“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.”
Swami Sivananda
Like I mentioned in my last post “meditation” is just a label describing a certain state of mind.
We all have experienced this altered state of mind in a natural occurring form.
If you have ever exhausted yourself on a mental task – like doing your taxes or working long hours on computer – you might have experienced a momentary lapse of reason.
You might have found yourself staring at the computer screen with nothing in your mind at all.
If the brain was a muscle, meditation would be the complete relaxation and let go, completely limp of the brain.
It is the cessation of all conscious thought.
Or to put it in the simplest form – relaxation meditation is “spacing out” at will.
The first thing to do is to find a comfortable position.
There are many schools of meditation that insist in specific positions of meditation – the most mentioned being the “lotus” position.
But since I suffer from a lower back pain and being allergic to religious dogma I prefer lying on my back in my bed – which also gives me a really good excuse to fall asleep – another good side benefit of meditation.
The second step is tricking your mind into not thinking – which, if you think of it, is an oxymoron since you can’t control your mind not to be in control.
So the trick is to focus your mind on something else than your own thought process.
Once again there are different techniques.
The classical method is the breathing method.
In this method you follow, watch or concentrate on the air coming through your nose into your body and going out. Some people count, time, the length of inhale and exhale but I found that distracting to the process of quieting down of the mind.
Personally I prefer the “OM” meditation.
I have a CD with an "OM" chant for 15 -20 min.
I play the CD while I’m comfortably lying in my bed with my eyes closed and in my mind I join the chorus of monks in their chant.
The hamming will produce an instant cessations of the thought process.
The mind will quiet down and enter a state of total relaxation.
Here is a place you can download a clean OM CHANT
This kind of meditation is not much of a spiritual journey but it is an essential step in preparing your mind to become that vehicle of exploration.
You may choose to stay at this level and enjoy all the health benefits of meditation.
Or you may choose to go further in your practice and step into the ocean of spirituality.
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13 comments:
Thank you very much my friend for posting this post about relaxation and meditation in your blog, you are helping me with this, and encouraging me to improve my own being.
Love
M
In a matter-of-fact way you have described meditation perfectly. And I really appreciate the OM Chant. I bookmarked it. :)
Wonderful post, Buddha. Beautifully explained!
I've always liked meditation, but this may have more to do with Mr Spock than Eastern philosophy.
Was that more than 500 words, Buddha?
Can i recommend Gregorian chant - the recordings of monks singing ancient hymns in a forgotten language (possibly latin) - i have a CD at home somewhere and on the odd occasions that i can actually find it i can say it is truly relaxing.
As a fellow PF fan i think i can get away with saying that i too have experienced a momentary lapse of reason and that "Sorrow" and "Learning To Fly" are both miles better performed live than on the album...sorry xx
This is quite possibly the most concise description of meditation I have ever read. You do good work BoH!
Might try mixing it with a 356 hertz tone.
@ Mariana – You are welcome!
Now all you have to do is keep up the practice.
@ Lydia – I try to describe it as simple as possible but it is a very basic explanation – it is like saying that a computer program is a string of one and zeroes – it is true but it gets really complicated when you start to dig dipper.
@ Talon – Thank you Talon!
You are too kind :)
@ Descartes – It doesn’t have to do with Mr. Spock or the Eastern philosophy.
It is the other way around :)
@ Ted – Brevity is a must in the era of electronic communications.
I try to keep it short and simple but it is not always easy.
@ Pixie – There are many ways to achieve that relaxation – anything from nature sounds to watching a candle flame.
I say whatever works for you is the best.
And yes; any live performance beats the album version.
@ Diego – Thank you Diego! I’m trying.
@ Quantum – I looked at the “brainwave” theories…
But I don’t like to experiment with things I do not understand
Is there any other kind of experimenting with things BOH?
@ Quantum - Touche!
I did experiment with it and it affected me in ways I did not understand - sort of like experimenting with drugs - they do work but not being able to be in control freaks me out :)
So it is a purely personal preference.
It could as well work for somebody else - I am not an authority on the subject matter.
Is experimenting with meditating to the sound of tuning forks or notes on the guitar dangerous too?
@ Quantum - brain waves are not "musical" notes, they are sounds "tuned" to brain "cycles" or "frequencies" and they do affect you in a way that "musical" sounds do not.
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