The topic for this week is "The self is divine", and the implications of this statement.
Preparation:
Choose a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Switch off the phone. Make sure you have enough time. Use a clock if you have to be finished at a certain time; this will make you more calm during the contemplation exercise. Make yourself comfortable, but not too comfortable to avoid falling asleep. I recommend sitting, either on the floor or in a chair. Put a pen and some paper nearby, perhaps a journal.
Exercise:
Start by taking a deep breath. As you exhale, you exhale everything that is on your mind, that clings to you. Empty your mind more with each outgoing breath. Then, slowly, bring the topic of the exercise into the focus of your awareness. Concentrate completely on this topic. You may start with some logical analysis. That is fine. But you should go beyond that. Try to feel the sentence or concept, try to experience the truth of it. Allow other, perhaps less logical associations to rise from your subconsciousness. Allow yourself to learn more about the topic at hand.
Do a contemplation either for a prescheduled amount of time or simply stop once you feel it is enough. Then, take your pen and write it down. Even if it felt like a great revelation at the time, you will forget things. Therefore, write them down, either during or better after the exercise.
That's it. You can vary the topic all you like, and I will certainly give you other topics over the next weeks. For this week, simply focus on the statement "The self is divine".
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Meditations
Meditation is a word that is used often, and in more than one meaning. Linda Chrisman at answers.com defines meditation as „a practice of concentrated focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth.“[1]
Originally, the word comes from the Latin word „mediatio“, which meant physical or intellectual exercise, but later was used more specifically for „contemplation“[2].
Personally, I differentiate three different things that are commonly called meditation: meditation, contemplation and pathworking. I use the word meditation for the classical version I have described already. It means emptying the mind, shifting the focus of our attention away from the everyday chatter of the conscious mind. There is a difference between the centre of ourselves and the voice that talks on and on constantly. Most of the time, this voice is our filter, our reporter, our commentator. We observe the world through this filter. However, through mediation, we can still this voice or turn our attention away from it. This enables us to experience the universe directly, completely, without an intermediate. This experience is something that brings us closer to the divine universe.
There are a great variety of methods to achieve this state. One is breathing meditation and I talked about that last week. Other possibilities include walking meditation, candle meditations, variants on the breathing mediation, za-zen. This week, I will introduce you to a variant of the breathing meditation. This type of meditations, especially breathing meditations, are often used to calm the mind in preparation of other activities like prayer, contemplation, etc. This is a perfectly valid application of breathing meditation. Calming your mind before you begin helps to focus all attention, our mind, our will on the following activities. It helps us to anchor ourselves here and now before we go flying off, and makes sure all of us is going into the same direction.
However, keep in mind that this type of meditation has a lot more potential. Practising it regularly will not only increase your ability to „switch off“, it will also help you to gain the direct perception of the universe described above. But to reach this state takes patience and practise.
The second type of meditation is contemplation. I use it for meditations that are focused on specific topics. If you get the instruction to meditate about peace, how do you do it? You cannot use meditation the way I described it before. You use contemplation instead: You start out with a short meditation, to empty your mind. Then, and this is the important difference, you bring the topic of your contemplation to the center of your focus, your attention. There is nothing left that could distract you. You are completely focused on the topic, i.e. peace. The result is varying, actually depending on the topic. You will find that you get a lot of associations connected to the topic. Those can vary significantly. With peace, you might associate a white dove, a wondering why a bird is used to symbolize peace, you might realise that it also symbolizes freedom, and that freedom is possible only in peace. Do not try to think things through logically. Just focus on your topic and see what happens, what intuitive connections you are building automatically.
An additional effect that might happen is that you experience what you are meditating on, especially if you are focusing on strong emotions, like love, peace, joy. To a certain extent, this is great. However, you should take care not to be swept away. This is especially important if you try to meditate on less positive emotions like anger.
The topics for contemplation can be very general, like the examples already given: peace, love, joy. However, they can also be much more specialised. An example would be „Every man and every woman is a star“. Mediation is a way to learn more about the universe in general. Contemplation is a way to learn more about special parts of the universe. During this course, I will include some topics for contemplation every now and again.
The third type of meditations is what I call pathworking, which is in some cases also called guided meditation. A pathworking is a journey of your mind – or soul – that is guided by a script. Most often, this script is given by a facilitator who leads through the journey or recorded on tape or CD and played back to actually perform the journey. Typically, a pathworking starts at some safe place and leads you somewhere. There you can interact with your surroundings and the people or entities you meet. Depending on the actual journey, you might search for something, or ask for advice, or make an experience. The messages gained on those journey might come from our subconsciousness, but they might also come from the Gods. Finally, you are guided back to the safe place and the journey ends. The major difficulty is to provide enough guidance that you can really travel to the intended place/situation, but leave enough freedom and time for interaction that you can actually get messages, have some interactions, visions, inspirations. That is true for somebody actually guiding others, and it is even more important for a recording done before the actual journey.
During this course, I will give a lot of pathworkings in written form. I recommend that you record them yourself for your own journeys if you want to try them. The alternative is to memorize the journey by heart and do it without any external guidance. However, I have found this to be more difficult. It is easier to get lost on a side track and loose the focus of the journey. If you memorize the workings, I advise that you set an alarm to remind you to get back after a certain amount of time. Once it rings, return to your safe place and from there to your body.
There are other concepts somehow related to the three types of meditation described herein. An example is shamanistic journeying. However, that would probably go beyond the scope of this year. Additionally I do not feel competent enough in this area to say much about it.
Of course, the presented distinction is not a generally accepted one, but my own perception and definition. It tells you how I am going to use these words – meditation, contemplation, pathworking – in this blog.
To summarize, I distinguish between three types of meditation: meditation, contemplation and pathworking (guided meditation). We will encounter all these types in the next exerceises frequently. As a start, you have one of each type of meditation as an exercise for the next weeks.
[1] Linda Chrisman, „Meditation“, http://www.answers.com/Meditation, 04.11.08
[2] Wikipedia, „Meditation“, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation, 04.11.08
Originally, the word comes from the Latin word „mediatio“, which meant physical or intellectual exercise, but later was used more specifically for „contemplation“[2].
Personally, I differentiate three different things that are commonly called meditation: meditation, contemplation and pathworking. I use the word meditation for the classical version I have described already. It means emptying the mind, shifting the focus of our attention away from the everyday chatter of the conscious mind. There is a difference between the centre of ourselves and the voice that talks on and on constantly. Most of the time, this voice is our filter, our reporter, our commentator. We observe the world through this filter. However, through mediation, we can still this voice or turn our attention away from it. This enables us to experience the universe directly, completely, without an intermediate. This experience is something that brings us closer to the divine universe.
There are a great variety of methods to achieve this state. One is breathing meditation and I talked about that last week. Other possibilities include walking meditation, candle meditations, variants on the breathing mediation, za-zen. This week, I will introduce you to a variant of the breathing meditation. This type of meditations, especially breathing meditations, are often used to calm the mind in preparation of other activities like prayer, contemplation, etc. This is a perfectly valid application of breathing meditation. Calming your mind before you begin helps to focus all attention, our mind, our will on the following activities. It helps us to anchor ourselves here and now before we go flying off, and makes sure all of us is going into the same direction.
However, keep in mind that this type of meditation has a lot more potential. Practising it regularly will not only increase your ability to „switch off“, it will also help you to gain the direct perception of the universe described above. But to reach this state takes patience and practise.
The second type of meditation is contemplation. I use it for meditations that are focused on specific topics. If you get the instruction to meditate about peace, how do you do it? You cannot use meditation the way I described it before. You use contemplation instead: You start out with a short meditation, to empty your mind. Then, and this is the important difference, you bring the topic of your contemplation to the center of your focus, your attention. There is nothing left that could distract you. You are completely focused on the topic, i.e. peace. The result is varying, actually depending on the topic. You will find that you get a lot of associations connected to the topic. Those can vary significantly. With peace, you might associate a white dove, a wondering why a bird is used to symbolize peace, you might realise that it also symbolizes freedom, and that freedom is possible only in peace. Do not try to think things through logically. Just focus on your topic and see what happens, what intuitive connections you are building automatically.
An additional effect that might happen is that you experience what you are meditating on, especially if you are focusing on strong emotions, like love, peace, joy. To a certain extent, this is great. However, you should take care not to be swept away. This is especially important if you try to meditate on less positive emotions like anger.
The topics for contemplation can be very general, like the examples already given: peace, love, joy. However, they can also be much more specialised. An example would be „Every man and every woman is a star“. Mediation is a way to learn more about the universe in general. Contemplation is a way to learn more about special parts of the universe. During this course, I will include some topics for contemplation every now and again.
The third type of meditations is what I call pathworking, which is in some cases also called guided meditation. A pathworking is a journey of your mind – or soul – that is guided by a script. Most often, this script is given by a facilitator who leads through the journey or recorded on tape or CD and played back to actually perform the journey. Typically, a pathworking starts at some safe place and leads you somewhere. There you can interact with your surroundings and the people or entities you meet. Depending on the actual journey, you might search for something, or ask for advice, or make an experience. The messages gained on those journey might come from our subconsciousness, but they might also come from the Gods. Finally, you are guided back to the safe place and the journey ends. The major difficulty is to provide enough guidance that you can really travel to the intended place/situation, but leave enough freedom and time for interaction that you can actually get messages, have some interactions, visions, inspirations. That is true for somebody actually guiding others, and it is even more important for a recording done before the actual journey.
During this course, I will give a lot of pathworkings in written form. I recommend that you record them yourself for your own journeys if you want to try them. The alternative is to memorize the journey by heart and do it without any external guidance. However, I have found this to be more difficult. It is easier to get lost on a side track and loose the focus of the journey. If you memorize the workings, I advise that you set an alarm to remind you to get back after a certain amount of time. Once it rings, return to your safe place and from there to your body.
There are other concepts somehow related to the three types of meditation described herein. An example is shamanistic journeying. However, that would probably go beyond the scope of this year. Additionally I do not feel competent enough in this area to say much about it.
Of course, the presented distinction is not a generally accepted one, but my own perception and definition. It tells you how I am going to use these words – meditation, contemplation, pathworking – in this blog.
To summarize, I distinguish between three types of meditation: meditation, contemplation and pathworking (guided meditation). We will encounter all these types in the next exerceises frequently. As a start, you have one of each type of meditation as an exercise for the next weeks.
[1] Linda Chrisman, „Meditation“, http://www.answers.com/Meditation, 04.11.08
[2] Wikipedia, „Meditation“, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation, 04.11.08
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Aspects of the divine
One of the five basic creeds of my tradition is the Ethic of Attunement to the Divine. That means for me that throughout my life, I should constantly try to grow closer to the Divine. "Attunement" means growing closer, coming to know better, becoming more similar to the Divine.
This idea uses a very general word: "Divine". What is this Divine? I cannot answer this question for sure, and probably nobody can - only your experience will tell you. However, throughout the history of the different religions, there have been a number of different answers to this question. In Wicca, basically an eclectic and undogmatic religion, you can find different answers represented. While many religions find their ideas or concepts rather exclusive, in Wicca it is not uncommon to find different ideas represented in one circle or coven. You might even find Wiccans believing in more than one answer to the above question about the nature of the Divine.
Kaatryn MacMorgan[1] has written about the concept of three different levels or aspects of the Divine. It can be summarised as:
The Gods are Divine
The universe is Divine
The self is Divine
(in whatever permutation you prefer). All of this can be true together, and all of it has certain implications.
The Gods are Divine
This might be the most obvious statement about a religion that is considered polytheistic. The Gods, the ones we invoke, we talk to, we pray to, we feast with are Divine. Nevertheless it is interesting to know that at least some Wiccans believe that the Gods are not Divine beings but for example archetypes of the subconsciousness. However, if you do believe in the Gods as divine beings, as divine Others, , divine counterparts, that means you can in one way or the other get into contact with these beings, open a dialogue with them. Between to beings, communication is possible. This communication might take different forms. In its simples form, it is pure prayer. In its more complex forms, a number of rituals have as their sole purpose to enable a communication with Gods; one of them being the well known rite of Drawing Down the Moon.
Of course, believing in the existence of Divine Beings raises a lot of difficult theological questions. Where do they come from? How can they interact with us, with our world? What is their world? What, exactly, are they? How many are there, how similar or different are they? The list of questions is endless, and trying to give answers to them is much beyond the scope of this text. The best way to answer all those questions is probably to meet the Gods, to ask them the questions themselves, to learn the answers through experiences. This is what we want to do in this course: Find ways to interact with Divine beings.
The universe is Divine
The Kybalion, a magical text from the beginning of the 20th century[2], claims that the All is Mind. In other books I stumbles upon the concept of Immanence[3]: the divine is not separated from creation, but is immanent in creation, is present within everything. All parts of the Universe are divine, and the Universe as a whole itself is divine. The implications of this concept are immense. First of all, if everything is divine - the tree, the animal - then everything should be treated with respect. Secondly, it means that even things we see as trivial - like a TV, a stone - are divine, are part of the divine universe. Additionally, if everything is part of one divine universe, then everything is interconnected, separation is an illusion. The experience of this basic unity for me has always been one of the most profound mysteries, one that is difficult to put into words. It can be experienced through allowing yourself to experience existence directly: through meditation.
On the other hand you can learn something about the divine universe by learning about its parts and the divine nature of its parts. Grow closer to the divine by growing closer to its parts. Understanding something fully, understanding its divine nature and its connectedness to the rest of the universe can be very enlightening.
In this course we are going to use meditation to experience the divine universe, and we are going to focus upon some parts of the universe to investigate them.
The self is Divine
This is a direct consequence of the fact that the universe is divine. You are a part of that universe - therefore you are divine. You have that divine spark, and the blessings of life. And not only you, but your kid, your spouse, your neighbour, your enemy, everyone.
What is this self I am talking about? Is it the mind? Or the soul? It is everything. It starts with the body, the physical part of our selves. It includes our emotions, our mind, our logic and intuition, our subconsciousness and our higher self, our spirit or soul. Our selves are made up from all these components.
The self is Divine. How do we attune to this divine self? The most important step is to really realize this truth. From then on, there are a number of possibilities. Come to know your body, it is sacred. Learn more about your emotions, your reactions, your mind. Take good care of yourself, you are divine.
During this course, we will mostly work with introspection. You will look at yourself and learn more about yourself, your goal, your hopes, your fears, your dreams.
The title of this course is "Daily practice - getting into contact with the Divine daily". I have summarized what I consider to be the Divine: the Gods, the universe and the self. The course will cover all of these aspects. So far, I have introduced three practices, one for each aspect: basic meditation to further your awareness of the divine universe, prayer to get into contact with the Gods, and Daily Pages to get into contact with your divine self. All of these are basic techniques that will be helpful for more advanced techniques.
[1] Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas, All One Wicca, Covenstead Press, 2007
[2] Three Initiates, The Kybalion. A study of the hermetic philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greek. Free full text at Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14209)
[3] Starhawk, The spiral dance. A rebirth of the ancient religion of the great goddess. Harper Collins, 1999
This idea uses a very general word: "Divine". What is this Divine? I cannot answer this question for sure, and probably nobody can - only your experience will tell you. However, throughout the history of the different religions, there have been a number of different answers to this question. In Wicca, basically an eclectic and undogmatic religion, you can find different answers represented. While many religions find their ideas or concepts rather exclusive, in Wicca it is not uncommon to find different ideas represented in one circle or coven. You might even find Wiccans believing in more than one answer to the above question about the nature of the Divine.
Kaatryn MacMorgan[1] has written about the concept of three different levels or aspects of the Divine. It can be summarised as:
The Gods are Divine
The universe is Divine
The self is Divine
(in whatever permutation you prefer). All of this can be true together, and all of it has certain implications.
The Gods are Divine
This might be the most obvious statement about a religion that is considered polytheistic. The Gods, the ones we invoke, we talk to, we pray to, we feast with are Divine. Nevertheless it is interesting to know that at least some Wiccans believe that the Gods are not Divine beings but for example archetypes of the subconsciousness. However, if you do believe in the Gods as divine beings, as divine Others, , divine counterparts, that means you can in one way or the other get into contact with these beings, open a dialogue with them. Between to beings, communication is possible. This communication might take different forms. In its simples form, it is pure prayer. In its more complex forms, a number of rituals have as their sole purpose to enable a communication with Gods; one of them being the well known rite of Drawing Down the Moon.
Of course, believing in the existence of Divine Beings raises a lot of difficult theological questions. Where do they come from? How can they interact with us, with our world? What is their world? What, exactly, are they? How many are there, how similar or different are they? The list of questions is endless, and trying to give answers to them is much beyond the scope of this text. The best way to answer all those questions is probably to meet the Gods, to ask them the questions themselves, to learn the answers through experiences. This is what we want to do in this course: Find ways to interact with Divine beings.
The universe is Divine
The Kybalion, a magical text from the beginning of the 20th century[2], claims that the All is Mind. In other books I stumbles upon the concept of Immanence[3]: the divine is not separated from creation, but is immanent in creation, is present within everything. All parts of the Universe are divine, and the Universe as a whole itself is divine. The implications of this concept are immense. First of all, if everything is divine - the tree, the animal - then everything should be treated with respect. Secondly, it means that even things we see as trivial - like a TV, a stone - are divine, are part of the divine universe. Additionally, if everything is part of one divine universe, then everything is interconnected, separation is an illusion. The experience of this basic unity for me has always been one of the most profound mysteries, one that is difficult to put into words. It can be experienced through allowing yourself to experience existence directly: through meditation.
On the other hand you can learn something about the divine universe by learning about its parts and the divine nature of its parts. Grow closer to the divine by growing closer to its parts. Understanding something fully, understanding its divine nature and its connectedness to the rest of the universe can be very enlightening.
In this course we are going to use meditation to experience the divine universe, and we are going to focus upon some parts of the universe to investigate them.
The self is Divine
This is a direct consequence of the fact that the universe is divine. You are a part of that universe - therefore you are divine. You have that divine spark, and the blessings of life. And not only you, but your kid, your spouse, your neighbour, your enemy, everyone.
What is this self I am talking about? Is it the mind? Or the soul? It is everything. It starts with the body, the physical part of our selves. It includes our emotions, our mind, our logic and intuition, our subconsciousness and our higher self, our spirit or soul. Our selves are made up from all these components.
The self is Divine. How do we attune to this divine self? The most important step is to really realize this truth. From then on, there are a number of possibilities. Come to know your body, it is sacred. Learn more about your emotions, your reactions, your mind. Take good care of yourself, you are divine.
During this course, we will mostly work with introspection. You will look at yourself and learn more about yourself, your goal, your hopes, your fears, your dreams.
The title of this course is "Daily practice - getting into contact with the Divine daily". I have summarized what I consider to be the Divine: the Gods, the universe and the self. The course will cover all of these aspects. So far, I have introduced three practices, one for each aspect: basic meditation to further your awareness of the divine universe, prayer to get into contact with the Gods, and Daily Pages to get into contact with your divine self. All of these are basic techniques that will be helpful for more advanced techniques.
[1] Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas, All One Wicca, Covenstead Press, 2007
[2] Three Initiates, The Kybalion. A study of the hermetic philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greek. Free full text at Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14209)
[3] Starhawk, The spiral dance. A rebirth of the ancient religion of the great goddess. Harper Collins, 1999
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Daily Pages
Short version
Write a daily diary. Choose a medium you like, pen and paper, a nice notebook, a computer, whatever. Make sure it is not read by anyone but yourself. Write at least one page per day.
Rationale and tips
Why should you write a diary? It sounds so childish. Ok, so we call it daily pages, instead of diary. You write at least one page every day. The topic does not matter much. Write about the things that are on your mind. Write about the first thing that comes to your mind. If you have no idea what to write, begin writing "I have no idea what I should write. This feels silly..." Just start writing. The ideas will come. If you write your daily page, sooner or later you will start writing about yourself - about your life, your dreams, your hopes, your disappointments. You might understand more about yourself as you write it down. It might also be that you only understand it if you read your entries later on. The daily pages are meant as a means of self-exploration.
Tip 1: Find a place and time of the day when you are undisturbed. Writing is much more difficult if you have to interrupt it every two minutes to answer some question or do some task.
Tip 2: Make sure nobody reads your daily pages. They are meant as a tool for self-exploration, and for this it is important that you can be honest with yourself. You will not be that if somebody else reads your pages or if you are not sure somebody else reads them. That is also the reason why I think blogging is no substitute for daily pages. Most people will not be as honest and open if the whole world can read what they write. Password-protect the file on your computer if you have to. Buy a notebook with a lock if necessary. My personal protection is my handwriting - it is bad enough that it would take most people a lot of time to get through my pages :-).
Tip 3: Write your daily pages in the morning if you want to find out about your hopes and dreams. Write your daily pages in the evening if you want to find out about your behaviour patterns and your problems. I started writing a daily diary after reading Julia Cameron's books on creativity [The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron, 1992]. There, the author recommends what she calls "morning pages", three pages written for yourself every morning, writing down whatever comes to your mind, as a tool to increase creativity and to deal with writer's block. So, I owe the inspiration to this exercise to Julia Cameron. She recommends writing in the morning because that means you will look forward towards the day in your writing. If you write in the evening, you probably will focus on looking back at the day. This is something you can exploit if you have the possibility. If you do not have it, just pick the time that is most comfortable for you. The most important part about it is that you write the daily pages.
Tip 4: Reread your daily pages after a while. Write the pages, and put them away at first. Let some time go by. Reread your daily pages after a month, after half a year. Skim read the pages. See what patterns are emerging, what problems are repeating itself, what hopes you have expressed repeatedly. A lot of insight into yourself is hidden in those pages - do not let it go to waste by not looking at it again.
Write a daily diary. Choose a medium you like, pen and paper, a nice notebook, a computer, whatever. Make sure it is not read by anyone but yourself. Write at least one page per day.
Rationale and tips
Why should you write a diary? It sounds so childish. Ok, so we call it daily pages, instead of diary. You write at least one page every day. The topic does not matter much. Write about the things that are on your mind. Write about the first thing that comes to your mind. If you have no idea what to write, begin writing "I have no idea what I should write. This feels silly..." Just start writing. The ideas will come. If you write your daily page, sooner or later you will start writing about yourself - about your life, your dreams, your hopes, your disappointments. You might understand more about yourself as you write it down. It might also be that you only understand it if you read your entries later on. The daily pages are meant as a means of self-exploration.
Tip 1: Find a place and time of the day when you are undisturbed. Writing is much more difficult if you have to interrupt it every two minutes to answer some question or do some task.
Tip 2: Make sure nobody reads your daily pages. They are meant as a tool for self-exploration, and for this it is important that you can be honest with yourself. You will not be that if somebody else reads your pages or if you are not sure somebody else reads them. That is also the reason why I think blogging is no substitute for daily pages. Most people will not be as honest and open if the whole world can read what they write. Password-protect the file on your computer if you have to. Buy a notebook with a lock if necessary. My personal protection is my handwriting - it is bad enough that it would take most people a lot of time to get through my pages :-).
Tip 3: Write your daily pages in the morning if you want to find out about your hopes and dreams. Write your daily pages in the evening if you want to find out about your behaviour patterns and your problems. I started writing a daily diary after reading Julia Cameron's books on creativity [The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Julia Cameron, 1992]. There, the author recommends what she calls "morning pages", three pages written for yourself every morning, writing down whatever comes to your mind, as a tool to increase creativity and to deal with writer's block. So, I owe the inspiration to this exercise to Julia Cameron. She recommends writing in the morning because that means you will look forward towards the day in your writing. If you write in the evening, you probably will focus on looking back at the day. This is something you can exploit if you have the possibility. If you do not have it, just pick the time that is most comfortable for you. The most important part about it is that you write the daily pages.
Tip 4: Reread your daily pages after a while. Write the pages, and put them away at first. Let some time go by. Reread your daily pages after a month, after half a year. Skim read the pages. See what patterns are emerging, what problems are repeating itself, what hopes you have expressed repeatedly. A lot of insight into yourself is hidden in those pages - do not let it go to waste by not looking at it again.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Breathing Meditation
Simple version
Take a comfortable position. Watch your breath. Concentrate only on your breath. Think: In... Out... Do not change your breath, just let it flow naturally and follow it with your attention. If other thoughts interfere, let them pass and move your attention back to your breath again. Do this for some minutes.
Long version
Basically, the simple version given above is all. However, here is a longer version that covers more details and gives additional information.
Intention
A breathing meditation is one of the basic forms of meditation. The main purpose is to clear your mind. Thoughts are a wonderful thing. However, most of the time our mind is constantly chatting - about the past, about experiences and missed possibilities, about the future, and our plans for it, about other people, about our hopes and dreams and hurts and angers. In all this clamour, we do not have a moment to be aware of the presence, and we are too occupied with our own thoughts to hear the gentle voice of the Gods. Clearing our mind of its thoughts, and opening ourselves in order to perceive the universe in its fullness is a prerequisite for experiencing the divine universe. Therefore, breathing meditation is our exercise this week for getting into contact with the divine universe. Later on, I will expand upon this exercise, but for the beginning, breathing is enough.
Preparation
What do you need to prepare for this exercise? Nothing. You can do it whenever and wherever you like if you have some minutes of time. However, in the beginning it might be good if you chose a time and place where you are sure you will not be disturbed for ten to twenty minutes. Lock the door, switch off the phone, tell your family to leave you undisturbed. You can choose to do this meditation quietely, or you can switch on some relaxing music. If your surroundings are noisy, I suggest you use some music. Otherwise, I find it easier if I switch off the music.
Take a position you find comfortable. That might mean that you sit on a chair - do not cross your legs, and keep your spine straight. Or you may want to sit cross-legged or on your knees. Again, keep your spine straight. You can also choose to lie down; I suggest you lie on your back then. However, if you tend to fall asleep, I recommend choosing a sitting position. If you are not sure what is most comfortable for you, you can experiment with the different positions. You might find one position you prefer, or you might find that your preference differs with your moods.
If you want to, you can prepare a clock. Give yourself enough time, but do not overdo it. Start with five to ten minutes. Once you are comfortable with meditation, you might choose to meditate for a longer period of time, or you might be happy with the time you have chosen at the beginning. Try to use a clock that has a nice signal - you should come out of meditation rested, after all. It is quite difficult - and distracting - to estimate time during meditation, therefore using a clock has its advantages.
Meditation
After you have finished your preparations and have taken your position, close your eyes. Let the thought you are thinking at the moment finish and float away. Relax for a moment. Let your shoulders fall down. Gently focus your attention on your breath. Feel it flowing ... in ... and out .... Whenever a thought appears in your mind, note it, let it go away and return your attention to your breath. Do not get angry at your thoughts. It is natural that your mind will continue the chattering it normally does. Just do not leave your attention on your thoughts. Always return to your breath. In .. out ... in ... out ....
Continue for as long as you want or until your clock tells you it is time to stop.
Experiences
The experiences everybody will have may vary. In the beginning, it can be difficult to let your thoughts go away. Your intellect may tell you that meditation is boring. Simply note the thought, and return your attention to your breath.
A typical experience is a feeling of rest. You should come out of your meditation refreshed, relaxed, and ready to face the rest of your day.
Once you have some experience with meditation, you probably will experience deep inner peace. After meditation, you will go into your day full of serenity.
Additionally, during meditation spiritual experiences are possible, such as an experience of the unity of the universe. Be grateful if this happens to you, but do not be disappointed if you do not have big spiritual revelations within one week of meditation. It might be that you are not ready for a revelation. It might also be that you simply do not need it.
On the other hand, it is also possible that you experience some difficulties in sitting quitely, or feel some pain in your body. As your mind stops its normal talking and chattering, signals of your body may be able to come through to you. Note the signals your body is sending you, and return your attention to your breath. If it is really painful, stop the mediation or choose a different position. After meditation, you may want to give your feeling some thoughts and try to find out what is causing uncomfortable feelings or pain and whether you could do anything against it.
Also, painful or uncomfortable memories might come up, things you repressed, or prefer not to remember. Simply try to accept them, and focus your attention on your breath. Stay calm. Let the memories come up if they have to, and allow them to leave.
Conclusion
This is a very basic exercise. Calming your mind, letting go of the everyday chatter of the consciousness, by itself is a valuable routine. Additionally, this breathing meditation will be an introductory par of a lot of the following exercises because the calm and relaxed state of this meditation is an ideal starting point for visualisation, guided meditation, for everything where you want to make sure you are completely here and now.
Take a comfortable position. Watch your breath. Concentrate only on your breath. Think: In... Out... Do not change your breath, just let it flow naturally and follow it with your attention. If other thoughts interfere, let them pass and move your attention back to your breath again. Do this for some minutes.
Long version
Basically, the simple version given above is all. However, here is a longer version that covers more details and gives additional information.
Intention
A breathing meditation is one of the basic forms of meditation. The main purpose is to clear your mind. Thoughts are a wonderful thing. However, most of the time our mind is constantly chatting - about the past, about experiences and missed possibilities, about the future, and our plans for it, about other people, about our hopes and dreams and hurts and angers. In all this clamour, we do not have a moment to be aware of the presence, and we are too occupied with our own thoughts to hear the gentle voice of the Gods. Clearing our mind of its thoughts, and opening ourselves in order to perceive the universe in its fullness is a prerequisite for experiencing the divine universe. Therefore, breathing meditation is our exercise this week for getting into contact with the divine universe. Later on, I will expand upon this exercise, but for the beginning, breathing is enough.
Preparation
What do you need to prepare for this exercise? Nothing. You can do it whenever and wherever you like if you have some minutes of time. However, in the beginning it might be good if you chose a time and place where you are sure you will not be disturbed for ten to twenty minutes. Lock the door, switch off the phone, tell your family to leave you undisturbed. You can choose to do this meditation quietely, or you can switch on some relaxing music. If your surroundings are noisy, I suggest you use some music. Otherwise, I find it easier if I switch off the music.
Take a position you find comfortable. That might mean that you sit on a chair - do not cross your legs, and keep your spine straight. Or you may want to sit cross-legged or on your knees. Again, keep your spine straight. You can also choose to lie down; I suggest you lie on your back then. However, if you tend to fall asleep, I recommend choosing a sitting position. If you are not sure what is most comfortable for you, you can experiment with the different positions. You might find one position you prefer, or you might find that your preference differs with your moods.
If you want to, you can prepare a clock. Give yourself enough time, but do not overdo it. Start with five to ten minutes. Once you are comfortable with meditation, you might choose to meditate for a longer period of time, or you might be happy with the time you have chosen at the beginning. Try to use a clock that has a nice signal - you should come out of meditation rested, after all. It is quite difficult - and distracting - to estimate time during meditation, therefore using a clock has its advantages.
Meditation
After you have finished your preparations and have taken your position, close your eyes. Let the thought you are thinking at the moment finish and float away. Relax for a moment. Let your shoulders fall down. Gently focus your attention on your breath. Feel it flowing ... in ... and out .... Whenever a thought appears in your mind, note it, let it go away and return your attention to your breath. Do not get angry at your thoughts. It is natural that your mind will continue the chattering it normally does. Just do not leave your attention on your thoughts. Always return to your breath. In .. out ... in ... out ....
Continue for as long as you want or until your clock tells you it is time to stop.
Experiences
The experiences everybody will have may vary. In the beginning, it can be difficult to let your thoughts go away. Your intellect may tell you that meditation is boring. Simply note the thought, and return your attention to your breath.
A typical experience is a feeling of rest. You should come out of your meditation refreshed, relaxed, and ready to face the rest of your day.
Once you have some experience with meditation, you probably will experience deep inner peace. After meditation, you will go into your day full of serenity.
Additionally, during meditation spiritual experiences are possible, such as an experience of the unity of the universe. Be grateful if this happens to you, but do not be disappointed if you do not have big spiritual revelations within one week of meditation. It might be that you are not ready for a revelation. It might also be that you simply do not need it.
On the other hand, it is also possible that you experience some difficulties in sitting quitely, or feel some pain in your body. As your mind stops its normal talking and chattering, signals of your body may be able to come through to you. Note the signals your body is sending you, and return your attention to your breath. If it is really painful, stop the mediation or choose a different position. After meditation, you may want to give your feeling some thoughts and try to find out what is causing uncomfortable feelings or pain and whether you could do anything against it.
Also, painful or uncomfortable memories might come up, things you repressed, or prefer not to remember. Simply try to accept them, and focus your attention on your breath. Stay calm. Let the memories come up if they have to, and allow them to leave.
Conclusion
This is a very basic exercise. Calming your mind, letting go of the everyday chatter of the consciousness, by itself is a valuable routine. Additionally, this breathing meditation will be an introductory par of a lot of the following exercises because the calm and relaxed state of this meditation is an ideal starting point for visualisation, guided meditation, for everything where you want to make sure you are completely here and now.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Prayer
The most common and easiest way of contacting divine Beings is prayer: talking to them, confident that they will hear you, but expecting no immediate answer. Basically, there are two different forms of prayer: formal vs. informal. Formal prayer is something that is said or done always the same way. An example would be saying grace at meals and using the same sentences every time. Doing it this way helps to build ritual, a sense of continuity, a sacred framework for life. At its best, formal prayer helps to express our feelings towards the Gods in a short amount of time. At its worst, it ends up an empty routine, something that is done but does not mean anything to us any more. If that is the case, it is a better choice to use informal prayer.
In what I term informal, or free, prayer, no ritual is followed or defined sentences are spoken. Instead, you contemplate what is in your heart, you think about your Gods, and you speak to them freely. (Of course, it is also possible to combine some formal elements like opening and closing statements with a free part in between.) The advantage is that you actually think about your life and share it with your Gods. The danger is that it grows to be more and more about you, and less about the Gods.
Another way to characterise prayers is for their intended purpose. Typical situations for prayers are when you either want to ask the Gods for something or when you want to thank them for something. It is of course possible to use prayers written by others[1]. However, even if you want to perform more formal prayers, my recommendation is to use ones you write for yourself. Alternatively, you can look for prayers specifically addressing the Gods you want to address, using either antique or modern texts.
This week, I want you to look up or create and say some prayers: one for saying grace at meals, one for greeting the Gods in the morning, one for thanking them in the evening. If you find another situation you want to include, do that.
I would appreciate it very much if you would post any prayers you like to share in the comments to this entry, and I will hopefully do the same of the week. If you took them from a different website or a book, please post a link or reference instead; respect other people's copyright.
[1] For examples take a look at beliefnet or look into the "book of pagan prayer" (Ceisiwr Serith, A book of pagan prayer. Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002)
In what I term informal, or free, prayer, no ritual is followed or defined sentences are spoken. Instead, you contemplate what is in your heart, you think about your Gods, and you speak to them freely. (Of course, it is also possible to combine some formal elements like opening and closing statements with a free part in between.) The advantage is that you actually think about your life and share it with your Gods. The danger is that it grows to be more and more about you, and less about the Gods.
Another way to characterise prayers is for their intended purpose. Typical situations for prayers are when you either want to ask the Gods for something or when you want to thank them for something. It is of course possible to use prayers written by others[1]. However, even if you want to perform more formal prayers, my recommendation is to use ones you write for yourself. Alternatively, you can look for prayers specifically addressing the Gods you want to address, using either antique or modern texts.
This week, I want you to look up or create and say some prayers: one for saying grace at meals, one for greeting the Gods in the morning, one for thanking them in the evening. If you find another situation you want to include, do that.
I would appreciate it very much if you would post any prayers you like to share in the comments to this entry, and I will hopefully do the same of the week. If you took them from a different website or a book, please post a link or reference instead; respect other people's copyright.
[1] For examples take a look at beliefnet or look into the "book of pagan prayer" (Ceisiwr Serith, A book of pagan prayer. Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002)
The beginning
Here we go: today the one year course for coming into contact with the divine daily starts! We will start slowly through the first weeks, with some very, very basic exercises. The important first step is to create a habit of doing something daily. So this week, we will start with prayer. There are a lot of reasons to speak a prayer, and it will not take much time. If possible, you should free some time – perhaps in the morning, before leaving for work, or in the evening, once the active part of the day is over. Think about this carefully – it is easiest to build a habit if you do it every day at the same time, so you should pick a time you can probably keep free most of the time. But if this is not possible on every day, no problem. You can still say a prayer – or more than one, if you want to – some time during the day, in a break, when a sunbeam touches and warms you, when you hear the song of a bird, when you feel the need for it.
I am excited about this course finally starting. Welcome to anyone reading this post, and if you are interested in a series of thoughts, insights, exercises and meditations about getting into contact with the Divine, I certainly hope you will check back every now and again. I will post weekly, probably some time during the weekend.
Hail and welcome, everyone!
I am excited about this course finally starting. Welcome to anyone reading this post, and if you are interested in a series of thoughts, insights, exercises and meditations about getting into contact with the Divine, I certainly hope you will check back every now and again. I will post weekly, probably some time during the weekend.
Hail and welcome, everyone!
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