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| Considerations for a personal practice | |
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A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic | |
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Copyright 2009 by K. Ferlic, All Rights Reserved | |
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Learning focus
Meditation is a tool not an end in itself Meditation is a discipline to control and focus our mind. We can use this discipline and control to create the reality that we choose with the focus of our attention and awareness. From a creativity perspective, meditation is not about sitting and learning to meditate as an end in itself. Rather, it is about making the mind observant to catch and clean it from unwanted intruders. Relative to meditation, we should use meditation to train the mind to become mindful and aware. In the same way physical exercise is a discipline we use to allow our self to live life more fully, the exercise can become an end unto itself in that it becomes the entire focus of our life. We can choose to live our life that way and there is no judgment as to whether or not it is or is not a correct way to live. However, there is much to life that we miss by concentrating all our focus and attention only on a physical exercise program as opposed to using the exercise program to keep us fit to do other things in life. The same is true for meditation. Look to become mindful and aware Our creative life energy goes were we focus our attention and awareness. As such, we need to pay close attention to where our focus is placed and on what we are focusing. We need to determine is if what we are doing in our life is reflective of the object of the our focus and attention for our life. We must look very carefully at what we say and think to try and see if when we are trying to remove something from our life if our focus and attention is on what we actually want to avoid. For example, rather than say or intend "I remove distractions from my life," we should say "I have a clear and focused mind." By saying "I remove distractions," the emphasis and focus is on distractions in life as opposed to a clear and focused mind. We e need to try and avoid such thinking or speaking. Most importantly, we must not allow such phrasing in our written intentions. In the same way, knowing that energy goes where focus and attention are placed, we should consciously focus our attention on qualities and attributes in our desired creation rather than the specifics of the creation. Also, we can focus on very specific attributes we wish to create within ourselves and used them for extended periods of time, on the order of twenty one days at a time, to create new thinking habits or patterns. Meditation of choice Meditation should be a choice. What is used should be determined by our creative needs and not what some "meditation teacher" tell us to do whomever they may be. Initially, to start to learn how to meditate, it may be appropriate to follow the guidance of another. However, at some point we will need to do own exploration as to what is effective for us. Also, the meditation practice we choose can be expected to change. For example, the methodology used by the author was to initially look to trying to watch the space between thought. He then moved to choose a personal mantra or phase that he wanted to embody and hold that phrase or mantra in my mind and keep bringing his attention back to mantra when thoughts would distract the meditation. The use of the personal mantra or phrase was about the initial use of meditation as a creative tool in that we create that on which we focus. But it should be noted that when he moved from trying to watch the space between the thoughts to the use of a personally chosen mantra he had not yet learned to follow the energy behind the thoughts. When he learned about the energy giving rise to thought, he found there really wasn’t the need to meditate as such. All that was needed was to quickly focus on his bring his awareness back to the body and the flow of energy he was feeling within his being. He then simply shifted his focus to where it needed to be to access what he desired. Working with the energy was much easier than after the energy manifested in a particular thought. The evolution in time from watching the space between thoughts to use of a personal mantra to chasing the energy in/behind the thought to discover what worked for him in meditation was about a year. Choose the meditative practice that works for us The phrase "works for us" as used here is used in the sense that what we do allows our consciousness to continually expand and move toward the infinity of our being. As we evolve, our needs will change. Similarly we many find we will need to change our meditative practice. If we stay with the practice that got us to where we are, we probably will stay where we are. We need to remember that our path will appear to be a spiral. Leaving a successful technique doesn’t not mean we will not return to it with even more powerful results. Unless we expect and choose to try and remain at a relative fixed location in the expansion of our consciousness, we must change and vary our life and our practice. As we change and vary our practice we will find that we can change and adapt to life much easier that holding to a fixed routine and pattern. If fact, we may find we will be begin to anticipate changes in our life by having the urge to vary our routine before the changes actually enter our life. The following are some different ways mediation can be used and consideration should be given as to what is the most appropriate for where we are at any given point in our life.
In any case, we should use what works for us. About the time the author began his journey into the exploration of our inherent creativity his meditation practice was as follows. Each day he would rise between 4:00 and 5:00 each morning to meditate for approximately 20 minutes. This time slot was chosen for two reasons. One was it was convenient to his personal life style and the other aspects of his personal practice. The second reason was the early morning hours before everyone rises are reported to be the most calm from a psychic energy in atmosphere standpoint. That is, less people are thinking and throwing all their positive and negative thoughts into the etheric to be picked up by others. To use modern terminology, it is the near the end of the time period in the day when the background psychic noise is lowest. However, it does need to be noted that when the author began to write, this meditation time become writing time and the creative aspects of the writing took the author much deep than any mediation could do for him. Choose an intention for our meditation as desired and as necessary Almost all traditions state that one should not do a particular practice to achieve a particular end. This is extremely true. One should never undertake a practice to achieve a particular end because the choice so channels the mind that in seeking even enlightenment, we will miss enlightenment because our mind will go to what we perceive enlightenment to be rather than having the experience of enlightenment. It is the same as being so focused on the end of the journey that we never get to experience the journey. Meditating on an idea, issue, or anything that we consciously choose or set an intention for meditation will allow we to achieve that end as we understand it if we hold rigidly to our focus on that intention. The alternative is to set the intention, leave it go and let how it manifests and the results to the universe to work out the details. In this manner the intention becomes the carrier wave or underlying undercurrent that carries us to the information or situation that we want but our energy is not channeled forcing a particular outcome. There is the saying that we should plan to live a thousand years but live each day, one day at a time. The principle is the same - have a clear intention to where we want to go, but allow the universe to decide how we will get there and what form it will take. In doing so, we will get everything that we need. Become mindful and aware of what we think about Becoming mindful and aware of what we think about goes beyond becoming mindful and aware of our thoughts. It is to look at the pattern of thought to see where our overall focus is in our life. It is to look at our life and see what we actually draw into our life. Because our inner world is reflected in the outer, what we experience in life externally is really what we are thinking about internally. We just may not realize how or why we think about what we do. Much of what we think about is from a nonconscious perspective and results from the focuses of our nonconscious mind as a result of the intention for our life and all of the early programming, enculturation and early experiences in life. We only need to look at the life we live to begin to see how these nonconscious intentions and beliefs are influencing our life. Becoming aware of what we think about is to consciously embrace the concept "we are what we think about" and we create what we experience with our thoughts and how and what we think and believe. As such, we need to pay close attention to what thoughts we are actually having and what they involve to try and ensure we only hold thoughts we wanted to become. This meant a lot of mental house cleaning of the past and an ongoing effort. The ongoing effort of cleaning house is one of the key cornerstones of a long term personal practice. Become aware of the energy of the mind This is the next step after becoming aware of what we think about. It is to become aware of what type and kind of energy to which we are receptive in the types and kinds of thoughts where are arising. We need to remember the body is an antenna. We need to be aware and observe what passes through the mind and when. In most meditations, we learn to becomes aware when we leave the object of our meditation and must bring our focus our attention and awareness back to the meditation. As such, any activity in life can be a meditation if one makes it such. However, becoming aware of the energy is slightly different. If we do choose to make each life activity a meditation, then whenever a stray thought, like a fear or outlaw memory or belief passes through we can choose to either go back to our meditation or activity as traditionally done, or pursue the outlaw memory that is robbing our energy because being observant, we caught its presence. Because this thought arose in our activity, the energy behind this thought is pushing us away from what we desire to create. This is important because many outlaw memories or unwanted beliefs only surface themselves in the context of particular types of situations and we cannot always find them even when we look for them. Consequently, if we are trained and observant of mind, and we practices our everyday actions as if they were a meditation, then whenever the context changes and one of these outlaw memories or unwanted beliefs surface we can elect to catch them and remove them. We simply pull the string on the thought to see from where it arises. At the root we will find the source of energy which is generating that thought and why we are being influenced by that energy. Mantras and affirmations In many spiritual practices a mantra, affirmations or particular prayers are given to the aspirant to focus one’s thoughts and intentions. There is nothing wrong with this approach. However, when the individual consciously chooses their mantra, affirmation or prayers, there is the emotional energy of ownership that goes with the choice. That emotional energy is additional energy that is channeled and focused into the intent of the meditative practice and accelerates meeting the intention that has been set. The principle is very simple, we must become consciously aware of everything we do and how and why we are pulling things into our life. A mantra, affirmation or prayer that we do not understand or consciously embraced is the same a having nonconscious belief that is controlling our life. If we are getting the life that we want to live, continue what we are doing. If things are not exactly the way we like, then it is recommended we change, experiment and use what works for us to give us the life that we want. Our theme song(s) Music can be used to sustain the flame. Music is one of, if not the most, powerful influences on the mind and is fully capable of breaking and dispersing any patter of thought almost instantaneously. A well chosen melody will fully capture the mind. We all have had the experience where a melody gets "stuck" in the mind and it keeps on going over and over again. Actually we can use this fact for our advantage. We only need to pick a theme songs that is of a pleasant form to our mind that is representative of who and what we wish to become. Then, whenever we worry, are preoccupied with pessimistic thoughts, or somewhat discouraged, all we need to do is put melody into our mind and let it play. Shortly our mind will be off and running with this melody and it will forget what it was focusing on that was so discouraging or distracting. All one needs is the discipline and awareness in the mind to be mindful when one is in these discouraging thought periods and interject our melody. Similarly, one can have different melody’s for different moods or intentions. For example, one can use a melody chosen and identified with the concept of "to be happy with" so that it can be inserted to replace negative thoughts and doubts and self pity. If the author were to picked song at the time of this writing for this topic, his personal choice would probably be the Shaker Melody "It is a gift to be simple, it is a gift to be free." Similarly, when we need to face our fears and need to drum up some courage one may choose and hero theme song. Examples could be themes song from The Long Ranger Theme (William Tell Overture), Star Wars, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, College Football Songs, or anything that one finds heroically stimulating. Identify and learn our cycle We each have a cycle in our life for how our energy flows. There are times where there is exceptional energy flow and other times where we just don’t seem to be able to do anything. In learning these cycles, we seek to align with the power of the cycle so that in knowing this we begin to align our priorities with the cycle and we allow it to do the work for us. We plant when it is time to plant and harvest when it is time to harvest. We learn to align our life with the cycle and become one with the cycle. We must be aware that our individual cycle may not correspond to any natural one like the phases of the moon or the seasons and may in fact run more than a year. Also we should not use the cycle of another. Although there might be companionship found in following the celebration cycle of another such as sun rise or full moon ceremonies, if these ceremonies do little to sustain or build our personal power, it is recommend we treat them as such - companionship opportunities rather than part of our personal practice. Build our personal practice around what give us power.
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