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Meditations for Body/Mind and Soul
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Meditations for Body/Mind and Soul
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Above the clouds At thirty five thousand feet, meditation comes easily. There is nothing to hold on to; you are outside your usual surroundings, and you are floating cocooned in a perfectly controlled environment. There is no- where to go, no- thing to do, no- one to become. You can simply be your self and enjoy life as it is: in this moment, breathing in, and breathing out. But what happens at the airport, after the touch down from your Transatlantic Altitude High? What happens when you are plunged back into life, into your daily ups and downs, your fears and aspirations, your dreams and desires, your household chores and business responsibilities? Now the real miracle starts. The journey from altitude to attitude. You have understood the analogy: meditation is a piece of cake, sitting in the controlled environment of an ashram, a retreat centre or a Himalayan cave. The true journey begins in the "realÓ world. Attitude is what meditation is all about. It is something that each and every one of us carries within him or herself. It is your natural state. This natural state is what is covered up by moods, philosophies, opinions and concepts. A proper attitude is what brings you back to your natural state of uncontaminated innocence. Reiki is one of the easiest ways that I know of to slide back into what you already have. In fact it helps you be what you already are! When you touch your own body, or that of another fellow traveller, you enter this moment. And in this moment, everything is perfect the way it is. There is no need for adjustment, no need for growth and no need to become something that you are not, or feel you should be. Spiritual Growth Lets look at the idea of spiritual growth first: what is it that you are not content with? Is it the way you look, feel or react? Is it something in your life that you would rather not encounter, or is it someone in your life that youÕd rather expel? You know what I am driving at. The moment discontent with what is enters your mind, you are lost in space. Being lost in space can mean two things: either you donÕt know where you are or you donÕt know who you are. The latter is definitely the worst thing that can happen to anyone. And the fact is, that is has happened to all of us! So how can you find the way back to your self? Dr. Usui's Guidance Dr. Usui suggested that we sit silently in the morning and/or evening in the Gassho position (with hands folded in front of our hearts) and chant the Five Reiki principles. This is a good beginning practice, and a lovely way to start/end the day. And a good beginning is vital if you are longing for a good result. To really dive into your self with a vengeance, you need to make a great effort. And with effort I do not mean physical, mental or emotional effort. I mean effort of a totally different kind: I am talking about the "effortÓ to take each moment of life exactly as it is. You may laugh at this proposition, but think about it for a moment. What do you want from yourself, from others, from life? Are you content with what is? Is your discontent the driving force behind your actions? Or is it your fears, your dreams or your unhappiness. You will realise that nothing much is needed to live in this moment. All you need is your self. Tomorrow never comes Every condition you force upon life is procrastination. With every condition you miss life. And Reiki can help you to bring life back to where it belongs. It belongs in this moment. To start a new life, a life lived here and now, the first thing that is needed is awareness. You must know where you are, what you are doing and stop yourself from drifting into the dream world. The dream world means either the past, or the future. We all know what that feels like. You sit at the breakfast table and think of dinner. Your husband thinks of his work and your kids of school: everyone is somewhere else. In fact the breakfast table is empty!!! So, be aware of yourself. In the beginning it may help to put little notes up at strategic points. On the refrigerator door, on the dashboard of your car, next to the sink in your bathroom, under the television set: "Who am IÓ or "Be awareÓ or "Here and nowÓ are three options. But in fact anything will do to bring you back into the moment, at least for a little while, until it becomes a habit and goes by unnoticed. You all know how it is when you meditate. You sit down and look forward to a few moments of silence, but instead your mind seems to be more active than ever. It feels like youÕre sitting on a volcano of thoughts. The fact is that we are not aware of our thoughts. The inner dialogue flows like a never- ending river through the mountains and valleys of our days and nights. Until it all ends, and then, it starts up again. What is a "Guided Meditation"? A "guided meditationÓ doesnÕt have much in common with meditation. It can have a therapeutic value, be helpful and fun, relaxing and eye opening, but nevertheless: a guided meditation is a dream journey. Please keep that in mind during the three following guided meditations. Each of the three journeys aim at giving you a glimpse of a meditative space that you will need to integrate into your day to day life afterwards. No one else can do that for you. The same goes for "meditating on somethingÓ. This simply means a concentrated effort of the reasoning faculty of mind, which can be helpful when you are not sure whether to turn left or right. A meditation technique too is not meditation. When trying to meditate, the very effort prevents it. I often noticed in the past that the more I tried to be silent, the noisier it got inside and outside my head. So please remember in the course of these 21 days not to pay too much attention to the technique, but to focus on the essence, the underlying principle. Focussing on the Essence Together we want to nurture the awareness of the essence. Focussing on your essence Focussing on your essence means meeting reality head on (and heart on!). Being in the essence means the absence of dreaming, the absence of trailing off into what is not. The essence is YOU! And in this sense, meditation is not what we do when we sit down for thirty minutes or an hour with closed eyes. Meditation is a state of mind that is all-inclusive. It includes you in your totality, and all of your surroundings. It includes the dog barking as well as the birds chirping, the silent brain as well as all the thoughts that flash by. It includes the pain in the knees, as well as the total physical, mental and emotional relaxation. It includes everything! You are the meditation, you are both the subject and the object. Meditations for body, mind and soul The first Meditation: The Body LetÕs start with the first
meditation. Make sure you wonÕt not be disturbed for at least fifteen
minutes. Sit in a comfortable position either on the floor or on a chair,
with your back as straight as possible, without straining. It may be helpful
to light some incense and/or to listen to soft music. - Find a comfortable
position and take a few deep breaths. - We will chant the five Reiki principles
in their unabridged form three times. The Japanese translation in ancient
Japanese (from the Meiji period 1868-1912) is added in brackets. "The
secret method to invite happiness. (Shoufuku no hihoo) The spiritual medicine
for all diseases (of body and mind). (Manbyo no ley-yaku) Now to the Meditation Close your eyes and listen to all the sounds that surround you. There is no need to edit, no need to divide what you perceive into "wantedÓ and "unwantedÓ. After a minute or two you will begin to settle into yourself, just like a pond begins to settle after thereÕs been a storm and the sky is clearing. As you are losing yourself in the depth of your being, you are becoming acutely aware of your body. You feel the weight of your body gently pressing against the chair, you feel the air playing with the surface of you skin, the breath coming in and going out. Now feel every inch of your body starting with either one of your little toes. If you are right handed, start with your right little toe. If you are left handed start with the left one. Once you feel the first of your little toes, move on to the second toe. Then feel the third, the fourth and finally the big toe. Now feel your whole foot. Once you feel the whole foot, do the same with your other foot and all its toes. Go back to the side of the body you began with and feel every inch of your leg all the way up to your hip. Switch over to the other side once more and feel the whole leg. Continue until you can feel your whole body. Feel it in its totality. Feel it as one organic unity. Feel it as a perfect manifestation of the divine. If no images come to your mind it, allow feelings to emerge. Now imagine that you are looking inside your body, the same way you look into a room after you have opened the door. See what it looks like inside your body. What does your body feel or look like from the inside? Can you feel the muscles, the blood vessels, the bones? Do you see them? Do you see or feel the meridians in your body? Where do they run? Do you feel certain points? Do you feel your chakras, or other energy centres? Look at what you see with clarity knowing that you will bring this knowledge with you into the waking state. Now take a few minutes to come back to this world. Stretch your body, wriggle your toes, and, welcome back... Before you finish this meditation I would like you to do something very healing: Sit or stand in front of a mirror, fold your hands in front of your heart and bow to the image in the mirror with love and gratitude. Look at your body and say: I agree! The second Meditation: The Mind LetÕs start with the second
meditation. Make sure you will not be disturbed for at least fifteen minutes.
Sit in a comfortable position either on the floor or on a chair, with
your back as straight as possible, without straining. It may be helpful
to light some incense. - Find a comfortable position and take a few deep
breaths. - We will once more start with chanting the five Reiki principles
in their unabridged form three times. The Japanese translation in ancient
Japanese (from the Meiji period 1868-1912) is added in brackets. "The
secret method to invite happiness. (Shoufuku no hihoo) Now to the Meditation Close your eyes and listen to all the sounds that surround you. There is no need to edit, no need to divide what you perceive into "wantedÓ and "unwantedÓ. After a minute or two you will begin to settle into yourself, just like a pond begins to settle after thereÕs been a storm and the sky is clearing. As you are losing yourself in the depth of your being, you are becoming acutely aware of your mind. When I say mind, I mean both your thoughts and emotions. Allow your thoughts and emotions to come to the surface of your mind. Imagine the mind to be a deep pond, and the thoughts and emotions to be hiding in its depth. Allow what is the single most important issue in your life right now to come to the surface. Look at this issue with love, the same way you would look at a loved one. Now feel grateful for this issue from the bottom of your heart, even if this issue is a life threatening disease, divorce, financial difficulties or whatsoever. Feel grateful for having been presented with this issue. Now perceive your whole mental and emotional body as one whole. Feel grateful for everything you have been given. Look at what you see with clarity knowing that you will bring this knowledge with you into the waking state. Now take a few minutes to come back to this world. Stretch your body, wriggle your toes, and, welcome back... Before you conclude this meditation I would like you to sit or stand in front of a mirror, fold your hands in front of your heart and bow down to every difficulty you have ever encountered in your whole life, with love and gratitude. Look at your self and sayÓ I agree with my destiny! The third Meditation: The Soul Now it is time, for our final
meditation. Make sure you will not be disturbed for at least fifteen minutes.
Sit in a comfortable position either on the floor or on a chair, with
your back as straight as possible, without straining. It may be helpful
to light some incense. - Find a comfortable position and take a few deep
breaths. - We will once more start with chanting the five Reiki principles
in their unabridged form three times. The Japanese translation in ancient
Japanese (from the Meiji period 1868-1912) is added in brackets. "The
secret method to invite happiness. (Shoufuku no hihoo) Now to the Meditation Close your eyes and listen to all the sounds that surround you. There is no need to edit, no need to divide what you perceive into "wanted" and "unwanted". After a minute or two you will begin to settle into yourself, just like a pond begins to settle after there's been a storm and the sky is clearing. As you are losing yourself in the depth of your being, you are becoming acutely aware of the soul, of the universal. The soul is not something that is hidden inside of you. You are floating in it all day and night. It is what connects all of us so intimately. Imagine that your body is expanding slowly and comfortably, knowing that you can always come back into your ordinary mode of perception, the moment you decide to do so. Allow your body to expand, filling the whole room, touching the walls and the ceiling. Feel your skin touch the walls and the ceiling before even that vessel for your soul becomes to small and you expand even more. Below you will see your house as you expand more and more, slowly filling the area you live in, the village, the town and the district. As you are expanding even more, filling the state, the country the continent you look down below and see how you are everything and everyone. You see the houses, cars and people below you see trees and mountains, oceans and rivers. And all of that is you, and all of you is that. Expand some more until you fill the whole universe with your presence. And the whole universe fills you with its presence. Now look at what you see with clarity knowing that you will bring this knowledge with you into the waking state. Take a few minutes to come back to this world. Stretch your body, wriggle your toes, and, welcome back... Before you conclude this meditation I would like you to sit or stand in front of a window, fold your hands in front of your heart and bow down to every difficulty this planet has ever encountered, with love and gratitude. Visualise the Earth and say " I agree to my destiny, and I will live my life fully in every moment to come!" Conclusion It was a great pleasure to have met all of you over the past three weeks, and to have shared our love. I feel that I got to know many of you on a level beyond words, and I wish that we may meet again in the future, somewhere along the path. For all of you who would like to keep in touch with me, please visit our website, email me, or come to the events that will be held in the future. The international Reiki community is in a phase of great change, a change from the little drop towards the oceanic. With love and gratitude from
Japan, your Frank Arjava Petter Copyright © by Frank Arjava Petter, 2001
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Frank
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