Melting Into Meditation
Tips and secrets for success

SUBEAM PUBLICATIONS

by John Jaish Lamb

The author, a meditation consultant, has used daily meditation for more than 50 years. He was Chairman of the British Meditation Society for 30 years. He studied under the guidance of, and was a close colleague of, Gururaj Ananda Yogi from 1977 until Gururaj’s demise in 1988.
John has written / compiled several other books in the Mind Bathing Series, including: Discover Your Subtle Self; Guarantee to Make The Law of Attraction Work; Gems of the Heart; The 5 Sattvic Keys to Great Meditation.

Disclaimer
The contents of this publication are the author’s opinion, guided by the teaching expounded by the author’s mentor, Gururaj Ananda Yogi (1932–1988).
Neither the publisher nor the author offer professional advice to the individual reader. None of the ideas, practices and suggestions in this book are intended as a substitute for medical advice, which should be sought from health care professionals, i.e. suitably qualified physicians. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. All content shall be treated as opinion.

Copyright © 2012 John Lamb
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
The right of John Lamb to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2012 by Subeam Publications

ISBN 978–0-9569025-3-5

Contents

Introduction
Truths
Methods
TIPS (Melting)
Intention
Appendix: How the mind works

 

Melting Into Meditation:
Tips and secrets for success

 

©2012 John Lamb

Introduction

 

This book is written against a backdrop of my 50 years practising meditation and teaching it for 12 years. My main purpose is to help aspiring meditators to quickly get beyond the frustration of insufficient focus or not achieving what they want to achieve from meditation. Of course, it may contain tips for experienced meditators too. Like any other common interest, we all pick up a host of little snippets by referring to others who work in the same field.

 

The book can also be used as a review of the ‘big picture’ of the meaning of life, in short form. If that is what’s required, read chapters 1 and 4 first.
Chapter 1 highlights basic fundamentals often overlooked by new meditators and sometimes by experienced people too. Frequently, these fundamentals are omitted in the teaching process, particularly by teachers who lack depth of experience. But, in my view, these mechanics cannot be overlooked if one is to achieve a successful outcome. The principles referred to apply to all forms of yoga.

 

Chapter 2 covers basic techniques, and its content, in my view, is more than sufficient to cover one's meditation needs. Chapter 3 refers to the melting aspect of meditation in that it contains the tips and secrets I’ve come across, working with those who have a track record of continual success in actually doing the practices. I’ve gone into detail, which anyone can follow, about allowing meditation to work for you.

 

In the final chapter I attempt to simplify the subject of expanding the consciousness because the taboo on this subject in some quarters is quite unnecessary. I don’t think many folk realise what expanding the consciousness really means. Lack of knowledge or misplaced fear, about what our consciousness really is, seems to complicate an incredibly simple component of nature that’s happening to us all the time.

 

If you find yourself totally closed to any ideas you encounter in chapter 1, I’m inclined to think you might be better off leaving meditation out of your life until you decide you would like to open your mind to new possibilities. That’s not to say that meditation cannot be used solely as a relaxation technique because it can. It’s just that if you can’t accept, or don’t agree with, the basic truths underlying all yogic practices, the massive potential benefits could be missed almost entirely.

1  Truths

Yoga means union. All forms of yoga are based on the union of your physical self with your spiritual self.

 

What does this actually mean? In this book, use of the expression ‘yoga’ does not refer (except occasionally) to hatha yoga which is the correct term for yogic physical exercises.

 

Yoga encompasses everything beyond the human mind. Our whole life is based on yoga because we can’t even move an eyelid without the immutable subtle energy within us providing the impetus for movement. So, when we talk of union with our subtle (spiritual) energy we mean locating the subtle energy and bringing it to the foreground. Everyone is trying to do this, whether they are aware of it or not.

 

The practical advantage of bringing our inherent subtle energy to the fore can include one or more, perhaps most, of the following benefits:

 

• overcome fear and reduce the effects of stress
• become less fragmented – concentrate more effectively
• reduce high blood pressure and / or betterment of health all round
• ability to deal with everyday challenges without complication
• better intuition and creativity
• improved relationships
• a more contented life and confident personality
• diminish anxiety and /or loneliness
• being guided away from danger or towards advantageous circumstances
• improve longevity potential
• acquiring material stuff or personal qualities by manipulating the Law of Attraction,
• recognise the entire self as opposed to your (comparatively) incapable physical self

 

Until very recently, reference to the spiritual self was mostly looked upon as a bit quirky by those who don’t take an avid interest in such matters. But recent scientific experiments and calculations have lifted the cloud of scepticism on what has, for millennia, been looked upon as a strictly unscientific subject.
Physicists have recently proved that what we perceive, of ourselves and everything around us, in solid form, is only 26% of what we really are. The other 74% is energy that is definitely present but it’s invisible, not operating in light and therefore referred to as dark energy or shadow energy.

 

We can now be certain of (approximately) eleven dimensions in our makeup. However, most of us still focus exclusively on the three dimensions we latch on to with our senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. We are not bothering to exploit a fantastic inherent power, which can be accessed in an instant, if we know how to do it.

What is more, the fourth dimension of our being has been experimentally verified recently so these extra dimensions are not just p

ostulations and calculations; they’re real fact, absolute truth. A gargantuan step forward in understanding our presence on Earth has just taken place.

 

The Higgs boson validation, announced in July 2012, confirms that matter is formed from particles finer than matter itself. There are trillions of bosons around and within every cell of solid matter, even though we can’t identify them visually or with measuring instruments.

 

Hurrah. The mystics were correct after all! We no longer have to live in confusion, going blindly along with myths like that of an unseen almighty controller who, working in illogical ways, created all we see around us (and consequently needed our consummate respect).

 

Mankind has been enormously confused during past millennia by thinking that other dimensions or, possibly, controlling entities were ‘out there’ somewhere; something else. But these recent discoveries enable us to accept that all existence is here and now. This means that time is a mental conception too. Several world renowned scientists, including Albert Einstein, have proposed this as a hypothesis previously. Now it is experimentally authenticated.
You could usefully refer to my book Discover Your Subtle Self for a better understanding of the dimensions within us and the practical ways, in daily life, to enhance our acceptance of our whole self.

 

What we experience, as we proceed in yoga, is the difficulty of relating to both timelessness and non-separateness. These are the qualities, as we on Earth would interpret, of the ‘higher dimensions’ within us. Timelessness is experienced as being in the present moment, without desires and worries and without relating to the past or the future. Non-separateness means a feeling of connection with everything in existence.

 

Everyone has experiences of timelessness and non-separateness, even faintly, when they practice yoga. Qualitative experience of timelessness and non-separateness brings about contentment and satisfaction. This happens because these are experiences of our actual self; our whole self as opposed to our egoic mind.

 

How does all this affect meditation? At times when we are not succeeding with meditation or we find limited benefits we can always identify a resistance to our true nature, which is the timeless and non-separate state. Unconsciously, our minds challenge our unseen states of being, i.e. states not identifiable by the senses.

 

The mind is therefore our enemy when it comes to unfolding truth. As useful as it may be in practical matters or in remembering all manner of facts, the mind exists because of the ego and the ego is not real. The mind says, “I am a human being and I am at the centre of life. Everything else is related to me and how I feel.”

 

But a paradox emerges here. We want the yogas to help us become calm and more satisfied - which is feasible - while the mind is continuously trying to justify its own existence. The mind can only justify itself by relating to the senses. The ego invents time and it invents separateness. So when we try to go beyond the senses, to awaken and imbibe our finer subtler self by using yoga, we encounter this ‘battle’.

 

I have good news. The massive paradox I’ve described can be overcome. The way in which you approach meditation can solve this dilemma, together with developing the art of letting go of the mind for short periods. I will explore this in some detail. The mind (ego) resists letting go because, during every moment of your life, it tries to cling on to projections of the future. But there definitely is a solution.

 

Commitment
Any form of yoga needs to be taken on earnestly. I’m not saying you need to change your ways or change your lifestyle. The emphasis is on focussing, for it to work effectively.

The practice of meditation itself will enable you become more focussed in almost any task but you do need determination. The determination required is not concentration during the practice of meditation. It’s persisting with yourself, to insist that you take a complete holiday from mind stuff on a frequent basis. Meditation will do it but you have to allow your subtle energy (silent inner dimensions) in.

 

You will need to keep in mind that meditation is not really a process at all. A process usually does require concentration. Meditation most definitely does not. It requires attention. What we gain is the ability to hold our attention on anything using almost no effort at all. Hence, benefits in daily life accrue. Meditation is allowing a state of awareness of your subtle self to prevail.

 

Meditation is not a pill. Neither is it a panacea. It is a practical tool which helps invaluably in accepting what is real and what is false (around here). Of course repetitive meditation brings calm into your life and can be used as a very effective relaxant at the end of a busy day, et al, but it is the acceptance of truth that solves life, solves all your problems and lifts away the cloud of suffering. Truth is now fully established and not, as before, some shaky belief. Humankind is waking up to this substantiality and it holds an awesome future for those who bother to embrace and exploit it.

 

It’s not difficult to face the truth. It’s virtually a game – maybe viewed as a dare, with lots of rewards for taking part. It may ruffle your feathers a little at first glance but, the more you face truth, like me you’ll probably become fascinated with what you discover as non-truth. Non-truth includes all that’s going on around you, more or less everything said or discussed by your fellow humans and all that mankind strives for. That’s quite a statement, isn’t it? I’ll explain more as we go along.

 

Facing yourself, which means contemplating the truth of your personal traits and your conjured up thoughts, can be very challenging at first. However, when you gather pace, this will become part of your daily life without interrupting your normal flow of events. Take on more and more truth and what initially may seem a little burdensome will turn into an exciting adventure. I can guarantee, from personal experience, that what awaits the resolute meditator is ultimate bliss and a glorious life, elevated in all aspects, including the list of benefits above, compared to a life of continual problems combined with a lack of knowledge about what we really are and why we are here.

 

To give you a taster (the next three paragraphs), you are not Jack or Jane, or whatever name is ascribed to you. You do not have a life. You are life. You are all aspects of life. But, at the moment you’re buried in the preoccupation of the 26% of yourself that looks like solid matter. There is no such thing as solid matter. This is proven science.

 

You are responsible for your evolution. You got yourself to where you are now but, because of your preoccupation with the very small part of yourself your senses perceive, you can’t quite understand how you did it.

 

Everything is revealed – re-cognised – when we get in touch with our 100% self. This is the basis of all yoga. You’ve been reaching outside yourself for answers and solutions while, without interruption, everything you want has always been within your reachable consciousness; closer to you than your eyelids are to your eyes.

 

2  Methods

 

This book isn’t about instruction in any particular meditation – it’s about how to apply the meditation method of your choice. However, I’ll mention what has helped me in terms of techniques.

 

You can choose for yourself from a vast range of methods publicised in the world today. You’ll probably try a few and settle on what feels right. It won’t take long. You’ll guide yourself to what you need, quite naturally. You may even change as the years go by, as your meditations get more and more refined.

 

Meditation enables the mind to subdue thought. If you expect it to dispense with thought you’ll be disappointed. Thoughts will always appear. Correct meditation enables you to deal with thoughts in such a way that they do not disturb you.

 

Don’t be put off because I’ve told you thoughts will always be part of your mediations. You’re commencing a fascinating journey. It’s a journey enabling you to surmount thought so that you can stop being a slave to it. Thought causes all suffering. So, when you conquer it, by observing it rather than pandering to it, your life enters a satisfying conciliate phase.

 

I advise readers to do their own research about which variation to use, if what I refer to is considered not enough. Browsing the internet and referring to one or two books and /or a local teacher will be all that’s necessary to establish which methods you are most interested in and what suits you the most.

 

I recommend a book by Eric Hutchinson entitled Teach Yourself to Meditate. It’s quite sufficient unless you want to go deeply into a monastic type of life. There are other books and instructions. If you learn by personal instruction, which is advisable, you won’t need to look up any method or variation because you’ll be provided with all you need by your teacher. If you’re happy thereafter, fine. If you then have a wish to explore a variety of methods, that’s fine too.

 

Beware

Meditation goes back in history for millennia. It’s not a new fad. It has behind it the wisdom of great Masters and Sages who were highly evolved human beings and who knew truth.

 

If you are going to try a method that has been established recently by a person or organization who’s designed wonderful literature and a convincing Internet website etc., ask yourself if the meditation method has any real lineage. From my own investigation of a few modern methods, I conclude the only change you’re going to see by studying ‘Dr. so-and-so’s method developed over 35 years’ (and such like) – with all the marketing jargon attached – is you’re going to be parted from your hard earned cash.

 

It is no more difficult to do proper meditation than it is to play with modern money making hybrids.

 

You need to be instructed how to deal with thought, so do watch out for the advertising of phrases such as:
“Mind development” – this is the opposite of what you need;
“Experience deep states only usually available to monks” – not appropriate for beginners; not needed to turn your life around.
Moreover, you may encounter invalid commands, especially within written instruction, such as:
“Focus on calming the thoughts” – how can you do this if you haven’t been instructed on it? Infusing calm vibration is the key and not thoughts of calming the thoughts. Calming vibration is generated from the finer dimensions of yourself but many methods don’t tell you why or how to infuse them properly. Calm thoughts will be an outcome of meditation, not the mechanics of it;
“Breathe away all your thoughts” – a command not possible to implement without chi infusion instruction;
“Imagine you are bathing in tranquillity” – you can’t; that’s why you want to meditate – if such statements are made without precise instruction as to how to reach tranquility, the method has questionable value;
“Concentrate” – this is the exact opposite of what you need to do. Good meditation helps you concentrate in your normal waking state, thereby making daily life more efficient and less worrisome. But concentrating during your meditation is going against the natural flow rather than going with it. ‘Holding fast’ is what occurs in meditation, once you have a little experience, but it is achieved without effort and not by concentration;
Clear your mind (1st instruction) – impossible, that’s why we’re doing this.

 

 

Types of meditation

Meditation should always be approached in a relaxed manner. If you are not relaxed when you sit down to meditate, a relaxation technique is appropriate, especially the first few times you meditate because relaxing may not come naturally to you. Use a relaxation technique before you meditate until you feel you don't need one. Use one forever if you want.

 

One popular relaxation technique is lying flat on the floor in the ‘savasana’ position. Your arms will be slightly away from your sides with your palms facing upwards. Each part of the body is tensed for a few seconds and then let go of. Be first aware of the feet, then the legs, then buttocks, torso, arms, neck, face and forehead. When everything feels relaxed, make sure there is no tension in your jaw. Feel your body as a heavy dead weight against the floor.

 

 

Breath awareness

 

Breath awareness is one of the most basic types of meditation, which most people try at some time or another. You can meditate solely with breath awareness and not use any other technique, if you so choose. It is adequate. You don't have to explore any other techniques if you don't wish to.
Turn your attention to your breathing. This should be your regular shallow breathing, not deep breathing, so you are putting in no effort, but just watching your ordinary breathing. Vaguely give your attention to, say, the air moving in and out of your nostrils, or your chest or stomach slowly rising and falling.
When you find yourself thinking a thought, rather than and just being aware of your breathing, slowly let the thoughts go and return to the breath awareness. Do this with as little effort as possible. Do not suddenly banish a thought, but let it dissipate slowly. Sometimes thoughts will persist to the point of disturbing your tranquillity altogether. I will examine this thoroughly in the next chapter.

 

Do the first few meditations in the savasana position. Afterwards, sit comfortably in an upright chair with your hands gently clasped and your feet on the ground. Take the weight of your head i.e. don’t rest your head on anything, unless of course you are physically discomforted or incapable.
If you want to explore more advanced sitting positions, then by all means do so. The same applies to all silent meditation techniques.

 

 

Mantra meditation

A mantra is a sound or word thought of as a sound, which mostly has no meaning. This is useful because turning one's attention to something with no meaning assists us in getting away from thoughts. However, sometimes mantras do have a meaning and this can also be helpful when one is bringing contemplation into the meditation, particularly when the meditation is being used for self strengthening and or unconditioning.

 

Let's take a meaningless mantra, for instance aa-ree-laam. Notice this word has three syllables. They should be repeated as one word or sound and not broken down with pauses, so in this case, this would be aareelaam. For mantras ending in m, the m should be held onto for a few seconds as an m-m-m-m-m sound and ending with a slightly upward tone i.e. higher note.

 

When first using a new mantra it can be said aloud, and then gradually softer and softer until it disappears and is becomes only a thought.

 

The sound is therefore imagined. It should be imagined in a vague, lazy, effortless manner, repeated about once every 10 seconds (vary this as you prefer). It should be allowed to become quieter and quieter and disappear into the distance after, say, about a minute or so, so that you end up with this imaginary sound hardly perceptible at all. Sometimes it will change into something else, such as a shape or colour or some form of light or darkness, maybe even feeling like a breeze or something else in nature.

 

Whether this happens or not, what ever is perceived should be allowed to move away into the distance as far as possible so it is hardly perceptible – but your attention is still with it. This is the way to get to total peace and tranquillity.

 

I will deal with ways to deal with thoughts that interrupt you, in the next chapter.

 

You might wish to try a mantra with a meaning. This is likely to be an affirmation, which I will come to shortly.

 

Let's take, for instance, the well-known Tibetan mantra ‘Om mani pad me hum’. Sometimes this mantra is used without meaning, purely for the sound and vibration emitted. But, if you do look it up, you will find it means something like: Om is the original sound of creation (manifestation); mani means the wheel of life (a Buddhist symbol); pad and me mean fortitude and determination and hum means story, possibly your personal story, possibly the story of life in general; letting go of the story. In a meaningful context it could be used as a mantra of acceptance and non-attachment without being specifically subjective. [By the way it’s pronounced om manee pay’d may hum].

 

As I have mentioned, there are countless mantras. The mantra 'One' can be effective if it is used under instruction. I would not advise using such a mantra without an experienced adviser on hand. The mantra 'one' is sometimes used in, for instance, Zen meditation. Such mantras can be very effective in their right place. ‘I give thanks’ is another regularly used mantra. There are thousands of them, including Bija mantras, also known as seed sounds
The mantra 'Om' should not be used by beginners, despite a lot of seemingly knowledgeable instructors advising people to use this sound. 'Om' represents the absolute source of all. If you were ready to merge into that high state of being you would probably not be living a life on Earth. 'Om' it is too strong a mantra for beginners.

 

I don’t advise words like Love and Peace be used. They might have 2 out of 10 effectiveness but they do represent something. Therefore they would not necessarily get you beyond the workings of the mind effectively. Also, any such word could possibly be associated (remotely, I admit) with something negative to you deep in your non-recallable consciousness, which goes back beyond this little lifetime.

 

I could go on for pages about mantras. However, my intention here is not to write such a thesis but to offer advice on correct meditation. I advise finding a Gururaj Ananda teaching organization or individual if you can. I spent a lot of time with them and know the teaching to be excellent, on a one-to-one basis, with a personally prescribed mantra if you want it. I mentioned Eric Hutchinson’s book, in chapter 1, for other ideas.

 

The two practices explained above - breath awareness and mantra - are the most commonly used meditations. The others described below are ones I have personally found indispensable, amongst the plethora of alternative or additional meditation techniques that can be undertaken to build a personal package of techniques. Each person can explore and decide what their package should consist of.

 

I use all the following techniques except the ‘guided’ option. I took decades to establish my own package by means of much trial and exploration. I hope some of the following practices will be helpful to readers in that they may help reduce the effort required in searching.

 

I use mantra or Tratak seven to ten times per week, deep breathing on most days, contemplation once or twice per week and the others, listed below, occasionally.

 

 

Deep breathing

Breath, in yogic terms is known as prana. Deep breathing is known as pranayama. Pranayama can be used as a meditation on its own if so desired. It can also be used as an emergency calming technique.

 

As mentioned previously deep breathing is not the type of breathing to do in the breath awareness meditation technique. However, pranayama can be used as a precursor to meditation and as a finalé after meditation, prior to returning to normal daily activity.

 

It has been said, in metaphoric terms, that meditation cleans the windows and pranayama, after meditation, clears away the smears. I think it's good to do it, both before and after a sitting meditation.

 

In a meditative state, prana represents the essence of everything, the source, the subtle energy on which everything depends. Ingesting prana is equivalent to heightening one’s subtle self, i.e. unfolding one’s pure consciousness. During pranayama, it’s best to imagine the air being the pure essence of your wholeness of being; pure energy.

 

As a basic pranayama practice, you can just sit, in the normal meditation position/stance, and do it for, say, 3 to 5 min. Or you can do a predetermined number of rounds or counts.

 

Fundamentally important is the way you breathe. Breathing in should be from the stomach first, to fill the stomach area, and then the lungs, filling them with air to the fullest extent possible. And then, the most important part of all, the out-breath.

 

Exhalation should be done gently, letting the air out slowly and, most importantly of all, push out intensely at the end of the breath using the stomach; tightening the stomach a little to finish, in order to get out all the last bits of breath. This is vital because stale air is normally retained in the lungs on the out-breath in everyday breathing, even when fast breathing after exercise. So, concentrating on the end of the out-breath dispenses with all stale air and your system ingests all fresh air.

 

As an emergency calming technique, several rounds of pranayama are suitable at any time of the day you wish. This could be while you're waiting for an appointment when you are a bit nervous or meeting somebody new, or any other number of situations you can imagine when nervousness comes to the fore. It's best if you can sit with your eyes closed to do it but that's not absolutely essential. You could be standing, even walking or driving, obviously with your eyes wide open, and not losing concentration on your everyday activity, while you take part in a round or two of pranayama, maybe more. At the very least, it will refresh your system with fresh air and dispense with stale air.

 

There are many different counts to pranayama. For instance breathing in to the count of 10, hold to the count of 10 and exhale to the count 10. There should always be a holding interlude between the in breath and the out breath. Another example is in 5, hold 10, out5. Holding the breath helps self-control. The more calm you become in the holding interlude, the better pranayama will work for you. One count I have used a lot is 2:8:4, which is supposed to be the ratio at which the universal cycle operates. Supposedly, this aligns you with the pulse of the universe. It's possible to double this count, and I have known advanced meditators to quadruple it.

 

 

The wonderment of Tratak

One point focussing, sometimes known as Tratak (or candle gazing), is the most amazing and effective meditation technique I have found. Not least it’s very pleasant to do. Most people love it.

 

Tratak is often alternated with a mantra or breathing technique – once per day each practice. Because Tratak’s purpose is one-pointedness, it compliments mantra beautifully. Not only does it help one to focus during everyday life, it also helps with focusing during the mantra or breath awareness meditations.
If there were a period in a meditators life where they used one technique only, I would recommend Tratak as the best.

 

Setting up:
Obviously, great care needs to be taken when setting up a candle flame, which needs to be at arms length and at eye level. Safety is the prime concern. You could fall asleep in any meditation practice and, whether you do or not, a candle should always be fixed securely so that it cannot topple over. Be sure the flame or any dripping wax cannot cause damage and, if it burns to the bottom or falls over, the candle holder should be substantial and flameproof so as to render safe a flame burning in hot wax.

 

Tratak with a candle flame is best done in a darkened or slightly darkened room. Certainly tone down any bright daylight. The background behind the flame should be as dark as possible.

 

The practice itself involves gazing at the candle flame for 2 or 3 minutes after sitting relaxed, with the candle flame secured at approximately arms length from you and at eye-level.. Gazing means gazing. Don’t concentrate; just give the flame your attention. After this gazing period the eyes are closed and you just stare straight ahead in the darkness behind your eyelids. Sometimes an image appears in the darkness. Remember to keep the eyes closed. Watch the image for as long as it remains. The image may change in shape or colour. If the image disappears, or no image appears at all, stare straight ahead in the darkness for about a minute before opening your eyes to look at the flame again. This is called one round of Tratak. Normally three rounds are undertaken, possibly four.

 

Both the gazing at the candle flame and the (closed eyed) image are important parts of the meditation. So is looking into the darkness when the image has disappeared or has not appeared at all. As with any meditation, when you find thoughts occurring deal with them in the way described in the next chapter and then return to the process of the practice. Once again, when gazing at the candle or the image do not concentrate intensely. Make your attention to what you're doing as relaxed and effortless as possible.

 

With practice, the timing becomes more or less automatic.

 

When you are very experienced you can use any object at all. This could be, say, a 1 inch diameter black spot on a white background. When it is not practical to use a candle flame, practically anything will do. For example, if you're sitting in a car park in your car with time to spare and you want to do Tratak, you could pick an object on a car near you, even a letter on a number plate. So long as the object is not moving and is not unpleasant to gaze at, go ahead.

 

Benefits:

The main benefit of Tratak is usually immediate. I have found that most people who practise Tratak once per day for a week or two find a definite improvement in concentrative powers in daily life. They become less scattered; more focused. Hence they get more done and become less worrisome. Worry and anxiety come from unnecessary thought spirals which try to fill the space in your head all the time. Becoming focused breaks this unnecessary and sometimes debilitating hold the mind exerts. When you have a one pointed mind you can push away negative thoughts just easily. Without a concentrated mind, you can't do that.

 

So many things can be achieved and accomplished with a one-pointed razor sharp mind. The difference between success and failure is largely concentration or lack of concentration.

 

Moreover, Tratak helps to open your third eye, the Ajna Chakra. By opening the third eye, you develop a greater awareness of things around you. The Ajna Chakra is said to be the counterpart of the pineal gland, which is stimulated by achieving one-pointedness. The pineal gland is the producer of Melatonin, which rejuvenates the whole glandular system.

 

Last but not least, regularly giving your attention to the candle flame and the image naturally improves one’s ability to visualize. Guarantee to Make The Law of Attraction Work explores the practice and potential results of visualisation.
So, Tratak can benefit you psychically, psychologically physiologically and economically. Obviously approving the ability to focus improves other mediation techniques too

 

 

Walking meditation

Waking state (open-eyed) meditations can be extremely effective and extremely enjoyable. Walking meditation has been done for millennia in many cultures.

 

The basic walking meditation is very simple indeed. As you can imagine it would be better to do this in a quiet country area but, with a bit of practice, it's also possible in the urban environment, except that it should not be practised in the presence of lots of other pedestrians. Pavements in the countryside are ideal. A sandy seashore is ideal as well. I usually do it on the outskirts of town on pavement where I probably don't encounter more than a dozen pedestrians in 15 the minutes (approximately) it takes.

 

The meditation process involves walking at a slow to medium pace. Hands can be gently clasped in front or behind you or simply swinging gently at your sides. You simply gaze at the path about 6 or 7 feet in front of you. Your gaze obviously moves forward continuously. As you walk you find that you don't take in anything that passes your gaze because your gaze is on the move all the time but still focussed. Just be aware of the space in front of you. You automatically become aware of any object needed to be avoided. If you can have a friend walking 10 of 12 paces in front of you it’s helpful (to warn you of obstacles or danger) because that you can then half close your eyes and this takes the accent off needing to look out for objects or irregularities that might be a problem to you.

 

The second thing to do is feel the contact of each foot with the floor. This is the only area where you purposely put your attention. The gazing in front of you is for practical purposes. The attention to your feet touching the ground is the meditation process. Each time your foot touches the floor, just give your attention to it; feel it.

 

Sometimes this practice is extremely pleasant in that you may begin to feel your interconnectedness with the planet, without using your mind. As with any other meditation, if thoughts occur, deal with them in the usual way – see next chapter – and bring your attention back to each foot touching the ground.

 

 

The Gap

This Practice, to me, is one of those little hidden-away gems you find in life. Seemingly insignificant when I first encountered it, it took a couple of decades for me to discover its true value. The gap is the simplest of meditation techniques or, should I say, wholeness practices. It is not normally a sitting in silence practice but can be used like that if you so wish. It is also a ‘use anytime’ stilling practice so it can be used at the beginning of meditation if required, if any agitation gets in the way.

 

The gap practice consists of finding the gap, or the space, between the in-breath and the out-breath in normal breathing.

 

There is always an (infinitesimally small) interlude between something going in one direction and suddenly changing to the opposite direction, such as a piston. This also applies to breathing in and out, which of course you do continuously. It's the same at the top of the golf swing. You wind the club backwards and then drive it forwards but, at the top of the swing, there must be a tiny split second where you change from the backstroke to the down stroke. There are many other examples.

 

You can also apply this to walking if you want to, finding the gap between footsteps. You can apply it to any situation where there is a repetitive change. I think applying it to the in-breath and out-breath is best.

 

Don't try to find the gap after the out-breath and before in-breath, i.e. at the end of exhalation, because there is too much of an obvious time lapse here. We want to focus on almost imperceptible interludes, not obvious ones.

 

So, try to perceive the gap, the changing point, as your in-breath becomes your out-breath. It's very subtle. It's tiny. You may think that you never actually find it. Don't worry in this regard because, as you go along, you'll find that you do. Focus your attention on that miniscule point of change.
You can do the gap practice for as long as you like.

 

The gap practice is often recommended in circumstances where the mind is unstable. I found it incredibly helpful at one time when I went through a mild depression. It is not a pill. It will not put you in a trance like a drug would. What it does, I found, is it enables you to buffer feelings of anxiety or desperation in such a way that you are able to cope in a situation where you're feeling thoroughly down or anxious. You can also remind yourself to do it when you’re particularly worried or fearful. It’s an instant saviour in my view.

 

I actually recommend cessation of ordinary meditation techniques when the mind is unstable, apart from a few minutes breath awareness per day and deep breathing. I do recommend finding the gap, physical exercises and now-ness practices (mentioned below).
However, finding the gap need not be restricted to assisting unstable or worrisome mind. Do it as much as you like at any time.

 

 

Other attunement practices.

We often use the expression attunement when it comes to meditation or other spiritual practices, including all forms of yoga. This is because we are trying to attune ourselves to the three quarters of our make up that’s not apparent using our (five) senses.

 

Attunement practices don't quite fall into the category of meditation. But they support the efficiency of meditation and they help us unfold ourselves, whether we meditate or not.

 

Many attunement practices also fall under the banner of unconditioning, which can be read about in Discover Your Subtle Self as well as other books.
I should mention here that unconditioning is an important key to bringing about an open-minded stance. You unlearn what you’ve previously learned and build actual knowledge instead of man-made rubbish. This enables you to access your higher, much more powerful, self.

 

Whatever your aim in practicing meditation, unconditioning should accompany the technique itself for full effectiveness. If you find a teacher who does not agree with this statement, my advice is to move on to somebody who does.

 

You can also practice unconditioning without meditation. Do read about it.

 

 

Affirmations
Affirmations can be very powerful indeed. They can be said out loud or silently. The style and content of your affirmations can be anything you like. With practice, you’ll find your favourite personal affirmations by a process of elimination and change – particularly the words you use.
Here are some examples.
I am strong.
I am positive.
I am all that is.
What is, is.
I appreciate the silence within.

 

The potential list is so vast it’s incalculable. There is no limitation whatsoever, and the amount of positivity you can generate within yourself is immeasurable.

 

Affirmations can include practical subject matter. For instance, 'I am repairing my marriage' or' I am finding the house I require'. In practical matters affirmations coincide with the practice of visualisation (see Guarantee to Make the Law of Attraction Work), which is invaluable for unfolding new strength and qualities within yourself, as well as for acquiring items you need.

 

I find affirmations valuable before and after meditation too, particularly when it comes to silencing oneself or attuning oneself or accepting the unreality of our little (solid) self.

 

I will remind you here, when using affirmations, always to be positive and always to be present. As an example, you will not benefit your mind by saying, “I will not worry”. The word worry is in there and the mind does not understand the word ‘not’, so this example should be changed into something like, “I have a clear calm mind” or “I am fearless”.

 

Being in the present is important for affirmations so do not say “I will be doing so and so” because that’s picturing the future. Therefore it’s not an affirmation. Affirmations should always be in the ‘I am’ structure. Even if you don't feel you are indulging in the content of a particular affirmation while you are voicing it, the potential is endless. Therefore, declaring you are something currently, even though it’s not apparent in you right now, is bringing that potential into reality. You are in fact instructing yourself. That's good too because, in the final analysis, you are the only one who can instruct yourself.

 

 

Now-ness practices.

All yogic practices are centred on being here and now. We are unfolding our inherent timeless nature so that it becomes more infused into our thinking process in daily life.

 

I recommend you read the book The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. You may find other material too, poignant in its ability to expound the tremendous advantages of becoming less future or past orientated. Once this conviction becomes ingrained in you, you will probably want to use tools to help you to live in the present moment. Fortuitously, at the time of writing, Eckhart Tolle and others have a growing stock of You Tube films that are very easy to access. Repeated reference is good, for instruction and reminders, to enable one to accomplish living in the present during daily life.

 

We are continuously fighting against the illusion that solid matter is reality. Three quarters of the battle is reminding ourselves of our true nature, especially as most of us have been swamped, since early childhood, with the idea that the illusion we relate to around us is reality.

 

Bringing one's self to ‘the moment of now’ is a practical process that we can employ most of the day. Living in this moment only is putting one’s consciousness in the 5th dimension (or thereabouts). It’s incomparable as a weapon used to transform ourselves from the idea that we are insignificant, small and of very limited power to the stance of both appreciating and experiencing that we have unlimited potential.

 

The affirmation ‘now, here', or even the single word ‘now', can be very effective at any time. Sometimes repeat, 'now, now, now, now, now', over and over again, like a parent berating a child. In my experience, you'll take notice of yourself – and bring yourself away from thoughts of the past or future and from anxieties – if you shout insistently, whether you're doing it out loud or silently to yourself.

 

One phrase I use every day is ‘this moment, this moment’ (as many times as required). I find it stops me going off into idle thought, reminding me that this moment is all there is. It can be said in meditation too, when the mind refuses to be quiet. It’s a proficient practice because you can feel what you are doing is practical and effective.

 

If you have difficulty with being in the present moment, you can train yourself to improve. Do this by imagining you will not allow anything into your thinking that happened more than, say, an hour ago – or what will happen more than an hour henceforth. Then improve on this timescale by imagining the time period to be shorter – say 15 minutes. Then progress to one minute. When you decrease the time down to one second you will feel the present moment practicality. Keep doing it.

 

Get in the driving seat and instruct yourself (not to be driven around in pointless circles all your life). The present moment is all there is!
Try getting into the present moment 20 times per day for a start. Increase this number until you are doing it so frequently you lose count.
Mindfulness is another way to be present as often as possible. Mindfulness extends the ‘present moment’ skill into all areas of stress, parenting, relationships and difficult encounters. I recommend publications by Thich Nhat Hanh, who is an expert on the subject. There are many other authors too.

 

 

Physical stretching

 

Physical stretching, or hatha yoga, is commonly known simply as yoga. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced practitioner, 10 minutes of stretching focuses the mind. If 10 minutes is all you can manage in one go, I recommend doing them twice per day. Most people can find yogic stretches they can do successfully. Focusing is reinforced because one is trying to achieve perfection or that little bit extra towards perfection.

 

Subtle energy is imbibed because of both focussing and keeping the body more in a natural state than it otherwise would be. There are amazing general health benefits to be had, which you can read about in countless books and articles on the subject.

 

Simple stretches are, typically, the upward stretch, forward bend, child’s pose, two-legged table and tree. Most people can progress to such stances as the cobra, warrior, squat and belly twist. There are at least 10 more complicated poses. Gradually go further with a few if you are able. The great advantage, physically, is, if you can only go half way towards a pose you can improve one millimetre per session and eventually reach a satisfactory compromise.

 

 

Chanting

Generally, chanting takes place in groups. However there’s no reason at all why it should not be done by very small groups or, if you prefer, alone.
During chanting you exhale copiously, from the deepest levels of the lungs. Accordingly you are getting rid of a lot of toxins. In throwing off toxins the body is becoming more and more refined. In effect the mind is becoming in tune with the vibrations of the universe.

 

I’ve heard of cases where asthma has receded considerably by throwing off toxins and opening up the lungs. Chanting is great for the circulation too.
When you chant, automation takes over where it seems, after a while, it happens on its own. You get taken up in the flow of the chant. In doing so, it’s feasible to observe the pulsation of the universe rather than feel the distinction of being a human being, in consciousness. Accordingly a separation is taking place between the small "i" and big "I" and, as you proceed regularly in this practice, you can ‘stand apart from the world’. This facilitates the stance of being in the world and yet not of the world.

 

Chanting is also a now-ness practice for the duration of the chant, and supports focussing and de-stressing.

 

Guided meditation

I am commenting on guided meditation merely because a lot of people do it and a lot of systems teach it. I don’t use it myself.

 

I don't look at guided meditation as a real meditation in itself, when it takes you on a tranquil journey. I look at it more as a relaxation technique than a specific meditation. But many folk like to be guided by their favourite teacher, through imagined peaceful scenes and the like. At least the mind is quelled somewhat because thoughts follow idyllic ideas and circumstances, rather than problematic threats.

 

Guided meditation can be very pleasant and can be focussing. But I’ve not come across a guided meditation teacher who teaches the mind how to deal with thought and how to dispense with unnecessary thought, which is the purpose of meditation in my view.

 

Personally, I would recommend chanting as a better form of relaxation because it also focuses the attention better has health benefits; whereas, guided meditation usually creates thoughts, however pleasant they may be.

 

 

Advanced practices

With a couple of years experience behind you, there are more advanced meditations and spiritual practices to do if you want to go deeper. Doing advanced practices is a personal choice and is by no means essential.

 

Extending the time period in meditation is one way of making your practices possibly more profound. For instance, a sitting meditation might be 15 to 20 minutes and you could extend this to 30 minutes.

 

Possibly, you’ll get to the stage where your mantra meditation (or breath awareness) changes to meditating on ‘no-thing’ i.e. without a mantra or an object for your attention, when you observe the space just above your level sight line (with eyes closed).

 

My wonderful wife, who’s devoted to me and to meditation, calls this melting into the void, which she has done, without reference to a mantra, since starting to meditate regularly when she was a teenager.

 

Holding the stance of melting into the void requires a lot of stillness and focus. If you cannot do this without constant thought interruption, go back to your original practice. I already referred to doing tratak on any object at all, when you feel competent and you want to. You can put your attention on any random half-inch diameter area on a blank wall if you care to give it a try. I would add that most meditators I have known, established. in their practices over many decades, continue to use a candle flame because it’s so pleasant.

As I mentioned earlier, extended deep breathing – longer counts – is an advanced practice but should only be done if you are aerobically fit. It is sometimes said that Pranayama is the most purifying practice of all and I wouldn’t challenge this statement.

 

Within unconditioning (see Discover Your Subtle Self), which is necessary for moving towards self realisation, there are two attunement practices I consider to be advances techniques and I recommend them to everyone. These are contemplation and waking awareness.

 

 

Contemplation

My mentor, Gururaj Ananda, stated, “Contemplation is the crowning glory in mysticism.” He explained that a focused mind, which one finds more and more developed when meditation is practised continually, leads to success in contemplation. Contemplation, correctly applied and practised, is one of the finest forms of meditation.

 

Some difficulty is experienced when commencing this form of introspection. For a start, it's very unusual. It goes against the grain of normal thinking. It involves observing thought without concentration or attachment, with nothing else to turn to (like in meditation). At first, as you can imagine, this can be quite difficult to do.

 

Whereas in meditation we dispense with thought by allowing its validity and gently persuading the thought to disappear, in contemplation we keep allowing the thought to flow.

 

The next step is to pick the beginning of each thought and the end of each thought and (eventually) dispose of everything in between. This might sound strange but, with a little practice, you'll get the idea. It may take some time and persistence. As you get better at observing each thought, rather than being intensely involved in them, you find that ignoring the analysis, or ‘jumble', in the thoughts causes the thoughts to flow easier. The objective is that thoughts should flow as smoothly as oil running from a container, rather than be a series of obstacles, which they normally are.

 

You can probably imagine the positive effect that achieving a free flow of thought can have on your daily life. Not only can you become more fully engrossed in what you're doing, with little or no distraction, you also relieve anxiety, worry and attachment to the end result of your activity. You become in effect, a 'smooth operator' in life. That's not to say you won't encounter problems like everybody else but you'll certainly be less affected by them.
Contemplation leads us to the centre of ourselves because thought is the reason we fail to find our real self. Thought is not real. It's like an alien invader, continually attacking us.

 

The three dimensional (solid) sphere is not a standalone reality. Therein lies the basis of all our problems. Contemplation is therefore an effective weapon for conquering the mind. With practice, all thought can become one singularity, which is not a thought but the experience of oneness.

 

 

Awareness.

We are mostly not aware of the majority of what surrounds us, whether it be objects, colours or activity, because we are usually taken up by thoughts; particularly thoughts of what is going to happen next or how we can resolve current problems.

 

The awareness practice involves both seeing ourselves in a truer perspective and being much more present in the moment; less attached or worrisome about the future or the past. Like contemplation, awareness enables us to start living a more real life, accepting what we are – with all the benefits this brings – and dispensing with the grip that the mind has over us. In other words, all these practices enable each of us to become the master of our mind instead of its servant, which leads to a much greater satisfaction of life.

 

Like contemplation, awareness involves observation. The practice itself is quite interesting. It’s a major player in mindfulness.
To be aware, first pay attention to your present situation, what you are in touch with, i.e. your clothing, your feet on the ground, your back on the bed or whatever, in any set of circumstances you care to pick on.

 

Then be aware of everything around you; for instance colours, objects, materials. This sounds simple, but take it a little further. How many light fittings are there on the ceiling? How many plug sockets on the wall? How many chairs at the table? What’s the colour of the material on the seats? What shape are the chair backs what shape is the skirting board? What is the design of the doors, the curtain rails, carpets etc., etc., etc. Go on and on and on with this exercise.

 

Try taking in everything that surrounds you. If you're walking down the road, practising awareness, do the same thing. There are so many things you would not normally notice. For instance, the colour of the road and how it is made up, the grain in the surface, the shades and colours of the leaves in each tree, brickwork formations, signs, vehicles, every car and pedestrian. I cannot possibly cover all the things that are there to observe. Try your very hardest to take in everything.

 

When you are doing this, it's a way of meditating because you come away from ordinary thought and go into thought-less observation.
Not least, awareness is a superb tool as a calming technique. It also acts a stepping stone towards self-realisation. It expands the consciousness in a natural way.

 

 

Acceptance of yourself

Accepting yourself is arguably a goal rather than a spiritual practice but certainly something you can do as a practicality, continually. It's a case of remembering to do it.

 

If you're interested in self realisation, there's nothing to stop you doing things that self-realised people do. Self-acceptance helps you move towards this goal. For those who are not sure if they are interested in realisation or not, I cover this subject in chapter 4.

 

Nothing in the world, nothing in the universe, happens by accident. What you are, and in what circumstances you find yourself in this physical world, is your own doing. We carry with us such things as evolutionary karma and impressions through many lifetimes. Everyone is experiencing this. You have got yourself here by means of the control you exert over yourself, the choiceless choices you take for yourself (like rebirth), using your inherent subtle energy. So, it's no good moaning about your circumstances. Whatever they are, you're testing yourself, giving yourself opportunities to grow; to progress with your evolution.

 

The situation you are in right now is perfect for you, whether you like it or not. The quicker you accept this fact, the quicker you will dispense with your problems, and move on to a more satisfying life.

 

Even more important than accepting your circumstances is accepting that you are much, much greater than the solid form of yourself you see in the mirror. I’ve already talked about the solid form of you being only 26% of what you are. The other 74% is also here and now, mostly within the shape you see and some of it 'glowing’ on the periphery of you, unfortunately out of sight.

 

What we all tend to do is resist becoming aware of our whole selves. By restricting ourselves to perception with the five senses we attempt to gain the impossible – perfect satisfaction. We choose to place our attention, our consciousness, in this sphere of imaginary solid matter. But everyone has the opportunity to accept that our real self is much more than our immediate perception. We can indisputably choose to become conscious of the greater form of ourselves.

 

To reiterate, we now have the benefit of scientific knowledge; that our solid form emanates from finer particles of us, i.e. we emanate from our more subtle self. It’s not difficult to imagine these particles. There are countless trillions of them and, if they showed up in light, we would see them like a mist. So, why not start placing the attention in the ‘mist’ form of yourself, using your imagination. I think this is a more real approach to life than ignoring the 74% of ourselves we can’t see. From there you could imagine solid forms as a kind of mirage, coming out of the mist. This perspective, although not perfect, places us in a better position to observe the goings on in your life that are solely due to unnecessary thought.

 

Self realised people look at our thought-life in a similar way, although they’ve unfolded their consciousness to knowing. Just because you haven't yet experienced a higher form of yourself, there’s no need to prevent yourself from trying to practice it. There are eleven dimensions to us, not three. In total silence and stillness this greater reality dawns on us. This may not be during meditation. But the more we still our minds the more likelihood there is that a dawning occurs.

 

To reiterate, I advise you to read Discover Your Subtle Self, Quantum Aspects of Self Realisation and 5 Sattvic Keys to Great Meditation in order to increase your appreciation of your realness – your whole self. In particular the subjects of self love, non-separation, fearlessness and accepting change are useful adjuncts.

 

3  TIPS (Melting)

 

 

My objective, in writing this book, is to enable readers to melt into their meditation. What I mean is to look forward to it very much, to be able to approach it without anxiety and, once started, to quickly be able to blend seamlessly into the meditation process and stay tranquil right through to the end.

 

First, whatever your circumstance might be, try to leave all your baggage outside the door of the room you meditate in. I am obviously talking here about your mind baggage. Just leave your problems on the threshold outside the door.

 

You can do this for 15 minutes or so can't you? If your mind reacts adversely to this suggestion simply tell it that you can go back to the baggage anytime you wish to. This is absolutely true; it won’t go away in 15 or 20 minutes! You’re not forced to do this meditation. It’s your desire. And, you can stop whenever you like if you so choose. There’s no threat here whatsoever. So, make up your mind that for 15 to 20 minutes you are going to take a rest from your ordinary thinking spirals.

 

If it helps, bring in the image of melting your baggage, as if it were so solid it’s like melting metal. When you are sitting comfortably and ready to meditate imagine all your thoughts and problems on the threshold of the door outside and melted into a little pile of jelly-like liquid. It's a visualisation that helps you acknowledge, “I cannot get to those individual problems or thoughts until I allow that melt to reconstruct itself into thoughts again.”

 

When you meditate you’re taking a rest – a little holiday. Never feel guilty about this. Tell yourself you deserve it. Everyone deserves to rest their mind once or twice per day, whatever their responsibilities. Meditation time is a little block of time reserved solely for you, taken completely aside from everyday life.
Why not also imagine leaving your little self out in the pile of melted thoughts. That’s the person you mistakenly think you are, the non-yogic personality. You’re going to spend time with the real you, the yogic ‘I’. ‘I’ represents your fourth to eleventh dimensional reality. It's the major part of you and it’s yours to explore and exploit.

 

What happens during meditation?

 

You have billions of snap shots in your memory bank are causing thoughts to happen continuously, without opening your eyes and ears to new ones. This process continues while you are asleep.

 

By continuously chasing thoughts we waste an enormous amount of energy and, thereby, fragmentation takes place. Consequently you often end up not finding a solution to your questions or difficulties. Correct meditation will help to solve this dilemma.

 

During meditation, you ‘go beyond the conscious mind’. All sorts of incorrect pictures are conjured up by people hearing this phrase for the first time. So, what does it really mean?

 

Going beyond the conscious mind does not mean flipping out on a journey involving astral travel or anything of the kind. It’s nothing strange at all. It simply means that the conscious mind is stilled. When you meditate, imagine the conscious mind is put in a place alongside you, where it can be observed rather than obeyed.

 

What you achieve, by meditating correctly, is you react to thought in a different way. Therefore look at thought as if the affect it has on you is going to be changed rather than considering thought to be a nuisance. You are going to refine your reaction to the thought mechanism

 

You will soon be able to put thought in the background, where you can observe it but not be affected by it. You can thereby become a master of thought rather than its slave. That’s what correct meditation holds in store for you.

 

 

The practice

Prepare yourself for the meditation, either with a relaxation technique or deep breathing.

 

Affirm that you are going to observe any thoughts you find yourself hanging on to, rather than try to obliterate them. You cannot alter the fact that your human mind is always with you – a continuous string of thoughts. So, it's best to approach meditation with the idea that thoughts are going to appear; meditation is respecting them as viable and dealing with them, not banishing them. They’ll go away on their own if you treat them respectfully and gently. Obviously, therefore, you should not try to break off thoughts suddenly. Don’t try to produce blankness suddenly either. Don’t do anything suddenly. Do everything slowly and with as little effort as possible.

 

You will need to sit comfortably to meditate, as upright as possible with your feet on the ground and your hands lightly clasped. Do not lean your head on anything. ‘Carry’ the weight of your head unless this is impossible to do because of physical impairment. You can sit in a yogic posture if you wish but this is not necessary.

 

If you are brand new to meditation, it is advisable to do the first few sessions lying on the floor with your arms positioned so that the hands are about a foot (30 cm) away from your sides with the palms facing upwards.

 

Your attitude is vitally important. Be open-minded and do not have any expectations. Don’t look for anything flashy. Don’t look for anything at all. Let silence happen. Silence is nothing. Be content with nothing – if you reach it. And, after meditating, never think the meditation didn’t work. Every attempt at meditation does something for you. Try not to analyse your mediation at all. All these criteria are vital. If you can’t agree to them, don’t get serious about meditation.

 

As referred to in Chapter 2, if you’re using the breath awareness technique, put your awareness on your slow, relaxed breathing. Focus on the inhalation and exhalation of air in your breathing mechanism. This does not mean deep breathing. It is your shallow, relaxed, natural breathing that you should become aware of. Do not concentrate. Just a vague awareness is what’s required. You might imagine the air going in and out of your lungs or your nostrils. Or, feel the rise and fall of your chest; whatever suits you.

 

If you find you are thinking a thought rather than having your attention on your breathing, deal with the thought as described in the next section but substitute mantra for breath awareness (mantra being a sound or a word in place of breath awareness).

 

Using the mantra

If you use a mantra, turn your attention towards the mantra without effort. Once your attention is in the right place, gradually allow the mantra to become very faint and as ‘distant' as possible.

 

If you analyse the phrase ‘without effort’, you’ll acknowledge that some little effort is required to carry out even the tiniest command you give yourself. But my meaning here is that you should use such little effort you hardly notice it. Everything should be done slowly and effortlessly. You’ll soon get used to the idea of achieving a meditative state without effort and without concentration.

 

Mantra is a silent sound. It can be verbalized once or twice, the first few times you use it. Thereafter, let it go fainter and fainter until you are only thinking it. You never need verbalise it again.

 

To reiterate, mantra repetitions should be exceedingly faint, done without effort. You should always use as little effort as possible. Keep telling yourself this important rule if you are new to meditation. Gradually it becomes automatic.

 

When you have been meditating for some months you may find that you don’t need to repeat the mantra very often – sometimes not at all – because you will be turning your attention to the 'area' of the mantra's subtle energy with ease. It’s the area of no thought.

 

Always use your mantra lightly, sombrely and with respect that it is in some way it is taking you on a pure, natural path. The same applies if you are using breath awareness rather than a specific mantra.

 

Don’t concentrate. Always be vague about what you are doing.

 

If your mantra has a 'm' sound at the end of it, hang on to the hummingness of the m. But, again, during meditation everything should be done SILENTLY, SLOWLY and VAGUELY.

 

At some point in the thoughts-observation-mantra process you will become aware that you are the thinking a thought again and not your mantra. But do not kick away the thought suddenly. Simply allow the thought to be there. Give it space. Validate it. And, observe it.

 

This is something we don't to in the normal waking state, when we rush from thought to thought. Consequently we get wound up, creating obstacles to inner balance, calmness and potential greatness. With practice you should become adept at observing thoughts during meditation. Not surprisingly, this has an advantageous functioning during the waking state too.

 

At first, you might get very tangled up in the thought you are observing. Don’t worry. You will naturally do what you’ve always done. By following these instructions, observing thought will become more of a fascination than a problem. You will definitely improve your ability to observe thought as the days and weeks go by. It’s not an instant change, like taking a pill, but you can see remarkable results in a few months.

 

If you can’t stop demanding instant results, you’d better resign yourself to the fallout of the ‘I want it now’ world. That’s going to leave you very dissatisfied in the long run but, of course, it’s up to you. Paradoxically, the serene person with a calmed mind can produce pretty well anything with focused visualisation, sometimes with a mere thought. I’ve never come across a demander of instant results who achieved very much at all.

 

Let’s come back to dealing with thought during meditation. The thought is there. If you try to kick it out, you’ll be using effort. The idea is to think, “O.K. you’re there; you’re going to go away on your own, not because of any effort from me.” This relaxed approach disempowers the energy in thought. That’s just what we want. The thought is no longer in control!

 

Now, we know that all thoughts eventually pass through. They usually do so because they’re replaced by another thought. But in the meditation process, we validate the thought so it doesn’t just shift our mind onto another thought. (Well it might do until we realise that’s what’s happening; then we come back to dealing with the last thought in a chain of thoughts).

 

By validating the though we get a chance to observe it. When we observe a thought we are not so caught up in it. Don’t hurry. They’ll actually go away quite quickly when you’ve been doing this for some time. Let the thought eventually evaporate. Possibly see it as a thick puff of smoke, at first. The smoke doesn’t stay put; it passes away in the air. Or, you could think of it as sort of balloon which goes off in the air current. Or, a cloud maybe. All similar images are appropriate. Just don’t force anything.

 

Because you’ve recognized you’re thinking a thought, you’ll have the background impression that the mantra is waiting there to be focused on. So, when you’re ready, you can come back to the mantra.

 

Because you gave the thought validation, when it goes away it won’t come back to annoy you. It may do later, especially if you’ve had something hassling your mind recently. But we’re talking here of how to get attention returned to the area of the mantra while your mind is on a thought – regardless of whether a particular thought returns again at another time.

 

With practice you will have longer periods of time, during meditation, when you don’t think any thought other than your mantra. Don’t expect to achieve this in a week or two. Occasionally that happens but it’s more likely to be a few months after meditating at least once per day – twice if you can.
There will be split second moments when you reach the state of no thought at all. In the beginning, just persevere with the (possibly) massive thought chain by observation and dissipation. You’ll improve as you go along. Your periods spent validating each thought will get less and less until each thought will be observed, without annoyance, and quickly allowed to evaporate.

 

It won’t be long before you are feeling ‘patches’ of total peace. Sometimes this happens during the first few meditations. Or, it could be, say, a dozen or two sessions before a tiny jot of total peace or blankness is experienced. Just commit yourself to meditation and keep going.

 

Let go of any expectation about when you are going to be meditating perfectly. There’s no such thing. Everyone’s experience is individual and no two meditations are precisely the same. Every meditation is successful; even the ones where you still feel frustrated at the end of the session. You won’t so much see a difference in yourself on a day to day basis. But look at yourself every few months and see the change. It may not be dramatic change every few months either, but probably some change will occur if you stick to the regime. Sometimes you’ll seem to leap forward in a few weeks, other times not. But look again after a year or two, or more. You’ll know the results. Most probably, others will have commented on the change in you long before that.

 

 

Reminders

At the risk of becoming too repetitive, I’ll reassert a couple of points. I always do this when teaching, at least ten times! It’s because I’ve found it absolutely necessary to ensure success.

 

At some point, when meditating, check your forehead to make sure you're not frowning. Your whole body should be relaxed. Check that your hands are not tense and then check that your face muscles, particularly your jaw, are relaxed. Let them droop.

 

 

When turning, or returning, your attention to your mantra, do it slowly and vaguely, not quickly.

 

With practice, you will spend less and less time observing each thought. You can turn your attention to the mantra as soon as you want, provided that thought has been dissipated; lost its hold over you.

 

Do not use huge or concentrated effort. Everything should be done slowly and effortlessly. In this way the thought will not be struggling to return to you so much, to annoy or confuse you.

 

You should never concentrate. You should not breathe deeply, Breathe as shallowly and as calmly as possible. You want to induce stillness.
If you hang on to your mantra with too much effort, your stillness is disturbed. Always let the mantra go and observe what it does, flow effortlessly with it.
Just stay in the area of the mantra, or whatever it has changed into, until you become aware that you are thinking an 'ordinary' thought. Your mantra could disappear altogether but if you're still in that area, and not thinking an ordinary thought, then stay with the blankness or nothingness.

4  Intention

 

I started this book implying successful meditation depends on the way you approach meditation. In the third chapter we've looked at the practicalities that ensure meditation sessions are successful.

 

I must now bring in a question I believe you should ask yourself: What is your intention? This might appear simplistic. It’s not; it’s vitally important. The whole content of this chapter should be reviewed to bring yourself to ask if your intention is ideal for meditation.

 

In my estimation, if you identify your intention for meditating – and maybe adjust it a little when you uncover hidden truths about yourself – you will apply a yogic lubricant that can help meditation change your life for the better. Without addressing your intention you could even be in the wrong department altogether.

 

We’ll look at ways of recognising and defining intention, before the end of the chapter. Before doing so, I would like to achieve making the option of coming to know your Real Self an offer you can’t refuse. I can’t do that precisely because there are so many variables in peoples’ minds. But I can put before you a few points you may not have thought of as being relevant to your life. I’ve discovered for myself, these points can solve the seemingly unsolvable.
I noticed a commonality in (literally) 99% of my students of meditation. This led me to appeal to both newcomers and established meditators to expose a few subconscious thoughts about their lives that were hitherto unaddressed. Accordingly, once they got their intention into perspective they became ‘unstuck’ and the rewards from meditation multiplied faster.

 

There are no priests in yoga, no-one to say “Do this or you will suffer”. No. Yoga points out that you are suffering already because of overlooking your evolutionary responsibility, the upshot of which is attempting to gain a lasting permanence in life via material closeness, including your loved ones. But all things material are only a fragment of reality; not much more than a mirage. Yoga quietly shows you have the choice of continuing to suffer or of walking away from suffering whenever you wish.

 

In this regard, I think what I have to say next should be given generous thought. I don’t want you to miss an opportunity staring you in the face.
The truth is, the whole self is there and you can't throw it away. You can get to know it or try to reject it but you’ll never succeed in rejecting it forever however much you try. You are eleven dimensions of consciousness and not three. You can’t argue with this fact – not sensibly anyway.

 

What yoga demonstrates is that you can't stop propelling yourself towards your true (11 dimensional) consciousness, because nature draws you to it. You are always drawing yourself to it, beneath the froth kicked up by the mind. This explains why we seek permanent love. Love is the 11 dimensional consciousness – the boundary-less infinity.

 

We try to resist this natural flow by picking away at the continuous string of mind stuff as if it holds the nexus of contentment. But it won't work. It never works for more than a few minutes or a few days. You can’t get ultimate fulfilment from the mind. The mind isn’t actually existent; it’s just a name for electrical impulses you invent yourself.

 

In many instances, with my students, the prime resistance showed up on the surface by deciding, “I will just continue being the three-dimensional me, thank you very much.” Or it was the stance of, “I acknowledge all this greater self stuff but I’m still not bothering to do anything about it.” I was so sorry they missed the opportunity of many lifetimes. As I said, some will decide they’re ready to unfold; others want to extend the boxed-in mind experience.

 

I can promise you, if it were possible to grasp one’s whole consciousness in two minutes, everybody would be doing stillness techniques every day to help them let go of this (comparative) rotten prison. Prison is what our life looks like, seeing it from a higher truth. To acknowledge this palpability, imagine what it would be like restricting yourself to two dimensions of consciousness. With, for us, eight dimensions of almost untapped potential, the analogy here is quite realistic

 

I’m not asking you to go along with what I’ve said in the previous paragraph. I am appealing to you accept the truth we know about our individual existence. Why? Because I know for sure this acceptance will unravel almost every problem and unanswered mystery encountered in Earth life.

 

 

Acceptance

Is there a practical switch for you to turn on to get the experience I think you need? Yes, there is; acceptance – not blind acceptance but the acceptance of absolute truth I mentioned in the previous paragraph. This is not something you need to believe in. It’s something you can experience yourself.

 

Without acceptance, I’ve witnessed depressives (for instance) continuing with depression for decades even though they were ‘using’ meditation as a cure, a relaxant. I know for myself that depression can be cured by using the gap technique, tratak, and acceptance.

 

When you calm the mind sufficiently you’ll get patches of knowingness. That’s the only way I’ve found to describe it. And when it appears you can confirm with absolute assurance, “Yes, I do know something.” Almost everybody gets these experiences after they’ve been meditating a little while. Those tiny patches of nothing-ness are your more refined consciousness. As they repeat, meditations will go deeper and acceptance will go deeper too – and so on. You’ll be using previously dormant brain cells to interpret your ‘new world’ (see consciousness below).

 

There’s no trick involved. Everyone has the inherent subtle (incomparably powerful) energy and everyone has the ability to interpret it and use it. Whether you use it or not depends on your intention.

 

With more experience, those split second silent occurrences will most likely become, “I am what is.” It might happen in daily life unexpectedly rather than during meditation. This is knowingness. It’s nothing to do with anything you learn from books or teachers. But you’ll know it’s true.

 

 

Letting go

I want to emphasise once more: I’m not suggesting you accept anything at all, regardless of who presents it to you. I have a saying, supposedly from the Buddha, on my wall at home and I stick to it rigidly. I’ve quoted it before in other books:

 

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

 

You’ll probably agree with me that you need actual experience to know something is true.

 

To experience your greater self you need to expand your consciousness. That may sound uninviting but it’s fascinating, not scary. I’ll explain why a few pages along. Please do read below about the simplicity and naturalness of expanded consciousness. Appreciating the meaning of consciousness is another ingredient (solution) that will help you drop resistance to knowing your Self, thereby stopping resistance to growing yourself.

 

To expand our consciousness is merely to acknowledge what we know as true today and to let go of quasi knowledge (myths) of the past, as I examine below. Letting go can get a little uncomfortable of course. It’s like you were clinging to the river bank and thinking, “I don’t know what it’s like to flow with the current in the middle of the river so I’ll keep clinging on.”

 

The commonality in most of my students was their tendency to have attachment to their childhood. This was generally more distinct in those who’d had a difficult childhood. Attachment to these things is quite understandable. But non-attachment – letting go of the past and the future – is an indescribably freeing experience. It’s not frightening at all. And it shifts a massive block of resistance, which is what acts as an obstacle to accepting truth. More of this, and a solution to the problem, after the précis of life, which follows now.

 

The next ten paragraphs are for deliberation, for those who’ve not hitherto confronted the cycle of human life. You don’t have to believe anything but it would be helpful to open your mind to possibilities. Enlightened beings acknowledge the authenticity of the following synopsis. I’ve therefore included it in two previous books. It definitely fits in with the scientific proof (so far) of the 4th dimensional existence and with the agreement of world renowned physicists that we are 11 dimensional and not 3 dimensional. All yogic teachings (I’ve come across) support this general view. We touched upon it at the end of chapter 2.

 

All matter exists in a multi dimensional condition, here and now. No state other than the all-dimensional state is actuality. The human condition is a critical stage in a consciousness journey, where you are beginning to realise that you are on the path back to full consciousness. You are evolving yourself by your own will. You have lived in mineral form, vegetable form, animal form and now human. Your individual (restricted) consciousness is reborn many, many times over and it picks up impressions by experience, referred to as your bundle of ‘samskaras’.

 

When I say you have lived these experiences it’s not the person that is, say, John or Joan, or whatever label is ascribed to you this lifetime. What is reborn is an individual limited consciousness.

 

Individuality makes you think that everything exists in separate-ness. Whenever manifestation occurs, there are separate pieces of some sort. In your experiences of many different lifetimes you have gained impressions as a separate entity and these impressions stick to you because they are yours. You don’t shed these impressions every time your ‘carrier’ body ceases life. It’s the bundle of impressions that’s the individual you, and you keep rebirthing the bundle, over and over again, to encounter the experiences you need in order to get back to pure consciousness, which is your real home; your united one, real self.

 

After *death your subtle (mental) body rests, not attached to the three-dimensional sphere at all, as a form of consciousness, and you automatically choose your next birth in the circumstances that are ideal for you. Your soul searches incessantly for suitable conditions.

 

Your samskaras influence everything you do, but they are not set in stone. They are changeable. And your duty to yourself (called your ‘dharma’) is to change your samskaras, so that you find your way back to pure, absolute consciousness, which is the boundary-less infinite state scientists now allude to.
The nature in you, which is the higher, finer dimensions in you, makes sure you head back home. Nature is nature and you are not going to get away from it or successfully oppose it. But your individuality can choose at what speed to go. This depends on how much you, mostly subconsciously, want to suffer by being attached to the lower dimensions instead of moving on to a less dense type of existence.

 

The last piece of the evolution jigsaw is your ‘karma’. Karma is the feelings you have at a very, very, deep level, due to balance that must occur in your individuality, to straighten out circumstances from the past.

 

Almost all of us spend many lives going around in circles, in the three-dimensional sphere, because samskaras and karma cause darkness of thought (negativity), causing us plenty of suffering, and, because of attachment to the darkness, we fail to break through into higher consciousness. Thus, we often don’t often make very much evolutionary progress in one lifetime.

 

We need a way to get off the samskaric merry-go-round so that we can create newness. Samskaras give us our tendencies and our traits. Karma gives us our balancing experiences during this lifetime.

 

The (very) good news is that you are encountering the solution to this problem right now. If you are reading this material you’re not only searching for the solution, you’re guiding yourself onto ‘the path of unfoldment’ to new and very much better life because the time is right for you. Remember, there are no accidents.

 

*Details of the life / afterlife cycle are explored in Discover Your Subtle Self

 

 

I’ve provided the synopsis above because it ascribes a logic to our bad childhood experiences. Hurtful experiences in early life are what affect us most. We need a way forward, a way of ridding us of their influence.

 

 

Drop the ‘poor me’ attitude

 

We tend to think a lot about ‘poor me’. Most of us carry resentment related to the infliction of pain and hurt, seeing those experiences as unfair. We blame others. We form traits to hide the pain and often continue likewise to the grave. We thus waste the opportunity of real freedom from the thoughts that enslave us.

 

I’ve seen quite a few folk free themselves from such shadows. It’s wonderful to witness. Those guys accepted their evolutionary responsibility like, “now I get it.” They could see the logic to having attracted the circumstances they needed, including parents and childhood experiences.

 

We are all evolving ourselves. Science has proven we don’t come from a creator so, even without experience of the whole self, there is convincing logic in the proposition that we evolve ourselves. In doing so we choose our circumstances and the major turning points, including distresses.

 

Correspondingly, it’s incorrect to apportion blame on others. What happened to produce any untoward suffering for one soul is that souls had to co-operate with each other just as they do to give birth, to be born and to encounter all kinds of happenings. We can’t see the invisible 74% of us that’s doing this but, if we could, we’d accept it as a natural purifying process. Thus the dispensers of hurt can be seen as co-operators, in some cases benefactors, in furnishing what was necessary. They can be forgiven.

 

I’m not saying all this as an easy way out or to put up a smokescreen behind which you can hide. The truth of our evolution is not another religious belief system. Multi dimensions are actual. They are a scientific attestation, whereas belief is a substitute for non-proof. What I am saying is when we cease to blame others by saying, “I am responsible” we take a giant stride into better life, meaning rhythmic and effortless evolution without further suffering.

 

Life is such a precious opportunity, often not appreciated. Life is a school and the main lesson to learn is to accept what we have experienced over lifetimes needs balancing – and in that very acceptance we can move on to a more sublime state. If we try to blame others we prevent ourselves from finding our true and lasting freedom.

 

Try to put love where there is hate or fear. Love is pure energy – the essence from which everything stems. At the pinnacle of consciousness we are all one; we are all one love. The miniscule existence we see around us is no existence at all, compared to the whole self.

 

So, let go and move on to the greater reality. You won’t lose anything by letting go of resentments and accepting what your life really is and is not. It’s obvious that you will gain, tremendously, if you let go of anything that’s holding you back. Greater consciousness is a gift far greater than any other gift on Earth. A billion dollars is a murky piece of muck in comparison. And the great gift is right with you, closer than your eyelids are to your eyes, waiting to be unwrapped this very moment.

 

The energy we are tapping into by means of yoga is much more powerful than any earthly energy and it lasts forever but it takes time to get it flowing fully because we’re stuck in the three dimensional mind-trap. So we need to summon up self commitment. Make the affirmation, “I know my Real Self more and more each day” and remind yourself of it regularly. The results will surely come.

 

Another one of the gems I came across, which surfaced during my quest for understanding, relates to our resistance to self responsibility.
Referring to the previous few paragraphs, it’s OK becoming convinced that you are responsible for your evolution but the cunning ego feels threatened by your determination to surmount it. So the ego, underlyingly, keeps on saying, “I suffered at the hands of someone else; that’s not fair.” As you probably know this is what’s referred to as (acting as if you are) being a victim. I’ve been there.

 

Feeling you are a victim takes up your mind, consciously and subconsciously, until you’re stuck with the attitude that life was somehow unfair with you. This prevents you progressing with inner exploration.

 

I found that what seems unfair, about distress caused in the past, is all related to what you think others are suffering or not suffering. In other words, if we all had to go through exactly the same bad experience everyone would accept it as part of life, like having an injection or having a painful tooth extraction or, for women, giving birth. We don’t look back on these bad experiences as if it wrecked a life because of unfairness. But we do suffer from hanging on to those experiences we felt were unfairly dealt out – because we think others got a better deal.

 

To overcome this, consider a striking truth. We all have karma to deal with. This life on Earth is more to do with being a karmic filtration unit than acquiring personal comforts – although, looking around, you wouldn’t think so. In fact it’s almost entirely to do with filtering karma but, because of the stretched out (imagined) time perception, we pad ourselves out with mortal ideas, material acquisition, relationships etc.

 

Everyone has karma. If you think your friend hasn’t had things as bad as you have, think again. Karma isn’t paid off in one lifetime. Your friend might have had worse experiences than you. Certainly it has been just as bad, or will be, in another lifetime. Or, if your friend is having it good in this lifetime, he or she may have paid back already. No one gets off ‘scot free’.

 

So, assure yourself, we all definitely do suffer much the same in terms of any distress, which can often seem to be unfair but actually isn’t. The only difference is the exact circumstances that fits one person’s past, in comparison to another’s. Life goes on through many cycles of birth and rebirth. Nobody has it more fair than you. Getting this knowledge firmly in your outlook will help you to expel the ‘poor me’ attitude; opening the door to freedom.

 

Once you commit yourself to acceptance of being wholly responsible, accepting your past as necessary experiences, you can get your meditation going regularly and you’ll lead yourself to experiencing moments of greater and greater tranquillity. This could take months, even years. Keep going and keep committed. What you gain, with each experience of perfect peace, is a knowingness that peace is a more real state of consciousness than noisiness, whether the noisiness be the whirlwind of the mind or the spoken rubbish we encounter all day long..

 

In sync with your peace finding exercises, reading the words of enlightened beings will get help you unfold. The input you thus receive contains subtle energy from the Real Self. If you want to speed things up a bit, you can also take up unconditioning (see Discover Your Subtle Self) and higher dimensional alignment (see Quantum Aspects of Self Realisation).

 

Be thankful for this precious lifetime, selected by you for the opportunity of balancing your karma. Everyone you’ve close encountered with has been party to what you drew to yourself.

 

 

Expanded Consciousness (is not spooky)

Many folk find the mention of expanded consciousness ominous. Again, it’s because the mind formulates ideas based on solid matter being reality; thus everything other than 3 dimensional matter would be in some other sphere. But it’s not so. All dimensions of existence - of consciousness - are here and now in one whole self.

 

The mind blocks whole consciousness with its whirligig of stupidity. When we put the mind aside, we re-cognise our whole reality. There’s no whiz-bang euphoric firework display. It’s not a drug induced trip we’re talking about. We are talking reality. This means what’s real, not what our mind dreams up. You can’t distort reality. The whirling mind forms a barrier to reality by trying to justify itself.

 

When reality dawns on you, it’s very ordinary. It’s something like, “Ah, there it is, that which I’ve been, all along. I have always been living this real consciousness but I’ve superimposed a fragmented consciousness on it.” And everything is solved. At last, nothing can hurt you and nothing more will ever be required. Why do you think the Buddha is depicted with that fantastic smile on his face? It’s so beautiful to come home, not scary in any way at all.
How can you get beyond the thought that your whole consciousness can’t be experienced or, if it can be, it might be frightening?

 

Let’s look at what consciousness really is. Then we’ll see how wrong it is to imagine expanded consciousness as something weird or something inaccessible in some unreachable land we shouldn’t dabble in.

 

Go back a few thousand years. To shift a massive rock, men had to pull ropes attached to the rock and drag it over poles on the ground. At the time, consciousness of power (needed to move something) was in muscle power. Communication was done by messenger and consciousness of messaging was centred on how fast and for how long a man could run.

 

Fast forward to today. Our consciousness of moving things is in the motor power of massive tractors and cranes. Our consciousness of messaging is in digital devices and satellites. If you’d talked of today’s way of doing things to the folk of 1000 BC you’d have been considered loopy! Over a few thousand years we’ve expanded our consciousness. Human brains are more or less the same but we’ve taken away some of the limitation we put on them long ago because of limited knowledge.

 

That’s all expanded consciousness is. There’s nothing strange going on. Today we’ve allowed ourselves to encompass a greater reality. The minds of humans in the past couldn’t encompass the reality of air travel or rockets. They limited their consciousness to what they’d already experienced. Greater consciousness is greater reality.

 

Consciousness is directly connected to imagination. If you could have imagined air travel, two thousand years back, you’d have had an expanded consciousness compared to the average fellow human being at the time.

 

Now that the Higgs boson particle has been authenticated we can start to imagine there are invisible particles everywhere out of which matter emanates. We couldn’t have imagined this previously, without proof, so we had to stick to the idea that a mighty being probably created things such as the universe. We restricted our consciousness. We restricted ourselves because of limited knowledge, limited technology. We’ve now expanded our consciousness again by accepting a greater reality.

 

Higgs boson particles, as they are currently called, are so numerous as to be uncountable. (See ‘Fourray’; in Discover Your Subtle Self). If we could see them they’d be like a thick mist, nowhere near as dense as solid matter, but thicker in and around stone than in and around water and very fine indeed in air. I love thinking of the bosons as a thick mist. I have recently started referring to them as the mist and I’ll take the liberty of referring to it as the mist from here on. It helps the imagination, causing an expansion of consciousness. This is a reasonably accurate description too. I know this as truth, not conjecture or a hypothesis. I must admit, I’m trying to encourage you to know it too

 

I now think of all solid matter as a sort of representation of the mist and an identifier of the next higher reality further up the scale of wholeness. I’m not restricting my consciousness to thinking the (invisible) mist is not possible. (Nor should anyone nowadays.) Do catch up quickly if you’ve missed these recent findings.

 

Can you see it’s a personal choice where you put your consciousness? If you meditate on the mist and contemplate it regularly you’ll find that the mist becomes part of your thinking. An expansion of consciousness takes place. It’s nothing spectacular. No whiz-bangs to report. There’s just a greater reality in you because of allowing this greater truth to be in your mental architecture.

 

The mist is the fourth dimension. Four dimensional consciousness has come into our lives because brainpower and technology has allowed it. All human beings can now acknowledge this proven truth. But nothing has changed except a very slight shift in our perception.

 

Where humans have deluded themselves previously is, through lack of knowledge, by imagining the fourth dimension, fifth dimension, and so on, to be steps into other (possibly peculiar) spheres. But, as exampled above, other dimensions are here and now and they are not steps but discoveries of greater truth.

 

There are in fact no numbers to label the higher dimensions; there are just greater degrees of truth. There are no boundaries to dimensions but humans think there are because they use solid-matter thinking – numbers – as a basis. Everything is here and now. Higher consciousness is appreciation of higher truth – call it higher dimensions if you will. The one and only ultimate truth is the boundary-less infinity physicists now postulate.

 

We are the boundary-less infinity within our consciousness. I have witnessed this. Thousands of humans alive today have witnessed it. The enlightened Masters are experiencing it continuously. Solid matter is virtually an illusion. Quantum mechanics unequivocally verifies this. Bliss awaits you in its fullness. You need no longer be a chained-up slave of the mind.

 

 

A mechanical note:
We actually use more brain cells to interpret greater (more subtle) reality. We don’t need many brain cells to interpret (what seems like) solid matter. Most of us are using around 12 million cells out of billions available in every brain.

 

As you’ll see graphically in appendix 1, the intellect puts up a barrier causing the consciousness to remain focussed within the spiral of energy feeding on itself, as shown by the arrows. As the box shrinks (left to right comes in – see Guarantee to Make The Law of Attraction Work) the intellectual barrier weakens and subtle energy is allowed to infiltrate. Subtle energy interprets subtle states. Sense based thoughts are not required at all.

 

 

Decision time

Obviously this final chapter is my appeal to meditators to drop their resistance to personal unfoldment in order to get the maximum benefit from meditation. Have I wet your appetite? If so, I’ve succeeded in what I set out to do – if even merely the faintest spark of interest has ignited somewhere. All the more, if your meditations improve something has been achieved.

 

Just a small shift of consciousness towards your inner dimensions will put you in a position of, metaphorically speaking, taking up the good bits in life and being unaffected by the turmoil.

 

The transition from thinking everything other than your body is ‘out there’, to discovering everything is within, is necessarily a gradual one. But I appeal to you not to put off inviting in a bit more of the missing 74% of yourself just because of the time factor involved. You can start at 1% more and progress from there, if you want to, at any speed you choose. There are lots of benefits along the way including the elimination of loneliness and overcoming relationship problems and practically everything else that gets you down.

 

Please consider your intention again, now. Is it to let go of your problematical mind stuff and let in some of your whole self? If it is, meditation is the most useful gift you could ever be blessed with. If it isn’t, you may gain relaxation and a few health benefits but not much more. Or is your intention to keep up your resistance to letting go of your past?

 

If you need to hang on to old ways, old hurts, old thinking, it’s like putting your car in gear trying to go forward with the brakes on. The upshot is a stultified progression which could cause unnecessary personal growth i.e. discomfort. Yoga is about revealing yourself, taking on truth and self responsibility. It doesn’t succeed so well when the exact opposite course is being steered by the participant. Doing yoga while trying to stay closed is attempting escapism. But escapism never works out in the long run.

 

Escapism comes about, understandably, because we want to get away from a daily life containing all those egos challenging each other; lots of noise and people trying to justify themselves by trying to control others or appearing superior.

 

If you use meditation correctly you can quickly become familiar with observing the general prattle rather than being affected by it. It’s a fascinating exercise, albeit a little tricky at first. I address ways to observe it all, and practices we can use all day for ‘being in the world but not of the world’, in Quantum Aspects of Self Realisation and in 5 Sattvic Keys to Great Meditation. All the Mind Bathing series of books link up with each other in respect of smoothing out the rough bits generated by our samskaric bundle of impressions, which cause all our pain and problems.

 

In summary, let go of everything before you meditate. Let go of your past and future during daily life. This is an unquestionable formula for success.

END

 

Appendix