Light Body Meditation

Sit quietly where you will not be disturbed.

Be aware of your Light Body, or Mer-Ka-Ba, if you can. If you cannot, then just be aware of a tube of light that is embedded inside your body. If you are Buddhist, you may be aware of this tube. It is similar to a fluorescent tube in that it is straight and glass-like and about the same diameter.

If you hold your middle finger and thumb together, that will be the size of your tube. It runs from one hand length above your head to one hand length below your feet. It enters your head at the crown chakra on the top of the head or, in other words, the place where a baby pulses directly after birth. It then leaves the body at the perineum, the soft place between the anus and the genitals, but continues between the legs to one hand length below the feet...

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, Meditation, you can find it here: Light Body Meditation

All These Forms

The following song, by the Tibetan teacher Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, advises us - in the face of the arising and dissolving of myriad forms - to "just let go, and go where no mind goes."

All These Forms 

All these forms - appearance emptiness

Like a rainbow with its shining glow

In the reaches of appearance emptiness

Just let go and go where no mind goes

Every sound is sound and emptiness

Like the sound of an echo's roll

In the reaches of sound and emptiness

Just let go and go where no mind goes

Every feeling is bliss and emptiness

Way beyond what words can show

In the reaches of bliss and emptiness

Just let go and go where no mind goes

All awareness - awareness emptiness

Way beyond what thought can know

In the reaches of appearance emptiness

Let awareness go - oh, where no mind goes

Meditation for The Seed of Potential

Center again in the heart. Breathe with the sound Ya KhaBeer and allow it to sink into your being like rain into dry ground, like the sun warming the earth in the spring. Breathe the initial sound Kha- into the heart, and then breathe the sound -Beer outward, feeling the potential for growth. Find the place inside where a new awareness dawns, and what is waiting to be born again begins to stir. Nurture that feeling by breathing softly from the heart into the inner self.

From: The Sufi Book of Life

A Mandala Meditation

To begin your meditation select a quiet time and sit with a straight back on a cushion on the floor in front of a low table, with a lighted candle and incense if you desire.

Alternately, sit in a chair and place your candle and incense on a regular table. Either way, have your mandala in front of you at eye level - on the table or behind it on the wall.

Fold your hands in your lap or place them palms up on your thighs. Begin with a prayer and then set your intention of using this time of meditation and contemplation to move into a place of spiritual centeredness.

I like the phrase "Toward the One."

Next, for the reflective portion of your meditation just sit quietly, eyes open, gazing at the mandala. If you find your eyes wandering gently bring them back to the mandala. If you find your eyes watering, or feeling heavy, allow them to close while keeping a mental image of the mandala in your mind. If your thoughts wander, gently bring them back. Maintain this quiet time for about 10 or 15 minutes. Allow yourself to enjoy the experience.

Now, close your eyes. If your eyes are already closed, open them and look at the mandala once again, and then close your eyes. Conclude your meditation with thoughts, affirmations or prayers for personal and world peace.

Meditating regularly over a period of time brings spiritual discipline, and produces ever longer stretches of centeredness and peace.

Being centered

When we understand, 

we are at the center of the circle, 

and there we sit 

while Yes and No 

chase each other around the circumference.

~Chuang-Tzu

Take a Deep Breath

Take a deep breath. Feel it hitting in the middle if the chest. Feel as if the whole existence is pouring vitality and life into you, into your heart. Do it at least five times.

Now exhale deeply, again from the heart, and feel you are pouring all that has been given to you back into existence.

Do this as many times in the day as you remember, but whenever you do it, do five breaths at once.

Benefits:
This technique will help you feel more vibrant and alive, enjoying whatever life brings. It will help you shift from the head to the heart. You will become more sensitive and aware of many things that you have not previously been aware of. You will start  feeling life really throbbing in you.

From Pragito Dove
Discover Meditation Training Inc.
Mandala by Trevor Nichols

Meditation for Starting Out in the Journey

With one hand lightly on your heart, breathe easily and gently, feel the awareness of breath and heartbeat creating a clear, spacious place inside. Breathe with the sound of the word bismillah (BiS-MiL-LaaH). When we remember to connect our heart to the Heart of the Cosmos, we recall that, as the Sufis say, "God is your lover, not your jailer."

~Neil Douglas-Klotz

Sit Silently and Wait

A meditative awareness comes like a whisper, not a shout, with noiseless footsteps. If you are full of occupations, busyness and noise it might come and wait, but then it will leave.

Set aside some time -- 3, 5, 10, 15 minutes or longer -- preferably every day, for sitting in silence. It doesn’t matter where you are, just sit, close your eyes, and wait. Don’t do anything, just sit in great waiting with an open, trusting heart. Then if something is to “happen” you will be ready to receive it. If nothing happens, at least you’ve had this “down time” to do nothing. No matter what, after sitting silently for a while you will feel more in touch with yourself, more peaceful.

When and Where:
Most people find that it works best to do this at the same time every day. It doesn’t matter what time you choose, but setting aside a set time, say as a mid-morning break or during your lunch hour, helps make it part of your daily routine. When the inner consciousness knows that the outer consciousness is waiting for it, there is a greater possibility of a meeting.

Benefits:
As you practice doing nothing, by and by an understanding will start to arise between you and the meditative state. As this understanding grows you will start to feel a subtle quality of relaxation, of serenity woven into the textureof your whole day.

From: Discover Meditation Training Inc.

Enlightenment

Enlightenment is not something that we can acquire through an action. It is a deep inner knowing from which successful action proceeds. Rituals, which are very powerful and necessary,, can also be misunderstood, and function as a distraction.

For a long time, I had a long list of rituals that I believed I had to do before I could make contact with God. I thought I had to get up at a certain time in the morning, take a cold shower, do a certain number of yoga postures and breathing exercises, perform a certain preparation for meditation, and then (I believed) I could go within and experience my inner peace. And it worked. I grew tremendously from this practice - but there was a flaw in the way I was doing it.

My mistake was that if I was occasionally unable to perform my rituals, I would feel frustrated and unfulfilled. I felt as if I was not prepared for the day, as if I had missed something. I had the mistaken notion that my happiness depended on these exercises. I believed that God is something that could be accomplished, when it is a Presence that needs only to be recognized.

~Alan Cohen

Chakra Balancing Meditation

Visualize a little red ball of light spinning at the base of your spine. This is the root chakra. Mentally note any color that it is and the direction it is spinning if possible. Begin to mentally change the hue of the ball to a brilliant, clear, ruby red.

Encourage the chakra to spin in a clockwise direction if it is not already doing so. Once the root chakra is spinning in the proper direction with the correct hue, expand it until your whole body is surrounded by this brilliant red light. Diminish the red sphere until it has returned to the little red ball of light at the base of your spine.

Slowly turn your attention upward to the orange ball of light slightly above the root chakra. This orange ball of light is your sacral chakra. Mentally note any color that it is and the direction it is spinning if possible. Begin to mentally change the hue of the ball to a stunning orange.

Encourage the chakra to spin in a clockwise direction if it is not already doing so. Once the sacral chakra is spinning in the proper direction with the correct hue, expand it until your whole body is encased in orange light. Diminish the orange sphere until it has returned to the little orange ball of light behind your naval region.

Slowly turn your attention upward to the yellow ball of light slightly above the sacral chakra. This yellow ball of light is your solar plexus chakra. Mentally note any color that it is and the direction it is spinning if possible. Begin to mentally change the hue of the ball to a bright sun yellow.

Encourage the chakra to spin in a clockwise direction if it is not already doing so. Once the solar plexus chakra is spinning in the proper direction with the correct hue, expand it until your whole body is encased in yellow light. Diminish the yellow sphere until it has returned to the little yellow ball of light behind your stomach region.

Slowly turn your attention upward to the green ball of light slightly above the solar plexus chakra. This green ball of light is your heart chakra. Mentally note any color that it is and the direction it is spinning if possible. Begin to mentally change the hue of the ball to a clear emerald green.

Encourage the chakra to spin in a clockwise direction if it is not already doing so. Once the heart chakra is spinning in the proper direction with the correct hue, expand it until your whole body is encased in yellow light. Diminish the green sphere until it has returned to the little green ball of light behind your heart.

Slowly turn your attention upward to the blue ball of light slightly above the heart chakra. This blue ball of light is your throat chakra. Mentally note any color that it is and the direction it is spinning if possible. Begin to mentally change the hue of the ball to a sky blue.

Encourage the chakra to spin in a clockwise direction if it is not already doing so. Once the throat chakra is spinning in the proper direction with the correct hue, expand it until your whole body is encased in blue light. Diminish the blue sphere until it has returned to the little blue ball of light from your throat.

Slowly turn your attention upward to the purple ball of light in your brow region. This purple ball of light is your third eye chakra. Mentally note any color variance in the chakra and the direction it is spinning. Begin to mentally change the hue of the ball to a clear, deep purple.

Encourage the chakra to spin in a clockwise direction if it is not already doing so. Once the third eye chakra is spinning in the proper direction with the correct hue, expand it until your whole body embraces this purple light. Diminish the purple sphere until it has returned to the little purple ball of light near your third eye.

Slowly turn your attention upward to the white ball of light descending down from the sky above. This white ball of light is your crown chakra beginning to open to receive messages from the divine. Take a moment to feel the warmth and love from this light. Mentally note any distortion in color and the direction it is spinning. Begin to mentally change the hue of the ball to the most brilliant white light that you can imagine.

Encourage the chakra to spin in a clockwise direction if it is not already doing so. Once the crown chakra is spinning in the proper direction with the correct hue, expand it until your whole body is covered in brilliant white light. Feel the warmth on your skin. Feel it penetrate deep into your tissues and muscles. Feel it warm your bones. Then diminish the white sphere until it has returned to the little white ball of light at the top of your head.

-oOo-

Begin to wiggle your toes and fingers. Become aware of the position of your physical body. Slowly move your legs and arms. Open your eyes then take a moment to become aware of the room around you.

As Without - So Within

The mandala is one of the most potent symbols of humankind. Its circular form and concentric structure reflect the shape of the universe outside and the sense of perfection within. Mandalas are seen as sacred places which, by their very presence in the world, remind a viewer of the immensity and the sanctity of the universe and its potential in oneself.

In the Buddhist tradition, the purpose of a mandala is to put an end to human suffering, to attain enlightenment and to attain a correct view of Reality. It is a means to discover divinity by the realization that it resides within one's own self. Concentration on its form and content is an aid to prayer and meditation, leading eventually to a complete at-oneness with the world. At the center of every mandala is the Bindhu; the point, which is the symbol of emptiness.

Shown below, is an interpretation of The Cosmic Mandala from a mural painting at a wall of the Zong in Paro-Bhutan. It is an abstract form representing the the primary movement of the universe, the cosmic motion of the planets and the elements.

Remembering Who You Are

Sit in an upright position in a chair, with your back straight, feet flat on the floor, and hands comfortably in your lap. If you wish, play soft inspirational or sacred music in the background.

Slowly take three deep breaths. On each exhalation, release all tension or negative thoughts from your mind and body.

Keeping your heart open and receptive, close your eyes. Imagine a ball of rainbow-colored light at the top of your head. Visualize it descending into the center of your brain.

Concentrate on that glowing energy, and direct it down through your neck and into your heart, feeling warmth and love. Continue directing it downward into your stomach and the rest of your organs and finally down through your legs to the soles of your feet and into the ground.

Now visualize this healing and centering energy and light coming back up from the ground and up the back of your legs. Slowly direct it up through the core of your spine and back into your head.

Imagine yourself being lifted gently into the universe. Keeping a sense of your meditative posture, see and feel yourself floating gently in outer space, surrounded by the stars and planets.

Realize that your body and the manifest universe are an inseparable cosmic creation of vibrating atomic polarities.

Realize that all the atoms in your physical body are billions of years old - composed from the exploding light of ancient stars and other electromagnetic energies.

Imagine yourself being pulled into a black hole of radiation, going past time and space into the dark womb of the universe. The silence of this black hole is beyond description - it is intelligence, as yet unthinking. Experience the peace and bliss of this all-pervasive intelligence.

Imagine this intelligence beginning to think and creatively to dream. Suddenly you experience a roaring sound and a spark of visible light spreads. Somehow originating in the sound, the light begins to radiate throughout the darkness. Creation has begun. You perceive vast clouds of many-colored lights that are the formation of galaxies and all the other creations of Earth, including your physical body.

Imagine yourself as the soul within the human body and that the sun's rainbow-colored light is entering into your physical body. Now imagine streams of electromagnetic energy and waves of visible light pouring out of your body and creatively interweaving with the streams of energy that compost the universe.

Meditate for a momentum this web of light streams that connects your soul, mind, and physical body to the universe. Realize that through the divine inner light of your consciousness you are participating in the creation of this tapestry of light and life.

Gently bring your focus back to the planet Earth and the spot you occupy physical. See with new eyes.


~from Mandala by Judith Cornell
art by Shirley Gibson

Breathe

Breath is life and change, a basic connection between the inner and the outer. It is a flowing bridge between life and death. Every breath is rebirth, inspiration, a letting go of the old. Breathing is a constant source of energy, a continuous affirmation.

Change your breathing and you will think differently, and this change can be created by choice because breathing is one of the few bodily functions that can be voluntary or automatic.

Here is an easy breathing exercise:

Fix your concentration in the middle of the forehead. See a radiant jewel there. Watch and observe what happens as you inhale through your nose - pulling your diaphragm in, and exhale through your nose - pushing your diaphragm out.

Repeat this process 6 or 10 times.

What happened?
How do you feel?

Love

From Discover Meditation here is something really nice for today:

The Secret Key

Description:
Love is the secret key. It opens the door of the divine.
Truth is hidden as love in the deepest core of your being.
Truth is not logic; it is an explosion of love.

How do we find it?
Through facing the unknown.

Normally we seek the known. Mind seeks the known. Mind is repetitive. It likes what it already knows. The unknown brings up fear. By finding the courage to face the unknown, you discover the art of meditation, the art of dropping the mind. Even if you drop the mind only for a few moments, you can look at the unknown and this is what makes you wise.

When and Where:
Any opportunity you get to face the unknown - face it. Notice the mind coming in trying to create logical outcomes - and let the mind pass by. Allow yourself to rest in the unknown, without fear, with trust that all is well.

Benefits:
Love makes you wise, but never knowledgeable. The known is the mind, the unknown is the divine. Love comes through the unknown, with the unknown, as part of the unknown. To move into the unknown requires tremendous courage. You are rewarded with wisdom and understanding.... the greatest wealth possible.

-oOo-

This is from: Discover Meditation Training
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She also has a travel site: Discover Travel Fun

Why create a mandala?

Here are a number of really good reasons to begin to create your own personal mandala art as a journal or as a meditative practice.

• Because it has the regenerative and curative power to activate the latent powers of the mind. The meditative process helps to focus and open the heart to the healing power of unconditional love.



• Because it has a calming and relaxing effect on the mind and body, thus focusing and strengthening the will to heal.



• Because it can bring joy as it facilitates the healing of a sense of psychological fragmentation.



• Because it can make the invisible visible - expressing paradoxical situations or patterns of ultimate reality that can be expressed in no other way.



• Because it can reveal unity between human existence and the structure of the cosmos - opening up a perspective in which things can be understood as a whole.



• Because it can give form and expression to an intuitive insight into spiritual truth by releasing the inner light of the soul.

from Mandala by Judith Cornell
personal mandala by Michelle Church

Sri Yantra Mandala Meditation

The secret key to using Yantras in meditation is Resonance. The process of Resonance is established by mental focus on the image of the Yantra. As long as the mind is tuned into the specific mood associated to that Yantra, the energy flows, but when the Resonance is stopped, the energy disappears.

Instructions for Shri Yantra Mandala meditation:

1. Hang the Shri Yantra mandala on a wall facing North or East, placing the center of the Yantra at the level of your eyes...

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Mandala Madness, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: Sri Yantra Mandala Meditation