dave_a_mbs
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Afterlife Knowledge Member
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central california
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Hi Joe-
Blink is right on target! This may seem to be a stretch if you haven't any experience at all, so I suggested a few classics that have been around for hundreds (or thousands) of years, that an give you insights from a thinking level. However, in meditation, the rational thinking activity shuts down and the residual thoughts processes are all affective - emotionl. These thoughts are more or less on the basis of identification of concepts by looking at (or feeling) their properties.
To get the basic idea of how this works, without going through years of experimentation, you might try this simple hatha yoga (physical culture) technique. I discovered this when I noticed that while lifting a heavy weight, I was so focussed on the effort (Uuuggghhh!) that my mind had fallen silent. This is a more traditional way to get there.
Sit on the floor with your legs outstretched straight in front. Bend gently forward, reaching as if to grasp your toes with your hands. Let gravity do all the work, don't force anything (or you'll feel it later! like any exercize). Now inhale as deeply as feels comfortable, hold the breath a moment, and then let it all out. (I usually breathe in a rythmic pattern, but we'll get to that in a few minutes.)
OK - now you are sitting, leaning and breathing. Focus on the muscles that seem to be the most tense. If you're like me, that's going to be both in your back and in your legs. Continue to breathe - breathing is generally good policy, I'm told - but as you inhale, pull the breath "through" the tight muscles. As you exhale, allow the tension of the musles to evaporate and relax away. The result is that your head and shoulders are now an inch or two closer to your toes.
Practice this for a few breaths and notice that each breah allows you to relax away tension, and to replace it with relaxation. That's actually pretty easy. So now, focus your entire attention on the muscles that are being relaxed, so that your mind begins to fill with the sensation of the in-breath, moving it through the muscles, continue your focus on the sensation of relaxation as you focus on the out-breath. The inner sensation is very much like doing any task that requires total concentration, so allow the mind to concentrate.
However - don't confuse focus of the mind with any kind of tension. If you wanted to recite the alphabet it would require mental focus, but no kind of physical tension.
Continue with the breathing and relaxation, bringing your mind to bear on the process, but allowing everything else to relax. As you continue to bend and relax lower and lower you'll notice that your mind is far too busy keeping track of pulling the breath through the muscles to entertain any thoughts. Instead, you'll sense that the in-breath feels as if you are composing a statement, and the out-breath feels as if this is the statement you composed. Breathing takes over the functions of the mind, and you have a few moments silence as you focus on the muscles and breath. Those moments of silence are the "sound of silence" meditators talk about.
Next, use a simple counting method as you breathe. Either listen to the sound of your pulse in your ears, or feel the beating of your heart, or if necessary, use one hand to take the pulse of the other wrist. Breathe in the same manner, relaxing away tension. However, breathe in for 4 counts (4 pulse beats), hold for 16 beats, exhale for 8 beats, and then repeat. This gives the mnd something extra to focus on. Allow yourself to become totally absorbed in this process. As you do, you'll notice that your mind is doing nothing but counting, and then even that stops as you shift into a deeper level and sort of "sense" the number of pulse beats. Otherwise, you'll find that inside your mind it is silent.
Once you get the idea, notice that all you need is focus and the mind will shut up. (This is easier said than done, but it is definitely possble with only an hour's effort.) The key is focus of the mind so that instead of munching inner thoughts, the mind focusses on what you're doing and shuts up. It is almost as if the breathing technique is a lecture with the breathing replacing words.
Now try Blinks candle (this technique is called "trataka" accent on second syllable). If the mind is acting up, use the counting method to occupy it, and let everything else fade away. With two or three days practice you'll be able to focus and create long periods of inner silence. That's the essence of meditation
Anther useful practce is to take any common object, such as a pencl and as you look at it, trace each part back to its origins. Do this by "seeing how it came to be" in your inner insight, not be "thinking about it". The wood is obviously a natural product that once was a tree. You can even trace the graphite back to the core of a star that went supernova, generating lots of carbon. This type of non-verbal mental activity uses the lower levels of the mental faculty.
When you are able to keep focussed on task, then once in a while (I do this often at night), just close your eyes and look into your inner spaces. Wave a hand back and forth and notice that you can see it moving, even though your eyes are closed. Look at the space in which the image of the hand is moving. If you move your head, that space also moves. Get a sheet of paper and descfrbe what you see. Check to see if that is correct, or if there is more. Notice that there is a difference if you rotate your head, whether nodding up and down, or turing right and left. That is different from what you experience when you displace your head sideways, but keping the same direction of focus n your inner space.
Now you're ready to do soul retrievals if you want. Read some of Bruce' s books to get the idea, and then go inside, find someone needing help, and lend a psychic hand. If you want more similar stuff, I have a little more at my web site.
One thought to keep in mind is that the path to enlightenment is different for each of us. Therefor, it doesn't help to try to talk about it or "explain" your experiences. Just do it, and keep doing it. There is no real goal. Enlightenment is a process, not a result. So just enjoy!
dave
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