always existed as a pattern within the superconscious. In the first stage of meditation, we focus our attention on the spirit of a symbol (such as the words of an affirmation) so as to awaken within the physical, conscious mind that same awareness. This is precisely what we do in prayer: awaken and attune the conscious mind to the divine within. If we cannot pray effectively, if we cannot awaken within the physical consciousness this sense of our highest ideal, then we cannot move to the second stage of the meditative process.
The second stage of meditation is to hold in silence this awareness that has been awakened. In the words of the ancient Chinese book of meditation, The Secret of the Golden Flower, “that is the double method of making fast the enlightenment.”
When we first learn of meditation, our tendency may be to forget about or minimize our prayer life. Yet, if we are unable to awaken and attune the conscious mind to the spirit within, the period of stillness and silence of deep meditation will not bring the promised transformation. A separate time each day to practice sincere and effective prayer can be an important aid to our meditation life.
Experiment: As an activity separate from your meditation period, each day have a period of prayer (thanksgiving, confessional, petitionary, or whatever form you find meaningful that day).
“Individuals have found throughout the ages that preparation is necessary for deep meditation.”
“When we have cleansed ourselves in the manner that is to us the best, there will be no fear that our experiences will become so overpowering as to cause any physical or mental disorder.”
The energies that can be awakened in meditation are very powerful; and, as symbolized in the two-edged sword, these energies can be used for constructive or destructive purposes. Through our preparations for meditation we cleanse and attune the conscious mind and the physical body, making it possible for the energies to heal and uplift consciousness. By experimentation we must find the methods that work best for us. The criterion for judging whether or not to use a specific technique that we have tested should be this: “Does it stimulate within me a greater desire to know and serve God?”
For, each soul must come to know its own influence and that which is the most helpful. And if it calls then for self to cleanse the body without and within with pure water, or to fast, or to burn incense, or to set about self certain odors or colors of influences, then—as has been given—use these for thine own development, but be a seeker and a user of that which thou obtainest. For, not only the hearer but rather the doer gains, in its seeking through to the Infinite forces and influences.
Hence, whether it is desired from the experience to abstain from this, that or the other influence to obtain the better conditions in self, seek to know these—for thou art not dumb, my brother!
440-12
Some individuals were told in their readings that the use of a particular technique or preparatory aid would be very important to their ability to meditate well. For example, one woman was told that she had learned deep meditation in an Egyptian incarnation where incense was used (2823-3). In her meditation life now, the use of incense apparently would recall the training the soul had experienced thousands of years earlier.
As we work with these tools, we must be careful not to become so attached to them that we forget our real purpose for meditation: to be one with God. We have lost the proper spirit if we refuse to meditate because we have lost our favorite record or have run out of our favorite incense.
Q-2. How can I use the astronomical, the numerical, the environs of the creations in the vibrations from metal, from stones, which influence me, to advantage in my present life?
A-2. As these are but lights, but signs in thine experience, they are as but a candle that one stumbles not in the dark. But worship not the light of the candle; rather that to which it may guide thee in thy service. So, whether from the vibrations of numbers, of metals, of stones, these are merely to become the necessary influences to make thee in attune, one with the Creative Forces; just as the pitch of a song of praise is not the song nor the message therein, but is a helpmeet for those that would find strength in the service of the Lord. So, use them to attune self. How, ye ask? As ye apply, ye are given the next step.
707-2
Another potentially dangerous attitude is the belief that we can manipulate God—that if we do a certain regime of preparatory activities we somehow cause God to come to us in meditation. A more fruitful attitude is that the preparation or aid for attunement is an expression of the limited attunement we are already experiencing and of our desire for greater attunement.
You are in a material world. You are subject to the laws of same. When you are moved by full accord, use the intonations, the breathing, the posture; but let this be rather as an outgrowth of attunement than the purpose for attunement.
281-35
Experiment: For your daily meditation period choose a specific aid for attunement or approach to preparation. Let it be something that you have not used in a regular fashion before (e.g., a specific chant, incense, exercise, music, method of cleansing, or abstinence from a particular activity). Complete this activity each day as a part of your meditation period and keep a record of your experiences in using it.
“Through the will we ask the mind of our physical bodies to cease its wanderings and center itself upon the ideal, which will be presented to the higher mind.”
Historically, man’s notion of the location within his body of consciousness and life has changed dramatically. At certain periods the heart was thought of as the focal point of human awareness; in other times, the liver. Medical research in the past one hundred years has shown the tremendous influence that the brain has upon the entire body, and so the tendency now is to localize consciousness within each cell of the body.
Meditate on the fruits of the Spirit in the inner secrets of the consciousness, and the cells in the body become aware of the awakening of the life in their activity through the body. In the mind, the cells of the mind become aware of the life in the spirit.
5752-3
Since a portion of the definition of meditation is the attuning of he physical body to its spiritual source, we need to be aware of the way in which the consciousness of every cell of the body can play a part. Every atom of the body can become a seeker and cooperate in the attunement process.
Hence there are those elements which if applied in a material way, if there is the activity with same of the spirit and mind, may bring into the experience of each atom of the body force or cell itself the awareness of the Creative Force or God.
3492-1
Experiment: At the beginning of each meditation period take a few moments to become aware that there is consciousness within each cell of your body. Suggest to or ask your body to join the mind and spirit in this period of seeking.
“As we, in meditation, open ourselves to the unseen forces that surround the throne of grace, beauty, and might within ourselves, let us throw around us the protection found in the thought of the Christ.”
In recent years the practice of meditation has become more and more widespread in the West. Many studies have shown the potential benefits of meditation for mental and physical well-being. Yet, one of the major criticisms still directed at meditation is the fear that a person can get in over his head, that demonic
