Meditation
smi...@wizard.colorado.edu
Would you please suggest some books about meditation? I am having trouble
getting focused and need some help that perhaps some books can give me.
Also, if you have any hints, I would greatly appreciate your sharing them with
me.
thanks in advance
Meg
wad...@firnvx.firn.edu
Don't try too hard. Be persitent but patient. Be gentle with yourself.
Sometimes by wanting something too much or trying too hard we keep what
we want from happening. There are two laws that attract things to us,
be they thoughts, emotions or karma - 1.) like attracts like and 2.)
opposites attrack. I refer to them as positive attraction and negative
attraction.
The more we try to keep stray thoughts away the stronger the negative
attraction draws them to us. When becoming aware of being involved
in stray thoughts, gently bring your attention back to the focus. Deep
diaphramic breathing, relaxing the tension out of each area of the body,
chanting a mantra or visualization are all good. Watch the stray
thoughts come in and watch them go out. Become aware of them then
shift the attention. Easier said then done.
Once the negative attraction has been neutralized the positive
attraction can work. One way is to pretend. To say if "such and
such was to happen what would it be like". By taking away the
blockage of the negative attraction and putting yourself in a
receptive mode then the positive attraction can bring the desired
experience to you.
Hope this helps.
--
Have fun!
=-Kathy-> wad...@firnvx.firn.edu
William Tucker
You ( Meg ) smi...@wizard.colorado.edu wrote:
Greetings,
Would you please suggest some books about meditation? I am having trouble
getting focused and need some help that perhaps some books can give me.
Also, if you have any hints, I would greatly appreciate your sharing
them with me.
thanks in advance
Meg
I (William Tucker) tuc...@maestro.mitre.org respond:
Wellllllll......I think that Kathy's advice was good. Trying too
hard is definitely not going to get you any place but burnt out.
Being interested in something is 90% of succeeding. Find a practice
that interests you, listening how you feel about something will lead
you where you need to go. For example, there's Zen koan meditation,
meditation on the Hara, medititation that's related to breathing
(pranayama), meditation relating to art, meditation on sound (mantra),
meditation relating to sex (tantric), meditation upon the guru (siddha
yoga), meditation upon god (bhakti yoga), meditation of using the mind
and gaining awareness (raja yoga), meditation upon great truths (gnani
yoga), meditation upon the chakras, meditation on movement (Tai Chi,
Aikido, dance, Archery), etc. Meditation consists of engaging your
conciousness so completely in something that you loose/gain yourself
in the process. Again note it's better to inspire than cajole your
self, look to what attracts you. Ram Dass/Richard Alpert has a book
out on meditation in general that I think is good, I can't remember
the name something like "Journey to Awakening" or something. Personally
I was attracted to Tibetan Yogic practices. The fastest way to get
results is to do something you're interested in, and make a commitment
to try it for a specific number of days, making it a part of
your day to day life for a specific period.
Breathing practices are the fastest way of getting anywhere. "Science
of Breath" by yogi Ramacharaka is a good book. Rythmic breathing is a
combination of several breathing techniques that is fairly advanced.
rythimc breathing:
Lying down on your back (corpse), or sitting up straight
in a chair, kneeling, or lotus position, whatever's
comfortable, become aware of your heartbeat as you breathe,
and your breath flowing in...........listen to your heart.
Now, using the heartbeat as a counting measure, breathe in
from the diaphragm filling up your lungs from the bottom up,
(breathing through your nose) breathe in until you are full.....
hold the breath in with your diaphragm (you should be able to open
your mouth and stick out your tongue without losing the air)
for a count exactly half as long as the intake. breathe the air out
for exactly as long as you took to breathe it in......hold at the other
end (no air) for exactly half as long as the outbreath. Adjust the count
to fit your state until you settle into a rythym. See each breath as one
thing........see all breaths as one thing.
Normal breath count may vary from
4-12 heartbeats for an inbreath, 2-6 for a hold/pause, 4-12 for an
outbreath. Do not do anything to make yourself uncomfortable. An integral
part of this is being comfortable/getting in tune with yourself. Let
your mind do what it wants to, focus only on following the count and
breaths within the context of your life at that time. If you need to vary
the count to catch your breath, whatever do so. If you feel like you're
getting too much oxygen stop, follow YOUR feelings except for the general
guidelines.
Some people feel nervous with breathing techniques, if this
is the case with you, try some of the other areas of meditation mentioned
above. Above all listen to how you feel, this is your journey, and the
only way you make progress is by learning who you are, and listening to
yourself....advice is fine, but decisions are where growth lies.
As far as learning to trust yourself, I enjoyed the "Emmanuel" books by
Pat Rodegast, as well as the Sanaya Roman books about various subjects.
Wm T.
.standard disclaimer
Gerry Palo
Try Rudolf Steiner's "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment"
It is available from Anthroposophic Press, Hudson, NY. There are several other
titles but this is his seminal and most comprehensive practical work on meditation,
and basically the best one to start right out with.
Gerry Palo (73237...@compuserve.com)
Len Moskowitz
>Try Rudolf Steiner's "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its
>Attainment." It is available from Anthroposophic Press, Hudson, NY.
>There are several other titles but this is his seminal and most
>comprehensive practical work on meditation, and basically the best one
>to start right out with.
Gerry, how about telling us a bit about Steiner? How did he see the
world? What makes you think he was right or on the right track?
--
Len Moskowitz
mosk...@panix.com
Gerry Palo
Len, a short question generates a long, but inadequate answer. Please consider the
following to be a very sketchy overview.
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), was an Austrian educator, scientist, artist, and founder
of Anthroposophy, which he also called "spiritual science" (Geisteswissenschaft). The
Anthroposophical Society, which he founded in 1923, has its headquarters at the second
Goetheanum in Dornach, near Basel Switzerland. This massive and impressive concrete
structure was designed by Steiner, who also designed and built a number of buildings (It
has, I believe, the largest stage in Europe, and is the only one where Goethe's
Faust is performed unabridged, based on Steiner's staging and dramatic indications).
The building stands on the site of the First Goetheanum, which was made entirely of
sculpted wood and which was destroyed by fire in 1922.
There are numerous continuing practical initiatives arising out of Steiner's work that
have grown and prospered. The best known of these is Waldorf education, named after
the first school based on his pedagogical principles and founded by Steiner and Emil
Molt in Stuttgart in 1919. He also made major contributions in medicine, art --
especially watercolor painting, sculpture, drama, speech, drama, and a new art of
movement based on speech and music, called Eurythmy. There are numerous training
schools in Europe, England and America in these fields. He also inaugurated a method
of farming which has been quite successful in Europe and, on a much smaller scale, in
America, called "biologisch-dynamisch" or biodynamic method (a name coined after his death).
In the social and economic realm he developed after World War I a comprehensive approach
to the rebuilding of society, called the "Threefold Social Order" (Dreigliederung des
sozialen Organismus). He also inaugurated an approach to the care of mentally
retarded children and adults that has grown into a number of homes and communities
in Europe, England and America. Among the latter are the Camphill movement and the
Kimberton Hills (the latter is near Philadelphia). He also assisted in the foundation
of a movement for religious renewal, later called the Christian Community. However,
he himself never became a member of this movement.
He was educated at the Vienna Technical University, where he took the scientific
course, rather than the classical one, and then went on to get his PhD in philosophy.
Steiner became a recognized expert in the scientific writings of Goethe and was the
editor of these for the first complete edition of Goethe's writings. His first major
book, "The Philosophy of Freedom" (Die Philosophie der Freiheit, sometimes translated
with the title "The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity") was published in 1894. He was
well known in German literary and scientific circles and also edited a literary magazine.
His esoteric teaching began around the turn of the century. This activiy then continued
for the next quarter century until his death in 1925. In addition to the practical
and artistic work indicated above, his written works come to some fifty volumes, and
his printed lectures and lecture cycles, about 6,000, come to about 300 volumes. About
half of these have been translated into English. Of his books, four are generally
considered to be his "basic books": The Philosophy of Freedom, Knowledge of the
Higher Worlds and its Attainment, Theosophy, and An Outline of Occult Science (note:
not "Okkult", but "Geheim" wissenschaft). Also note, "Theosophy" does not derive
from the Theosophical Society, though he was associated with it for a time.
Steiner died, as I said, in 1925. The Anthroposophical Society continued on and
has grown substantially since then. It was banned under the Nazis in Germany, as
were the Waldorf schools, but then re-emerged there after the war.
Steiner did not consider his work to be religious, though he had a great deal to say
about religion and that about which it speaks. Nor did he offer anything he gave
in a dogmatic way. Even from his basic books it is difficult to extract anything
resembling a systematic "theology". Yet the integrity of his approach to the human
being, to evolution, to the physical and spiritual, emerge out of the whole body
of his work, for those who find their way to it. The truth of much of what he said
and wrote becomes apparent in the practical application of his principles, such as
in Waldorf education, medicine, etc. Likewise in the artistic work. In fact, it
is difficult to capture the essence of either Steiner or anthroposophy without the
dimension of art that permeated everything he did. As for verification of what he
said, he urged his followers not to take anything he said on his authority, but
only consider it with an open mind. I have found that one way he enforced this
was in the way in which he presented his ideas and findings. The emphasis is on
what the listener or reader can build up out of his own thinking, rather than a
kind of cookbook of interesting spiritual facts. His emphasis on freedom is
consistent and continual throughout his life and work, and those who knew him
speak repeatedly of the seriousness with which he respected each person. Naturally,
a man of great genius will always have an overwhelming effect on those immediately
around him, and great men often fall prey to temptation over this. From everything
I know about Steiner he consistently resisted this and spent a good deal of effort
in helping his followers to stand on their own feet.
Among his numerous contributions in scientific areas are his further exposition of
Goethe's theory of color and of metamorphosis, and his discovery of what can be
characterized as the threefold organization of the human body: head-nervous system
-senses; limbs-metabolic system-will; and trunk-rythmic system-feeling. The elaboration
of the latter underlies many of the discoveries and techniques in the areas of
medicine and pedagogy. These are only a few characteristic examples.
Len, I should mention a special aspect of Steiner's teaching that he himself considered
his most important task, that is the renewed understanding of karma and reincarnation,
in a form appropriate for the age modern, scientific consciousness. For this, it was
necessary to build up a foundation for the understanding of the nature of the human being
of body, soul, and spirit, and also of the evolution of the earth and of humanity. These
he laid down in concise form in the books "Theosophy" and "An Outline of Occult Science",
and elaborated in other writings and lectures. His most comprehensive exposition of
the nature of karma and reincarnation is found in his "Karmic Relationships", a series
of over fifty lectures given in the last year or so of his life.
He did not claim religious or other traditional authority for anything he said. He
did use terms taken from other traditions, but also took care to define precisely what
he meant by them. So, for example, his early works, many of whose readers and hearers
were theosophists, contain some terms commonly used by the adherents of that movement.
In harmony with the non-dogmatic character of his work, the Anthroposophical Society
does not require any confession or acknowledgement of belief of its members, and
Steiner once said that there should even be room in it for atheist (That there are
any atheist members I highly doubt, but I suppose it is possible. Certainly there are
many members who do not adhere to a traditional religion).
Steiner once characterized anthroposophy as "A path of knowledge that leads from the
spirit in man to the spirit in the universe")
To describe why I think he knew what he was talking about would require a longer
biographical essay. In short, I could summarize it with the words integrity, balance,
and freedom. These qualities have impressed me continually throughout my association
with his work. The details, as well as the practical fruits of this work that I have
found in my personal life would require much more space and time than are appropriate
for this forum.
I should add one more disclaimer, since I have mentioned Waldorf education here and
in other newsgroups. The Waldorf schools do not teach anthroposophy. They are
"normal" schools, as far as their content and curriculum is concerned. Nor is it their
purpose to prepare children to become anthroposophists when they grow up.
An extensive catalog of Rudolf Steiner's works and books about him and anthroposophy
can be obtained from Anthroposophic Press, Hudson, NY. The headquarters of the
Anthroposophical Society in America is in Chicago. Sorry, I don't have the exact
addresses at hand, but I will get them and post them if anyone is interested.
The above is really inadequate but long enough as it is, I had better leave it at
that. If anyone has further questions, by all means post or send me e-mail to the
address below.
Gerry Palo (73237...@compuserve.com)
Linda Birmingham
>In article <1993Jan19...@wizard.colorado.edu> smi...@wizard.colorado.edu writes:
>>Greetings,
>>
>>Would you please suggest some books about meditation? I am having trouble
>>getting focused and need some help that perhaps some books can give me.
My favorite book is
"Moon Over Water" by Jessica Macbeth.
She describes the different techniques and gives you examples
of each to try.
She has produced a follow up book called
"Sun over Mountain" on visualisation techniques. I've just started it.
However, I still find it very hard to practise meditation at home.
There is an excellent Yoga Nidra tape by Swami Janakananda (I think
I have the name correct ) which is the best tape I have found for
Yoga Nidra. (Yoga Nidra is one type of meditation.)
If you're having trouble getting focussed a tape of some sort is probably the
best way to get started. You can even make yourself one from a
meditation practise described in a book.
The best thing to do is find a meditation group you can attend
regularly - so that if you can't bring yourself to do any at
home then at least you do some in a group. But beware, choose
your teacher carefully - you would probably get a "feeling" about
them and their group the first time you go. Listen to
this feeling carefully and if you don't like it don't go again.
Don't forget the moving meditation techniques like
Yoga, Tai Chi, some forms of dancing.
Good luck,
Linda.
--
Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, England.
janet: Linda.Bi...@brunel.ac.uk
Gerry Palo
m) writes:
>In article <1993Jan21....@digi.lonestar.org> gp...@digi.lonestar.org (Gerr
Earlier I mentioned "Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment" by
Rudolf Steiner. It contains what are known as the "six preliminary exercises" --
preliminary to meditation proper, that is. They are exercises in the self control
of thinking, feeling, and willing, and combinations of these, which strengthen
the individual and provide a kind of foothold and foundation on which to stand.
The meditative path indicated by Steiner has the characteristic that it does
not involve either group meditation or a guru. In my years connected with the
Anthroposophical Society I have never seen a group meditation, though there are
often study groups that work with the book (and other of Steiner's work on
meditation) to come to a better understanding of how to do it and what it is
saying. And no one that I know of has ever come forward as a "teacher" of
meditation, taking on pupils, etc. Steiner himself gave individual instruction
to a very few individuals, but he did not do it for members in general, and
did not encourage the practice for this particular path.
If you prefer to do your actual meditative work alone, then this might be
something for you.
Gerry Palo (73237...@compuserve.com)