The Beginners Guide to Meditation

A few years ago, I came across a quote that changed the way that I look at meditation. And the quote is as follows,… “Prayer is speaking to God, Meditation is listening”. The fascinating thing to me about this quote is the relationship that exists within ourselves, between our divinity and our conscious interpretation of that divinity.

For me, meditation has always been a means to find refuge from the incessant consumption with the material world. Meditation always acted as a balancer of mental and emotional vibrations, creating an equilibrium of balance within the chaotic nature of life. For so many of us, meditation can seem like a challenge. Developing an ability to come to know yourself intimately, can be a daunting task for an individual who's so accustomed to finding validation and interpretation of the meaning of their lives by the outward reflection of their circumstances and experiences. Yet, withdrawing from that state, to look inwards and understand how your consciousness, contributes to the perception of that experience can be a humbling exercise in the face of our perceived imperfections, judgements, biases, and beliefs.

There are various emanations of existence. Firstly, each of us operates within the context of physicality. Within that physicality the modalities of interpretation or sensory perceptions relate to; sound, sight, touch, taste, and smell. These modalities, or sensory perceptions are the gateway to knowing an expanded aspect of your experience, as it relates to your mental, emotional, etheric, auric, and spiritual existence. As we turn inward to meditate, the attempt is to create a receptive state within our minds, so as to create a stronger connection with the subtle frequencies and energies of higher states of conscious awareness. Being able to hold these higher states of conscientious awareness, activates various aspects of your brain to enhance your sensory perception and in turn expand your view of your physical existence and the subsequent emanations of your life. Initially it requires some effort, focus, consistency,  and discipline to grasp and maintain these sacred states of awareness. However, with time, just like any other endeavor you develop the muscle and increase your capacity to maintain these reverent states, and experience them more often and for longer duration.

There are various gates that we can use to establish these coherent states of order. Sound in my opinion, being the most easily accessible. By using sound bowls, tuning forks, chimes, bells, or gongs, one can create a tone that you follow with your attention from its birth out of silence to its death into silence with intense focus and attention. What remains when one is searching for the exact moment when a sound dissipates into silence, beyond perception, is pure conscientious awareness. This is the ultimate goal for those of us who pursue excellence as it relates to meditation; the ability to hold intense focus in the present moment while simultaneously having mastered the mind to free it from egoic subconscious thought. And so, one must take into consideration various factors to achieve these expanded states of awareness.

1.     Environment.

2.     Inner State / Inner Body

3.     Intention / Will

Environment

When preparing to meditate make sure that you have a balanced space. Also be sure to dedicate a time where you will remain uninterrupted by the typical circumstances of your life. Anything that is useful in turning your attention inward is wonderful to help set your space. Using incense or sphere shaped crystals that turn inward are always a good representation in reminder of the work that you are engaged in. Exercising your knowledge of the tools that you have specifically the gateway of sound is a great place to start when dealing with a highly active stream of thought.

Interstate/ Inner Body

 Our ability to hold and maintain a deep state of meditation increases overtime with repetition and familiarity. While that level of development takes time, there are various tools we can use to help accelerate our progression. The use of binaural beats, Fibonacci sequence and / or Solfeggio frequencies are great tools to use in being able to balance out any distortion in erratic frequencies that may be impacting your ability to calm down. There are also various breathing techniques that can be used to reduce anxiety and calm the autonomic nervous system to a more coherent state and one that is conducive to a meditative practice. Feeling the entirety of your body and focusing on different techniques of breathwork are also valuable asset to help develop and advance your progress in being able to maintain these conducive states.

Intention / Will

 Finally, setting your intention will have a profound effect on your ability to develop discipline and consistency in the pursuit of your goal. Be very clear about what outcomes you're hoping to receive by establishing a meditative practice and use that as an inspirational catalyst for having an empathetic perspective on how well you're meeting your expectations of development. Meditation is not something that's for the faint of heart, it takes time, commitment, and practice to really establish a habit and develop yourself. Oftentimes people will think that they're making absolutely no progress on the path of internal practices, when in fact there is so much taking place internally, that requires time to manifest as an external expression of the practice. Because of this, it is very important to have a empathetic outlook on yourself and the world at large.

 Many blessings on your great journey of Internal Growth!

 In Light and Love,

 Joshua