14/12/2024
Meditation Techniques
By Jai Om Shanti
Here are some of the methods/techniques of the East and West to awaken the silent seed of meditation and the flowering of love.
PASSIVE AWARENESS
Sit in silence and watch the mind without indulging or suppressing thoughts, letting whatever rise in the mind rise. By being passively aware as it continues its mindless chatter until it has nothing left to say. In that awareness a complete transformation of the mind takes place.
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WATCHING THE BREATH
Sit still and relaxed. Then when ready turn your attention inward. Concentrate on the breath, and simply watch it come and go. If your mind wanders off at times in any direction, dont worry. Just bring your awareness back to the breath.
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USING AN OBJECT
You can use an object of natural beauty such as a flower or crystal. Focus on the flame of a candle. Or something that embodies the truth, such as an image of Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Mary etc. Inspired by this fix a copy of the picture at eye level, and lightly set your attention on his or her face with a steady gaze. As thoughts intrude be choicelessly aware of them. Return your minds eye back to the image or object.
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FOCUSING ON THE HEART
Prayer of the Heart-Used in the Orthodox Christian Hesychast tradition, Sufism-Zikr(Qalb), Taoism-middle Dan Tien and Yoga- Anahata & Hrit Chakra.
Sitting comfortably and upright, close your mouth, and breathe through the nose only. Relax your breathing to a point that it becomes slow and inaudible to the ear. Continue breathing normally. Sit still and relaxed. Then when ready turn your attention inward. Concentrate on the breath, and simply watch it come and go. If your mind wanders off at times in any direction, don't worry. Just bring your awareness back to the breath. Being passively aware without indulging or suppressing thoughts, letting whatever rise in the mind rise. Just continue watching the breath with no inward dialogue.
Do this for as long as you like.
Now when relaxed enough close your eyes and focus inwardly and bring you attention in the heart. Breathing is a natural way to the heart. So having collected your mind within you, lead it into the channel of breathing through which air reaches the heart and together with this inhaled air, let your mind descend into your heart and remain there.
St. Simeon the New Theologian: "Sit alone in a quiet place, take your mind from every temporal and vain thing, bow your head towards your chest and stay attentively inside yourself, not in the head but in the heart, and hold the mind there with your eyes watch your breathing. With your mind find the place of the heart and let it abide there. In the beginning you will experience darkness and discomfort, but if you will continue with this activity of attention without interruption, you will attain unceasing joy."
This is usually followed by a mantra ( internal repetition of a word, poem or prayer (see Mantra)) i.e. 'Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me.' Hesychast tradition 'Om Namay Shivaya,' Hindu Shaivism or the continual remembrance of Allah in Sufism etc.
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FOCUSING ON THE NAVEL
(Called Lower Dan Tien in Chinese. Hara in Japanese. Navel gazing in the Hesychast tradition. Manipura Chakra in Indian Yoga.)
Manipura chakra is an energy centre (Qi centre) located roughly three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel.
Sitting comfortably and upright, close your mouth, and breathe through the nose only. Relax your breathing to a point that it becomes slow and inaudible to the ear. Continue breathing normally. Sit still and relaxed. Then when ready turn your attention inward. Concentrate on the breath, and simply watch it come and go. If your mind wanders off at times in any direction, don't worry. Just bring your awareness back to the breath. Being passively aware without indulging or suppressing thoughts, letting whatever rise in the mind rise. Just continue watching the breath with no inward dialogue. Do this for as long as you like.
Now when relaxed enough close your eyes and focus inwardly and bring you attention just below the navel. And remain there.
This can be done with breath retention (see Breath Control- Pranayama) as in 'Qigong/ Tai Chi/Tummo/ Vase Yoga' etc. But with breath retention centered at the navel.
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CENTERING PRAYER
Choose a sacred word, scripture, prayer or poem as the symbol of your intention to consent to the Presence and action within. For example: God, Allah, Christ, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Mary, Love, Peace, Silence, Truth, I AM, Yes etc. Sitting comfortably with eyes closed. Turn the mind inward and introduce the sacred word in the mind only. We introduce the sacred word inwardly as gently as laying a feather on a piece of absorbent paper. If thoughts intrude don't indulge or suppress them. Just be choicelessly aware of them and continue with the sacred word.
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TONGLEN
Tonglen is a Tibetan Buddhist practice for connecting with suffering-ours and that which is all around us. And a method for awakening the compassion that is inherent in all of us.
We begin the practice by taking on the suffering of a person/people who we wish to help.
As you breathe in imagine breathing in all the pain and suffering of that person into your heart and let it dissolve there. And as you breathe out, you send back to them health, happiness, peace, love and light.
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LOVE AND DEVOTION TO CHOSEN IDEAL
Prayer, Bhakti in Hinduism, Bodhicitta in Buddhism. "Love and Devotion to a Chosen Ideal". This brings about a flowering of love and compassion for all sentient beings. Whether that ideal is God, Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Allah etc. It doesn't matter. But only you can choose. Only you know what burns brightest in your heart. That is your highest ideal, that which burns like a beacon in your heart. Maybe the light inside you. A loved one. It can be anything. Only you can know. Whoever or whatever it is, it is yours. It is personal. Then a transformation will take place within the heart and mind.Whatever your chosen ideal is will lead you to the door of your heart (where you leave your mind outside as all thought is timebound as love is felt not thought) whether that has been through loss of loved one, compassion, prayer, mantra etc..when your remain in a state of awareness love and light . After all life is a life spent in relationship. Without love life has no meaning.
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MANTRA
Mantras are words that bring about a state of resonance between the individual and the depths of the inner being. Purifying the mind and nervous system. By vibration, repetition, will and intent. Bringing about a state of inner silence, peace and love.
A lot of scientific research was done on the effects of mantra (transcendental Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) in the 1960's and 1970's with astounding results. According to Deepak Chopra " The vibration of the mantra is the key. The word vibration means the frequency of the brain activity in the cerebral cortex. The mantra forms a feed back loop as the brain produces the sound, listens to it, and then responds to a deeper level of attention. The theory is that mental activity contains its own mechanism for becoming more and more refined until complete silence is experienced."
The mantra may be performed in three ways-
1. Chanting- The mantra can be chanted as loud as you wish. This is the most suitable form for beginners.
2. Whispering- The mantra is uttered in such a way that the sound is audible only by the chanter and thus concentration develops.
3. Meditation-Mental mantra. The mantra which is performed essentially in the mind, which is listened to by the mind and thus the mind gets dissolved in it. This is the most suitable of the three modes. And the best to delve deeper into the mind.
A list of mantra's:
Christianity:
Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me. The Jesus Prayer of the Orthodox Church.
Rosary: The Lords Prayer followed by ten 'Hail Mary's and one' Glory Be.'
Maranatha: John Main (English Benedictine Monk). Head of the World Community for Christian Meditation reintroduced the mantric prayer 'Maranatha'( Aramaic for Come Lord Jesus Come) of John Cassian.
Sufism:
La ilaha illa 'lla hu - There is no divinity except God
Buddhism:
Om Mani Padma Hum
Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum
Namo Amituo fo or Namu Amida Butsu
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
Hinduism:
So 'Ham
Tat Twam Asi
Om Namah Shivaya
Om Namo Narayanaya
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram
Jai Guru Deva Om
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KOAN (Chinese : Gong-an)
A koan is a Chan (Zen) Buddhist story, dialogue, question, or statement illuminating a cosmic truth, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition. Using koans to demonstrate the futility of intellectual thinking as a means to attain satori(enlightenment) was established by Hakuin. Here's one of his famous koan's : "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand clapping?"
Here are some koan's from around the world :
"A meditative mind is silent. It is not the silence which thought can conceive of; it is not the silence of a still evening; it is the silence when thought - with all its images, its words and perceptions- has entirely ceased. This meditative mind is the religious mind- the religion that is not touched by the church, the temples or the chants.
The religious mind is the explosion of love. It is the love that knows no seperation. To it far is near. It is not the one or the many, but rather that state of love in which all division ceases. Like beauty, it is not of the measure of words. From this silence alone the meditative mind acts.......................................................
This piece of food cannot be eaten,
nor this bit of wisdom found by looking.
There is a secret core in everyone
not even Gabriel can know by trying to know......................................................................
The rider- the mind of innate awareness-
Is mounted on the horse of mindfulness.
Propelled by the wings of the unimpeded wind,
It moves through the path of the bodhicitta central-channel and
Arrives at the secret door of bliss at the crown.
The king of innate awareness nakedly arises.
Concepts-the veil of the intellect-are removed.
The self-arising primordial wisdom sees its own face.
Ignorance-the darkness of delusion-is lifted.
Impurity having been dissolved in the void,
purity shines in luminosity.
The garment of intellect having been taken off,
the mind shines forth nakedly.
The clouds of discursiveness having disappeared,
wisdom shines without the covering of obscuration.
Thus, in the consciousness of one and all,
is the mind which exists according to its own self.
Spontaneous wisdom is like the sun shining forth
from between the clouds.
It arises free from obscuration
in stainless luminosity......................................
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace....................................................
I have lived on the lip of insanity,
wanting to know reasons,
knocking on a door. It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside!..........................
"The man of Tao
Remains unknown
Perfect virtue
Produces nothing
'No-Self'
Is 'True-Self.'
And the greatest man
Is Nobody."...........................
Love conquers all.............................
The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.
The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.....................................................................................................................
A religious life is a life of meditation, in which the activities of the self are not...............................................................
Who can make the muddy water clear?
Let it be still and it will gradually become clear.
Who can secure the condition of rest?
Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.................................................................................
To be absolutely nothing is to be beyond measure.................................................................................
Let God kill him who himself does not know and yet presumes to show others the way to the door of His Kingdom..........................................................
The tiny particles which form the vast universe are not tiny at all.
Neither is the vast universe vast.
These are notions of the mind, which is like a knife,
always chipping away at the Tao,
trying to render it graspable and manageable.
But that which is beyond form is ungraspable,and
that which is beyond knowing is unmanageable.
There is, however, this consolation:
She who lets go of the knife will find the Tao at her fingertips...................................................................................................
Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory.
They are weak now, but when they are raised they will be full of power.
They are natural human bodies now, but when they are raised they will be spiritual bodies.
For just as there are natural bodies, so also there are spiritual bodies.
For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.
When this happens- then at last the scriptures will come true :
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your victory?
O Death, where is your sting?"...................................................
The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light............................................................
The first step is that of purest prayer.
From this there comes a warmth of heart,
And then a strange, a holy energy,
Then tears wrung from the heart, God given.
Then peace from thoughts of every kind.
From this arises purging of the intellect,
And next the vision of heavenly mysteries.
Unheard- of light is born from this ineffably,
And thence, beyond all telling the heart's illumination.
Last comes- a step that has no limit
Though compassed in a single line-
Perfection that is endless..........................................
O lamps of fire!
in whose splendors
the deep caverns of feeling,
once obscure and blind,
now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
both warmth and light to their Beloved.
How gently and lovingly
you wake in my heart,
where in secret you dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory,
how tenderly you swell my heart with love...................................................................
Not merely reflecting but manifesting Spiritual Light, man rises to Janaloka, the Kingdom of God.
Then he passes into Tapoloka, the sphere of Kutastha Chaitanya.........................................................................................................
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God..................................................
I am the seed that can be found in every creature, Arjuna; for without me nothing can exist, neither animate nor inanimate...............................................................................
Fill your mind with me; love me; serve me; worship me always. Seeking me in your heart, you will at last be united with me.
That one I love who is incapable of ill will, who is friendly and compassionate. Living beyond the reach of I and mine and of pleasure and pain, patient, contented, self controlled, firm in faith, with all his heart and all his mind given to me- with such a one I am in love..........................................................
The identity out of the One into the One and with the One is the source and fountainhead and breaking forth of glowing love..............................................................................
The dog barks; the caravan passes........................................................
He who kisses a joy as it fly's.
Lives to see eternity's sunrise................................................
Love is repaid by love alone.................................................
He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love...................................................................................
Do not go about worshipping deities and religious institutions as the source of the subtle truth.
To do so is to place intermediaries between yourself and the divine, and to make of yourself a beggar who looks outside for a treasure that is hidden inside his own breast.
If you want to worship the Tao, first discover it in your own heart.
Then worship will be meaningful.
By love may He be gotten and holden, but by thought never.
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BREATH CONTROL (Sanskrit- PRANAYAMA)
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Pranayama means breath control or lengthening of prana. Prana means 'vital energy' or 'life force'. It is the force that exists in all things.Yama means 'control'. Ayama is defined as 'extention' or 'expansion'.Prana is said to be the first manifestation of consciousness in the body, and can be encouraged toward higher spiritual expression. This accomplished with the breath through a variety of breathing practices to stimulate the flow of prana in the body. Pranayama causes the blood to receive a larger supply of oxygen than in normal breathing, so that one feels refreshed and the nerves are calmed and purified. Making the mind a more receptive vehicle for meditation.
Quote-"The mind is the motor that turns up the objective reality. In this way, the detention of the constant flow of thoughts that makes the mental world, automatically suppose the vanishing of the apparent phenomena and with it of the illusion. This current of conceptual ideas persists due the constant movement of prana or vital energy, with the help of the nadis, which are the subtle channels lalana and rasana, both of them representing the objectives and subjective activities and the karmic activities.
If the prana is transferred from the left and right channels to the central channel or Avadhuti, it is transformed in energy of wisdom. In this way, the mind lose its nourishment and consequently its activity, successfully extinguishing the duality and the notion of the individual “I”, and allowing the experience of the inner and real being."
Here are some pranayama practices:
NINE CYCLE BREATHING TECHNIQUE
Inhale from left nostril and exhale through right nostril for three breaths
Then inhale through right and exhale from left for three more
Finally inhale and exhale through both nostrils for three breaths completing the cycle of nine, before starting over..............................................................
ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING
Sit in an upright position back sraight, head leaning forward chin resting on chest.
The right nostril is closed with the thumb. Air is exhaled through the left nostril, and inhaled back through the same nostril.
The left nostril is closed with the ring finger. Air is exhaled through the right nostril, and inhaled through the same nostril.
This is one cycle. Do 8 to 10 cycles to begin with.
This pranayama can also be practiced with breath retention (holding on the inbreath and holding on the outbreath). But only after achieving mastery over the equal duration and precision of inhalation and exhalation.
Caution- Persons suffering from high blood pressure or heart trouble should never attempt to hold their breath......................................................................................
SPINAL BREATHING TECHNIQUE (Kriya Yoga style)
To begin the technique, sit upright with your head leaning forward with your chin resting in the notch between your collar bones on the top of the breast bone. Close your mouth. Slowly and gently inhale and exhale through your nose. The breath should be deep but not forced and should fill your abdomen up through your chest to the top of your collar bone, before retreating during the exhale.
As you inhale and exhale, focus your attention on your spine and imagine it being hollow. With each inhale imagine energy traveling up from your perineum or coccyx all the way up your spine to the point between your eyebrows and as you exhale back down to your perineum. Repeat this with each breath.
*This pranayama can also be practiced with breath retention (See bellow) and Kechari Mudra..........................................................................................
SPINAL BREATHING TECHNIQUE (Tibetan Yoga style)
To begin the technique, sit upright and close your mouth. Slowly and gently inhale and exhale through your nose. The breath should be deep but not forced.
As you inhale and exhale, focus your attention on your spine and imagine it being hollow. With each inhale imagine energy traveling down from both nostrils or Ajna chakra(the point between your eyebrows) all the way down to dantian then hold breath. Then as you exhale again your attention will then go all the way up your spine to Ajna chakra. Repeat this with each breath.
*This pranayama to be practiced with breath retention.......................................
*BREATH RETENTION*......................................
Holding on the in breath at dantian/hara (3 finger widths bellow the navel) the timing will vary with each individual but usually the proportion of inhaling, holding breath and exhaling is in the ration 1:4:2 (breath in,hold,exhale and relax). If this is too difficult then 1:1:1 and build up. Retention in extreme cases need be no more than 2mins.This can be practiced by the experienced yogi with Kechari Mudra (tongue entering the navel cavity inwardly)............................................................................................................
HEAD ROTATION'S (THOKAR/ DHIKR)
This is an advanced breathing technique for stimulating the flow of prana between the heart and the head. You should be stable in the other two breathing exercises above before attempting this technique.
Use the same breathing technique as in Spinal Breathing above (sitting upright, breathing through the nose only, chin tucked in resting on the top of the breast bone etc..).
But this time as you breathe in, hold the breath and contract the abdominal muscles in and start to slowly rotate your head. To your left shoulder 1st then in front of your chest then over to your right shoulder then back around in a circular motion to your left then drop your head back down to your chest and then breathe out through your nose. Now reverse the process switching the direction of the head to the right shoulder 1st then down to the chest then over to the left shoulder then back to the right then head back down between your collar bones on the top of breast bone again and breathe out.
This can also be done with the upper body rotating. Same as above but this time bring the head down to the left knee then over to the right knee then bring the head back up, sitting up, and repeat with a head rotation. Repeat in the opposite direction.
*This can also be performed with Mantra (mind repetition) focussing inwardly on individual chakras and also with Kechari Mudra (tongue placed inwardly in the nasal cavity behind the uvula.See below for more detailed description.)*.....................................................................
"Since prana and mind are linked, prana follows the mind when guided by concentration; prana gathers when the mind focuses it.
And conversely the mind can be balanced and integrated by working with the prana through the use of controlled breathing patterns and movements that are linked to breathing.
When the prana is brought into the central channel, its essential nature- THIGLE, KUNDALINI or THE HOLY SPIRIT- is activated and enters the channels.
Dualistic mind is then overcome, and realization achieved."
The cultivation methods employed in the world may vary considerably from school to school, but we must always remember that the ultimate target of all these methods is the same.
If you practice mantra recitation for a long time, then the chi and the sound will become one, and there will be no more random thoughts either.
This is done in Hinduism as well as Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
In Christianity, if you lose yourself in reciting the Jesus Prayer or rosary,some advocate focusing on the heart or navel centre with this practice, this accomplishes the same task and achieves the same result.
As a practitioner calms the mind through this sort of practice, the chi/prana will enter into the central channel. Hence, vajra chanting can lead the wind to enter the central channel, just as the Zen school says will happen naturally when you match your thoughts with your breath.
The Zen school simply tells people to be passively aware, match their thoughts with their breath,or using koans to demonstrate the futility of intellectual thinking to quiet the monkey mind then focus on dantien, because in doing so, the central channel will open naturally. By calming your breath and matching this calm with emptied thoughts, the central sushumna channel (zhong mai in Chinese or avadhuti in Tibetan) will open naturally and your body will be transformed.
If you do not learn how to integrate your mind with your chi, you can practice the esoteric school technique of vajra chanting or japa mantra practice and chant/mantra for a thousand years and it will be useless; you will get no spiritual results at all, but just collect a bit of merit for not having occupied the mind with nonvirtuous thoughts.
Still other spiritual schools simply say “watch your breath” as a form of spiritual or religious practice, without providing too many other instructions, and the wisest practitioners soon realize this means that the inner chi/prana of the body.
This instruction does not actually mean the breath of the nose and lungs, but the prana/chi within the body that you will perceive once you start making progress in advanced meditation.
When Shakyamuni Buddha spoke about knowing whether your breath was warm or cold, coarse or fine, he was talking about the chi within your body that you will eventually begin to feel as you progressively purify your prana/mindstream/chi. When a practitioner’s chi enters the central channel, he will naturally give birth to an illusory body and experience the stages of emptiness and bliss mentioned by the various spiritual schools.
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HARMONY
To quote from 'The Marriage of East and West' by Bede Griffiths: " In every person a certain balance or harmony has to be achieved, but in the West today the masculine aspect, the rational, active, aggressive power of the mind is dominant, while in the East the femine aspect, the intuitive, passive, sympathetic power of the mind is dominant. The future of the world depends on the 'marriage' of these two minds, the conscious and the unconscious, the rational and the intuitive, the active and the passive."
Peace, Love and Light.✌️💛 ☀
JAI
