Meditation

The controlling of the mind and cessation of its meandering is the activity and purpose of meditation. This silencing of ones thoughts and mental dialogue is in essence self-forgiveness. It lets us be the One Story instead of just our story,

The mind is always operating at 100% — you cannot stop it — only direct it to a quiet place, a place where it does not receive any cues to scatter it and make it detour from the fixed attention which we have chosen to make it still. In this place the mind becomes the base consciousness. Consciousness and mind are not separate. The mind is an activity of awareness within consciousness. Without mind there is no awareness. All is consciousness — from the viewpoint of experience — and all awareness is experience. Experience has the passing of time, and the mind is that sensor of time.

To just sit in this state of awareness, is possible, but also quite likely that you will just drift off into the  reverie which is the neural repeating activity which we call thoughts — an action of the mind. To maintain this empty state of awareness without thoughts, there needs to be some focus point upon which we can anchor our attention. Our breathing and heartbeat are the two things that are always happening and which we do not want to stop, and so to keep our attention on their continuation is a sensible meditation to occupy the endless quest of activity the mind prefers. This monitoring of the heartbeat and breathing awareness leads to the enteroception of relaxation within the body and the release from the past and the tensions that have derived from it.

The rocking motion that can occur during seated meditation which is caused by the heartbeat in conjunction with the breathing, can be harnessed and ridden with the accompaniment of the Aster, synchronising the circling's with breath and heartbeat. This produces a cradle like rocking which is soothing  and comforting and turns what can otherwise be a distracting motion into one that is fortifying of the meditation.

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The quest is to conquer the ego — to look at ourself until we are not there. Catch our thoughts and direct our attention to some inner sensation to the point of losing awareness of our self doing it. If enough attention is produced there will not be enough left for any ego manifestation.  This is what is meant by looking into the mirror and not seeing our self there.

There are any number of methods of meditation. They all involve concentration, which in itself is a focusing of awareness upon a chosen field of consciousness. All forms of meditation should have a silent mind, devoid of thoughts and mental dialogue. Meditation aims for the consciousness of core existence and consequently all meditation is within the divine and is an escape from society and the ego that accompanies it.

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Observing

The following meditations are observings; here are some of the more interesting ones that I do:

• Staring at an object then close eyes and see the imprint. The pattern of the carpet and the furniture in the room can be seen and examined in the after image quite clearly. Out of body experiences usually start from the last visually processed information, which distinguishes them from lucid dreams.
• Staring at an object and unfocussing the eyes so that two objects are seen, one from each eye. Watch as one fades from view due to the Ganzfeld effect, and play with them alternating in and out of vision until it is possible to make them both disappear simultaneously! You are then staring at the object but cannot see it! It is interesting to note the sensation of the eyes moving laterally when focus is transferred from one to the other, and yet no eye movement can be taking place as there is only one object, and it is centred in each eye.
• Toning in and out, focusing on vibrations caused throughout body; smoothly and continuously. The sound that is produced is useful to cessate any mental dialogue or other mental noise and I tried to introduce it to the dinner table when I was young as the sound of chewing is such a mental trip out, but I was not allowed. Producing the sound from the Glossaster by moving the tongue around the mouth adds another dimension to it and interesting melody.
• Heartbeat proprioception. I used to do this when a young child, lying awake in bed before sleep, and focussing to the point of 'hearing' the clicking of the valves and knowing that I was capable of stopping the heart. (I wonder if this is the cause of a lot of the mysterious cot deaths of babies.) You can synchronise the number of heartbeats equally with the in and out breath for a more structured meditation.
• Pulse awareness throughout body, until you feel the whole body pulsating.
• Staring at the radiating shards of light emitted from a shiny surface or small light source. At first the shards of light are all moving, but as you stare, the movement stops and it can be seen to be caused by the liquid upon the surface of the eye. The light structure that remains looks like the texture of your iris.
• Sphenoid sinus sounds, or at least that is what I call them. They may originate in the sinus', or they may not. There are many different sounds in this space and differentiating them by focusing upon them is an absorbing meditation. Listening intently is a good way of stopping mind chat.
• Staring at a star or similar or a spot on the wall, until all vision peripheral to it fades out (Ganzfeld effect). As the saccades of the eyes movement are attempted to be controlled, the experience is of the dot moving about instead, which is quite entertaining. Of course, if actually successful at stopping the saccades, all vision is lost.
• Acupuncture meridians used as a myofascial relaxation method.
• Observing detritus on the eyeball and other things such as tiny rings, which are in fact dead cells actually within the eyeball. The number of concentric rings increase with age, and are layered, with older ones getting larger and fainter with more rings (I've counted over a dozen concentric rings on some). The singular type may have led some people to believe that they are seeing atoms, but the fact that you can actually see cells is pretty amazing.
• Breathing through alternate nostrils — without touching the nose!
• Observing blue light entoptic phenomenon (Scheerer's phenomenon), which are leukocytes or white blood cells travelling in the capillaries of the eye.
• Closed eyesight visual display — the stuff that dreams start off with.
• Peripheral vision mist rolling in waves of distortion. Again, this will be caused by the two liquids which coat the eyeball, one of which is water based and the other oil. The poor mixing of this liquid produces all sorts of visual distorted phenomena, leading some to believe that they can see a spirit world.
• Orb — tone abruptly stopped, plunging one into the abyss of emptiness.
• Mentally detaching the visual stabilizers of the mind and watching everything going wavy. I have heard that LSD causes this experience too, but have never had the opportunity to try it. It is seeing as the eye is really seeing, which due to its gelatinous nature is constantly in a state of flux, creating the distorting effect of everything moving back and forth. It is the brains editing of this that creates the illusion that is actually closer to the reality. When learning to walk as a baby, I can remember this being most unhelpful!
• Proprioception of internal organs. Use silent sounds to help locate.
• Pituitary pulse awareness. Access it consciously to release the oxytocin that it produces and enter into a divine state of love. Located in the centre of the skull behind the bridge of the nose, it is the master hormone releaser in turn controlled by the Thalamus which has a pulse and which can be sensed. That's a button!
• There are a hundred methods in Megâk.

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Myofascial Meridian Meditations

The meridians of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), are the tensegrity lines of our body and are the ideal maps for relaxation methods and posture awareness. Performing these are meditations.

The following standing meditation best uses both sides of the meridians simultaneously.

Start with the Bladder meridian at B1, feeling a hook under the eye socket pulling up and joining with GV20 at the top of the head with its centre of gravity line to pull up and lengthen the neck and spine allowing the body to hang beneath it, rising onto first feet and then following the Bladder meridian down the spine relaxing the whole back, the buttocks and B54 at the back of the knees and along the outer edge of the feet to the little toe B67. Then across to K1, feeling gravity contact and lowering heels to floor. Maintain presence of K1 and GV20 stretching up the body between.

Keeping the sensation of KI with the sole of foot being the contact with gravity (Earth), feel the inward tension of the meridian as it moves up the inside of the legs to K10 on the inside of knee and up into the Dantien. Flatten the tummy as it runs up the centre of the torso, feeling each vertebrae separate as the spine lengthens while you breathe in filling your chest.

Pericardium down the middle of the inside of the arms, lengthening the joint at the elbow and the wrist to facilitate the relaxation, making the arms longer.

Triple Warmer up the outside of the arms, use TW17 to realign head and relax the jaw. Around the ears to TW23 and join the Gallbladder.

The Gallbladder meridian does not zigzag (that is just the joining together of the points with a straight line), but is a broad smooth sweep from the temples around the head to GB20 where the neck muscles attach to the base of skull, aligning the head once again and linking with TW17 to relax the neck. Then at GB21 relax all of the trapezius while focusing under the armpits and letting the relaxation flow down the side of the body to the trocanter of the Femur at GB30, and down the side of the legs to GB33 at the side of knee, and continuing to the feet.

From the big toe up inside the legs, the Liver lifts with a "Shhh" up to where the Lung meridian starts under the collar bone, and from there down the forward side of the inside of the arms to the thumb, relaxing the biceps on the way.

Still on the forward side of the arms, the Large Intestine rises up from the index finger along the outside of the arms to the front of the shoulder and up the neck to the base edge of the nose initiating a relaxing of the full face as the Stomach meridian starts.

The Stomach meridian starts with a full face relaxation that cascades down the neck, relaxing the pectorals as it passes through the nipples, and flows down the front of the body and the front of the legs to the knee at St35 and at the front of the ankle at St41, where it can be sensed the centre of gravity falls through the foot to K1, producing the sensation of a hoof.

Along the inside edge of the foot, the Spleen meridian rises up the inside of the legs, passing the perineum at CV1 at the bottom of body centre of gravity line, and up the body to connect with the Heart meridian which flows from the armpit down the inside and back of the arm to the little finger, feeling the relaxation of the armpit, triceps and forearm on the way. Travelling back up the arm on the outside and round the back of the shoulder covering the whole shoulder blade, relaxing the upper back and shoulders and neck, and onto SI17-19 where the jowls are released from their tension.

And start again.

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Meridian breathing muscle relaxation:

If each side of the meridian is done separately, then it is best to start with the Stomach so that at the end, the meridian can cross over at LI20 to the other side. Stomach - Spleen - Heart - Small intestine - Bladder - Kidney - Pericardium - Triple Warmer - Gallbladder - Liver - Lung - Large Intestine.

Alternatively, 3 meridians can be done in succession with the in-breath, with the out-breath using just 1.

1. Kidney, Pericardium and TW - in breath
2. Gallbladder - out breath - side body
3. Liver, Lung and Colon - in breath
4. Stomach - out breath - front body
5. Spleen, Heart and SI - in breath
6. Bladder - out breath - back body

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Using 3 meridians on both sides at the same time can be a quick way of achieving a full body relaxation with proprioception. Bladder, Stomach and Gallbladder flowing down the body (like a cage), and down the back, front and outside of the legs to the feet. Kidney, Spleen and Liver rising up the inside of the legs and front of body then transferring to the Pericardium, Heart and Lungs down the inside of the arms to the hands. From the back of the hands the Triple Warmer, Small Intestine and Large Intestine flow up the arms to the head where the whole thing repeats.

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We need to stop the incessant filling of the mind and fortifying of the ego, and take a break from it. To be our true self, and return to the divine, just like we do in sleep. Concentration of being in the divine brings the divine silence and infinite present and is the ultimate centre. This is effectively prayer: the meditation method to achieve divine grace.

Points of focus. Concentration practice. Training the mind to be quiet. Focus is the minds absorption into one or a combination of the senses to the exclusion of ego and mental dialogue.

The concept and awareness of self predominantly residing within the head is due to the head housing the sensors of sight, sound, taste and smell; the eyes, ears tongue and nose respectively. The only sensation not associated purely with the head is tactile. Proprioception of the body by relaxation to the state of exclusion of the head sensors, liberates the self from the head. Proprioceptively, it is the chest which is the centre as it houses the heart and lungs. The head becomes our centre after reasoning has been done; as a child our centre is our chest, because that is where most feeling occurs. Our heartbeat is continuously significant and noticeable until we learn to ignore it.

Sustained awareness of breathing should be perpetuated throughout the day. By consistently attaching rhythms of breathing to physical actions, awareness can be maintained. The focusing upon an in and out breath, attention is brought into the body and correction of posture is achieved via proprioception.

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The word 'control' comes from the Latin 'contra rotulus', literally meaning 'against the roll'. Stopping the wheels motion of repeating. The controlling of our minds is the act of meditation and is an accumulative practice that needs to be done daily.

But the neurological matrix laid down by your indoctrinations will remain pristine and untouched by your meditation, and your wrong beliefs will persist and only change by mental reworking. You can meditate for a hundred years and if you started with a belief in some spiritual concept that wasn't true, you will still have this false belief afterwards. Meditation is a necessary thing to do but it does not  answer anything.

And too much meditation and mental discipline will only get you to sweep your path but not actually walk it. So called transcended guru's only teach their path to there, but are not actually doing anything. They have no great capability to bestow any gift upon mankind other than say how to get to the starting point. Once you get to the starting point you walk your path, but if you aren't already doing something there will be nothing to do when you get there. You will just sit on the doorstep and admire the view. Perhaps that's all you're supposed to do; perhaps it isn't.

The mental discipline and meditation is needed along your path to achieve it, and will happen naturally if you are following your true path. But it is wrong to make it just a preparation — that just leads to stuffed guru's.