As our solar system draws nearer to the Central Sun, Revati, round which we revolve once every 24,000 years, the grasping power of people's minds increases. As we are on the dawn of a New Age, it is deemed fitting that secrets previously kept hidden in a Monastery from the eyes of the profane can now be released to the public. Always ask for protection. May your Consciousness grant you safe passage to your new home, created for you and by you, in the Name of Inner Awareness. And may you always ask for the highest good for all mankind and races everywhere.

The meditation I am about to impart to you is called Vippasana. It is from the yoga tradition and is used extensively as a basis for meditation in Zen, Kriya and other disciplines.

Begin by finding a comfortable place to sit. Turn off the phone and make certain that you'll be left alone for about 15 minutes.

Either sit in a chair, or on the floor with your legs crossed or in the lotus position. Make sure that your spine is straight. It would be helpful, if you're on the floor, to sit on a small cushion or folded pillow. This will ensure a straighter spine and ease of sitting.

Stretch any parts of your upper body that seem tense. Roll your shoulders backwards, and gently (gently!) and slowly roll your head to get any kinks out. Adjust your posture and be sure you are sitting straight. It helps to imagine that a helium balloon is attached to the top of your head by a piece of string, and is pulling your back straight.

Once you feel settled in your position, draw your attention to your lower extremities and imagine that you are a tree with roots extending from below you down deeply into the ground. Remember to keep your back straight. With the roots grounding you, and the balloon pulling you up gently, you should be sitting with ease and comfort.

Now direct your attention toward your breathing. Allow yourself to breath from the abdomen, rather than the chest. Feel your belly rising and falling. And breathe normally, at your own pace, without straining. Watch your breathing rise and fall, in and out, come and go. Each breath is different. Each is unique. Some will be shallow, others deep. Some will be slow, and others fast. Do not try to change your breathing. Simply watch it as an observer.

Notice how when you fill your abdomen, your lungs fill as well. Feel the air rushing in to fill your body from the bottom upward. And feel the air passing through your lungs, over your heart, and into your throat. When your attention is directed toward your heart area, listen for your heartbeat. Feel it in your chest. Feel how it gently pulsates throughout your body, and how it has the affect of moving you ever so slightly, as you inhale and exhale, and as you sway gently with the rythms.

Know that you are being pulled down by gravity, a form of energy. Observe this energy, and watch your breathing. Listen for your heartbeat.

You are now well grounded, and can move onto the meditation.

With your eyes still closed, place your hands palm up on your lap, with your thumb and index fingers gently touching. Sit quietly and now, instead of just focusing on your breath and heartbeat, be aware of your thoughts rising and falling of their own accord. Watch them, observe them. You will soon notice that they are temporary in nature. And you will sometimes find yourself being dragged away by them. This is natural, so please don't get angry with yourself. Instead, when you realize you've been drifting off, simply be aware of this and say the word "detach", brining yourself back to the observing stance.

1. Find a comfortable place to sit, either in a chair or on the floor. If you choose the floor, place a small cushion or folded pillow beneath you for support.

2. Stretch any part of your upper body that seems tense. Roll your head and shoulders to get out any kinks.

3. Sit with your back straight, but not tense.

4. Place your hands palm-up on your lap (close to your knees), with your thumb and index fingers gently touching.

5. Press the top-front portion of your tongue gently against the roof of your mouth, as close to the back of your teeth as possible, without straining. This will activate your thymus gland, strengthening your immune system.

6. Tilt your head and tuck your chin in ever so slightly, without straining your neck.

7. Close your eyes and look straight ahead into the darkness.

8. Imagine yourself as a tree, with roots extending from beneath you down into the ground. And imagine a balloon tugging gently at the top of your head, straightening your spine.

9. Breathe from the abdomen, not the chest. Watch your belly rise and fall. Feel the air filling your body, and emptying. Feel it flowing through your lungs and your nostrils. Keep your mouth closed; breathe through the nose.

10. Listen for and feel your heartbeat. Feel it pumping and gently rocking you. Notice the soft swaying of your body as it moves with the rhythm of your breathing and your heart.

It is essential that you begin with this grounding process. It brings you into the here and now. It relaxes you. And it puts you in touch with your body's rhythms, and the energies within and around you.

Now you are ready to begin Vippasana meditation.

Sit quietly now and allow yourself to be aware of your thoughts, memories and emotions rising and falling like waves on the ocean. Watch them, observe them. Know that it is normal for them to come and go like this. You will soon notice that they are temporary in nature. And you will also find yourself attaching to them and drifting off. This is only natural, so please don't get angry with yourself. Instead, when you suddenly realize that you've been drifting off, simply be aware of this and say the word "detach", "witness", or "anull". And bring yourself gently back to observing yourself again. (Please note that if you get angry with yourself, you will end up generating more thoughts and emotions, thus creating more opportunities for distraction. And in this case, less is better, not more.)

Practicing Vippasana meditation will help to cleanse your subconscious mind. As you practice, thoughts and feelings will arise, and you will find yourself remembering all sorts of things from the past. By simply observing these thoughts and emotions, you will allow them to rise and fall away naturally, and after a time, they will rise no more. Soon you will find yourself disturbed less and less by them.

In addition to this cleansing process, Vippasana practice will give you the benefit of realizing the transitory nature of this process. You will find yourself observing yourself more and more as you go about your daily routines. And as you incorporate this awareness into your life, you will find that the former "reaction" mechanisms you had will gradually cease to exist. This observer stance will give you a unique persepective, for instead of being buffeted by your thoughts and emotions, you will be quietly watching them, and will thus be empowered to respond to situations with clarity and equanimity.

It is a good idea to begin your meditation sessions with Vippasana. It is a very basic meditation, yet very powerful and enlightening. You might want to devote 10 or 15 minutes to it each time you sit (in meditation). And when you're ready (and you will be), bring it into your daily activities. Be aware of yourself. Know your habits. Watch for those "knee jerk" reactions. And above all, be patient and forgiving of yourself. For after all, you're only human :)

Now that you've spent a few minutes getting to know yourself, it would be a good time to move onto another meditation.

You touched upon this earlier when you were grounding yourself. This time, however, you'll delve more deeply into it.

The emphasis for this meditation will be on focusing. Notice that the keywords for our meditations thus far have been "grounding", "observing", and now "focusing".

Focusing is the basis of all other meditations. Even a guided meditation. Without it, we succumb to the whims of our monkey-mind.

One of the purposes of the following meditation is to strenghten our ability to focus on a specific task. In this case, the task will be breathing.

Known as Pranayama in the yogic tradition, and as Anapanasati in Zen, breath meditation allows us the opportunity to focus our minds on a single point to the exclusion of everything else. When we focus on our breath, we become one with it.

It is said that the breath is the connection between us and the divine, inasmuch as it corresponds to the life-force, and the life-force relates to the cosmic energy inherent in and around all beings.

On a more personal level, the breath is with us more intimately than any other process. Under normal circumstances, we could do without it for only 2 or 3 minutes before serious damage occurs. Consider also that the breath *follows* us, as it were, wherever our thoughts and emotions may be. When we are primarily in the head, intellectualizing, we breathe shallowly and from high in the chest. When we are fearful, we breathe more rapidly (or we stop breathing altogether). And when we are in the throes of sexual passion, we breathe deeply.` Notice how even in the course of 5 minutes, your breath changes to accomodate your moods.

If you have grounded yourself, and practiced Vippasana for a few minutes, you will now be in a better position to practice breath meditation.

Whenever you are ready, either after 10 or 15 minutes, or when you find that your thoughts are distracting you too much and you can't seem to get a "hold" of them, move your attention downwards toward your belly. (It is *my* experience that Vippasana truly comes into its own after about 20 minutes; you are the best judge of how long you should stay with that meditation).

Now that your attention is at your belly, focus on the rising and falling of your abdomen. *Breathe* from the abdomen, not from your chest.

The belly area just below the naval is considered by Taoism to be the Hara, or centre of our physical being. In martial arts they also consider this to be an important place to focus our attention, and to find our balance.

While gazing into the darkness behind your eyelids, feel your abdomen rising and falling, with your focus primarily on the area about one inch below your naval. Follow the movement of your belly. Notice how sometimes it rises slowly, and falls slowly. And other times, it rises suddenly, in full force, and is released slowly and deliberately. More often than not, however, it will rise and fall gently and shallowly.

Do not try to change your breathing. If you are to obtain the full benefits of this meditation, you must simply *focus* on the rising and falling of your belly. Do your very best to make it a part of you, as you become aware of its presence moment to moment, in and out, rising and falling.

And if you should find yourself drifting off into thoughts or emotions, use your Vippasana technique of "detaching" yourself from them, and returning gently to your primary meditation.

Consider meditating twice a day, once upon rising and once before retiring for the night. Meditating in the morning will prepare you for the rest of the day. Meditating at night will cleanse the thoughts and emotions you accumateled throughout the day.

OM ~~ AUM

If you want to go to the main index page "Let There Be Light", just click on the icon to the left and you will be taken there.

Click on any of the Banners below to go there -- Enjoy !!!

"Private Postings/Teachings", which is a random sending of Deeper more Revealing Teachings for those who sincerely want to Work on themselves in their Inner Awakening. If you would like to receive these postings at random times, let me know and I will add you to the list of recipients. It will require a dedication to Inner Awakening and the dropping of toxic conditioned thinking, for the conditioned and faint-hearted will certainly be too offended by Pure Unconditional Truth.

Light Mission Private Postings/Teachings Yogajyotii@Light-Mission.org
0====[::::::::::>Sword-of-Truth<::::::::::]====0

Also, the long awaited *Ray of Light* series of *Daily Ponderables* is finally posted and will be updated regularly. These are Light Mission's version of *Points to Ponder* or *Daily Affirmations* or *Cosmic Cookies* or whatever the going term is by any given group. These Rays of Light are e-mailed daily upon request.

Ray of Light http://www.Light-Mission.org/Ray.of.Light.html

Or Write To Ray_of_Light@Light-Mission.org

© 2021 - This page created and maintained by
Page Wizard: Page_Wizard@Light-Mission.org