The challenges of meditating on love

What could be more pleasant than meditating on love? In this article I want to explore a little how a simple meditation on love/loving kindness will actually stimulate a complex and challenging developmental process for us if we do it sincerely and consistently. What I will do first of all is outline a very simple meditation on what is called wishing love, then we can have a look at an example of the sort of stuff that love meditations can bring up.

A simple meditation on wishing love.

This meditation is called wishing love because it focuses on 4 benevolent wishes that we direct toward living beings which are:

May everyone be happy,

May everyone be free from misery,

May no one ever be separated from their happiness,

May everyone have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment.

In Tibetan Buddhism these four wishes are called the four immeasurables, because they take all living beings as their object. However we can alter the structure of the sentences to direct the wishes to ourself (may I be happy), or a specific group of people (may my friends/family/so-and-so be happy). So, by altering the structure of the verse we can make it a meditation on love directed to self, others, or all living beings. We can even structure it in such a way that we spend the first 5 minutes focusing on ourself, the second 5 mins on a group, and the third 5mins focusing on all living beings.

The challenge.

So there you go, a simple, flexible format for meditating on wishing love, where does the challenge lie you ask? The challenge comes because what happens is that as soon as you try and develop these types of loving wishes toward self and others, all the things in your mind that are NOT compatible with these wishes will start to come to the surface and start to object to or block our expression of these wishes. Here is an example from my own experience. I am generally ok with directing love toward myself, toward all living beings, Gaia, the Planet, the Universe, and specific groups of living beings including some humans. However, when I think of humans in general here are some of the type of dialogues that come up:

Loving wish “May humans be happy” – Mental response: “Hold on, I’m looking at humans every day, aren’t they the wilfully selfish, self centred, animal abusing, planet polluting consumer zombies that are the source of all the problems on the earth? I’m supposed to love them? I don’t even like them!”

Loving wish “May all humans be free from suffering” – Mental response: “Since they are creating so many problems with their egos, don’t they deserve what is coming to them? Wouldn’t it be justice?”

As you can see, my mind has plenty of issues in this area, how did I / do I get around this? Some of the points being raised are indeed legitimate! I get to the fourth wish:

“May all humans have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment” – Mental response: “Ok, I can get behind that one, if they did not have hatred, attachment, pride, egoism and all the other delusions in their mind, they would not be so harmful to themselves and the planet, I can get behind this wish!”

So, in this case my solution is found in the fourth wish, I feel I can legitimately extend a loving wish that humans be free from delusions, as it resolves the somewhat legitimate objections that have been raised; I can wish humans happiness and freedom from pain by becoming free from their delusions, which will also stop them causing so much carnage! I can also start to channel some of the anger and aggression that humans stimulate in me toward doing things that will help humans overcome their delusions (see article “In order to be happy sometimes you have to get mad as hell!”)

From this example we can see that the meditation on love stimulates some quite challenging developmental processes, and for each person there will be different challenges. People with low self esteem will have trouble connecting to the wish for themselves to be happy. People who are habitually self or family centred will have trouble wishing happiness to others whom they may not know. My basic point here is that this sort of developmental challenge is where the real benefits of the meditation is. Love is not just about connecting to a soft, rosy emotional feeling, it is about truly caring about ourself and others enough to look deeply into the dynamic of our mind and our life and to get to the bottom of the human issues that we face. To REALLY meditate on love you have to care enough to get through all the uncomfortable stuff, so that your wish to give yourself and others happiness is coming from a very deep and stable place.

Good luck!

Read next article on the "four different levels of love".

Text ©Toby Ouvry 2010 please do not reproduce without permission. www.platinumlight.com

Magical meditation as a method for awakening our psycho-spiritual powers

In this article I intend to have a look at the meaning of the word "magic", and outline a practical walking meditation method for integrating it into our daily life in such a way as to awaken our inner powers.

First of all lets look at the meaning of the word magic with fresh minds. We have to let go of all the programming that we have received from mainstream media and culture regarding what magic means. If you think of the word magic, you are most commonly going to think of fantasy genres such as the Harry Potter series of books and films (which I quite like but are not the same as what we are investigating here), or you are going to think about TV shows with very clever people doing funny things with cards, coins etc, or playing fascinating mind games with members of the audience. So, I would like you to set all that aside for a moment. Instead, here is a working definition of magic that can give us insight into how magical work has been used for centuries, particularly in the western tradition of spirituality, in order to facilitate peoples psycho-spiritual growth:
"Magical work involves any activity that aims to bridge the gap and facilitate communication between the inner worlds of our mind and spirit, with the outer worlds of our physical being, environment and action.
In particular, all white forms of magic aim to harness the power of the inner worlds of mind and spirit and direct them in such a way as to facilitate positive change in our outer world and environment. All forms of magic, being facilitators of communication/communion between the inner and outer worlds help us to develop a sense of empowered participation,creativity and belongingness in the world and environment within which we live."

It is worth spending time with the above definition as there are quite a few levels of meanings and connections that you can start to grasp intellectually and poetically just by reading it through a few times. What I want to explain below is a basic "magical walking meditation form" that can be worked with and explored easily. It involves developing awareness of our energy body, and the energy body of the place where we are walking, and using it as a way of connecting to and communicating with the spirit of that place. Practiced regularly, it is a very good way for awakening your basic psychic powers in a natural, healthy and balanced way.

Basic magical walking meditation form

First select and travel to the place that you have chosen to walk. A place with plenty of trees, nature and living creatures is preferable. If you live in a city environment then a park is an obvious example of such a place. Places of real wildness and natural power are ideal, so this is a good practice to do when you are on holiday in an area where you have access to such areas. For this explanation, I am going to take the example of a wooded area within a park.

Connecting to the living spirit of the place:
Stand at the periphery of the space you have chosen. In our example we stand just outside the edge of the trees that form the wood where we are going to walk. Now observe and contemplate the trees and woodland as a whole, try to sense and feel it as a singular, living being with its own unique spirit and presence. as you stand before it, take a few deeper breaths, and sense the woodland breathing with you. Feel your energy and the energy of the woodland connecting.

Setting intention and requesting permission to enter the space:
Before you proceed any further, set your intention that for the duration of the walk you are going to connect with the spirit of the woodland in order to facilitate healing and communion between the human world, and the world of nature, particularly as it is found within this wood. It is also advisable to ask the permission of the woodland to walk within its body, and to commune with it. Most times you will receive an affirmative answer but if you feel intuitively that the answer is a "no" or there seems to be some kind of strong negative energy or resistance to you doing so, then it may be advisable to seek another place to walk.

Connecting to your energy body, and the energy body of the place:
Having connected and received permission to walk in the woodland, focus now on the energy of the earth beneath your feet. Several meters beneath the surface of the earth sense a vast lake of golden earth light and energy. Now feel that energy rising up in two streams to the soles of your feet, from where it proceeds to fill your body with earth light and energy. You now feel as if you have an energy body, or light body that is inhabiting the same space as your physical body, and it has a set of subtle senses (sight, touch, hearing etc...) that are the energetic equivalent of your physical senses.
Having built your energy body in this way, now turn your attention to the land in front of you, and be aware that the earth light is also flowing up into the body of the landscape and the plants, trees and creatures within it. Sense that the whole of the landscape, like you, has a subtle energy or light body from which emanate subtle forms of energy, colour, sound and so on.

Walking in and through the land:
Having attuned yourself to the spirit and energy of the place, in this case the woodland, in this way, now proceed to enter into the woodland, and walk mindfully and slowly through it. Allow the particular direction that you take to be spontaneous and intuitive, just let your feet lead you where they seem guided to go. For the time you have allocated for your walk, proceed carefully and gently, observing the physical surroundings, and also attuning to the energy/light bodies of the trees, creatures, objects and spaces that you come in contact with. Pay particular attention to the plants, trees, stones, streams etc... whose energy seems to resonate strongly with you. You may find that certain animals "seek you out", and that more than once you find yourself face to face with them during your walk.

Concluding:
After you have finished your walk, don't forget to thank the spirit of the place where you have been. Walking in the same location regularly enables you to build up a relationship to the spirit of the place that is somewhat like (though different from) an ongoing relationship with a friend or family member. We develop a sense of how we can communicate with it, participate in its life, and both give and receive deep levels of love and soulful companionship. There are also many levels of (magical) inner work that may become available to us by engaging in this walking form regularly, but that is the subject of another article, and also for you to find out about through your own experience!

Text © Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Single Pointedness and Going with the Flow

Article subtitle: The two fundamental types of meditation found within eastern teachings, and a practical method for exploring both.

To a person new to meditation, the potential choice of different meditation types and traditions, together with all the different terminology that is used can make for quite a bewildering experience. The fact that the world is rich in spiritual traditions is a cause for rejoicing, but when it comes to the question “which meditation form should I choose” the diversity can be a challenge!

What I propose to do in this article is to point out a basic two fold division within which can be placed almost all of the meditation practices that one may find in the eastern traditions of meditation. Many of the western traditions of meditation also fall into these two categories, but I specifically want to focus on eastern traditions here, as they fit into the two categories much more obviously and systematically. By Eastern Tradition, I mean principally Buddhist and Hindu as these are the two eastern traditions from which spring most of the applied meditation systems that you can find and practice today.
The two fold division I am going to call one pointedness meditation and insight meditation respectively. Here is a brief summary of the meanings of both terms:

One Pointedness Meditation - Focusing the mind on a single object without distraction:
So, one pointedness meditation is essentially a training in concentration. Using one object, such as the breathing, a mantra, a feeling (love, compassion, joy etc…) or a visualized object, the meditator trains him/herself and her mind to focus attention on the object without distraction. The training progresses in stages; First the meditator is only able to focus for a few seconds before getting distracted, but gradually she builds focus until she is able to hold it for a few minutes, then ten, half an hour, one hour and so on, until eventually she can enter into meditation and hold the object in his or her mind without distraction for as long as desired.
For someone engaging in one pointedness practice, meditation is an act of will, one exerts effort to keep one’s attention where it is supposed to be, and not get distracted by extraneous mental activity. It is through this concentration that the meditator makes progress in his path of inner growth and development.
In Tibetan Buddhism this form of meditation is called tranquil abiding meditation, in Theravada Buddhism it is called the jhana or samatha meditation, and in Hindu and yoga meditation practice it is called dharana.

Insight Meditation - Going with the flow:
In the second form of meditation, insight meditation, rather than try and control the mind, the essential point is to witness the mind as an observer. No attempt is made to stop the mind working, the meditator simply sits and takes in all the information that is available to him. He notes the experiences coming from his senses, notes his breathing, the thoughts and feelings flowing through his mind. He also notes the spaces in between the thoughts and feelings in his mind. The only thing that the meditator must NOT do in insight meditation is to get caught up and identified with what is arising in his mind, if he does this then he has lost the thread of his mediation. As soon as he becomes aware that this has happened, he should immediately return to his position as an observer and witness.
As his practice progresses, gradually the flow of thoughts and feelings within his mind recedes, and the true nature of his mind is revealed to him, which is why it is called insight meditation.
In Tibetan Buddhism this is called mahamudra meditation, and/or dzogchen. In Theravada Buddhism is called vipassana meditation, although some vipassana traditions seem to emphasize meditation on the breathing in a way that is more like one pointedness meditation.

For us today in contemporary society, I think both meditations have their merits as both of them teach us useful skills that we can apply practically to our daily lives. One pointedness teaches us focus, strength and stamina whilst insight meditation shows us how to let go, how to allow, go with the flow and to develop our reflective wisdom.
With this in mind I am going to outline below a simple practice that you can do where there is alternation between one pointedness and insight techniques. Practiced together in this way they form a complementary whole where we can develop both skill sets.

Combined one pointedness and insight meditation form:

Setting up the meditation:
Find a comfortable meditation posture on a chair or cross legged on a cushion, the main feature of the posture should be a naturally straight back, with the muscles relaxed, doing only enough work to hold your posture upright and no more.
Once comfortable, make a decision to relax and take your mind away from the business of your life for the period that you have allotted for meditation.
Use the natural process of your breathing to start to bring your mind into the present moment, and onto your body. Once your mind has settled somewhat, become aware of the expression on your face. Raise the corners of your mouth just a few millimeters, so that you are now wearing the expression of a gentle half-smile **(see note below), note that the physical expression of a half smile if held consciously gradually gives rise quite naturally to a naturally positive inner smiling energy.

The main meditation form
Stage 1:
Now, for five breaths, try and focus on the inhalation and out exhalation without distraction. As you breathe in focus your attention on your inner smile, and as you breathe out, feel the energy of the inner smile gently expanding through your body and mind. This is the one-pointedness aspect of the form.
Stage 2:
Once you have completed five breaths without distraction, relax your exclusive attention on the breathing, and just take it easy for a few breaths. Be aware of the whole of your moment to moment experience, the breathing, your senses, your body, the flow of thoughts and feelings though your mind. The only thing you CANNOT do in this phase of the meditation is allow yourself to get lost in thoughts and distractions. You are a witness and observer as you relax and let go! This is the insight meditation aspect of the form.

For the next part of the meditation, just alternate between stages 1 and 2, focusing on the breathing and smiling for five breaths, then relaxing and observing for a few breaths. Do this for as long as feels appropriate.

Optional stage 3:
This is a slightly more advanced stage, but you should find that it comes quite naturally once you have been practicing stages 1 and 2 regularly in your daily meditation. You should find that as you do stages 1 and 2 above, a sense of space and clarity starts to appear quite naturally within your mind, like a clear sky emerging from behind clouds. So, with stage 3, As you do the five breath single pointedness section, rather than focusing on your inner smile as you breathe, focus single pointedly on the sense of inner space as you breathe in and out. Then, as you relax for a few breaths as in stage 2, rather than focusing on the stream of thoughts and feelings flowing through your mind, instead focus on the spaces between the thoughts and feelings.
In this way you can use the one pointedness part of the meditation and the insight part in a complementary way to gradually journey deeper into the experience of inner space and clarity within your mind.

** For more information on the inner smile meditation please go to:
Introduction to the inner smile meditation

Practical applications of the inner smile:

Text Copyright Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

An answer the the question "How do I experience meditation?"

I was asked the other day during a coaching session "How do I experience meditation?" I thought this was actually a very good question to ask a meditation coach, it seems a very obvious one, but I don't think I have ever been asked it before so directly, which seems quite remarkable considering the amount of time that I have been a meditation teacher!
Anyway, the answer that I initially gave was something to the effect that when I meditate these days the meditation tends to ''do itself" in the sense that it now has its own natural momentum, and I just have to follow it. Some of what I experience is directly related to techniques that I have been practicing for a long time, but other aspects of my meditation experience are direct and spontaneous, where the technique has been left behind and given rise to an experience that ''is itself'' not taught but discovered.

So, later that day after my own regular sitting meditation practice I sat down and wrote another response in my journal that came to me and seemed like it was worth recording. This response is what I want to share with you below, as I think it may provide some interesting insights into the subjective experience of someone who has been meditating consistently for many years. If you compare it to the formal meditation technique on the "Level 2 microcosmic orbit meditation" that I recently placed on the Qi Gong blog, you will see certain common points. If you compare and contrast the two you can start to see how a formal technique evolves into a deeper, more free-form/fluid and participatory experience.

So, here is my answer to "How do I experience meditation" as I sat down and wrote it in my journal. Please remember I have done it in a subjective, poetic and creative manner, rather than a scientific or technical one. As many of you know I am a practicing artist, and this response is a reflection of this part of who I am. It is one answer of potentially many that I could have made:
"Imagine that beneath the surface of where you live there is a big lake of Earth light, or Earth Soul, a huge pool of liquid golden light lying within the body of the planet. Imagine then that when you meditate this light is catalyzed, starting to rise up to the surface, flowing into your body through the soles of your feet. This fills your body with a sensation that is tangible physically and gives rise to a deep sense of connection/connectivity to the Planet and to the Whole.
So, then imagine that as you continue to meditate day by day, gradually more and more of this light starts to rise up to the surface of where you are living. It start to flow not just up into you, but also up into things like the trees and the plants in your neighborhood, even into the fabric of the buildings, paths, concrete and so forth.
The natural flow of the Earth light / Earth Soul is catalyzed so that, even if (like most places) the surface environment where you live has been tampered with, blocked and otherwise abused by human activity, the flow is revived, renewed and increased. To what extent it is renewed depends upon many factors, such as the power of the meditator, how badly the original energy flow of the place has been blocked, what ongoing activities there are around about and so on.
Then imagine that the increased flow of energy up from the Earth and land below into the trees, the living things, and the natural and artificial structures in the landscape around you has another effect. Imagine that it starts to attract and catalyze an increased flow of Star light and energy down from the sky above which flows down through the body of you the meditator, and the bodies of the things on the surface of the land around you.
It seems almost like the Earth light and the Stars above start to communicate and interact, and everything on the surface world in the middle, including you and your body experience a participation in this energy exchange and dialogue.
In this experience, speaking from the subjective view of the meditator, there is sometimes a lot of dynamic energy and movement through the body, and sometimes deep stillness. Most often it is a balance of the two that is ebbing and flowing in an organic and protean way.
Within the context of this description, the meaning of being human seems to be revealed as a mediator of energies between Heaven and Earth, a potential catalyzer of the evolutionary process of the Planetary being of which we are a part. To be human in this way feels deeply wonderful and meaningful.
For me meditation seems to contain much in the nature of communion, a sense of contact, a sense of finding that which takes away any sense of isolation, and replaces it with a deep, centering experience of belonging.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do nor\t reproduce without permission.

Getting to know your own personal perennial truths and wisdom.

Last night I taught a class on the perennial philosophy, which is a school of thinking that has attempted to track the common or universal spiritual practices that are found in all religions and spiritualities worldwide. It is a school of thought that I have a lot of time for, and that I consider to have a large part to play in the re-integration of authentic spirituality our modern and post-modern society and culture.

What I wanted to look at in this article is an immediate and practical way in which we can discover what perennial spiritual practices, if any we have in our own personal life right now that are impacting our experience in a real and visceral way. To this end I am going to describe an exercise below that will help those who engage in it to start to measure this for themselves. Here it is:

Sit in a quiet place, with a pen and a piece of paper handy. Take a few moments to set aside any practical affairs that may be occupying your mind, so that it is ready for a period of relatively focused contemplation and reflection. When you are ready, imagine as follows:

“I have unexpectedly had my lifespan cut short, such that I only have twenty four hours to live. During this time I have to reconcile myself to the fact that I shall be leaving my family, friends and loved ones behind permanently, never to meet again on the physical plane. I will also have to leave behind all the possessions, money, property that I have gathered, not to mention my reputation, career and other worldly enjoyments. The tide of my life has taken an irreversible turn toward death, which will come to me shortly.”
Take a little bit of time to see and visualize yourself in the above situation, perhaps lying in hospital with a fatal disease or after a traumatic accident. You are able to think clearly enough to understand fully the situation that you are in, but have no power to change it.

After you have spent a few minutes entering into this situation and getting a feeling for some of the uncomfortable feelings that arise upon its contemplation, then ask yourself the question:

“What experience of inner wisdom or universal truths have I built within my being that will be of practical help to me at this time? What inner guidance can I find within me at this time that will step forward and hold my hand as I prepare myself for a final departure from my body and from life as I have known it?’’

As you contemplate this question try not to lose touch with the vividness of your imagined situation, where you really feel you are approaching death. If you are going to find our what it really going to be of use to you, this must not turn into a mere intellectual exercise, it must be deeply felt. After you have thought about it for a short while, then write down your response to the question. I recommend you put pen to paper and just keep writing until there is nothing more left to put down. Try not to “edit” what you write, just be honest and write down what is coming to you. After you have finished writing, read through what you have written. Then put the piece of paper aside for twenty four hours, then read it again.

What the answer that you have written to the question will have revealed to you is the current connection that you have your own inner perennial or universal wisdom, that is to say the inner guidance that, when you find yourself faced with deep challenge, change and transformation in your life, you can truly rely upon to be your friend and protector.

So, one way of answering the question ‘’Why should I make time each day for spiritual practice and reflection on what is most important to me?” (for details of my recent article on “What is spiritual practice?” click HERE), The answer comes back; “In order to keep consistently keep articulating, cultivating and building my own deepest inner wisdom and personal truth, so that when the suffering, pain and challenges come in my life, I shall have something within me that I know I can rely upon to be my friend and guide.’’ I would also add the following as being equally important: “I make time for the daily cultivation of my inner wisdom so that when true happiness, rapture, joy and bliss come knocking on my door, I shall be able to recognize them and accept them fully into the depths of my being!!”

The perennial philosophy asserts that it is a basic tenet of all spiritual faiths that genuine spiritual practice is accessed through the gateway of contemplating death and impermanence. It is also an assertion of the perennial philosophy (and one that I share most fully) that the purpose of engaging in genuine spiritual practice is to reveal the imminent and transcendent bliss, joy and rapture that, as human beings participating in the manifest world is our birth right.
An authentic spiritual journey tends to take us to inner spaces where polar opposites such as happiness and sadness, or life and death are brought together in a single, unified awareness.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, Please do not reproduce without permission.

What do we mean by spiritual practice? What is its purpose? How does it affect practical change in our life? Motivating ourself to engage in spiritual

The answers to these three questions that I an including in this article below are based around my notes for the recent introductory class on Essential Spirituality. There is a lot of conversations that people have regarding spirituality that really lack any meaningful substance simply because the people involved have not really thought about or defined what it is that they mean by spirituality and spiritual practice. More than this, clear understanding of what the purpose of the spiritual path is will give us a clear insight into the benefits to be gained from engaging in it, thus empowering us to start doing it consistently in our day to day life!
The thoughts I have placed below are one possible way of defining the playing field.

What do we mean by spiritual practice?

Spiritual practice involves the process of consciously awakening each day to that which is most important and fundamental to our lives. It means creating the time each day to reflect upon this and allow that reflection to inform the way we view, act in and assess our lives and what we are choosing to do with it.
This reflection empowers us to creatively affect meaningful change in our lives, so that we no longer feel like a victim of random circumstance, rather we experience ourself as an active participant in generating our experiences and our destiny.

What is its purpose of spiritual practice?

Basic spiritual reflection (verified by the many sages of all spiritualities and religions across the ages) reveals that life consists of the potential for joy, rapture, beauty and ecstasy, within the context of many seemingly unavoidable experiences of pain suffering and injustice.
The purpose of spiritual practice is to prepare us to meet the challenges , uncertainties and sufferings of life in as effective a way as possible, whilst at the same time maximizing the potential for the experience of joy, happiness, ecstasy and rapture that life has to offer us.

How does spiritual practice affect practical change in our life?

Spiritual practice aims to affect positive practical change in our life by consistently improving the integrity and strength of the fundamental structure of our being.
Spiritual practice encourages our body, mind and spirit to work together in harmony to meet life's challenges and to grow.
Often in daily life our mind, body and spirit are either not communicating, or actively fighting against each other. An example of this might be a busy person whose body gets sick because it is tired from all the work that she is doing. Instead of giving compassion to her body, such a person may get angry with it for malfunctioning, and resist giving it the rest it needs. As a result the body takes longer to recover, and may even become more sick.
Integrated spiritual practice aims to flag up all these inconsistencies and conflicts between the different aspects of our being, and aims to resolve them so that we can turn and face the challenges of our life as a whole, integrated and strong unit, one that does not break apart under pressure.

Listening to three voices: A basic practice for bringing us back to that which is fundamental to our life.

This is a very simple, practical three stage reflection exercise/meditation. If you spend two minutes each day on each stage, that will give you a basic six minute spiritual practice!

Stage 1: Listening to the voice of your body.
Sit quietly in a comfortable position in an upright posture. Tune into your body's intuitive/instinctive consciousness. Allow your body consciousness to guide you to set a pace and rhythm of breathing that will best promote relaxation, healing and regeneration at this particular moment in time.

Stage 2: Listening to the voices in the mind.
Now turn your attention to the discursive thoughts in your mind. Be an observer of the inner chatter in your mind, consciously avoiding getting over involved in the discussion. Practice inwardly smiling at the thoughts and voices in your mind, whether they seem to be positive or negative, happy or sad.

Stage 3: Listening to the voice of silence.
Now turn your attention from the discursive thoughts in the mind to an awareness of the space and silence that lies between your thoughts, that surrounds them and interpenetrates them. Think of this inner silence in the mind as being like sky, with the discursive voices being like clouds. Relax into the sky-like silence and clarity of your inner being.

© Toby Ouvry Feb 2010 Please do not reproduce without permission.

Establishing an effective formula for daily meditation practice and one of the long term benefits of meditation: Lucid sleeping.

An effective formula for daily meditation practice.

For many people there is a challenge involved in developing a consistent daily meditation practice. In a meditation class or during meditation retreat, it can seem relatively easy to meditate as everyone around us is meditating also, and the environment is generally supportive of our focus. However, once we get back into the maelstrom of our daily routine, sitting still all by ourself for 20 or so minutes can be intimidating to the point that we may subconsciously avoid it, even if we do have the time in our schedule.
So, in order to help begin to establish regularity in your meditation routine, I am going to suggest a simple formula that goes like this: 5x3x5.
This formula basically means five minutes of meditation, three times a day, five days a week. Rather than trying to sit down for a full 20 minutes each day, try and create five minutes in the morning sometime, five minutes over lunch, and five minutes during the afternoon or evening where you commit yourself to creating a meditation space in your routine.
The particular meditation form that you choose in those five minutes is up to you, in some ways the simpler the better. For example for that time you could simply focus on using your awareness of your body and your breathing in order to release tension in your body an mind, and re-center yourself around the core of your being. Another simple breathing form that you could try and place within some of these five minute periods is the core body breathing or core cellular breathing that I outlined recently in my Qi Gong blog.
Initially just try and do this five minutes three times a day routine on your weekdays, and take the weekend as a ‘holiday’. However, once you start to see how enjoyable and productive inserting these short meditation breaks is to your daily life, you may find that you want to insert a little bit of spontaneous meditation into your weekend routine. The important thing is to set yourself a routine that is enjoyable, doable, and that does not become just another box to tick off in our list of things that need to get done during the day!
So, you might like to remember this little formula, and see if you can integrate it into your routine over the next few weeks and months….

Lucid sleeping.
The long term benefits of regular, consistent meditation practice, even when practiced in the 5x3x5 format above are really immeasurable. However watching the development our meditation practice is a little bit like watching a plant grow; when you look at it from moment to moment, day to day, there does not seem to be a lot happening! The benefits of meditation are therefore really best noticed incidentally, that is to say you set up a daily/weekly meditation practice or routine, and then just get on with it. If you can do this, then every now and again, without necessarily looking for it, you notice that your mind has changed. Old issues that used to send you into a spiral no longer seem to have such power, we are more accepting of ourself and our ‘imperfections’, warmth and connectedness towards others seems to arise more often and more spontaneously than before…
One of the longer term benefits of meditation that I have recently started to notice in my own inner work is what I would call ‘lucid sleeping’. There are lot of books out there that describe how do develop the ability of lucid dreaming, which is where we are basically able to remain conscious and aware during the dream state, and are therefore able to manipulate our dreams to a greater or lesser extent. ‘Lucid sleeping’ is the ability to remain conscious when our mind dissolves onto even more subtle levels of consciousness, where all forms (physical, dream or otherwise) have dissolved into the vast, luminous empty space that lies beneath or beyond the dream state. This vast luminous empty space is called by various names within different meditation traditions; In Tibetan Buddhism it is called the Dharmakaya, in Kabbalistic mysticism is called Kether, other names include the clear light, Shunyatta, the causal mind.
Anyway, the main point here is that, after about 15 years of consistent meditation, I have noticed that quite naturally and organically, my ability to remain lucid whilst simultaneously in a relatively deep sleep has suddenly improved substantially. As a result my ability to meditate at the same time as lying down and going to sleep has become very much a part of my daily reality. This obviously has huge advantages in the sense that substantial periods of time that previously were spent in unconscious slumber have now become actively available for spiritual development.
So, I thought I would mention this as an illustration of the longer term benefits of dedicating a portion of time each day to meditation and cultivating inner peace. What starts out as a 5x3x5 weekly routine, if practiced over months and years will naturally bear much positive fruit without an unnatural amount of effort!

© Toby Ouvry Jan 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.