Meditation—Key to Body/Mind/Spirit Harmony - by Anita Burns
For centuries the ‘masters’ have pointed to meditation as THE way toward body, mind, spirit harmony, as the answer to most questions about HOW to be happy, healthy, and successful. It seems simple but, as any meditator can attest, is challenging to master. Simple techniques for meditation can be very frustrating. Why? One reason is because we often have unrealistic expectations about meditation.
You wouldn’t expect to try Yoga once and be able to stretch into postures requiring full flexibility and strength. But many spiritual aspirants think they can master meditation immediately. In fact, it is quicker and easier to master muscles than mind.
Meditation is moving from consciousness to superconsciousness. By
mastering meditation you master body, mind and emotions. Spiritually,
meditation takes you to expanded awareness of the cosmic mind, i.e.
God. The Buddha said "All that we are is a result of what we have
thought.” Being able to choose the way we think and feel, then, becomes
the most important goal of our lives. Mastery of mind means mastery of
fate. The Bible reads "Be still, and know that I am God.” The "Be
still” part is meditation. Meditation, say the masters, can open the
doors to "God.”
You may believe you’re already in charge of your mind and emotions.
Unless you’ve been at it a long time, or you are a rare individual,
that’s unlikely. Most of us live in a world of false confidence, living
at the mercy of whims and passions. We get angry, possessive,
territorial, jealous, smug, vengeful, or hurt. We feel guilt, unhappy,
or lonely. On the other side we feel joyous, happy, giddy, playful,
generous, sympathetic or confident. These emotions are thrust on us by
the outer circumstances in life and we are buffeted from one emotion to
another without much choice. Yet mastery of our inner lives is
something that humans intrinsically yearn for and strive for.
When we first try to meditate it becomes apparent that we seldom think
thoughts, but our thoughts think us. Try to stop a craving, a desire,
or a response to a situation and you’ll find it tougher than you
expected. Our thoughts are always competing for attention so we are
pulled here and there around and around.
As a child we learned to tell our body how to move and when; we never
learned the same control over mind/emotions. But with that control, our
consciousness and creativity are expanded. This can only lead to a
successful life. Richard Bandler, cocreator of Neuro-Linguistic
Programming said, "Emotional problems aren’t because we can’t learn,
but that we learn too easily. We have no control over what the mind
takes in and it learns behaviors and responses willy-nilly.”
If the word "control” is distasteful and you ask what about
spontaneity, creativity, and personal expression, think about great
artists. Any great artist, whether painter, musician, sculptor, or
dancer, is great because he or she first learned control and
discipline, then true creativity followed. Even Maria Callas, opera
diva, started by practicing vocal scales. Barysnikov, famous ballet
dancer, started with drills of tedious exercises and disciplined
routines. Picasso began by learning perspective and the rules of visual
balance. Cellist Pablo Cassals started by learning musical notation and
where to put his fingers on the cello.
The spiritual masters of the world also arrived at mastery through
learning control and discipline. Ghandi, Buddha, Theresa of Avila,
Yogananda, and Ram Dass are a few who strove to master mind and
emotions, and succeeded. Through this control process, we are able to
move through life with ease, peace, power, and grace.
Meditation is a key to teaching the mind to obey our will thus opening
the way for expanded consciousness, peace of mind, personal power, joy
and fulfillment. There are meditations that teach control of breath
and/or body such as yoga, tai chi, Sufi dancing, and pranayama. Other
meditation techniques use sound, such as mantra, toning, chanting,
internal voice, or toning. Some work through imagery such as candle
meditations, or internal imagery. And, there are meditations that
combine some or all of these processes.
All of the methods, however, work on the same structure—creating
one-pointedness of mind. Freeing the mind of distractions and ordinary
thoughts opens the mind to receive expanded frequencies of
consciousness. An enlightened Tibetan, Chogyam Trungpa said, "The
epitome of the human realm is to be stuck in a huge traffic jam of
discursive thought.” Meditation isn’t the goal; it is the tool that
helps us move away from the prison that our inability to control our
thought keeps us in.
There are many tools to teach us meditation and one powerful tool to
help you speed up the process of entering into a meditative state is
the newly rediscovered transformative energy of Re Hu Tek™.
Re Hu Tek™ is an ancient/new Egyptian energy healing force that some
are calling Reiki on steroids. An attuned practitioner can use it to
more easily and quickly enter into deep meditation states. Using the Re
Hu Tek™ during meditation allows you to enter into deeply focused
states of mental concentration and clarity.
Re Hu Tek™ won’t make us saints or gurus but it is a powerful tool for
more quickly taking meditation to a deeper level. For more information
about Re Hu Tek™ visit www.rehutek.com