Meditation

MEDITATION
 Meditation  Gaze at the second-hand of a clock without the slightest waver of attention. As soon as your mind wanders note the time. As you repeat this excercise you will notice your attention span increasing. Some gurus claim that if you can keep full attention, without wavering or being mesmerised for thirty minutes then you have achieved enlightenment.....

Heaven is only half an hour away.

 Meditation The basic principles:


 * 1. Sit comfortably, in a quiet, safe, calm, place. Do not lean or slouch but gently hold the body erect. The head should feel as if held up by a thread attached to the top of the skull.


 * 2. Close eyes.


 * 3. Relax the whole body gradually, part by part, up from the feet. (Instructions from a tape or another person may help concentration here)


 * 4. On each out breath visualise (I) or an infinity symbol (or any undistracting cosmic symbol)


 * 5. This symbol is used as a fix to steady the mind. When a meditative 'frame of mind' has been achieved (this may take many weeks of daily practice!) allow other perceptions and thoughts to intrude into your field of concentration. Watch them in a 'detached way - try not to get caught up in them... return to symbol as soon as you do.


 * 6. Do this for a set period each day. End of meditation may be signaled with an alarm or gong. Recommend starting with 10 minutes and building up to one hour.


 * 7. Before and/or after sleep are considered the best times to practice.


 * 8. Guidelines - a worked example for a homemade audio guide:

B rea t h i n g /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Watch the mind wandering and finally;

return to breathing /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Perhaps sexual or other distracting thoughts arise ... here they are obliterating all else .. watch your sinking into them ... watch your enjoyment of them. watch your guidance of the thoughts ... watch how powerful they are... how they tighten muscles, pull on sinews. Watch now how your memory comes into action, reminding you of your meditation... watch your will power coming into play, driving out the thoughts, r e t u r n i n g your attention to breathing./\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Did your will power interfer brutally with your sexual fantasy? It didn't let you see exactly how the thoughts faded, how the body changed, how the breathing altered. Oh yes... b r e a t h i n g/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Suddenly you realise money is on your mind. Where did that other fiver that you thought you had in your pocket disappear. You worry about it worrying you. Let all these superficial thoughts be absorbed by the deepening breath. Rising and f a l l i n g like an in coming tide./\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The meditator is a hunter, catching the nuances, the conections, beginnings, mixings, changes and endings in our stream of consciousness. If you can see how a thought arises, how it persists and how it fades, it is said that thought will have no untoward power over you.