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Meditation

Blessed is the man ... (whose) ... delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:1-2

Children, take heed! If for a day, you do not practice meditation, this light streams out, who knows whither? If you only meditate for a quarter of an hour, by it you can do away with the ten thousand aeons and a thousand births. All methods end in quietness. This marvelous magic cannot be fathomed.

The Secret of the Golden Flower

What is Meditation?

We cannot talk meaningfully about meditation without having an understanding of the meditator. To say that we are spiritual beings is to say that we are of the Divine. Here is the essential teaching of Jesus regarding the nature of man: "Ye are gods." (John 10:34) As such, we are not to seek Him outside ourselves but within, in the temple of our own bodies. The points of contact between the God without and the God within are in the body temple.

All healing comes from within; and there is no question we can ask which cannot be answered from within when we are in attunement. Yet, though we are children of God, we are separated from a full consciousness of Him. We are a mind cut off from the great Mind, a heart cut off from the Heart of the Universe. We are spiritual beings who have projected ourselves into a three-dimensional consciousness. Here, we have a physical body, a mental body and a spiritual body. In ordinary life, whether waking or sleeping, the consciousnesses and activities of the physical and mental bodies monopolize our attention and keep us cut off from direct awareness of the spirit within.

With these concepts, we may now define meditation as attuning the physical body and the mental body to the spiritual by practicing the silence. Meditation is re-establishing our at-one-ment with God and meeting Him within the temple of our own body. The secret of secrets of meditation is realization of the godhead within us.

Let us now examine seven key considerations related to this practice.

1. Purpose of Meditation

The purpose of meditation should never be "for" but "to." We do not meditate for something just as we do not love someone for something. The recent wave of interest in meditation encouraged the expectation that certain benefits would be enjoyed by the meditator. But the true spirit of meditation is more to express love than to receive recompense.

We should not meditate for benefits to be received just as we should not love for benefits to be received. When we start listing the benefits that are to be accrued from loving, we move away from the language of love and toward the language of cause and effect, or karma. When we try to tell someone of our love, we do not convince him by listing the benefits we personally derive from the relationship. If we tell him we love him because he does certain things or because he has a certain quality, then he is going to ask, "Would you love me if I didn't have that particular quality?" The closest we can come to the spirit of love is to say, "I love you because you are you."

It is true that highly desirable consequences will follow from the regular practice of meditation. But if we have set out to achieve these things as goals of meditation we have defeated ourselves from the outset. It is the spirit in which we approach the Divine within that is the key factor in meditation.

There is a story of a man who came to the Buddha saying he had been meditating for 20 years and he was now able to levitate when crossing a river. The Buddha said, "You have been wasting your time; for just a penny, you could have taken the boat." The purpose of meditation is not to develop an ability, such as levitation; it is not to have an experience, nor is it to withdraw.

The purpose of meditation is related to the great commandment to love God with all our heart and mind and soul. In any love affair, we want to be near the loved one. "To love God with all our hearts" should be accompanied by a desire to be near Him.

If we cannot find 15 minutes a day to awaken a feeling of our love for God, to express it directly to Him by seeking at-one-ment with Him, then we might well begin to question if we are approaching any understanding of that which has been given as the greatest commandment to all mankind. The working spirit of meditation is the spirit of love. We practice a period of silence in order to express our love for God.

As we eagerly respond to the first commandment to love God with all of our heart, we may be enabled in turn to better express the second commandment "to love our neighbors as ourselves." Psychic development, better health, an uplift of spirit, etc., will result from meditation; but the ultimate fruit of the spirit is love. Thus love is the purpose--as well as the outcome--of meditation.

2. The Practice of Meditation

Since there are so many techniques of meditation, we may rightfully wonder which is the best method for us personally. We may shop around, we may opt for easy methods or methods which produce certain results quickly. All are not the same; different ones produce different results. There are, to be sure, certain methods that are more sound, with respect to purposes and ideals, than others.

There are some proper techniques which should be followed. Some say the spine should be straight to facilitate the flow of the life force through the seven spiritual centers. The mind must be centered with a singleness of eye to focus the flow of the life force. The spirit must be quickened through desire with a high sense of purpose. Silence and stillness must be maintained. However, many times we expect these techniques to guarantee results whether or not the heart and mind and soul are centered devotedly on Him.

The same problem arises in religious ritual; for example, it is hoped that with the elements in the Mass, the Christ will be present no matter what may be the attitude of the priest or the congregation. In meditation, we may hope to get results because we have a special mantra or some special technique.

The readings suggest that the Lord's Prayer was given for the purpose of attunement as an affirmation in meditation. In the context of prayer, Jesus said, "use not vain repetitions as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." (Matthew 6:7) (He was not talking about repetitive prayer; He was talking about meditation!) But many expect that certain words will guarantee the presence of the God force. No, it is not vain repetition but right spirit that invokes His presence, whether we use a mantra or the Lord's Prayer.

The most important thing about technique is our attitude about it. Here is another Buddhist story, this one about breathing: How should we breathe in meditation? We can take a long slow inhalation, exhaling quickly. Or we can inhale quickly and then exhale slowly. Or we can inhale slowly and exhale slowly, etc. When the Buddha was asked about this, he replied,''The important thing is that you breathe!" This answer lifts us above questions regarding the details of technique to a consideration of what is essential.

If the purpose of life is to become more loving, as we have been commanded, then the technique should relate to that purpose. If God is a loving spirit, we can attune to Him only by awakening a loving spirit within ourselves. We do not attune to the Spirit by virtue of technique but rather in response to our own seeking spirit, the quality of our desire to love Him.

3. Phenomenology

We use the word "phenomenology" to refer to the personal individual experiences of meditation. It cannot be stressed too strongly that the criterion for effective or right meditation is the changed life. There is no other standard that we are given except "by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:20)

There are, of course, experiences to be had in meditation and these are of a great variety. Basically, there are two kinds of meditation experience, good and bad, and I do not know which is the worse! I say this because sometimes the "good" experience is followed by an overall detrimental effect. There may be ego inflation; there may develop the misconception that meditation is to have an experience rather than to express our love of God; there may be subsequent disappointment if the same, equal or greater experiences do not follow. Seeking experiences builds barriers to their occurrence; and being unhappy about not having great meditation experiences is fussing at God.

Let us take a brief look at the kinds of experiences people may have in meditation. Some feel dizzy; some feel a movement back and forth, a rocking motion. Others experience moving up and out of the body. Some people hear popping noises in their heads.

We are not deliberately seeking any of these sensations but, as the energy flows through patterns of thought we are holding that are not in attunement, we feel the effects. Some of them will feel undesirable and we may become frightened. Remember, the purpose of meditation is love through attunement. Instead of becoming preoccupied with or attached to these sensations, we should refocus our attention, redirect our thought patterns to love for Him.

The Master said, "Be not afraid; it is I." If we could comprehend the depths of that statement, we would understand that in everyone we meet, in every experience, we have an opportunity to meet God and we should not be afraid. Doubt, according to the Cayce readings, is one of the most serious and destructive things that happens to man. First comes doubt, then fear, and then destructive responses within the body. We do not come to meditation doubting the power of God to work in and through us.

As we turn within, we are likely to discover what it is we hold as obstacles between ourselves and our awareness of oneness with God. When we try to be quiet even for just a minute, observe where our consciousness goes. That is what our ideal really is, rather than God. What we think and worry about is what we hold in our minds and hearts in preference to an awareness of His Spirit. As soon as we become aware of our wandering thoughts, we need to acknowledge that these things separate us from Him, affirm that only with His help will things turn out right (or--in the case of pleasant thoughts--thank Him for that experience), and then return heart, mind and soul to loving Him.

We should never evaluate the effectiveness of our meditation by the experience we have in those minutes of silence. Meditation is not seeking "a high" in that period. It is rather practicing a regular invitation--day in, day out, week after week, month after month--an invitation for the Spirit of God to flow through us, to transform us and to enable us to live more effectively and in a more loving way.

The real transformation takes place at an unconscious level. So do not look too closely at each meditation experience. Do not expect to "see" or "feel" it happening. Remember, "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

4. Physiology

Because we inhabit physical bodies in a three-dimensional consciousness, there are physiological considerations in meditation. As stated earlier, we are seeking to attune our physical, mental and spiritual bodies so that the spiritual purposes for our being here can be expressed. As a result, we must work in various ways to get the physical and mental in attunement. There are patterns within us that resist being raised and attuned. There are forces-whether they be foods, thoughts, emotions, desires, ambitions or whatever--which work against our attunement.

The readings suggest correlates in the flesh body to the physical, mental and spiritual bodies. In the flesh body, the correlate to the spiritual body or the soul is the endocrine system. The correlate in the flesh to the mental body is the autonomic or sympathetic nervous system. The correlate in the flesh to the physical body is the cerebrospinal or sensory motor system. The points of contact of the One Spirit with the individual lie in the endocrine system, which we know to be the emotional and motivational system.

The physiology of meditation involves all of these systems and is related to a hierarchical direction of the flow of energy from God into the earth through us. The reason we must be still and quiet is so that the sensory motor system related to our muscles and our senses will not rule the flow of the process. If our body is the primary focal point of consciousness, then that will work against any directing force that may come from within. If we can get the senses and the muscles to be quiet, then we can go deeper to the autonomic (mental) level. There we still the thoughts, the heart beat, the respiratory rate, etc. Then our purposes and ideals awaken the spiritual centers in the endocrine system.

The reason why we must be still is to establish first a contact with the spiritual level, then provide a direction for the flow of life energy to take. Also the direction of the flow must be from the spiritual centers (endocrine) through the mental (autonomic) into the physical (cerebrospinal), that is, from the Infinite into the finite.

5. Preparation for Meditation

Preparation for meditation should above all be on one's own terms and not what anyone else requires. We should not be discouraged or put off by saying, "Well, they said I have to do so and so and I am not ready to do that--or I can't do this or that--so I cannot meditate." We must do what we require of ourselves in preparing for our meditation periods. The godhead we seek is a personal one, and meditation and our preparation for it are personal as well.

There are several levels of preparation which may be considered; and the following are offered as suggestions or guidelines. If we are seeking attunement, then preparation for meditation must be a continuing activity. We should begin some kind of gentle exercise. We should eat those things we know will help attune the physical body. We should feed ourselves a mental diet of positive thinking. Meditation does not stand alone. It exists within the context of our intentions to do something constructive about the overall pattern of our lives.

Some teach that if we begin meditating, the rest will follow. But Edgar Cayce said, know where you are going before you start out! From the very outset, we must be willing to allow meditation to have an effect on our whole life. And we should be willing in all areas of life to cooperate with the meditation effort as part of an overall positive growth process.

Specifically, in our preparation for each meditation session, the readings recommend a prayer of protection just preceding the quiet time. One such prayer is: Father, as I open myself to the unseen forces surrounding the throne of grace and beauty and might, I throw about myself the protection found in the thought of the Christ.

6. The Pattern and the Power

This is an expression used in a reading when a man asked, "What is the difference between Jesus and the Christ?" The reading said, "Jesus is the pattern, the Christ is the power." What is it that mediates between man as a finite being and the Infinite? The power of the Christ Spirit. Because we experience the dimensions of time and space, there appears to be a patterning to the flow, or a way it manifests. That Way was exemplified by Jesus. As He perfected the patterning of His life through obedience, He grew to become the Christ, the Law of Love. That pattern He wrote in us, waiting to be awakened by our desire to be one with the power, the Spirit of Love.

In Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, Lama Govinda has written about this principle of the pattern (which he calls "form") and the power (which he calls "spirit") saying: "Those that think that form is unimportant, will miss the spirit as well. Those who cling to form lose the very spirit which they try to preserve. Form and movement are the secret of life and the key to immortality."

The pattern is selected when we set an ideal. When we set love as an ideal and hold to that pattern, in meditation, then we have provided an optimum medium through which the Spirit may be expressed. The pattern within is selected and awakened and the power flows through it transforming our lives. But the power is not from ourselves, it flows through us. We must be aware of: "It is not I but the Father in me."

7. The Promises of Meditation

The promises of meditation, of the life in the spirit, exceed anything that we can imagine. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard ... the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." (I Corinthians 2:9) The Edgar Cayce readings invite us to take the promises such as are made in the New Testament in a very literal way and claim them as our own. Jesus said, "I am with you always." The Psalmist acknowledged, "Though I make my bed in hell, thou art there." The promise is that when we call Him, He is there. We need only to turn to, attune to, His presence. The readings say that it is never too late, and that no matter how far astray we may have gone, we may always return.

Meditation provides a means for us to claim these promises. They come not of our own ability but through His love. As we grow in our practice of the silence, we may be given not only great energy and guidance but, more importantly, a profound sense of our personal relationship with the Divine.

One reading says that the highest psychic realization is that God the Father will speak directly to His children. Yet many people who have this experience of a direct confrontation are afraid of it. They fear that someone will think they are crazy or they doubt their experience. People came to Edgar Cayce with dreams of Jesus and wondered what was wrong. He didn't say that it was their imagination. He said it was indeed the Master.

Someone had written to Edgar Cayce about such an experience and he wrote this response:

Often I've felt, seen and heard the Master's hand. Just a few days ago I had an experience that I've not even told the folks here. As you say, they're too scary to tell and we wonder at ourselves- when we attempt to put them into words, whether we're able to believe our own words or if others would feel we're exaggerating or drawing upon our imagination.

But to us indeed they are often that which we feel-if we hadn't had that experience-we could not have gone on. The past week I've been quite out of the running but Wednesday afternoon, when going into my little office, or den, for the 4:45 PM meditation, as I Knelt by my couch, I had the following experience:

First, light gradually filled the room with a golden glow that seemed to be very exhilarating, putting me in a buoyant state. I felt as though I was being given a healing. Then, as I was about to give the credit to members of out own study group (who meet at this hour for meditation), as I felt each and every one of them were praying for and with me, He came. He stood before me for a few minutes in all the glory that He must have appeared in to the three on the Mount. Like yourself, I heard the voice of my Master say, "Come unto me and rest. "

In meditation we do rest in Him--letting go of our worldly cares, concerns and preoccupations; reaffirming awareness of ourselves as spiritual beings; knowing His love for us; feeling our love for Him. Meditation transforms the pattern of our lives, as we align with the pattern of His life, experience the fulfillment of His promises to us, and see the fruits of the spirit in our own lives.

If you have questions about this lesson, please contact me.

Yours in peace and fellowship,

Herbert Bruce Puryear, Ph. D.