| ||
|
Back to Home Page
Updated on
KOAN: A paradox to be meditated upon. It is used to abandon your ultimate dependence on reason; To force yourself into gaining sudden intuitive enlightenment.
"What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
. . . Once you are sitting allow your face muscles to relax. People sometimes begin a meditation experience with a frown on their face as if to say I'm going to meditate if it's the last thing I do. Try to be completely relaxed. Begin to say, silently, interiorly, your word, your mantra. Sit still. Sitting still is important because it prepares for stillness of spirit. Meditating is complete unity of body and spirit. Let go of your imagination, let go of your ideas, let go of your thoughts, do not be concerned about what you are thinking about or what others may be thinking about you. The art of saying your mantra is to learn to listen to it. As you say it, silently and interiorly, without moving your lips, listen to it. Listening to the sound of the mantra is the way into the silence--it is the work of silence.
You need the great simplicity, the simplicity of an unselfconscious child. Meditating returns us to the innocent source of our being. Returning from meditation to our ordinary life we are refreshed and renewed, childlike, and influenced by our encounter with the source. This is the way of the mantra.
"No one can learn to be at home in his own heaven until he has learned to be at home in his own hell.” Indeed! The full appreciation of inner serenity is achieved only by those who have been forced to face their own weaknesses, their own limitations and the possibility of their own inner failures. The bed rock of enduring serenity is found at the point where one realizes his own limitations - that point where one finds it necessary to choose between life and death; between the will to live without ego and surrender to hopelessness, or die. He must then decide whether to continue along the road to ego-centric self-sufficiency - and die; or whether he will make an effort to achieve self-understanding - and live. We know that life deals more rigorously with some than others. There are a few fortunate people who will go through life without ever facing any crisis severe enough to make necessary such a radical choice. Because life has dealt with them rather gently, they will perhaps imagine they are stronger than those who have been pushed to the border-zone of sanity. Until a major crisis upsets the applecart of their lives, such people usually feel superior to those whose collapse has led them to the deep despair. They think, "It can't happen to me." They are usually unaware that they display many symptoms of immaturity. They do not clearly see the difference between conduct, which is adult and conduct which is childish. On the other hand, to those of us who have groped our way to the light out of the shadowy terror of our exaggerated fears, these distinctions between the mature, childish, and immature are excessively clear. We can perceive them in ourselves and we recognize them in our acquaintances. We also know how some people meet life with zest while others seem to live in a state of chronic dissatisfaction. Two people, confronted with identical problems, often react in entirely different ways. One will make the best of the immediate situation. He will find some seeds for enjoyment in the most difficult circumstance. The other individual may lapse into a state of misery. Those who are perpetually miserable, unhappy and bored with life do not need to remain that way. There may be little they can do at the moment to change their circumstances, but there is a great deal which they could do about their own reactions and their will to accept the present moment and Be. We have heard, "Misery is optional." Misery is an illusion, inside one's mind, and not our natural state. It is part of one's own illusory feelings. We can all change the way we feel about things or people or circumstances by recognizing the feelings as unreal, not reality, an illusion. REFERENCES: 1. Ludwig DS, Kabat-Zinn J. Mindfulness in medicine. JAMA 2008;300:1350-2. 2. Ader R. Much ado about nothing. Adv Mind Body Med 2001;17:293-5. 3. Anderson JW, Liu C, Kryscio RJ. Blood pressure response to transcendental meditation: a meta-analysis. Am J Hypertens 2008;21:310-6. 4. Schneider RH, Walton KG, Salerno JW, Nidich SI. Cardiovascular disease prevention and health promotion with the transcendental meditation program and Maharishi consciousnessbased health care. Ethn Dis 2006;16(3 suppl 4):S4-15-26. 5. Grossman P, Niemann L, Schmidt S, Walach H. Mindfulnessbased stress reduction and health benefits. J Psychosom Res 2004;57:35-43. 6. Smith JE, Richardson J, Hoffman C, Pilkington K. Mindfulness-based stress reduction as supportive therapy in cancer care: systematic review. J Adv Nurs 2005;52:315-27. 7. Paul-Labrador M, Polk D, Dwyer JH, et al. Effects of a randomized controlled trial of transcendental meditation on components of the metabolic syndrome in subjects with coronary heart disease. Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1218-24. 8. Pagnoni G, Cekic M. Age effects on gray matter volume and attentional performance in Zen meditation. Neurobiol Aging 2007;28:1623-7. 9. Wolf DB, Abell N. Examining the effects of meditation techniques on psychosocial functioning. Res Soc Work Pract 2003;13:27-42. 10. Shannahoff-Khalsa DS. Kundalini Yoga meditation techniques for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive and OC spectrum disorders. Brief Crisis Interv 2003;3:369-82. 11. Aron A, Aron EN. The transcendental meditation program's effect on addictive behavior. Addict Behav 1980;5:3-12. 12. Marlatt GA, Marques JK. Meditation, self-control and alcohol use. In: Stuart RB, ed. Behavioral self-management: strategies, techniques and outcome. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1977:117?53. 13. Linehan MM, Comtois KA, Murray AM, et al. Two year randomized controlled trial and follow-up of dialectical behavior therapy vs therapy by experts for suicidal behaviors and borderline personality disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2006;62:1-10. 14. Cahn BR, Polich J. Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies. Psychol Bull 2006;132:180-211. 15. Walsh R, Shapiro SL. The meeting of meditative disciplines and Western psychology: a mutually enriching dialogue. Am Psychol 2006;61:227-39. 16. Craven JL. Meditation and psychotherapy. Can J Psychiatry 1989;34:648-53. 17. Young JD, Taylor E. Meditation as a voluntary hypometabolic state of biological activation. News Physiol Sci 1998;13:149- 53. 18. University of Alberta Evidence-Based Practice Center. Meditation practices for state of the health [Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality publication no. 07-E010]. 2007. http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/meditation/ medit.pdf 19. Hankey A. Studies of advanced stages of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist and Vedic traditions. I: a comparison of general changes. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2006;3:513-21. 20. Kabat-Zinn J. Full catastrophe living: using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain and illness. New York: Delacorte, 2000. 21. Cardoso R, de Souza E, Camano L, Leite Jr. Meditation in health: an operational definition. Brain Res Brain Res Protoc 2004;14:58-60. 22. Kabat-Zinn J. An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: theoretical considerations and preliminary results. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 1982;4:33-47. 23. Baer RA. Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: a conceptual and empirical review. Clin Psychol Sci Pract 2003;10:125-43. 24. Lazar SW, Rosman IS, Vanget M, et al. Functional brain imaging of mindfulness and mantra-based meditation. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA, November 2003. 25. Valentine ER, Sweet PLG. Meditation and attention: a comparison of the effects of concentrative and mindfulness meditation on sustained attention. Ment Health Relig Cult 1999;2:59-70. 26. Kabat-Zinn J. Indra's net at work: the mainstreaming of Dharma practice in society. In: Watson G, Batchelor S, eds. The psychology of awakening: Buddhism, science and our day-to-day lives. 2000. North Beach,ME:Weiser, 2000:225-49. 27. Yogi M. The science of being and art of living. New York: Penguin, 1963. 28. Pueschel M. Vedic medicine, meditation receive federal funds. US Med 2000;July. http://www.usmedicine.com/ article.cfm?articleID=47&issueID=12 29. TM effective in reducing high blood pressure, study show. U Kentucky News 2007;Dec 5. http://news.uky.edu/news/ display article.php?artid=2963 30. http://www.tm.org 31. Wallace RK, Benson H, Wilson AF. A wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state. Am J Physiol 1971;221:795-9. 32. Wallace RK. Physiological effects of transcendental meditation. Science 1970;167:1751-4. 33. Wallace RK. The physiology of meditation. Sci Am 1972;226:84-90. 34. Dillbeck MC, Bronson EC. Short-term longitudinal effects of the transcendental meditation technique on EEG power and coherence. Int J Neurosci 1981;14:147-51. 35. Hebert R, Tan G. Enhanced EEG alpha phase synchrony in practitioners of the transcendental meditation technique. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Neuronal Regulation, Winterthur, Switzerland, April 2004. 36. Travis F, Tecce J, Arenander A, Wallace RK. Patterns of EEG coherence, power, and contingent negative variation characterize the integration of transcendental and waking states. Biol Psychol 2002;61:293-319. 37. Basar E, Schurmann M, Basar-Eroglu C, Karakas S. Alpha oscillations in brain functioning: an integrative theory. Int J Psychophysiol 1997;26:5-29. 38. Basar E, Basar-Eroglu C, Karakas S, Schurmann M. Gamma, alpha, delta, and theta oscillations govern cognitive processes. Int J Psychophysiol 2001; 39:241-8. 39. Streeter CC, Jensen JE, Perlmutter RM, et al. Yoga Asana sessions increase brain GABA levels: a pilot study. J Altern Complment Med 2007;13:419-26. 40. Elias AN, Guich S, Wilson AF, et al. Ketosis with enhanced GABAergic tone promotes physiological changes in transcendental meditation. Med Hypotheses 2000;54: 660-2. 41. Jevning R, Anand R, Biedebach M, Fernando G. Effects on regional cerebral blood flow of transcendental meditation. Physiol Behav 1996;59:399-402. 42. Maclean CR, Walton KG, Wenneberg SR, et al. Effects of the transcendental meditation program on adaptive mechanisms: changes in hormone levels and responses to stress after 4 months of practice. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1997;22: 277-95. 43. Alexander CN, Langer EJ, Newman RI, Chandler HM, Davies JL, et al. Transcendental meditation, mindfulness, and longevity: an experimental study with the elderly. J Pers Soc Psychol 1989;57:950-64. 44. Wolf DB, Abell N. Examining the effects of meditation techniques on psychosocial functioning. Res Soc Work Pract 2003;13:27-42. 45. Raskin M, Bali LR, Peeke HV. Muscle biofeedback and transcendental meditation. A controlled evaluation of efficacy in the treatment of chronic anxiety. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1980;37:93-7. 46. Canter PH, Ernst E. The cumulative effects of Transcendental Meditation on cognitive function-a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Wien Klin Wochenschr 47. de Bary WT. The Buddhist tradition in India, China and Japan. New York: Vintage, 1972. 48. Ford J. Zen Master Who? A guide to the people and stories of Zen. Somerville, MA: Wisdom, 2006. 49. Echenhofer FG, Coombs MM, Samten L. EEG and P300 differences during meditation and rest in advanced Tibetan Buddhist and beginning meditators. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Psychophysical Research, San Diego, CA, October 1992. 50. Faber PL, Lehmann D, Gianotti LRR, Kaelin M, Pascual- Marqui RD. Scalp and intracerebral (LORETA) theta and gamma EEG coherence in meditation. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Neuronal Regulation, Winterthur, Switzerland, April 2004. 51. Dunn BR, Hartigan JA, Mikulas WL. Concentration and mindfulness meditations: unique forms of consciousness? Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 1999;24:147-65. 52. Ritskes R, Ritskes-Hoitinga M, Stodkilde-Jorgensen H, Baerentsen K, Hartman T. MRI scanning during Zen meditation: the picture of enlightenment? Constructivism Hum Sci 2003;8:85-90. 53. Newberg A, Pourdehnad M, Alavi A, d'Aquili EG. Cerebral blood flow during meditative prayer: preliminary findings and methodological issues. Percept Motor Skills 2003;97:625-30. 54. Baerentsen KB. Onset of meditation explored with fMRI. Neuroimage 2001;13:S297. 55. Murata T, Takahashi T, Hamada T, et al. Individual trait anxiety levels characterizing the properties of Zen meditation. Neuropsychobiology 2004;50:189-94. 56. Lazar SW, Kerr CE, Wasserman RH, et al. Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. Neuroreport 2005;16:1893-7. 57. Khalsa SS, Rudrauf D, Damasio AR, Davidson RJ, Lutz A, Tranel D. Interoceptive awareness in experienced meditators. Psychophysiology 2008;45:671-7. 58. Pagnoni G, Cekic M, Guo Y. 'Thinking about not-thinking': neural correlates of conceptual processing during Zen meditation. PLoS ONE 2008;3:e3083. 59. Pagnoni G, Cekic M. Age effects on gray matter volume and attentional performance in Zen meditation. Neurobiol Aging 2007;28:1623-7. 60. Pace TW, Negi LT, Adame DD, et al. Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2009;34:87-98. 61. Brefczynski-Lewis JA, Lutz A, Schaefer HS, Levinson DB, Davidson RJ. Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2007;104:11483-8. 62. Krisanaprakornkit T, Krisanaprakornkit W, Piyavhatkul N, Laopaiboon M. Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006;(1):CD004998. 63. Disayavanish P. The effect of Buddhist insight meditation on stress and anxiety [PhD dissertation]. Illinois State University, Department of Educational Administration and Foundations, 1994. 64. Bowen S, Witkiewitz K, Dillworth TM, et al. Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Psychol Addict Behav 2006;20:343-7. 65. Marlatt GA, Kristeller J. Mindfulness and meditation. In: Miller WR, ed. Integrating spirituality into treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1999:67-84. 66. Kabat-Zinn, J. Wherever you go, there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion, 1994. 67. Hanh TN. The miracle of mindfulness. Boston: Beacon, 1976. 68. Hayes SC, Wilson KG. Some applied implications of a contemporary analytic account of verbal events. Behavior Anal 1993;16:283-301. 69. Hayes SC. Acceptance and change: content and context in psychotherapy. Reno, NV: Context, 1994. 70. Kabat-Zinn J. An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: theoretical considerations and preliminary results. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 1982;4:33-47. 71. Linehan MM. Skills training manual for treating borderline personality disorder. New York: Guilford, 1993. 72. Teasdale JD, Segal Z, Williams JM. How does cognitive therapy prevent depressive relapse and why should attentional control (mindfulness training) help? Behav Res Ther 1995;33:25-39. 73. Kristeller JL, Hallett CB. An exploratory study of a meditation-based intervention for binge eating disorder. J Health Psychol 1999;4:357-63. 74. Farb, Segal ZV, Mayberg H. Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2007;2:313-22. 75. Baron Short E, Kose S, Mu Q, et al. Regional brain activation during meditation shows time and practice effects: an exploratory fMRI study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2007;Oct 27 [Epub ahead of print]. 76. RamelW, Goldin PR, Carmona PE,McQuaid JR. The effects of mindfulness meditation on cognitive process and affect in patients with past depression. Cognit Ther Res 2004;28:433-55. 77. Tacon AM, McComb J, Caldera Y, Randolph P. Mindfulness meditation, anxiety reduction, and heart disease: a pilot study. Fam Community Health 2003;26:25-33. 78. Oman D, Shapiro SL, Thoresen CE, Plante TG, Flinders T. Meditation lowers stress and supports forgiveness among college students: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Coll Health 2008;56:569-78. 79. Sephton S, Salmon P, Weissbecker I, et al. Mindfulness meditation alleviates depressive symptoms in women with fibromyalgia: results of a randomized clinical trial. Arthritis Rheum 2007;57:77-85. 80. Lynch TR, Trost WT, Salsman N, Linehan MM. Dialectical behavior therapy for borderline personality disorder. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2007;3:181-205. 81. Dimeff LA, Linehan MM. Dialectical behavior therapy for substance abusers. Addict Sci Clin Pract 2008;4:39-47. 82. Teasdale JD, Segal ZV, Williams JM, Ridgeway VA, Soulsby JM, Lau MA. Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. J Consult Clin Psychol 2000;68:615-23. 83. Ma SH, Teasdale JD. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression: replication and exploration of differential relapse prevention effects. J Consult Clin Psychol 2004;72: 31-40. 84. Williams JM, Teasdale JD, Segal ZV, Soulsby J. Mindfulnessbased cognitive therapy reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients. J Abnorm Psychol 2000;109:150-5. 85. Hoppes K. The application of mindfulness-based cognitive interventions in the treatment of co-occurring addictive and mood disorders. CNS Spectr 2006;11:829-51. 86. Castillo RJ. Depersonalization and meditation. Psychiatry 1990;53:158-68. 87. Lazarus AA. Psychiatric problems precipitated by transcendental meditation. Psychol Rep 1976;39:601-2. 88. Walsh R, Roche L. Precipitation of acute psychotic episodes by intensive meditation in individuals with a history of schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 1979;136:1085-6. 89. Chan-Ob T, Boonyanaruthee V. Meditation in association with psychosis. J Med Assoc Thai 1999;82:925-30. 90. Singh NN, Lancioni GE, Winton AS, et al. Individuals with mental illness can control their aggressive behavior through mindfulness training. Behav Modif 2007;31:313-28. 91. Moreno FA,Wiegand CB, Taitano EK, Delgado PL. Safety, tolerability and efficacy of psilocybin in 9 patients with obsessivecompulsive disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 2006;67:1735-40. 92. Krupitsky EM, Burakov AM, Dunaevsky IV, Romanova TN, Slavina TY, Grinenko AY. Single versus repeated sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for people with heroin dependence. J Psychoactive Drugs 2007;39:13-9. 93. Ellison CG, Levin JS. The religion-health connection: evidence, theory and future directions. Health Educ Behav 1998;25:700-20. 94. Flynn PM, Joe GW, Broome KM. Looking back on cocaine dependence: reasons for recovery. Am J Addict 2003;12:398-411. 95. Koenig HG, McCullough ME, Larson DB. Handbook of religion and health. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. 96. Miller WR. Researching the spiritual dimensions of alcohol and other drug problems. Addiction 1998;93:979-90. 97. Miller WR, C'de Baca J. Quantum change: when epiphanies and sudden insights transform ordinary lives. New York: Guilford, 2001. 98. Emmons RA. The psychology of ultimate concerns: motivation and spirituality in personality. New York: Guilford, 1999. 99. Griffiths RR, Richards WA, McCann U, Jesse R. Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2006;187:268-83. 100. Marlatt GA, Witkiewitz K, Dillworth TM, et al. Vipassana meditation as a treatment for alcohol and drug use disorders. In: Hayes SC, Follette VM, Linehan MM, eds. Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition. New York: Guilford, 2004:261-87. 101. Marlatt GA, Donovan DM. Relapse prevention. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford, 2000. Bielefeldt, Carl. 1998. A discussion of seated Zen. In Buddhism in practice, ed. Donald S. Lopez, 197-206. Waterloo: Laurier Books. Bodhi, Bikkhu. 1993. A comprehensive manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhamatta Sangaha of Acariya Anuruddha. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Web edition: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/misc/abhiman.html - accessed 1 November 2006. Burke, Peter. 2002. Western historical thinking in a global perspective. In Western historical thinking: An intercultural debate, ed. Jo¨ rn Ru¨ sen, 15-30. New York: Berghahn. Conze, Edward. 1993. A short history of Buddhism. Oxford: Oneworld. Cooma´ ra, Swa´my M., ed. 1874. Sutta Nipa´ta or, Dialogues and discourses of Gotama Buddha. London: Tru¨ bner. Corfield, Penelope J. 2007. Time and the shape of history. Yale: Yale University Press. Deeds Ermarth, Elizabeth. 1983. Realism and consensus in the English novel: Time, space and narrative. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Deeds Ermarth, Elizabeth. 1992. Sequel to history: Postmodernism and the crisis of representational time. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Dubuisson, Daniel. 2003. The western construction of religion. Myths, knowledge & ideology. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. Gallois, William. 2007. Time, religion and history. London: Longman. Garfield, Jay L., ed. 1995. The fundamental wisdom of the middle way: N ag arjuna's M ulamadhyamakak arik a. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Griffiths, Paul J., and Noriaki Hakamaya, eds. 1989. The realm of awakening: A translation and study of the tenth chapter of Asanga'sMah ay anasangraha. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kapleau, Philip, ed. 1972. The wheel of death: Writings from Zen Buddhist and other sources. London: George Allen & Unwin. Keown, Damien. 1996. Buddhism: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rethinking History 439 Loy, David. 1986. The Mahayana deconstruction of time. Philosophy East and West 36, no. 1: 13-23. Loy, David. 2002. A Buddhist history of the West: Studies in lack. Albany: State University of New York Press. McTaggart, J.M.E. 1908. The unreality of time. Mind: A Quarterly Review of Philosophy and Psychology 17: 456-73. Snelling, John. 1992. The Buddhist handbook: A complete guide to Buddhist teaching and practice. 2nd edn. London: Rider. Suzuki, D.T. 1970a. Essays in Zen Buddhism, first series. London: Rider. Suzuki, D.T., ed. 1970b. Essays in Zen Buddhism, second series. London: Rider. Warren, Henry Clarke. 1922. Buddhism in translations: Passages selected from the Buddhist sacred books. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Watts, Alan. 1990. The way of Zen. London: Arkana. Wilcox, Donald J. 1987. The measure of times past: Pre-Newtonian chronologies and the rhetoric of relative time. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Williams, Paul, and Anthony Tribe. 2000. Buddhist thought: A complete introduction to the Indian tradition. London: Routledge. Young, Robert. 1990. White mythologies: Writing history and the West. London: Routledge. Austin, J. (1998). Zen and the brain. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Grossman, P., Niemann, L., Schmidt, S., & Walach, H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57, 35-53. Orme-Johnson, D. (n.d.). The truth about TM. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from http://www.truthabouttm.org//truth/Home/index.cfm Palva, S., & Palva, J. M. (2007). New vistas for alpha-frequency band oscillations. Trends in Neurosciences, 30, 150-158. Sauseng, P., & Klimesch, W. (2008). What does phase information of oscillatory brain activity tell us about cognitive processes? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 1001-1013. Shear, J. (2002).Ethicsandtheexperienceofhappiness.InG.W.Barnard &J. J.Kirpal (Eds.), Crossing boundaries: Essaysonthe ethical status of mysticism (pp. 361-380).New York: Seven Bridges Press. Shear, J. (Ed.). (2006). The experience of meditation: Experts introduce the major traditions. St. Paul, MN: Paragon House. Shear, J. (2009). Ethics, meditation and the development of consciousness. In Understanding consciousness: Recent advances (pp. 131-147). Kolkata, India: Vedanta Press/Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. Travis, F., Haaga, D. A., Hagelin, J., Tanner, M., Arenander A., Nidich S., et al. (2007). A self-referential default brain state: Patterns of coherence, power and eLORETA sources during eyes-closed rest and Transcendental Meditation practice. Cognitive Processing, 11(1), 21-30. Travis, F., & Shear, J. (2010). Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions. Consciousness and Cognition, 19, 1110-1118. Walach, H., & Schmidt, S. (Eds.). (in press). Meditation: Neuroscientific approaches and philosophical explanations. New York: Springer. Yogi, M. M. (1977). Creating an ideal society: A global undertaking. Rheinweiler, West Germany: MERU Press. Have you seen it? Then though my mirth has quickly ended You live forever in its echo: You will never be the same again. Merton,
Back to Home Page
How is it that we find ourselves today so separated from the truth within us? Why is it that we cannot see that the earth, as a source of life for many, is being destroyed by our toxic existence? My friends, the Earth was never intended to support the trillions that live on its face today. No wonder the human race today is dysfunctional--you see it in the wars we create and the hundreds of millions of brothers and sisters who were killed over the last century alone. Wars based on materialism and ego which are both illusions. We have evolved from greatness into this despicable human race that has little chance of surviving as a species unless true transformation and relearning can occur worldwide. Yes, even the sun will die someday. Everything is as it is; you only have to Be.
To increase self-esteem we use sentence stems. These sentence stems must be completed by you in a notebook. You cannot just read without participation as it requires you to answer the deepest and enter most feelings about top issues. Facing these tough issues is what healing is all about. If you can embrace the past thoughts and feelings and accept them as part of your consciousness, as part of your being you will be healed. There is not enough room to mention all of the sentence stems but I will give you an example:
I like myself most when I ________
The idea is to keep a notebook and at the top of the page write out the sentence stem. Complete the sentence stem with at least 3 to 5 different thoughts that you feel at the time. Don't think too much about it, just keep working and then go to the next sentence stem. Move quickly without thinking too much. You will have time to reflect on what you have written later. This is a wonderful way of getting into your own subconscious.
See Nathaniel Branden for more on Self Esteem.
Back to Home Page
It is only because we believe we are this body and that we have material objects and forms that make us who we think we are. We have allowed ourselves to become an illusion and this illusion needs thoughts after thoughts to keep it alive. The mind is a tool and as such should be controlled and mastered thereby controlling thoughts. Our latest evolution has allowed the mind to control us with thoughts--illusions making the human race clearly dysfunctional. We need only look at animals and the wonderful universe to get a glimpse of the silence within us for a moment. For that moment we return, to the true Self without thought--A place of calm acceptance, Love, Peace and Life. To remove the dysfunction that we have inherited it is necessary to practice calming the mind through meditation and silent contemplation prayer; separating who we think we are from the ego and the mind. The ego, created and feeding on thoughts, is never satisfied to be in the now, in the present moment. We always seem to be thinking of where we should be next or what we should be doing next. If it is not that, it is false of the past with attached emotions that cause pain to all of us. This is the source of all unhappiness in the human race. All suffering stems from the ego and the belief that we are the body. Thoughts run undisciplined, and for the average man cannot be controlled because for his lifetime he is so wrapped up in the ego. Many men live their lives in total ignorance and illusion. Are you one of these? Of course you are. Only the enlightened few, the spiritual masters, the Christ of the Middle East, the Rishi's of Great India, the Buddha, are self-realized and live consciously with the ONE. Do you have to stay living in ignorance? No, fortunately not, but a man must learn to live comfortably in his own hell before he can learn to live comfortably in his own heaven. Can we share in the enlightened state? Absolutely, it is your natural Being. A continuous state of "not interested" is one of your most helpful preconditions against the mind's endless chatter. Silence and Peace is your natural state of consciousness on which illusion hides this; your True Being, your True State. You have only to Be. Christ said it like this, "Before Abraham was, I AM." Namaste.
An excellent source of THE contemporary expression of Zen can be found in the works written by the author, Eckhart Tolle. He is the author of "The Power of Now."
Below I have pasted some good references. Worthwhile reading.
http://www.eckharttolle.com/meditation.html?gclid=CNfNmbray7ECFQbonAod8lwAFg
Of worthy note are the books written by Mouni Sadhu, still available today after almost half a century. Look to his classics, my favorite, "In Days of Great Peace", also worthy, "Concentration", "Samadhi, the Superconciousness", "Self Realization". His Master was a living testament to modern Self Awareness - Sri Ramana Maharshi, who left his earthly form in 1950. See the Devotees Website. Earlier last century, Paul Brunton wrote about the same Great Rishi. Look to, "A Search in Secret India", "The Quest of the Overself", "A Search in Secret Egypt" all are still available today.
"Your own self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world.", Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Shallow breathing and short meaningless breaths plague all of us especially when we find ourselves under stress. Shallow, weak and hurried breathing translate into stress, panic, pressure, uneasiness, anxiety and fear. It should hold that the opposite is true that deep rhythmic regular breathing is the result of serenity, calmness, peace, a deeper sense of consciousness, and thoughtless being. In truth, the mind is controlled through breathing. It is an old yogic secret that in order to calm the mind one must learn to control the breathing. In order to reach a state of serenity the mind must be clear of its unending thoughts of the future and thoughts of the past with their corresponding emotions.
As a start we can learn from our Eastern brothers. In QiGong practice it is called the warrior nine breath technique. This can be taken into an 18 and 36 breath technique. However, one simple method of breath control is to slowly inhale to the count of four, hold the breath for the count of four, exhale to the count of four, inhale to the count of four and repeat. Do this with deep inhalation and deep exhalation for four to five repetitions. Then you may begin to slow down the sequence and reduce the depth of the inhalation and exhalation. You perform these breathing exercises with your mind concentrating on your breath, silently observing and allowing the mind to quiet. When thoughts arise you simply present them with "not interested", and they will subside. A continuous state of "not interested" is one of your most helpful preconditions against the mind's endless chatter.
Watch a baby or a young child breathe. You will notice their belly rise as they inhale. This is a most natural form of relaxed breathing and represents the state of good health. You may notice it in your pets as they lie on their sides and inhale through the belly. Now, notice your own breathing. Does your breath come from your upper chest and does it represent shallow tenseness?
You can slow down the mind and its thoughts and emotions. This will occur when practicing deep belly breathing. Belly breathing leads to a higher state of healthiness as it cannot be accomplished under a state of stress. Notice your breathing. Whenever you are conscious of the breath, you are absolutely present. ... Conscious breathing stops your mind; conscious breathing leads to a superior meditation experience including your regular waking state experience--your general life energy becomes superior. Are you breathing from the upper chest? Is your breathing experience shallow? If it is, you are under unnecessary stress. To remove the stress, practice conscious breathing.
Namaste.
Back to Home Page
Sit down in a posture that is comfortable but alert, keeping the back straight. Close your eyes lightly. Begin with a short breathing exercise such as the count of four described previously. It is an Indian pranayama technique. Next, breathe and pay attention to your breath - your inhale and exhale. Relax your body and your limbs. Now, silently and interiorly begin to repeat a single word or short phrase-your mantra. An ideal Christian mantra is Maranatha. It is the oldest Christian prayer-in Aramaic, the language of Jesus - and means, Come Lord. Do not however, think about the meaning of the word as you repeat it. In fact let go of all thoughts, words and images. As you become distracted from the mantra, simply, gently, faithfully and attentively return to the mental sounding of it. Listen to the word as you say it in four equal syllables: Ma ra na tha. As you become distracted by thought, gently remind yourself that you are "not interested." Become intensley Present in the Current State of Awareness of the Silence Within. It is Holy.
We've created a FREE audio e-course with meditation techniques to get you started. You'll get guided meditations to help you transform your life from the inside-out. 
Meditate for about 30-minutes each morning and evening if possible. Let go and surrender to the silence within and escape to the peace that passes all understanding. You may find that the support of a group or community is invaluable for the journey you are making. You can contact the world community for Christian meditation, founded by John Main, at www.wccm.org
Many articles are available concerning the scientific study of meditation on health and lifestyle. At some point I will provide a list of my server files, an index for these works, which are all available in pdf file format and are free and in the public domain. Over the past 30 years the practice of meditation has become increasingly popular in clinical settings. In addition to evidence-based medical uses, meditation may have psychiatric benefits. In this review, the literature on the role of meditation in addressing psychiatric issues, and specifically substance use disorders, is discussed. Each of the three meditation modalities that have been most widely studied-transcendental meditation, Buddhist meditation, and mindfulness-based meditation-is critically examined in terms of its background, techniques, mechanisms of action, and evidence based clinical applications, with special attention given to its emerging role in the treatment of substance use disorders. The unique methodological difficulties that beset the study of meditation are also considered. A brief discussion then integrates the research that has been completed thus far, elucidates the specific ways that meditation may be helpful for substance use disorders, and suggests new avenues for research. Available upon request; Format: pdf file. (HARV REV PSYCHIATRY 2009;17:254-267.) Keywords: Buddhist meditation, meditation, mindfulness, psychiatry, substance use disorders, transcendental meditation.
Back to Home Page
... Now you are almost ready for the exercises. But there still remains something which as is as indispensable. The deadliest enemy of successful concentration which can and does annihilate all the most careful preparations is the emotional mental habit of expectation. It must be pitilessly killed and completely eradicated, for it would destroy all your hopes if you allow it to grow and thrive. All the disappointments and lost years spent on unsuccessful efforts come from just that strange and deadly desire, expectation; of belief in the necessity of continuous thinking; of a dull subconscious and false hope that something useful may come from your feverish thinking. This enemy is relentless. All your waking hours, during which he usually reigns supreme are still not enough for him! He does not agree to allow you even these paltry 15 min. which you try to rescue from his greedy power! As soon as you commence an exercise you will notice that after a few seconds spent on thinking about one of the themes given in the following chapters, a swarm of thoughts start to attack you, so that you may temporarily forget what you meant to do in this quarter of an hour. All of these thoughts are of no special importance, but the enemy whispers that they are of great interest to you. If you accept this lie, your efforts will be wasted. The 15 min. will pass without any noticeable result, you will only lose time, and the poison of doubt and disappointment will begin to undermine your decision to study the subject. If analyzed properly all obstacles can be ascribed to just this spirit of expectation. I am leaving this experimental work to the students so that he can test for himself, the statements I have made. Now, how have we to proceed to defeat such obstacles? Only by clear thinking and deliberation-which you may also call meditation-about the falsity of the attitude in which one feverishly expects and accepts every thought that clusters around the mind-brain like bees at their hives. Try saying to yourself: Apart from these 15 or 30 minutes I wish to devote to concentration, I have all the rest of the day left for thinking. There is no reason to obey wandering thoughts, generated and harbored by my rebellious mind. Nothing of importance can happen if I allow thoughts to occupy just small portion of my time when I want to be myself, independent of all outer things, instead of being like a rudderless boat tossed about by the waves of the mind. No good will come from thinking during this time dedicated to exercises. So I firmly resolve herein now that: I am not interested in any thoughts or emotions during this period when I'm trying to concentrate my wayward mind. I am indifferent to whatever may happen. Every intruding thought is an enemy and I am simply not interested in it. I have the inner power to ignore everything that tries to enter or a rise in my mind while I am here at this time. Of course, the words of this meditation-which is meant to perceive the exercises proper-may be changed slightly, but the idea should be the same. I am no longer interested in anything. I am leaving everything outside the door of my mind. I am free from all its usual vibrations. This must conclude the preparation just described. It is possible that you will have to spend weeks wanted in order to create the indicated currents of thought, before it really works. But better to use weeks or even months trying to make the aim attainable, then to spend years on unsuccessful practices, with your only reward tittered bitter disappointment and loss of irretrievable time. If you persist you will find that, in time, a wonderful feeling of freedom in your everyday consciousness begins to give you a foretaste of the treasure that is true peace of mind. Then comes some advanced and more difficult exercises, which you will perform in due time with the newly won ability to impose peace on your thoughts. The key to success in this study is just the losing of interest in uncontrolled thinking. With that key you may open the Golden gate, from which you expect so much. Without the key, there is no purpose in even beginning the exercises. Another result of the domination of one's mind is the ability to feel and see emotions and thoughts and the surrounding Astro mental worlds, no matter how close or distant they may be. This of course is none other than clairvoyance; but not with any spontaneous uncontrolled and vague faculty. If developed as a result of systematic training, it becomes just like the normal physical senses of seeing and hearing, but infinitely more subtle and far-reaching ... "Concentration", Mouni Sadhu.
In order to remove pain from your life it is necessary to fully experience the specific episode of pain or trauma and be present with it fully. Embrace the pain and meditate through it. Let the pain live within you and accept the pain. Live the pain and allows the tears to flow. Remarkably, this will reduce the episode of pain into an illusion and you will be free from it from then on. The key is acceptance.
The end of this suffering brings your inner alignment to the present moment. Without suffering, you as a human being would have no humility or compassion. Suffering breaks the shell of the illusory ego and for a moment, hurts. Suffering allows your true self to realize that suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary.
Fear is handled in much the same way. Fear is only a thought of the future--an illusion. Thoughts of the future are not reality; the only reality is in the present. Step into the fear thought with all of your consciousness and embrace it, feeling it throughout all your body; let it linger until it dwindles into nothingness.
The whole concept is to face pain and suffering and fear head on. This is the only way we can eradicate these negative thoughts and emotions keeping us from reliving the pain over and over and over again. Face the negativity and enter into the full hurtfulness; then enjoy the relief as the negativity ceases to exist.
You think you are the "story". The story is the summation of your thoughts; your thoughts of accomplishments, attributes, physical body thoughts, emotions, education, family, vocation, friends, possessions, cars, all of the "things" that you have that make you, you. But you are not the story. The story is an illusion created by the mind. In reality, thoughts of the past and future do not exist. They are an illusion. What exists is Now, the present. All of your life situations unfolded in the present moment. Truely I say to you, "There is no past and there is no future. There was never, and there will never be anything other than the present moment."
So, when you have fearful thoughts or thoughts with anxiety attached you only need to remember these thoughts are not real. Dismiss them. Do not give them the energy they need to stay alive. Remember the only truth -- these thoughts are not you. They are only an illusion. The same goes for happiness. I am not speaking about peace; I am speaking about happiness that derives itself from some thought or object. Happiness is this regard is also illusory. Peace comes from within you and is the only source of true happiness. No one, no thing, no thought can make you happy. True happiness, true peace comes from "The Silence" inside you. Look inside yourself for the "Silence"; the treasures others have searched a lifetime for.
For some, it may take some work, for others it may become second nature in a week or so. Practice the "Knowing" that thoughts are NOT you. Practice the "Knowing" that the future and past are false and that there is only NOW. Mark Twain said it like a true Sage, "I've had some terrible things in my life, and some of them actually happened." Thoughts, thoughts and more thoughts. What if? If only I … Namaste.
The Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, is the psychological acupressure technique I routinely use in my practice and most highly recommend to optimize your emotional health. Although it is still often overlooked, emotional health is absolutely essential to your physical health and healing - no matter how devoted you are to the proper diet and lifestyle, you will not achieve your body's ideal healing and preventative powers if emotional barriers stand in your way.
EFT is very easy to learn, and will help you:
EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over five thousand years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on the head and chest while you think about your specific problem - whether it is a traumatic event, an addiction, pain, etc. -- and voice positive affirmations.
Get an 87 page free manual at:
Blog:
Eckhart Tolle, The Power on Now, Mouni Sadhu "In Days of Great Peace", also worthy, "Concentration", "Samadhi, the Superconciousness", "Self Realization". His Master was a living testament to modern Self Awareness - Sri Ramana Maharshi, Venkataraman Iyer, was a Hindu spiritual master, who left his earthly form in 1950. Earlier last century, Paul Brunton wrote about the same Great Rishi. Look to, "A Search in Secret India", "The Quest of the Overself", "A Search in Secret Egypt" all are still available today. Zen, Buddhist, Hindu, Eckhart Tolle, transcendental meditation, zen, the power of now, for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus, The quintessence of his teachings can be found in his prose work "Who Am I". When one realizes his true nature, he experiences eternal happiness and becomes immortal.
| ||
|
