Have you tried meditating? It's also called centering, concentration, creative imagination. If you never have done this in your life, perhaps you would like to try it. Maybe you already have meditated, really, when you were thinking very hard about something. But you didn't call it that. If you would like to try meditation, here is a first exercise of eight steps. It will take you about a half an hour to go through it. First: Find a quiet time and a quiet place in your house where you are not likely to be disturbed by a telephone or by other people. Stand in this room for just a little while, looking around, and say to yourself, "I wish to make an experiment with my own mind. I would like to see into myself. All of this around me can be put aside now for awhile; I don't need it just now." Second: If the floor has a good thick carpet, you're all set; if not, find a thick rug or pad to sit on. Now sit down, cross-legged in as comfortable a way as you can with your spine straight. Tell your body: do not disturb me now; I have an important job to do. Tell your mind: do not be restless and impatient; do not distract me." Third: Place your hands, one over the other, on your tummy and just feel what it is like to take a deep breath. Take ten deep breaths in this position. This is how to do it: take each one by starting from what they call the diaphragm -- not just up in your chest. Breathe in, slowly, through your nostrils, till you are full, then slowly let this breath out through your mouth without making any noise. With each breath think: fresh energy is coming in and used-up energy is going out. Don't think of anything else for the whole ten breaths. Fourth: Now forget about your breath, put your hands on you knees with the palms upward. Relax and close your eyes (not squeezed tight, just dropped eyelids). What do you see? Nothing, of course, just darkness. Keep on looking into the darkness behind your closed lids but think about these things: Can I see inside myself? What kind of seeing would that be? Can I watch my own mind, as it moves from object to object, as it creates pictures, dreams, imaginations? Do not try it yet, just ask. Is there a self in me that sees me? Sees my body, sees my mind too; sees what I call "I" (Think of your name)? Fifth: Think what that "Self" might be like: would it have a shape? Would it be lit up-shining, as a kind of light? It wouldn't be asleep, because it would have to see and notice everything, right? Would that make it bit like God, who is supposed to be seeing everything? Sixth: If your body is getting stiff or your foot is going to sleep, adjust your position, if necessary, so that you are comfortable again. No giving up! There is more to do; this is a serious business, this exercise in meditation. So close the eyes again, take five deep breaths as before, and put your hands back on your knees. This time you are going to "visualize", that means to sort of create things to see. Seventh: Watch the dark "sky" behind your eyelids until your mind is very quiet. Then imagine a field of bright stars. Now pick out one and bring it very close in front of you: a circle of light. The light will be cool and silvery. Concentrate on the circle now and change the color into the bright gold of our own sun. Feel its warmth shining through your closed lids. Of course if it were the sun outside you could not, should not, stare at it. But here you can, because this is a mental sun. Eighth: Keep looking at the golden disk of the sun you have imagined, as long as you can, saying this (a kind of prayer): "OM I meditate on this shining disk which stands for the light of God; may He enlighten my mind!"........................ Now try to feel the presence of God in the disk and all around you, and end your practice by bowing to Him. Gently bring your awareness back to the room and your seat. Sit quietly for a couple of minutes before getting up. Very good. You have had a first experience of meditation.   Aum | About | Calendar | Articles | Stories | On-line books Bulletin board | Books & tapes | Links | Search | Contact