Practical Details in Meditation: How to sit, when, how to prepare for meditation
Articles By Robert Elias
Have you ever been to a quiet stream in the countryside, in the spring, when life is green and moist? You sit down on a rock and watch the running water. The sights and sounds of the flowing water and the growing plant life begin to work their mysterious way into your nervous system.
Gradually, with the simple repetition of the water’s song, and the harmonious beauty of the natural surroundings, the thousands of electronic impulses of your brain begin to discharge into the tension-absorbing air. All of the concerns, problems and projects, which had filled your mind to bursting capacity begin to disappear.
There is nothing to try to figure out now. The flowers silently console you with their perfect peace and harmony. The fresh air tingles in your lungs and your head becomes clear. You feel somehow sedated, as if the forces of nature have conspired to put you to sleep – to put you at ease. The wind massages your body with caresses of coolness as the sun unties your muscles with penetrating warmth.
There is nothing to do, nowhere to go, nothing to think of. Just lie back and absorb the peaceful vibrations which flow into every part of your being, whispering, «be at peace, relax my friend, all is well now».
A delicious sleep falls upon you; not really sleep but a half-conscious half-asleep state, in which the trees and sounds and breeze begin to come inside and mix with all of the thoughts and feelings. It is as if the door of your mind has been opened and all of those conversations, actions and perceptions lying unresolved, floating at various depths in the sea of the mind, begin to float upwards and outwards. Reality now is a mixture of the inner and outer.
The peace and security of being in the womb of nature, of letting go to the sun, to the water, the wind, the earth, draws out the stresses and frustrations. We swim semiconsciously at the level where the conscious blends into the unconscious. We dance in our sea of consciousness, sometimes floating up to the surface, catching the sensation of a breeze, or the warmth of the sun. Then we dive downward into a stream of upward floating thoughts, images, sounds – all the dislodged refuse from nervous stresses and unresolved problems.
We watch them as they float by and then dive deeper, sensing by now there is something at the bottom of the sea, which is attractive to us. Occasionally we get caught by an upward floating sensation of worry, resentment, an image or an attachment, before we know it we are at the surface again, thinking, wondering, worrying, being rocked by the waves of attachment.
But the dance goes on, we begin to sink again, for by now we see that we cannot really dive because diving is too intense – there is too much effort – we get hooked too easily on upward floating garbage. We instinctively learn the dance of the water, sinking, watching, letting go, being carried on the vertical currents of fresh water from the depths of our consciousness, like a seagull, with wings spread, gliding the air currents flowing against him without a movement, without an effort, letting the air do all the work. By this time, we are no longer concerned about where we are going. The water becomes clearer, more free of debris. We have gone beyond the levels of stress release, past the wreckages of old memories, relationships, failures and traumas. We have danced through the caverns of resentment and worry. The water becomes very clean, very still, very peaceful. We are coming to the source of our life current, the source of the ocean, the spring of pure consciousness. Hence we may encounter pure light or sound vibrational energy. Only subtle vibrations exist here. Only electromagnetic energy. Our bodies become filled-recharged with life. Our consciousness is renewed as we have cleared the way for a burst of fresh «energy» to flow up purifying the sea of consciousness, regenerating the mind, giving new life to every cell of our brain.
If we do not become enamoured by the sensation of light, by the bliss of this energy, which charges through our system, then we may sink a little deeper into the vast nothingness from which the spring of life flows. Here there is not even energy; no body, no mind, no sound – absolute nothingness – total vacuum – only tremendous, potential, unmanifest God, from which all life and material creation flows.
COMING BACK TO THE SURFACE
The sound of chirping birds greets you as you slowly float to the surface. The branches dancing in the wind wave, «hello». The sounds of insects buzzing, and water splashing, salute you with a «welcome back friend, you are part of us now».
It takes a while to remember where you are. You were only gone for 15 minutes, but it seems you have been in this spot all your life. The mind is clear, refreshed and in the present. There is nothing to do but take off your clothes and go swimming. Have you ever been to this quiet stream in the countryside?
Everyone has – either to a stream, or river, or mountain, or sea, or forest. And how well we feel when we return; how much more energy, clarity and newness we have to continue our work, to carry on with our life, to solve our problems. Somehow everything is more alive, more harmonious for a while; life is not so boring, difficult or overbearing.
It doesn’t take long, however, to discharge all that energy and clarity. Once again we become upset, nervous and bored.
Can we go to the stream every day? It certainly would be nice, and life would be much less complicated. However, for most it is completely impractical in terms of money and availability of such places – especially for those of us who live in the city. Well, mother Nature has a secret for us. We don’t have to go anywhere at all. The stream of life, that place of peace, that source of strength and knowledge and harmony – lies right inside each one of us.
Meditation is the way to contacting that source. It is nothing more than visiting this stream on a daily basis. It is the sinking dance into our sea of consciousness, releasing the submerged stresses and coming to the point of inner stillness, where there is no object of consciousness – but consciousness itself.
Done regularly,
this inward dance leaves us fresh,
more alert, more relaxed, more creative, more healthy,
and more in tune with ourselves and our environment.
About The Author
Robert Elias Najemy is the author of over 30 books, 600 articles and 600 lecture CDs and DVDs on Human Harmony. Download FREE 100’s of articles, find wonderful ebooks, guidance, mp3 audio lectures and teleclasses at http://www.armonikizoi.com/
His books Dealing with Testing Times, The Psychology of Happiness, Free to be Happy with Energy Psychology and six others are available at Amazon and http://www.armonikizoi.com/store
Keywords: What Is Meditation: An explanation of this technique, Higher Self, intuitive mind, Stillness, Robert Elias, Articles, UK, Cape Town, South Africa,
