MEDITATION, the sacred silence.
Prayer is asking God, meditation is listening to your answer
What is Meditation?
Meditation is to silence the mind to be able to hear the truth, to connect with the inner sage, and from there to obtain the information that my being needs, to clarify all those answers that will help me move forward. on my way of growth.
To meditate is to tidy up the house (my being in all its dimensions) and the energies of which I own. To meditate is to silence the mind and put it at the service of the superior being. Meditation is the space where I listen to myself, where I feel, where I perceive myself.
The evils that affect us are mental and emotional. A clear and serene mind, sustains the badly educated emotions, channels them and re-orientates them. To put it in silence and command it for our superior being, is to know how to use a tool of still unknown power, which can lead us to manifest ourselves on all levels of existence in a successful way.
And how to meditate?
There are many ways to meditate and types of meditations to do. I think the first thing we should do is see what we look for through meditation and what tools we have for it. But there are some general suggestions that can help us a lot, and they are the following:
- Find the right time. If for me the mornings are better and I have time to do it, because we have in the mornings a space of meditation that will make us leave the day well, focused and more focused. If for me the ideal is in the afternoons / nights, let's make that instance of time, the right time to calm down and surrender to silence. This will help me sleep better, more relaxed and therefore I will wake up much more rested.
- Find the right place. When the person acquires practice, he can meditate anywhere, even in a crowded space of people and noises, but at first the ideal is to find a space that is pleasing to us, that has my energies, where I can be calm. That space will initially be "my space of meditation" and there I will turn to connect with my being.
- Start by meditating a few minutes, to increase the amount of time as we have more capacity to silence ourselves. With 5 minutes at the beginning is fine, to be able to achieve hopefully 15 to 20 minutes daily. Between half an hour and an hour is the ideal goal and where the best results are obtained.
- Then we will choose what kind of meditation we want to do. In my view one of the simplest is meditation that focuses on breathing. Paying attention to it, how it enters and leaves our body, and playing with its rhythms. Along with this we can visualize different things at the rhythm of it. The air enters the inhalation like a beam of light that enters our body, we exhale and release weights in the body, negative emotions, tiredness, etc. I inhale and fill myself with energy, I exhale and that energy expands, encompassing my whole body, inhaling energy and exhaling light throughout my body. I can focus this energy on those parts of the body that need it most. Here are some examples of how we can use breathing and breathing more visualization to meditate. This practice will help us to acquire meditative habits, in order to achieve silent meditation, where the mind is completely silenced, and we manage to be in the state of stillness where our spiritual being speaks to us.
- We can also at the beginning use an element to fix the attention and from there to meditate. I focus for example on the flame of a candle, on an image (mandala) on a color (chromotherapy meditation), etc. This is another way to calm the mind, preparing it for ZAZEN meditation, which leads us to total silence.
- If silent meditation is very difficult for us, we can use guided meditations. There are many of these types of meditations available on the web. Although it is true they are not meditations in which the objective of quieting the mind is fulfilled, bringing it to the state of silence, we still do a work of focus by keeping it focused on something concrete, something that will also be a creative visualization, a mantra, high ideas, high vibes music, etc. Therefore, we are still doing a job that will help us reach states of harmony and peace.
- Daily meditation is certainly possible and one of the goals to be achieved. Achieving a meditative state while doing our daily tasks is possible, and it is only about focusing on what we are doing, following with the mind the experience of the activity in question. I focus on what I do, my mind does not wander, it is there, at that moment, following the rhythm of my work. This makes the here and now live, to discover that what is everyday is an act of love, of service. It makes life live in every second and not only in loose parts. Meditating in a conversation with someone, makes me an active listener, I can notice details of the other that I did not notice before. I see it, I feel it, I perceive it, I listen to it with my soul. These types of meditations are called active meditations.
As a summary, we will say that meditation can be divided into several phases. The first is to fix our mind on a single object, sound, breath, etc., this allows the mind to calm down and turn inwards; the second is when the first phase is achieved and the flow of thoughts, complexes, visions, memory, stops and when we are able to get rid of the content of our lower mind. The third step is when our lower mind has been fully explored and one begins to explore the superconscious, the real meditation now begins, it is when one begins to feel that he is on the same frequency with the cosmos and everything around us, the Fourth and the last state is when this same higher mind is transcended and the meditator achieves union with the higher consciousness then that is when the true consciousness of being is reached. The enlightened person is able to live both lives without conflict, spiritual and material.
TYPES OF MEDITATION
These are some types of best known meditations:
BUDDHIST MEDITATION:
Buddhist meditation, also called complete mind meditation, tries to keep the mind fully focused on the present moment. Not in the past, not in the future, not in mental connotations, just in the present, here and now. Buddha says, our mind is like a chain of reactions and desires and this is because we catch ourselves in this bane of reactions, ceasing to experience the true meaning of life.
DZOGHEN MEDITATION:
The Dzogchen meditation, pronounced Zog-chen, is known as the natural path in Tibetan Buddhism. This type of meditation is practiced by the Dalai Lama.
Dzogchen meditation does not use any special breathing, mantra or concentration levels. It is considered the most natural type of concentration.
Sometimes it is practiced with open eyes. This meditation works with the factor that everything you need you have to look for is within you. The three bases of Dzogchen meditation are "just sitting", "just breathing", "just being".
VIPASSANA MEDITATION : it is one of the oldest meditation techniques in India. It was lost for centuries to humanity, and was rediscovered by Gautama Buddha more than 2, 500 years ago. Vipassana means seeing things as they really are. Vipásana meditation leads us to the freedom and clarity of our essential nature.
It is a process of self-purification through self-observation. It begins by observing the natural breath to concentrate the mind and then, with the sharpened consciousness, we proceed to observe the changing nature of the body and the mind and experience the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and the absence of ego. This is the purification process: the knowledge of the truth through direct experience. Vipassana meditation is a technique of self-discernment based on the observation of mind and matter and its aspects of impermanence, dissatisfaction and lack of an inherent and independent essence or "I".
ZAZEN MEDITATION: Zazen (Japanese) is the Japanese expression for “sitting meditation, ” according to Zen Buddhism, as the Buddha would have done at the time of his enlightenment, as described by the statues of the meditative Buddha. It is about the experience of emptiness, from nothing. The way to do it is by counting the breaths. Sit in a comfortable position. Cross the legs in the Lotus or half Lotus position with your knees resting on the floor. You can also practice sitting on your knees on your heels. Place the right back, from the pelvis to the neck. The pelvis is slightly forward and the lumbar slightly arched. Stretch the neck and bring the chin in. Relax your shoulders and put your hands together in your lap, in the mudra of wisdom: with your fingers together, one hand over another, and with your thumbs touching the tips. In Zen schools, the left hand is placed on the right hand. Focus your gaze at 45 ° forward, with your eyes semi-closed, but with your eyes relaxed, without focusing on what lies ahead. Close the mouth, bringing the teeth together and with the tongue gently touching the palate behind the teeth. Begin to control the rhythms of breathing, counting the inhalations and exhalations, with the aim of encouraging concentration. Focus on the breath only with the eyes of the mind, until you reach the knowledge of the breath, which allows us to clearly perceive the mind and body relationship. The last purpose of meditation is not to keep up with our mind in a state of absolute stillness. Zazen, is not stillness, but quite the opposite. It implies the devotion of one to control the mind with the purpose of using it, with eagerness and energy, to reach the most precious objective, which is the transformation of the person who is meditating on a new Being, with a developed mind, and all his creative faculties at his disposal.
TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION: Transcendental meditation is simple and practical. It helps to relax and concentrate. Use a personal mantra (a special word), this mantra is repeated once after another. As the mantra is recited, the mind calms down effortlessly until a complete state of relaxation is reached, which in TM is called `` cosmic consciousness ''. Cosmic consciousness is a state of total relaxation where the mind connects with the universe and can understand its infinite potential. How is it practiced?
This technique does not use mental concentration or focusing exercises. TM teachers believe that with 15 or 20 minutes in the morning they are enough to start receiving their benefits. During this meditation the person sits comfortably with his eyes closed and begins to recite the mantra. As the mantra is recited, the mind and body relax; the mind concentrates away from all thoughts. This technique of meditation does not require that it be linked to religious philosophies. The technique does not require any visualization exercise or concentration. It does not require any special skills.
MANTRA MEDITATION: The sacred sound songs have always been a pleasant way to focus the mind. This type of meditation is very powerful and effective because of the effect of the vibration of its sounds. The sound is produced when the vibration reaches the eardrum, and brought to mind. This explains that the sound is vibration. Specific vibrations can stimulate the endocrine system, especially the pituitary gland the master gland and the pineal gland located in the head. Singing the mantra keeps the mind occupied while you breathe in a specific pattern. It's like when you sing a song, the pattern of your breathing becomes the same as the singer's breathing patterns. Mantras are made of basic sounds . Vibrant sounds are specific sounds that when triggered produce a frequency. There are 84 meridian points on the palate and when we stimulate them with the vibrating sound, we produce a specific frequency. This frequency passes from the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland. Then the release of hormones takes place and a change in mood, emotions and healing begins.
CHAKRA MEDITATION: Chakra meditation works with the chakras. The chakras are visualized as vertices energy spirals.
OTHER MEDITATION, RELATED TO YOGA.
Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion is generally the devotion to God or to a supreme consciousness in one of its manifestations either as Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad, Christ, etc. and how this causes states of meditation is when the person feels total devotion automatically concentrates his mind and the degree of concentration depends on the level of devotion of each person, when one is focused on this object of devotion the ego disappears and the “being " When the Bhakta achieves self-realization it becomes love itself.
In Kundalini Yoga it is about awakening the psychic centers or chakras. The objective of this yoga is to make each of these chakras conscious to activate the psychic faculties that each chakra is associated with, the asanas, pranayamas, mudras, bands and the repetition of mantras are also used to achieve the objectives.
Hatha yoga is related to the purification of the body that causes peace of mind, traditionally you consider 6 groups of techniques called Shatkarmas. Hatha Yoga techniques balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that have a great influence on the functioning of almost all the organs of our body.
In Tantra yoga he says that the transcendental experience of sexual union is used on the path to spiritual awareness.
(The types of meditations and meditation in Yoga, has been extracted from the web)
"INHALA LIGHT, RETAIN PEACE, EXHALE LOVE"!
May all this information go to your greatest benefit, Namaste ...
Alejandra Vallejo Buschmann
Tara House
