WHAT IS MEDITATION?

Questions on Meditation

Here is a question by one of our readers whose first name is, Alan:

Hello Blue Eagle, I have some questions for you. Is meditation a form of spirituality? I’ve tried the white meditation technique, do you know it? It consists in gazing at a white wall during which we repeat a certain phrase which would allow us to enter into contemplative meditation. In your opinion does this technique allow to experience the state of deep meditation?

AB: I’m not aware of this technique. All spiritualties of the world teach meditation as an instrument on the path to illumination. Meditation is not a form of spirituality, it’s a technique, a tool on the beauty way. A proverb of Zen Buddhism comes to me in this moment, I don’t remember who said this but it goes something like this: “illumination is like an accident, and meditation, a tool to help us become prone to accidents”.

There are great many meditation techniques. Some use the visualization of geometrical forms, energy exercises or concentration on a sound, an image or a spiritual teacher. But all have the same purpose: to help us go beyond our ordinary mental mind set and come to inhabit the here and now completely. This means to really be in the present moment which for some is the definition of illumination. But often our availability to the present is limited by our ceaseless activities. That is why different spiritual practices like meditation are taught. Spiritual practice is an exercise in being in the here and now by disciplining the mind.

If we are really completely conscious of who and what we are and alive and fully conscious in the moment, we have the possibility of becoming one with our divine essence. This is the source of all life, which lives within us, our true light. In the beginning, this state of mind is unstable, appears a few seconds like a wonderful shower of light and then disappears. As we weave our body of light, it occurs more and more often, and we experience a bit more of this blissful light, until we become one with it. Then, there are no more questions only answers.

Every tradition has its own techniques on the path leading to accomplishment. None are more effective or important than others although I have found those of our Native American traditions useful in connecting with our original instructions. This means truly understanding who and what we are as human beings on this planet. They have similarities with those found in the Vaijrayana school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Alain: what meditation can we practise to communicate with nature?

AB: to enter into communication with nature is as natural as breathing. You probably already do this without knowing. If you’re waiting for a mental, intellectual answer, you’re going to wait for a long time as true communication with nature comes through your feelings. In time the mental learns to decode these feelings, but if you’re looking to communicate with the spirits of nature with your mind you won’t get anywhere as what’s really important is invisible to the physical eyes.

To be more precise, true communication and communion with nature comes from what we call holistic perception. It’s in the unity of your whole being, the synchronization of your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies that a true holistic perception of nature can occur.

Your physical body observes nature and notices hundreds of small details. This gives rise to emotions that can decode an infinity of connections in a single feeling. The mental will link these to correspondences which allows to understand the message and the spiritual which allows to feel through these countless ramifications the unity of all of it. All these perceptions in a holistic mode become integrated in a single moment of understanding.

Nothing can equal this human capacity for holistic understanding. Even all supercomputers of the earth coupled in network would not reach what a single human being can understand directly in contact with nature. In this experience of sacred communion with the created world all senses are activated: smell, taste, touch, hearing, vision, as well as olfactory, tactile, sound, visual and gustative memory and comparison. The superior capacities are integrated: Intuition, clear-sightedness, clairaudience, precognition, ancestral information and inter-dimensional perceptions. And all this, very simply, without needing a formal practice or meditation. Everything is possible in the present moment. You should not try to initiate communication with nature, but to be a part of it.

I hear you saying:that’s easy to say!, but how can it be done?

2 things are essential. First, take time to be in the nature regularly and in a relaxed way. This doesn’t happen the first time you go with this intention; it happens over time. Like any practice, an athletic sport, learning to play a musical instrument or spiritual exercises, repetition is the key. Secondly, get used to observing your thoughts without judgment, reflecting on life and relaxing into the experience.

Take time to be, take time for doing absolutely nothing. Just watch what happens within you and how that influences what’s around you. That will lead you to a wholesome place.

Being in nature in a healthy experience. We can do this by walking without haste or sitting quietly in a place which has attracted us. If we know how to be available to the world, our subtle senses and our holistic perception will develop. The very best activity in nature is tending one’s garden. That’s why several holy teachers say that taking care of nature’s gardens it the most spiritual activity there is.

If we have access to nature there is no need for elaborate meditation techniques as nature puts us in touch with the reality and truth of the world. In fact, it’s through His/Her creation that Great Spirit speaks to us. And this conversation is continual and constant. To learn to read the great book of creation is the very best meditation there is and we don’t need to learn how to do it, we just need to be there!

In this modern world it’s not always possible to go into nature every day or to give daily care to our gardens. Yet, we need daily spiritual activity to move towards our realization and illumination. Thus, the benefit of spiritual practices like meditation.

BE

P.S. – I love sharing our native ways in meditation and spiritual practice. All I need are the right conditions and eager minds! See one of these activites here HERE. 

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