were happening but I won’t go into that now.

 

I also struggled to figure out what position would do the most good.  Of course I tried lying down first and to my astonishment I slept really well but I didn’t get too far on my back.  I tried sitting in the zazen posture but that really didn’t work for me either.  That is the Japanese way of kneeling with your lower legs folded beneath you with your bottom resting firmly on you’re heals.  My ankles and knees just weren’t flexible enough to handle the weight of my upper body.  I still practice it for loosening the tendons in the ankles and knees but it is definitely a test for my will.  The best way for my own situation has been to just cross my legs in good old fashion Indian style.  I felt pain in my hips and knees initially but then there was a very easy adjustment to make it bearable.  I went to Target and purchased a $10 yoga brick.  It made all the difference in the world with relieving the pain of inflexibility that I was experiencing.  When I’m traveling I just use a pillow to sit or the shoes that I would wear during the day.  Anything that I could find to prop me up turned into my sitting tool because I had to keep it going.

 

At first it seemed difficult but it has become habit now.  I try not to miss one single day if it can be helped.  It makes me feel an inner unity that can’t really be put into words until it has been experienced.  I also feel an inner serenity from the practice.  There is a silencing of the mind that comes from sitting still.  The best way for me to know when I’m on track is when I hear the deafening silence.  That is also a very literal term.  It sounds ridiculous to actually try to listen to silence but it is possible.  I’ve been doing it for a little while now and it makes all the difference in the world.  Silence actually has a sound.  It sounds like a ringing in my ears from listening to loud music and then turning it off all of a sudden.  Or it could be experienced as a whistling in my ear like a dog whistle but tuned to be heard only by the people that are on the same wavelength as the silence.  (The tuning in comes from sitting in stillness)

 

I hope that this was helpful for any person aspiring to start meditating.  After you have had time to try out sitting in stillness as described above, you can move on to the guided meditation below.  It should be used as a guideline that is not etched in stone.  Feel free to move around and explore yourself.  You may see things that I don’t have in the meditation and that is perfectly fine.  I hope that you do because that makes the experience all the more real and it will also motivate you to try even more things.  After my brother read the article below, he just looked at me with a blank face.  I guess he was saying what happened to the rest of the article in that hilarious gesture.  I just smiled and assured him that it was finished.  I don’t want to say too much of what I saw during the times that I practice this meditation because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone.  Some would feel under pressure if they didn’t see and experience the exact same thing.  Come up with other rooms of your own to venture into while in your inner world.  Have as much fun as you can with it.

 

 

Guided Meditation for Going Inward

 

Start out by relaxing as much as possible and entering into a meditative state.  I use my hearing to see if I’m in a good state.  When I hear the deafening silence, then I know that I’m ready to hear and see whatever I see once I go inward.

 

Once the preparations above are made, I begin to look at the back of my eyelids to move into the visualization stage.  I visualize that I’m at the top of a dark stairwell and I see a door at the bottom.  As I approach the door each stair lights up on the way down.  (You might be wondering why I didn’t put the amount of stairs.  That’s because it’s up to you.  Anywhere from 5-10 should be fine.)  Standing in front of the door of my inner world feels scary but it is something that needs to be done for inner fusion to happen.  I check the door and realize that it’s locked.  I start to check my pockets and I find the key in the left one.  As I open the door, I feel parts of me open up like they never have before.

 

When I step through the door, I walk out directly onto the beach.  (It could be anywhere depending on the person and what there inner self sees as a safe place.  We are going to continue on using the beach.  I walk along the sand smelling the cool ocean breeze and watching the birds flying overhead.  I can feel the sand between my toes and hear the waves crashing up against the shore.  As I’m walking a see a door carved into the side of a mountain off in the distance.  Something about the door draws me over so I head towards the door.

 

The closer to the door I get the more I feel like myself.  It’s an exciting feeling and I want to explore more of myself so I head inside.  Once in I can see a water fountain the different color water flowing out.  I notice the pattern of the water as well red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, indigo and then violet. (The same as the chakras)  I decide to make a pit stop at the fountain so that I can bathe and I can feel my energy level go up from the rejuvenating water.  I begin to see doors lined against the wall for as far as my eye could see.

 

They all have different contents and this is the most intriguing part.  I open the first door and I see all the pieces of me that are missing from my current life experience tied up in ropes.  They all have a t-shirt on showing me what part of me they represent.  I see my will power, dancing rhythm, memory, and the list goes on and on.  As I read their shirts, I cut their ropes and send them out to the fountain to begin to get healed and meshed back into the rest of me.  I’ve claimed back all that I could for today and I feel ready to go back.  I know that I have to come back to this room from time to time to see anything else about me that I can set free but that’s all for now.  I head for the door knowing that I’ve become more like me.

 

I retrace all of my steps past the fountain onto the beach.  I walk back along the shore to the door that originally brought me in here knowing that I can come back anytime I want with one thought of being here.  I walk back up the lighted staircase back into normal consciousness. 

 

Take a minute to take in the experiences you’ve just had.

 

This meditation can be used to do a number of things like be with the Tao inside of us directly as well.  Just replace the room of tied up pieces of you with the experience of being the same room of the energy of the Tao.  Other important rooms:  White Light Room, Silence and Stillness Room

Soul Connection Meditation

The soul is believed to be in more than one place depending on where the particular person is in their natural evolution.  The soul can in any chakra from the root all the way up to the third eye or crown.  The most common place is believed to be in the heart chakra.  Most people that are on the self healing path will have their soul residing in their heart chakra.  The higher up on the chakra ladder, then it’s rarer (more rare) to have someone’s soul in that chakra.  With that being said, here is the meditation

 

Imagine yourself on a bridge that extends out from you third eye chakra and is made of brilliant blue light.  Even with your eyes closed, you can see everything currently in front of you through your third eye.  As you turn to face yourself, you notice a door leading in and you decide to explore yourself.  Once inside of the door you realize that you are in an indigo blue transparent (see through) elevator and the down button has been pushed automatically.  You begin to go descend deeper into yourself.

 

You begin to see the walls of light that make up the elevator begin to lighten up and change color and you realize that you have moved out of the third eye area of yourself.  Now the light has lightened to a sky blue and you can sense that you are now in the area of the throat chakra.  What a wonderful place to be but it isn’t your current destination so the elevator continues to move further down.

 

The color of the transparent light of the elevator changes again and now you see that it is turning into a beautiful deep emerald green.  The elevator stops and you know that you have found where you were headed.  The elevator doors open and you see a room full of green in every noticeable direction.  Even the furniture is made up of the same transparent green light.  As you walk through the room to explore you notice someone sitting across the room with their back turned.  Since it is just the two of you in the room, you decide to go over and introduce yourself.  As you get close enough to see the person in detail you realize that it is your soul waiting to meet you and you feel as if you have finally found your true self.  Sit and imagine having a conversation with your soul because if this is the first time meeting there will be a great deal of catching up to do.

 

Stay with your soul as long as you like and know that you can come back to this place whenever you desire just by having the intent to be here.

 

When you are ready to leave, you simply say good-bye to your soul for the time being feeling that the connection has stayed with you for the rest of your life going forward.  You promise to come back soon and you make your way out to the door that you originally came through. 

 

Now you are on a transparent green bridge extending from your heart chakra and you can gradually come back to this plane mentally at your own leisure.  Note that pink can be exchanged for the green if that feels more comfortable for you.