Part
3 of MIND TOOLS by Walter Last
PRAYER AND MEDITATION
Basically, in
prayer you ask for guidance, give thanks or offer yourself for service, while
in meditation you listen for the answer. Eventually, both methods may be
combined in what we may call inner communication.
Prayer
Prayer is a means
of making our requirements known to a higher guidance. This may be a request
for help for ourselves or for others, it may be a request for advice, we may
express our gratitude and we may offer ourselves as vehicles for greater
service to mankind. You may continue to address your prayer in the accustomed
way or however it feels best. When you pray to God, Jesus or a Saint, you may
assume that your prayer is passed on by the lower self for consideration to the
higher self and from there to any other address as may be required.
When you need help
with an important problem, formulate your request in a short, precise form and
preferably write it down. Then enlist the help of the lower self to pass on
your prayer to the higher self. This may be done through devotion, invocation,
chanting or in any way which produces an emotional uplifting, a warm emotional
tide coming from your heart or solar plexus. This creates a 'carrier wave' that
may now be modulated by clearly and precisely stating your request.
In addition,
create a mental picture or impression of the desired result. It is important
that such prayers are performed with a deep inner conviction that the request
will be granted.
The most effective
prayer is a thanksgiving for the granted request, knowing that it has already
started to manifest on the spiritual level and will in due time appear in your
reality.
1.
Contemplate and formulate your message.
2.
Relax or enter a meditative state.
3.
Create an emotional outpouring.
4.
Say your message in simple words, preferably aloud.
5.
Include thanksgiving for what you are about to receive.
6.
Have complete faith that the prayer is successful.
7.
Repeat your prayer on successive days.
Meditation
During meditation
you still your mind and raise your awareness towards your guiding
consciousness. Christian saints used to call meditation 'silent prayer'. In
meditation, you remain in-a heightened state of consciousness without thinking.
Assume a position
in which you are comfortable for an extended period. Preferably keep the spine
straight. You may sit erect, with both feet on the ground, in a chair with a
straight back or sit cross-legged in a lotus or semi-lotus position. For many
it may be more comfortable to sit on the heels with a cushion under the feet.
You may also lie flat on the back if you are able to remain wide-awake in this
position.
An easy method is
to start with 8 - 2 breathing and then gradually let the breath move on its
own. Focus your full attention on the breath, feel how it smoothly and
rhythmically flows in and out. Do not try to regulate or guide the breath, just
follow it mentally and feel it. When thoughts arise let them drift past without
paying any attention to them. The same with outside noise; just ignore it. At
other times you may concentrate on your heart area and feel it becoming warm
and filled with love and compassion. Alternatively, focus at the middle of your
forehead, feel it as a center of happiness or even bliss. If the eyes are
closed, it helps if you turn them up and inwards as if looking at the forehead
center.
Hold these
sensations as long as you can. If possible, unite the sensations of the
forehead and brain focus with the heart feelings and expand it throughout the
body. In the following, a 'Healing and Love Meditation' is described in detail.
Do not be disappointed if you cannot feel the warmth and love radiation the
very first time, just keep on practicing.
Sit or lie relaxed
but with a straight spine. Take some slow, full breaths; mentally follow each
breath as it continues to flow quietly in and out on its own. Feel how your
body gradually becomes immersed in a cozy warmth - you may imagine being in a
warm bath.
After this, you
direct the pleasant feeling energy stream to those areas of the body that are
especially in need of healing.
Realize that you
are not the originator of this powerful energy flow, but just a channel through
which it emerges from higher dimensions and being transformed by you to
the human qualities of love and compassion.
Centering
During our daytime
activities, especially on important occasions, it is beneficial to focus our
feeling awareness on an inner energy center. We may feel this as a deep inner
peace, as love or compassion, depending on our focus and the requirements of
the occasion. This allows us to gather our energies and gives us poise and
serenity. This is called 'centering' - moving through life in a meditative
state.
On the other hand,
if we prefer to interact in our relationships and daily live with love and
compassion, then we use the feeling awareness on the heart chakra as the
preferred method of centering. Focusing on the forehead chakra may be more
appropriate during times of intense mental activity, such as during discussions
and in meetings.
When we are
centered, we are not only mentally and emotionally poised and balanced, but at
the same time alert and intuitive. In this way we can remain in touch with our
spiritual guidance continuously during our waking activities. When we are
active while being centered, both sides of our brain work in a balanced way and
this is reflected in the balance of our whole personality.
INNER COMMUNICATION
In order to
receive direct guidance from your higher self, you may combine relaxation,
visualization, prayer and meditation.
Instead of going
down, you may mentally create a special room that you enter only when you want
to meet your higher guidance, either by telepathic communication or by seeing
it as a wise and kind guide. Another possibility is mentally walking down a
shaded path to a waterfall and meeting your guide there.
Then silently ask
a specific question and listen for the answer. You may receive an immediate
telepathic reply, such as hearing an inner voice or a thought may just pop into
your mind. Alternatively, you may develop a certain feeling in reply to a
question rather than getting a mental response and this may then indicate in
which direction to proceed.
It is most
important that you maintain a blank mind after asking your question; otherwise
you may not hear the answer or start thinking of an answer yourself. You may
ask several questions and hear answers as in a dialogue. Prepare your questions
in advance, before starting the relaxation so that you do not need to think
while in meditation.
Focusing
Lie down or sit
comfortably and induce a relaxed condition. If you have a pain, a hurt, a
disease or any problem somewhere in your body, focus your attention on the
affected part. Try to feel into it and ask it what it has to tell you or try to
visualize your problem in a simple, symbolical way, then mentally sit back and
let the pictures or symbols change of their own accord.
You can do the
same thing with an uneasy feeling within you, created by a social, financial or
other problem. Contact that uneasy feeling, possibly by feeling it as a
pressure somewhere in your body. If you have a multitude of problems, ask
yourself which one of these is the worst and try to feel this one first.
If the answer is wrong, the feeling of unease
will not change. Try again. This whole process may have to be repeated many
times over several days or weeks to come to the bottom of deep-seated emotional
problems. For further reading see Focusing by E.T. Gendlin (Everest
House).
Sleep or Dream
Solutions
Before falling
asleep, pray to be shown a solution to your problem overnight or tell your
subconscious mind repeatedly in simple words that it will provide an answer to
the problem at hand, either in a remembered dream, or as an insight during the
following day. Visualize your problem in a simple scene before you drift to
sleep. If you are not already in contact with your subconscious mind, this
procedure may have to be repeated several times.
Sacrifice and
Amends
Sometimes it may
not be possible to get to the deep-seated cause of a personal problem. In these
cases it is often helpful to make a sacrifice in order to regain the
cooperation of our subconscious mind or 'lower self'. The sacrifice must be
enough to hurt you to some extent, for example, by selling the best part of
your stamp, coin or art collection and using the proceeds for a charitable
purpose. Alternatively, give a free service - care for a stranger in need,
anything that will satisfy the subconscious.
In addition, make
amends with reference to past faulty mental, emotional and dietary habits. Promise
improvements and definite actions to your lower as well as to your higher self.
MOVING WITH THE
FLOW
With or without
inner communication, we may gradually adopt an attitude towards the events of
our daily lives which may be described as 'moving with the flow', referring to
the flow of life. This means we 'feel' our way through life instead of battling
on when the going gets tough.
f we go too far in
a wrong direction, however, things will become tough, we make mistakes, lose
out, do not obtain what we want or need, and so forth.
We may compare our stream of life to a newly
formed watercourse that seeks its way down a gentle mountain slope. Sometimes
it winds its way steadily downhill, while at other times it encounters a
barrier, a hollow or depression in the ground. Then it has to wait patiently
for a while until the hollow is filled up. It may probe in various directions
until finally, quite naturally and without a problem, it finds the overflow,
the lowest point in the wall of resistance, and happily it continues on its
downhill way.
This, then, shows
us how we can follow our course of life in an easy-going, pleasurable way without
undue stress or hardship. When we encounter a resistance, we probe and wait
patiently until we find a natural opening. All we need is flexibility, patience
and faith. Faith that we are being guided, that we meet the resistance for a
purpose and that we will learn and grow by overcoming it or finding a way
around it. Faith, that all will be well and that an interesting and pleasant
future awaits us.
Ask for Help
If sometimes
problems seem to mount and you feel pulled down by it all, relax and ask your
Guidance for help. State your situation. Admit that you do not know what to do
or that there is apparently nothing that you can do. If appropriate,
acknowledge that you made a mistake and got yourself into trouble because of a
thoughtless or selfish action. Finally, ask your Guidance to take over your
problems and provide a solution that is fair to all concerned. Then, whenever
you notice your mind straying towards a worrying thought, affirm silently that
now your Guidance has taken over and is providing an equitable solution.
Exploring
Possibilities
Sometimes you have
to make a choice between several possibilities without a clear preference for
any one of these. Like water when it meets a resistance in its flow, so you may
probe in various directions, exploring the different possibilities with your
mind while at the same time closely observing your feelings.
Start by vividly
imagining that you follow one specific course of action and visualize or in
other ways mentally explore the various possibilities arising from this
option.