05 September 2014

Learning how to meditate

You cannot learn how to meditate quickly. It is not possible.  It is a skill which requires watching how YOUR mind acts and reacts to thoughts, memories, images, emptiness, distractions, boredom, and all sorts of external diversions and distractions.

Face it.  For 20, 30, or 40 years your minds have concentrated on external things, like food, shelter, mom, pop, girlfriend, boyfriend, job, or education.  Even then you usually multitasked, doing a chore automatically while thinking of other things.  All this was done in order to obtain some degree of security and knowledge of yourself in action and the world.

In meditation, you turn inwards, where before, whenever you did this, you would only find nothing, darkness, or emptiness.
In fact, the inner world is at least as rich experientially as the external world, but will lead to states of bliss, love, self-acceptance, and self-confidence that you never dreamed of before the age of 30.

There are so many realms to explore inside yourself: the Void; the inner light of Consciousness; subtle body energies; discovering the witness who watches the mind and body; the Self, which is the union of the divine energies within your human existence; and transitional states as you cycle through sleep, dream, and waking states.

What you are learning is the structure and spectrum of your Consciousness with the ultimate end of knowing who and what you are versus who and what the world is and how to function in the world.
You will learn how to identify (or “be”) with the Void, the empty mental space that contains all inner experiences.  This is where you learn that all forms are pervaded by emptiness, and all emptiness is filled with changing forms, allowing you to identify either with the unchanging emptiness (Emptiness is not really unchanging; it is the dynamic origin of everything; it is where the manifest universe touches the UnManifest Godhead.

You will be able to be aware, without being aware of any thing, including emptiness.  You will acquire an ability to see internal energies as living streams of color having different forms.  You will be able to energize your body and psyche, and also let go of existence in order to experience peaceful non-existence.

You may, if you want, gain psychic powers, see auras, become telepathic, do healing of your physical problems and of others’ problems.

You will be able to enage with any spiritual teacher on Facebook or elsewhere, and tell them where they are wrong (JOKE!)
But the absolute keys to success are these:

1 .This is not a sprint, it is a marathon.  Actually, it is a life-long undertaking.  There are continually new deepenings and understandings, as well as the dropping away of the old.  Just as it takes years to master golf, or chess, or gymnastics, so it takes years to discover and master your inner world. Patience is the key.

2.    It takes persistence in terms of regularity of practice and effort.  Do it the same times each day and at least for 25 minutes each time.

3.    Focus on one type of meditation to the exclusion of all else for a long time before changing the method.  It is better to drill one deep hole rather than many shallow wells.

4.    Never drive yourself too hard to attain anything, such as self-realization.  You meditate in order to understand and become that who you are on all levels, and if you struggle to attain some particular understanding or state, you are trying to become someone else’s realization and understanding that you read or heard about.

5.    I recommend one method which is to download Hunting the I and The Nisargadatta Gita from my website http://wearesentience.com.  Use the Gita as a meditation manual on the I Am sensation.  Read a paragraph or two before each meditation.  Ponder the meaning, then meditate for 25 minutes “looking” for the I am sensation.  When you find it, dwell there, love it, and it will grow into a marvelous sense of presence.

6.    There are two ways to explore your inner world: my looking with your inner “eye,” and by exploring your insides by feeling your insides, with a kinesthetic sense of being and touch, and emotionally, through love, acceptance, and identification with all that arises during the meditation process.

7.    Start by feeling for the I Am sensation either in your head or in the Third Eye area behind your physical eyes. The Third Eye meditation usually results in seeing a light that begins to expand.  Sometimes you might feel energies there or even bliss.  If it is first discovered in the thorax, it will likely be like a trickle of electrical energy, which you can focus on.  Love it. Accept it, identify with it and it will grow to eventually pervade all of your Consciousness.


8.    Come to online Satsangs on Sundays, at 2PM California time by going to satsangwithedji.weebly.com, and sign in with the password “edji” whenever asked for a password.  Then share the circulating Shakti energies.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Edji,
    Very true.I am trying meditation sincerely for last 20 years.Biggest barrier for me was ,subconsciously i wanted to avoid suppressed emotions and enjoy peace.Real progress started only 2 years back when i found enough courage to watch emotions arising in heart center as they emerged without resisting them.Then only all the beauties you mention started emerging one by one.Biggest challenge was accepting after years of meditation that i am avoiding emotions and i am moving just in circle and moving nowhere.Tendency was to cling to some spiritual experiences and fool myself that i am making real progress.For me total honesty with myself is the key.Thanks for your posts.

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