A Quiet Mind: 6 Meditative Steps To Freedom by Ed and Deb Shapiro
May 23, 2012 by Ed and Deb Shapiro
Filed under •-Feature, Meditation, Meditation, Mindfulness, Oneness In Action, Personal Growth, Spiritual Guidance, Spirituality
Meditation is simple and transformative, yet it highly misunderstood. Some people think it is about controlling our mind or stopping our thinking, while others see it as both weird and wacky or boring and meaningless.
Yet meditation really just means being totally present, totally aware with whatever is happening. It is being with ourselves completely as we are. If the mind is thinking then we are aware of the thinking; if the body is moving then we are aware of the movement. Hence we have sitting meditation, sound meditation, walking meditation, even running meditation. It is not purposefully doing anything other than just being here and now.
And just this is transformative. It creates an inner spaciousness in which we can gently stop the endless ‘me-centered’ dramas, our mind that is like a drunken monkey leaping from one scenario to another.
“Meditation can mean really being focused on something, or it can mean letting go of all focus and simply being still,” says Gangaji in our book, Be The Change, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World. “It is not a matter of saying, ‘I am going to meditate,’ it is more like ‘I am just going to be here for a moment without doing anything, without following any thought.’ And, in that, there is peace, a surrendering the mind’s activity to this vast silence and spacious awareness. It is not anti-mind activity; it is simply that usually the mind is spinning round and round, so it is a stopping of that spin.”
Meditation is both an experience of oneness and the practice that enables us to be aware of this. When we make friends with ourselves we discover a freedom from habitual tendencies, from repetitive behavior, and we experience a great joy, peace, and unconditional happiness. It is, therefore, the greatest gift we can give ourselves.
But the world is like a magnet pulling us outward into all manner of distractions, so we often need help, methods or techniques, to remind us to just be still. We need to be guided inward. Here are six steps that can lead us in that inner direction:
Six Steps to Freedom
1. Create a daily practice even if it is just for 5 minutes. Meditation has an accumulative effect so by doing it for a few minutes every day is actually more helpful than an hour once a week.
2. Meditate for the sake of it without expectations, as it can cause stress and even a sense of failure if you look for results. No appointments, no disappointments!
3. Make friends with your breath. Focusing on the natural flow of your breathing will give your mind something to do and encourages your attention to go inward. In this way you also make friends with your meditation practice.
4. Make friends with your chattering monkey mind. When you are still your mind can seem very busy and distracting. Name this your monkey mind and don’t take it too seriously.
5. Commit to your peace. There is nothing more important than your peace, it is the core of your being, so make a commitment to being still and quiet regularly.
6. Do It
Meditation techniques are many and varied, but all that matters in being fully present. Try this:
Sit comfortably with your back straight.
Take a deep breath and let it go.
Be aware of each breath and silently count at the end of each out breath, up to five: Inhale, exhale, count one… inhale, exhale, count two… and so on for five breaths. Then start at one again. Just five breaths and back to one, following each breath in and silently counting. So simple.
Do this as many times as you want, breathing normally.
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See our award-winning book: BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World, forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman, with contributors Jack Kornfield, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Byron Katie and many others.
Deb is the author of the award-winning YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, Decoding the Emotional, Psychological, and Spiritual Messages That Underlie Illness.
Our 3 meditation CD’s: Metta—Loving kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi–Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra–Inner Conscious Relaxation, are available at: www.EdandDebShapiro.com
Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman and Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Gold Book Award. Deb is the author of the bestselling book, YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, winner of the 2007 Visionary Book Award. They are featured bloggers on Oprah.com/spirit, HuffingtonPost.com/Living, and Care2.com. They have 3 meditation CD’s: Metta — Loving Kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com
Read more from Ed and Deb Shapiro:
What The Buddha Might Say To President Obama by Ed and Deb Shapiro
Gitmo or Gandhi by Ed and Deb Shapiro
Linus Roache star of Law & Order to discuss life behind the scenes: meditation, spirituality and more…
VividLife’s Ed and Deb Shapiro welcome Actor Linus Roache star of Law & Order to discuss life behind the scenes: meditation, spirituality and more…
He was born in Manchester, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. In 1975, Roache appeared in Coronation Street playing his father’s character Ken Barlow’s son Peter. Roache is also a past member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Roache joined the American TV series Law & Order in 2008 as new Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter (as Sam Waterston’s character, Jack McCoy was promoted to District Attorney). Join Linus Roaches Facebook Fanpage here!!! , please also visit www.evolutionaryenlightenment.com
READ: Monday Matters: Think Less! Live More!
May 21, 2012 by Iyanla
Filed under •-Feature, Family & Relationships, Health & Well-being, Iyanla Vanzant, Spirituality
The following is an excerpt from the book, Tapping the Power Within, A Path to Self-Empowerment for Women, pages 9 – 10.
Think Less! Live More!
Our greatest challenge in the learning, purification, and alignment process of life is our mind. The mind, expressing our will and ego, is developed as a result of our experiences, emotions, and intelligence. However, mind, ego and will are not in alignment with natural or spiritual laws. They are concerned with the way things “appear” to be, not what our experiences teach us on the spiritual level. It is only with a conscious effort that we can infuse the will and ego with the energy and power of the spirit.
When the will and ego are not in alignment with our spiritual mind, we have what the Yarubas call “a bad head”! A bad head is one that functions on its own without the guidance of Spirit or more experienced elders. It is what grandmothers in this country call being, “hardheaded” or “stubborn”; insisting that things are the way you want them to be when there is evidence to the contrary.
Having a bad or hard head means that we are not listening internally to the voice of Spirit, or externally, to voices of wisdom, which means we are not in alignment with Spirit or the laws of nature. In most cases misalignment also indicates that we live for physical pleasures and pursuits without concern for conscious contact with the true essence of our being. When we have a bad head, we rely on the distortions of the ego to determine what we need and how we are to go about meeting those needs.
When we lack conscious contact with the true essence of our being, our perceived needs lead us to actions that create what we call negative experiences. These needs are also created by emotions that result from our negative experiences. Our mind will mesh together what we experience and desire in order to form a thought.
Although thoughts govern how we respond throughout life, they may not be in alignment with the spiritual purpose or meaning of the experience. When we respond to physical thought alone, we are distracted by opinions, fears, the limitations of our experiences, and the influences of others. It is on the his level of thinking that we encounter the challenges and obstacles we often refer to as the problems of life, or “issues.”
As individuals, we are responsible for integrating our experiences and the spiritual interpretation of those experiences into our lives. In doing so, we must be mindful that our experiences will, in all ways, align with our belief system. In order to determine if your individual development process is working, you will need to ask yourself:
(1) How do I feel about what I am doing? And
(2) What do I believe is possible for me and my life?
Remember: What you believe determines what you see!
Breath Meditation: Some of the many ways in which breath meditation may help you enhance your general well being by Dr Robert Puff
May 20, 2012 by VividLife.me
Filed under •-Feature, Health & Well-being, Meditation, Meditation, Natural Healing, Natural Remedies, Spirituality
Now I’d like to share with you my favorite form of meditation, called “breath meditation.” I believe it is one of the most powerful, yet one of the easiest, meditations to learn.
Before we begin, let’s talk a bit about the mind. The mind is made up of wave patterns. When we think, it causes wave patterns to occur in the brain. There are four main types of brain waves. The pattern we are normally in when awake and thinking is called “beta wave” or “beta state.” When we are dropping off to sleep and the mind begins to quiet, that is “alpha state.” When we are asleep or quietly meditating, that is “theta state.” The deepest state of sleep or of meditation (where there is no body awareness) is called “delta state.”
The goal in meditation is to get you to the theta/delta stage. I have found that the breath meditation technique is one of the most effective ways to get to the deeper levels of meditation and still the mind. Most people who are new to meditation and are trying a variety of ways to meditate will vacillate between the beta and alpha states in their initial practice. These stages of meditation are relaxing and a wonderful experience, but as with all things in life, the more you practice, the better you will get. Eventually you will desire to quiet the mind at the theta/delta levels and will go to the deeper realms of meditation to achieve this stage.
Now let’s talk about this effective and helpful way to quiet the mind, called “breath meditation.” It can also be the most challenging way, because although it’s simplistic, it is not always easy to do. It is easy to learn but sometimes difficult to practice.
In this form of meditation, you simply “follow your breath.” Just observe your breathing with no mantra, no prayer word, just simple and quiet noticing of the breath. How it works is that you sit up straight in a quiet, comfortable place with your feet on the floor or legs crossed. As you sit there, watch or take notice of your breath. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and breathe out. You can breathe in through your mouth or your nose, it doesn’t’ matter. The only thing that matters is paying attention to your breath.
If something distracts you, simply come back to your breathing. When strenuous or uncomfortable thoughts arise (come to the surface), don’t try to ignore them or push them away but instead acknowledge them and go back to observing your breathing. Allow your attention to focus on that. Acknowledge any distractions, without being annoyed by them, and simply direct your awareness back to your breath. Eventually, thoughts will diminish, your mind will get quiet, and your brain patterns will begin to be at those deeper levels. You will find a deep peace that you may have never experienced before. Stresses will dissolve, and a sense of well-being will envelop you.
I encourage you to try the breath meditation and to practice it often. I also strongly suggest you meditate twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night. I find these times to be the easiest to make into a habit. We can meditate any time of the day or night, but it’s best to make a point of doing it twice daily and to establish a routine of morning and evening meditation. A sense of peace will develop in your life with regular practice. In my experience, breath meditation is one of the most powerful meditations in the universe.
The Breath Meditation is a simple technique. In this form of meditation, what I want you to do is simply “follow your breath”. Follow your breath with no mantra, no prayer word, just simple and quiet following of your breath. How it works is that you sit in a quiet, comfortable place, sitting up with your feet on the floor or legs crossed. As you are sitting there watch or take notice of your breath. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and breathe out. You can breathe in through your mouth or your nose, it doesn’t’ matter. The only thing that matters is following your breath. If something distracts you, simply come back to your breath. When strenuous thoughts or uncomfortable thoughts arise or come to the surface, don’t try to ignore them or push them away but instead acknowledge them and go back to your breath. Focus on your breath, nothing but your breath. Again, any distractions are acknowledged but always to simply go back to your breath. There are no thoughts, your mind will get quiet and still inside and your brain patterns will begin to go to those deeper levels. You will find a deep peace that you may only experience when you are at a deep sleep at night; however, with meditation you are giving your mind this break during the day. Stresses will go away and peace will come to you.
I encourage you to try the Breath Meditation and practice it often. I also highly suggest you meditate twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night. I find these times to be the easiest to make into a habit. You can meditate at any time of day or night, but I highly suggest you make it a point to do so twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night. The Breath Meditation is truly what I consider to be one of the most powerful meditations in the universe.
Dr. Robert Puff - About the Author:
Dr. Robert Puff, Ph.D. is a meditation expert, international speaker and has a blog athttp://www.Meditation-Enlightenment.com He is the creator of the weekly Meditation For Health Podcast, available at http://www.MeditationForHealthPodcast.com He has a weekly podcast that explores the world of Happiness at http://www.HappinessPodcast.org If you would like to contact Dr. Puff, his e-mail address is DrPuff@cox.net
Read more on Meditation:
A Guided Video Meditation with Gangaji
6 Reasons Why Meditation Appears So Difficult by Ed and Deb Shapiro
The Celestial Elevator – Where and How Can We See Parallel Worlds by Orna Ben-Shoshan
May 20, 2012 by VividLife.me
Filed under •-Feature, Metaphysical, Spirituality
Worlds Far Out:
The ongoing desire to discover an alternate fantastic reality, which is perfect and free of the limitations of time-space, begins is many people’s childhood. As children, we were often curious about who we are, and what this life is all about. In many cases, the death of a person we knew, have raised many questions about the after-life. The gnosis about existence of realms beyond is imprinted in the human collective experience. There is a vague memory in every individual’s mind regarding other dimensions of existence.
Where did we come from and what is the purpose of this life? This question is often asked by humans of all ages. Did we come to this world from another realm? Can life exist in other forms besides the one we live in? Can we access such realms? Can anyone see them?
In the second half of the 20th century, modern science has developed new tools to explain the existence of life in more than one dimension. According to the “String Theory”, the universe is spread in ten different dimensions consisting of different energy vibrations, and the universal energy field is composed of “membranes” and other esoteric shapes.
The Realm of Matter:
All that exists, seen or unseen, is an infinite field of being, composed of one dimensional strings that vibrate in an infinite spectrum of frequencies. The infinite energy field contains all that there is, it is the source where all forms of life exist. At the lowest range of this wide ray of frequencies, there is a “thickening” of energy fields. The lowest frequencies which crystallize into matter, are known to us as the “physical” world (dimension), which is measurable, and can be recognized by our 5 senses. All other forms of life, which vibrate in higher frequencies that are beyond human perception, create the parallel realities of other realms. Scientists assume that parallel realities were created by the “missing” 80% of the mass released after the “Big Bang”. This mass was transformed into energy fields that compose the other dimensions. Different theories suggest that we exist in the 3rd dimension (out of 10). This is the most condensed energy field which enables the formation of matter. Other dimensions contain different forms of life, with different levels of consciousness in different frequencies. All the physical attributes known to us at our physical world, such as electro-magnetic fields, gravitation, and nuclear energy, are singular manifestations of the universal energy.
The Kabbalistic Outlook:
According to the mystical Kabbalah, which investigates universal secrets and the essence of life, we can learn that the reality we are aware of represents a tiny section of the whole. The Kabbalah indicates that the larger part of existence, the dimensions that we cannot perceive with our human limitations, is indeed the reality itself and our physical life is just an illusion.
The Kabbalistic “Ten Sefirot” – or Ten Spheres – is a clear manifestation of the ten dimensions of the universe. The nine higher spheres existed before our physical world has been formed. The highest sphere is “Keter” (Crown) – a dimension of eternal light, the source of everything that was created, a dimension with no limitations. The following eight spheres are stemmed out of the highest sphere, and actualize their previous sphere as their energetic consistency become more and more condensed. The energetic volume of every sphere is one tenth of its previous sphere. The world in which we live is the sphere named “Malchut” – (kingdom), the realm of matter.
The Scientific Perspective:
The theory of parallel dimensions was first contemplated by scientists in Princeton University. A recent research by Prof. David Dutch of Oxford University has proven the theory of parallel worlds. He claims that we can only see a minimal portion of the large reality. Our world is only one of many possible hidden realities, only one single form of existence out of infinite dimensions that exist at the same time. According to quantum physics, there is more than one universe, and we can interact with alternate dimensions of being.
Parallel realities may exist by different physical laws of time and space. Their transpirations can be manifestations of another set of possibilities that are alternative to the occurrences we witness in our own reality. They may be happening just a few millimeters away from us, but we cannot be aware of them because their energetic frequencies are unperceived by us.
Accessing Alternate Dimensions:
The human soul, which is an integral part of the immense universal energy field, has a subconscious connection with different forms of being. As humans, we are “trapped” in a physical body that limits our large vision of the universe. Consciously, we can only be aware of aspects that can be absorbed by our five senses. People who developed their sixth sense can access knowledge which is beyond the physical existence.
According to modern physics, the passage between our dimension and parallel realities is in the form of “black holes” or “worm tunnels” that exist in some mysterious locations in the universe. Mankind has vague memories (or traces of memories) of other existing dimensions, and there is an ongoing quest to overcome the limitations of the mind and access the large picture.
Humans are able to connect with alternate realities in some conditions:
As our souls leave our bodies during sleep, they can access higher realms and get recharged and reset. According to the Kabbalah, the sleep process is considered as some form of death, when the soul departs from the body. Practicing Jews have a special morning prayer to thank God for returning the soul back into the body upon awakening.
Where Can You See Parallel Worlds?
Art got the answer: Surreal art is characterized by images that come directly from the subconscious mind. As known in metaphysics, the subconscious mind is the medium through which our souls are connected to universal wisdom. Universal wisdom is an infinite pool that contains all information and endless possibilities.
The art world, especially the surreal, visionary and fantasy genres, suggest a glimpse into the vast range ofpossibilities that exist beyond normal human perception. Some surrealist artists are, in fact, sort of clairvoyants who absorb images from alternate forms of being. According to social perception, they “capture” visuals through channeling.
Rene Magritte’s painting “The human Condition” is a clear illustration of one plane (The image on the canvas) merges with another (The actual landscape in the back). Magritte’s famous “Chateau des Pyrenees” depicts a huge rock floating over the ocean, with a castle built on its top.
Well – everybody knows that a huge boulder cannot float in the air – but can this scene be possible in a dimension that has a different set of physical laws?
Remedios Varo, a Mexican surrealist, is a terrific example of a clairvoyant artist. Her paintings depict a series of fantasy scenes that seem to be taken from alternate worlds: Look at her painting “The Alchemist” and see reality extending from one dimension to another.
Another member of this group of artists is Orna ben-Shoshan, a fascinating self-taught visionary artist. Her paintings originate from a mysterious, far-out world and reveal colorful esoteric occurrences, in which creatures and objects interact in unpredictable ways. The metaphysical atmosphere in her creations draws the viewer into a journey through alternative realities. As a life-long student of Kabbalah and mysticism, Orna has always been fascinated with the gateway points – the borders between different dimensions. Her artwork reflects a wide range of potentials, as she explores the different aspects of transformation from one form of existence to another. Here are a few examples that illustrate her inductions: In her painting “shedding Heavy Traces“, two figures are carrying a person whose upper body emerges from an open carrier. The person is on his way “out” of this world – he is on the verge of leaving this realm of existence (death) and progresses into another dimension. His lower body has already disappeared into what can be interpreted as “nothingness”. On his departure he drops away heavy packages that symbolize the material load he had to carry throughout his life in the physical realm. The painting “Four Twin Souls” depicts four figures, that exist in one dimension, and being spiritually fed by their clone entities that live in another dimension.
Orna’s painting “Departure” shows a woman carrying a pod, approaching a staircase through which she will embark on her travel into another dimension. 
The angel at the top of the staircase unveils the passage to her.
In her painting “The Elevator” two figures are carried in a wooden box over a hallucinated plane. Their faces are covered so that they can’t see the journey’s track.
A winged figure carries the cargo through air. This is a scene that deals with metaphysical transformation – as the passengers in the box are being moved from one level of consciousness to the other.
Travelling through air, diffusing from one plane into another, riding a floating structure, opening a door to the void, climbing a staircase, or dissolving landscapes – there are many possible ways shown by art as a means to pass into alternate dimensions. If you are curious about the worlds beyond – this is the place to see them.
As the human memories of parallel life forms fade when a soul is reincarnated into a new physical body, glimpses of memory may appear in our minds time and again, for a fraction of a second. Capture these visions! These moments of enlightenment come to remind us that our earthly life is just one of infinite possibilities in the mighty universe that created us.
Orna Ben-Shoshan has been an auto deduct artist for the past 30 years. Her artwork was exhibited in numerous locations in the USA, Europe and Israel. Her Major motivation as a visual artist is to share her visions with others to expand their consciousness and inspire new ways of thinking. To see more of her artwork, please visit: http://www.ben-shoshan.com During 2008, Orna has embarked on a new and challenging project: Her artwork became the theme of a new set of reading cards: “King Solomon Cards”, a new and innovative divination tool which combines her metaphysical art with ancient Kabalistic symbols. Please visit: http://www.k-s-cards.com to learn more.
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