Meditation Secrets Revealed

There is a wiser part in all of us that speaks very softly. When our busy minds are full of thoughts, hearing that wiser part is like trying to hear a soft whisper in the middle of a deafening and rowdy football game. A busy mind full of thoughts is said to have mind chatter. As we begin to quiet the mind, through various meditation techniques, we can  learn to listen really closely and catch the whisper of this inner voice. It is always there. It can manifest itself in many ways and the experience is different for everyone. This inner voice is sometimes called intuition. One example would be while driving, to suddenly feel that we must change lanes, only to realize that by doing so we have avoided an accident. Or, maybe while walking down the street we get pulled into a particular store or place to discover something wonderful or special there that we have been seeking. Intuition is not to be confused with instinct. The latter is more closely associated with our bodies and often expressed in our unconscious urges, while the former is a type of channeling of universal wisdom. This is but one of many ways of looking, thinking about, or referring to intuition.

My favorite and most frequent way of showing appreciation is during meals. At every meal, I take a moment to reflect on the food that I are about to eat as well as the state of mind that I am in. Whatever is going through the mind at that moment disappears and all that is left is the thought and feeling of appreciation. A slow, deep breath combined with a deep sense of gratitude for the meal goes a long way to restoring peace of mind. As I catch my thoughts drifting, I can make a conscious effort to bring them back to the meal at hand. When I do this, I find myself appreciating the food more and as a result my enjoyment, taste, and overall experience of the meal are dramatically enhanced. It also encourages me to feel compassion for all the people in the world who do not have such wonderful food. They may have only eaten once this day, or maybe not at all. With but a wave of the appreciation wand, this change in perspective can turn even the most simple and meager meal into a feast. Routines such as, eating, waking up, going to sleep, brushing teeth, or going to the bathroom, and the many other activities that are commonly performed throughout the day are perfect for this type of practice. I have found that by practicing this daily, I have created a permanent shift in my attitude and perspective on daily routines, re-invigorating and enlightening the mundane.

It can be hard to forgive others for wrongs that have been inflicted on us. Frequently, it is even harder to forgive ourselves. Self-blame and judgments can be cancerous, devouring us from the inside. Often, people hold onto a memory or event so tightly that they become stuck, and are unable to move beyond to grow and build on that experience. It’s no easy feat, but forgiveness allows us to let go of the past, thereby freeing up the present and the future for infinite possibilities. We can start with self-forgiveness by thinking of anything that we may still be holding on to from our past and allowing that to come to mind. Looking at it with a fresh perspective, we can realize that nothing is worth clinging to. Developing the ability to forgiveness is the fruit of the labor of become self-aware and practicing not-clinging. Sometimes just a simple action, word or gesture can free us of these past burdens. In doing so, we can make our life simple and lighter, opening new doors to joy and happiness.

I am reading a good book today, called “Caught Between a Dream and a Job”, and as I sit here and read the lines, “… keep swinging from vine to vine until you land at your dream.” I imagine myself swinging from vine to vine, working my way towards that golden glowing object in the distance. I see this object as the dream, it is vivid, it is real, and it is within my grasp. Just another vine and I am there. Having landed, I look around and I see all the wonderful things that await me in my dream. In this particular situation, it is my dream job and I see it in full color. All of the senses are engaged, sounds, sight, smell, touch, motion and activity enliven the scene. This may be just a day dream to some, but to me, I am creating my future. Actively pursuing and engaging in the creative process that will eventually manifest.

Imagery, sometimes called guided visualizations, is a very powerful tool in the meditation arsenal. Seeing an internal cinema makes the experience, and therefore the goal, significantly more real than a floating amorphous thought or abstract concept. A powerful image, in context and connected to the real world, formed in your mind is much more likely to manifest than a hazy, dull, and motionless one. If you are unskilled at making images, practice and rely on the senses that are your strongest suite. Perhaps you are not a particularly visual person but your sense of hearing is very sharp and you experience the world more through your ears then through your eyes. Since none of us are the same, it is difficult to expect everyone to have the same modalities, however, I find that developing an internal cinema is one of the most powerful manifestation tools.

When I first began experimenting with this type of meditation, I was unable to hold onto or vividly perceive an image for more then 5 or 10 seconds. To practice, I started with a simple object, a single candle, and I would stare at it for a while and then close my eyes and hold that image in my mind as long as possible. I did this frequently, for short periods of time throughout the day with other available object and found that I quickly gained the ability to hold a relatively complex image for several minutes without any fading of fuzziness. Over time I have made this mental muscle strong enough to hold complex visual simulations that I can physically experience. You will know that your inner cinema is powerful when a motion image causes physical-bodily sensations of movement.

The realization that my mind and my thinking dictate how I perceive the world made me ask many questions of myself that never had occurred to me previously. I started with seemingly simple questions such as, “Why do I think the way I do? What makes me act or react in this way? Why do I keep thinking about this topic even though that event occurred long ago?” These questions and the answers that I uncovered became a major part of my self-exploration and I quickly realized that they were not so easy to answer. After many years of asking, questioning, observing, studying, and analyzing, my conclusion is that the mind is a filter. It determines whether something is good, bad, happy, or sad. Painful or pleasurable is all in the mind if one examines the thought process. There are a number of ways to illustrate what I mean here, but I will start with an analogy.

Think of the mind as a wonderful tool. It was given to us at birth, we had no choice in the matter, but how we learn to use that tool makes all the difference in our lives. Since birth, the mind has been shaped by many external factors, and with every experience new pathways and connections of thinking were forged and old ones reinforced. What is remarkable is that nobody told us how to use that tool, it just evolved, learned, and adapted – there is no manual or how to guide.

In my own quest for understanding I have developed and learned many meditation techniques. You can find them under the topics tab here.

I love stories. I love telling stories, I love hearing them, and I love learning about the powerful that stories have over us. The great hypnotherapist and founder of modern hypnosis Milton Erickson frequently used stories to illustrate examples and lessons. The story would seep into his patient’s unconscious mind and work that person from the inside out. An alternative, more traditional approach is to break the concepts down into bite size pieces for patients to try and process on a conscious level. Explaining tough moral or social dilemmas can be difficult with complex explanations but a simple metaphor frequently summs up the entire argument in one concise passage. Stories can be found just about anywhere, movies, books, and advertisements are the most obvious places where they show up. There is another kind of story that humans have, and it’s found within us. An athlete might tell himself, “You are strong, you can do this, this is your moment to shine.” Such self-affirming language is common among successful people because as they hear these words, a story is woven and their mind latches onto these concepts and creates beliefs out of them. Many people that I meet have terrible stories running through their minds and it makes their life hell. Therefore, become aware of the stories that you tell yourself, they may hold the key to transforming your life.