Spiritual Portal

hey Jitendra !  8)

Glow in the dark meditation brother !
and I've got my shades on

 :)  ;)

hey Jitendra  8)

If our mind is not here now during meditation, where is it ? Does yours wander ? Sometimes my mind is all over the forest - taking the wrong path on occasion. Do squirrels have a 3rd eye ?

;D You know that the human cerebral spinal centers are unique. Poor Little Hoot tried to see her third eye and ended up cross eyed.

The Midnite Astrologer

hey Midnite Astrologer !  8)

A southern cuzin of mine had the same problem !  :o

He had to put a patch over one of his other eyes, to uncross the 3rd eye.

He now has problems with visuals in meditation due to wandering eye syndrome !

 ;D LOL

hey Jitendra !  8)

How about sharing one of those guided meditations ?

Could use a little guidance

thanx

One of the great advantages of being with at retreats, churches and events  with others is that there are various guided meditations with chants, visualizations and affirmations.

Indifference is not a quality we can live with long because, like it or not the events on earth will affect us in our everyday activities. And we all want to think of ourselves as distinct in some way even in our practices but in the ultimate sense do we know that we are unique and somehow blessed? Not really. If someone did, would they be bragging about it? And if they did; wouldn’t we be able to recognize it as ego?

I think the reason i have enjoyed guided meditation so much and appreciated it when I used to go to self-realization-fellowship is because the mind is so erratic and often needs guidance. Sometimes our own guidance just doesn’t seem to be enough. It feels as though we are forcing the issue upon ourselves. Somehow controlling ourselves instead of flowing unobstructed like a river flowing around all obstacles.

When someone else guides us thru their own higher awareness and inspiration or just a distinctive approach, it is often helpful to get out of our own head and be gently guided towards a doorway of peace and expanded awareness. That is why I always made a special effort to go to the guided meditations in Buddhism when going to college, at the Vivekananda monastery and retreat, and also many hundreds of guided meditations provided at the Self-Realization-Fellowship, at Amma’s Retreats and free programs as well as now at the guided meditation Eric has provided from Swami Vidyadhishananda. I have also given guided meditation to others in yoga and astrology classes. Teaching is never a one lane road. It always brings inner realizations. All of these guided meditations -at the very least- helped me focus awareness.

The Mind is Fickle

The Bhagavadgita puts a great emphasis on the control of the mind. The mind is likened to the sixth sense, and described as fickle and unstable by nature. As an aspect of Nature, the human mind personifies the phenomenal world, its impermanance and instability.

In Chapter VI, Verse 34 Arjuna compares the mind to wind and says:

"The mind is very fickle indeed O Krishna, turbulent, strong and obstinate. I think it is as impossible to control the mind as the wind."

And in the next verse, Lord Krishna concurs:

" Undoubtedly, O Mighty Armed, it is very difficult to control the ever moving mind. However, O son of Kunti, through sincere practice and dispassionate detachment (vairagya), it can be achieved."

Sincere practice and dispassionate detachment are the keys.

Notes on meditation in general.

The guided meditation offered by Swami V and other meditations offered at his website help me focus on the breath. Lately, this has been my primary objective when not practicing alongside Swami Vidyadhishananda or other external guidance. I am realizing my attachments go beyond physical gratification but that the mind is also attached to emotional experience, even when those feelings are producing heartache. We have the right to choose and we can choose to discard thoughts as they arise.
I have also discovered that, while we can only experience one thought at a time, a restless mind often bombards our stillness practice and gives the sensation of a whirlwind or storm of thoughts happening at once. As we calm the thoughts down we also recognize that there are some thoughts which are louder than others, some require effort to construct and some seem to take a form of autopilot. Some come with emotion and produce action while other thoughts are easy to discard.

The point being it is important to focus on the breath, where we can tone down the rate of oscillating thoughts to find even-mindedness in our day to day living. Gurunath has said we don't meditate, we concentrate and then meditation happens.

As said by Paramahansa Yogananda from GTWA Vol. 1 Chapter 2 Verse 38,