MEDITATION AND CONCENTRATION

MEDITATION AND CONCENTRATION

Meditation is a form of concentration. Meditation can be said to be the absence of effort or struggle. It is a focus on the thing itself and allowing or letting in what the thing is. It does not matter what the thing is, it can be an material object something in the outer world of your experience such as a flower, a thing of beauty or a thing that appears less then beautiful such as what would be called ugly not necessarily a person but a thing that appear out of harmony with the rest of the landscape.

One example is something you fear like an insect or something that would appear dangerous or it may be something you are curious about or investigating. What may be important here is to ask yourself what is real and what is not real about this thing and what can I  can learn from this thing that is different from what you already think you know such as your pre-conceived assumptions of what you think  you are seeing, because what you think you are seeing is only your projections in time and space and it is by concentrating on the thing without any effort, meaning any thought of your own about the thing but just being with it as it appears and not wanting to change it or make it into something else but asking or letting in the experience of what the thing truly is meaning its true nature and with that one needs to let go of any meanings one has applied to the object of one’s attention.

Meditation can be said is a way of cutting through one’s mind and piercing the veil of illusion that is appearing on the screen of mind. The illusion is the pre-conceived ideas or beliefs about something that is really your own projection. The truth about a thing is being able to see with new or innocent eyes the true nature of its reality.  Focusing your attention on anything with one’s mind is really no different on placing your attention on anything else. In the final analysis to be able to see anything with the Gods eye is to see oneness and the experience of the truth of what a thing is be it a person, place or thing.

At first it appears easier to take a softer way such as only focusing the mind on things that are beautiful to you already or qualities that express what you really want to embody and that is okay in the beginning, but remember what you think is beautiful or what appears beautiful to you will still have your own projections and filters to see it through such as guilt that you do not appear as beautiful as the thing that you are admiring or the fear that the beauty will not last and be destroyed. The old saying still applies “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” The thing in themselves as what you perceive is really neutral and has no quality of its own that is generated and in and of itself is really empty and what fills it and gives it meaning is a quality of Essence and when you let in this Essence or substance of what mind really is this spirit of a thing then you can see the quality of everything which is simply Love.

When we can pierce the veil of ignorance and see into the nature of reality one sees emptiness meaning that nothing of itself has any identity separate from the Whole of what everything is.  It is in that emptiness of mind that one can experience the fullness of Spirit or the essence of what everything really is regardless of what that thing appears to be externally. Everything is an aspect or an attribute of your beingness and what your truly ARE.

A good practice that I am using that helps one cut through the ignorance’s and the not knowing mind is focusing on the breath your breath. It is wise to do this with your eyes close so that you can bring all of your concentration within because that is where everything starts in your mind and everything your see is really a projection in your mind and the screen is your version of what you perceive as reality the outer world.

As you concentrate on the movement of your breath letting it in and letting it out just notice it and allow it to be. The idea here is not to exert any effort of your own or on your part other than just concentrating bringing your attention to one point, in this case your breath both the in breath and the out breath and also the turning of your breath which is the middle of your breath or the space between your breath.

By concentrating on the movement of your breath, if there is any thoughts that come to your mind or your find your attention adrift then when  you first notice it and become of aware that you are not concentrating on your breath,  very gently notice whatever it is that has brought your attention elsewhere and again refocus on your breath. Look at the whole experience both the time that you are able to concentrate on your breath and when it appears you are unable as one thing, as a process of cutting through layers of thought the surface ones at first and then as you move through your mind deeper levels of thought.

Do not give one thought more importance then another or one thing more importance then another. This called the practice of dispassion and through it one can learn what effortlessness is as a state of mind or being. When you are no longer exerting any effort on your own you are able to come to rest within your own being and mind you become still or one point the still point of your mind.

You will discover that you of your self can do nothing that you are a part of everything and so the action does not really come from you but through you and in you the action becomes for you the movement of life and that you are a part of just as much as anything else is. It will become for you an experience of harmony as the flow of your being. It is peace to your mind that your mind becomes still amidst all your thoughts. What I mean is that your mind is no longer agitated but is flowing in perfect harmony with everything else. There no disharmonious thoughts of any kind and so your perception of everything is also in harmony. It is a feeling of Wholeness with everything else an oneness in being.

One example is experiencing yourself as the eye of a storm. The eye of the storm is perfect calm and when you practice being still your will too experience this calm and with this calm comes clarity or clear perception of everything. With this clear perception come the eyes of Innocence. This is a state of being non-judgmental and you are seeing everything empty of any judgment of any kind. Here is where you are only asking, what is the truth about what I am seeing or hearing or feeling? Are my senses giving me a true report of what a thing is or am I seeing through the filter of my own separated sense of mind?

One must approach this exercise with the sense of I do not know what a thing is. I do not know what is going on and what I am going to experience from this commitment to be still. The key is to still the mind by not giving it any attention of your own then you are not stirring any waves and allowing the mind to return to perfect  calmness and you will know this by how your body is feeling complete relaxation and how you are feeling in that moment.

You can think of your breath as a cutting instrument that is through your attention cutting through all of your thoughts until it reaches a deeper state of mind where one may experience thought but not your own in the sense what you made up and represents in your mind and way of thinking the ordinary or everyday thinking.

What you may call your everyday thinking or your surface thoughts are not original and come from your past experience and what you think you already know about a thing. It is when you reach these deeper levels or dimensions of mind one can experience original thought or SELF Knowingness that also is referred to as the intuitive mind or the Super Conscious states of mind such as telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience and other super states of consciousness.

Learning to dive below the surface of the mind into the deeper areas where one experiences stillness and quietness, gives one clarity and a sense of deep supportiveness and security that the outer mind is unable to give but seeks to know and embody. 

This practice will work but it takes commitment to the process and allowing the process to work and that means giving it the time it needs to mature and to eventually come to a point of self mastery of all your thoughts that you do not let in any thought that you consciously do not want and can sort out from your mind the thoughts that give to you unlimited expression to who and what you divinely are. The mind is the workshop that will mold all of your experiences of life.

Meditation is a form of concentration which is the masculine use of mind and the meditation is the feminine use meaning as you concentrate on doing nothing or just relaxing without exerting any effort or will of your own and just allowing whatever is there to be there but not judging it and being open enough in your mind for what is there to unfold its true nature and state of being.

Concentrating on your breath and not thinking of anything helps you to consciously be in the moment in the here and now. It is in that moment of present experience one can experience what true Reality is and I can tell you that it is always going to be more then you could ever imagine or think. It is beyond any words you can use to describe. It will always be a positive experience of a greater love where you feel safe and secure and supportive and where at that moment where everything is and the Answer becomes the reality and the question becomes non-existent because you are now Knowing everything as it truly is and in that Knowingness one experiences the true oneness of Life.