Re-framing Our Perception of Meditation
One does not need to be seated in order to meditate. The mass perception tends to be that meditation must be performed seated with absolute composure & stillness. While this is an effective form of meditation and has its uses, it tends to draw attention away from the actual significance behind meditation and why we do it. Meditation in its most easily understood form is simply PRESENCE. One does not need to be seated for this, one can be present while standing and in action, performing or focused on a single task. One often enters a trance while performing common tasks such as driving or doing the dishes. Zoning out is what people often call it. This is typically what we are going for when we sit down to meditate. Once this state is reached, a person may forget where, when, and who they are, they are simply there — Present. This is why things such as art, music, and dance tend to be very soothing and aligning practices to adopt. For the mind is kept busy with an action, while the awareness is permitted the opportunity to withdraw into stillness. For in essence, you are not the mind or “motion” you are spirit or “stillness”.
While it is beneficial to make a habit of allowing meditation to become a part of your character — where all activities you perform can be considered to be meditative practices — stillness attained through seated meditation has its own unique vantage points. Seated meditation draws one into full existential presence, where you are consciously becoming one with that which you actually are, withdrawing to the non-localized space where one’s spirit resides. For in creations such as the human experience we are in a way living in the future for we stemmed from something in the past (as we perceive it — in actuality the spirit is timeless). If we acknowledge the non-localized state of the spirit we could perceive that the human form is existing somewhat in the future as we collectively emerge from formlessness into form. So in a sense, true meditation is about becoming “True Presence” by connecting with the prime essence from which material forms emerge. Meta-awareness. The Witness. Simply there.
Once the meditative practice begins to be applied throughout our day regardless of whether we are doing something or doing nothing, we begin to embody a living presence. We no longer cling to memories of the past or anxiously await the arrival of a (potential) moment in the future. We instead give our attention to the present moment that is before us — regardless of whether out attention is applied to action or inaction.
Tips for Attaining a Meditative Mind (Also known as Mindfulness)
Mastery of Emotions (Mental/Energetic Work)— When discomforting emotions arise, we often attempt to run away from them, or in some cases develop fears in an attempt to escape ever having to even experience those emotions. Let us use fear as an example. When we think about doing something we are afraid to do, we often amplify the fear of the act by pairing it with fear of “fear itself”. Thereby converging the original fear into a paired emotion. In other words, we experience fear twice. We will experience fear as it relates to the action we are afraid to do, and we will also experience fear as it relates to the emotion itself, because we are afraid of being afraid. The very fear of the possibility to feel fear creates further discomfort.
Rather than be afraid to experience discomforting emotions, change perception of the emotions. An uncomfortable feeling is just like any other feeling is it not? The only thing that differs is one’s perception. This is why some people can enjoy watching scary movies, or entering haunted houses. Or why some people can become sadistic and find pleasure in experiencing pain. All is a matter of perception and what we condition our consciousness to. Which is good news for us, because it shows us that all that is required to master the emotions is to simply change the narrative in our heads. Instead of evading the emotions, one may choose to accept them for what they are — feelings — and simply recognize them as the same as any other feeling. Through this mode of perception, we begin shifting away from developing emotional responses and into acceptance of being open to experiencing every feeling along the spectrum of emotions.
A useful meditative practice to use when a discomforting feeling arises such as fear, anxiety, or boredom is to throne the emotion — just sit in the feeling. Think of taking a cold shower, at first it shocks the body and the immediate reaction or emotional response is to GET OUT. However, if we choose stay in the shower long enough we find that we may actually start to enjoy how refreshing the cold water is. The same goes for discomforting feelings. If one sits in them long enough they will acclimate to the feeling, adapt and adjust. One begins to build a comfort towards discomfort. A person will then notice that feelings (even discomforting ones) bring with them a unique set of thought processes and reflection, and from their we may begin cultivating gratitude for all emotions. We have then reached a point where the discomforting feelings are bringing value to us and allowing us to develop rather than simply creating depressed energetic states. The feelings are now adding to us instead of setting us back by holding power over us.
Allow yourself to contemplate. Become the observer of passing thoughts. Withdraw to the space that allows you to become the witness of the experience rather than its participant. Recognize that engaging or initiating a dialogue with thoughts is not a requirement. Your presence alone is sufficient. Although the potential exists to acquire learning and understanding by initiating dialogue with certain thoughts (especially in relation to healing from traumas), it is of use to recognize that sometimes one may simply choose to instead watch thoughts as if they were clouds passing by.
Total Physical Alignment (Material Work)
Adopting a yogic practice or some form of physical expression that promotes flexibility and extension of the fascia tissue, tendons, and muscles is key. When the body is flexible, it permits optimal energetic flow throughout one’s meridian lines. From here, the body truly does become a temple rather than taking on sensational overtones of a prison. When the body is your temple, it becomes a channel for your consciousness to flow from a state of vitality and liveliness into more and more transcendental expressions that are of the spiritual metaphysical nature. Working with the body allows us to alleviate tension from the body by healing from traumas. The same way we may become burdened by mental or psychological traumas, we also hold issues in our tissues.
Acceptance & Non-Attachment (Spiritual Work)
Become content with your state of being regardless of what it is by adopting a stoic approach. Stoicism signifies suffering in silence. However, this does not mean we need to bottle things up and refrain from speaking our truth, but rather to simply perceive that states of suffering facilitate experiences for learning, and in this sense we are able to cultivate gratitude for it.
Be grateful for having material possessions and beautiful experiences, but do not require them as a part of your being. You are pleased to have them but not to the extent where it becomes a requirement and its absence in your life collapses your world. Be happy both with or without them. Hope and fear are two sides of one emotion. Hoping for something may also consciously be interpreted as a fear of not having it. Aleister Crowley wrote “there is no place for either when it comes to the purity of the soul” [Magick, Book IV]. Hoping to have something is a subtle (almost sneaky) expression of attachment. One may benefit from releasing it and replace it with contentment for the present moment. Gratitude for the simple pleasures life has to offer — being alive.
Benefits and Conditions of Seated Meditation
Seated meditation typically involves emphasis on reaching the void states of awareness, where one is able to focus on a single thing without the presence of external stimuli. This is difficult to do, which is why many people are unable get results and often lose patience and give up. Practices such as breath-work meditation are easier ways to get results as they give the mind a task to occupy itself with. The mind is occupied with the task while the awareness of the individual is able to withdraw from the presence of the mind. The same can be done with any single object, just place it before you and stare at it. The idea is to transition from one thing to no thing. Acquiring the ability to focus on nothing requires practice, patience, and discipline. For how does one focus on nothing? This surely would imply that one is required to personify nothingness to some extent. For how does one focus on nothing since nothing clearly implies that there is nothing there to focus on? This is where re-framing perception comes of use. We are conditioned to perceive the idea that in order to focus, we need something to focus on. However, this is perceived in terms of objectified and quantified space rather than in terms of space itself. We may instead target a point in space without the goal of focusing on an object, by instead directing and fixing our gaze on a single pathway or trajectory. This how one focuses by using nothing but their own sight, by aligning with the straight path — the path of stillness rather than free-form waves. In other words, just look straight ahead without moving or adjusting your angle once you have settled into the pose.
Forms of Presence
- Void Presence (Awareness of the Spiritual Undying) — State of Nothingness
- Astral Presence (Awareness of the Mental) — State of Contemplation
- Material Presence (Awareness of the Physical Body) — State of Being Alive
Knowingness of the Spirit
Connecting with the void or formless does not constitute a lack of intelligence or potential for experiences. For spirit knows and encompasses all, but it has yet to materialize into a form in which it may express itself and communicate — this is where individuated consciousness and physical forms further extend their value. For when void states — states of nothingness — are achieved during meditation, the practitioner is becoming one with spirit while in a sense also retaining some cognitive ability over their physical body, which may then be used to convey the wisdom of spirit (through the brain).
We exist within a state of applied potential within this realm. When a state of nothingness is reached, it potentiates the possibility whereby infinite potential may be expressed. With infinite potential comes the possibility for limitless and unbounded experiences, which may potentiate new forms of learning and expression. Consciousness is then able to alter its behavior by transitioning from a state of compartmentalized consciousness into a state of free-flowing consciousness. When consciousness is free-flowing, it is unbound and free from mental constructs and is able to express itself in way that is not required to cater to societal norms or the stipulations of the ego. It is truly free. Abundant and expansive in its expression. This is what one can experience and achieve by adopting a disciplined meditative practice.
Additional Practices
There are of course many other practices and forms of meditation. If the information shared in this article is of interest, you may look over the additional methods and practices mentioned below. Conduct your own research on the methods, and experiment with them to test their overall effectiveness for yourself. Thank you for your attention.
- Sun-Gazing (Sunrise and Sunset)
- Sexual Tantra (Tantric Yoga) — Harnessing Sexual Energy in Non-Sexual Ways. Ancient Taoist Practices. Celibacy — retention of seminal/sexual fluid (coupled with energetic body work). Ecstatic dance and non-typical fluid movements.
- Dark Room Meditation
- Extended Dry Fasts & Water Fasts
- Vipassanā Silent Meditation
- Sleep Meditation and Dream Yoga (Induced Lucid Dreaming)
- Experimenting with Sound & Vibration (Binaural Beats)
