Meditation for Beginners

Step 1

The World of the Mind

In Matthew 15:10-20, there is a teaching about what defiles a person. The Pharisees that Jesus often took to task were very concerned with ritual and purity in terms of cleanliness and follow the letter of the law. Just prior to this discussion Jesus quotes Isaiah saying, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." If you've ever known a person, or group of people, who are very concerned with looking religious all the while their true character is cruel or selfish or gossipy or unloving, this is kind of what he's dealing with. Religion is full of hypocrites.

But Jesus teaches that the rituals are not true faith. True faith is what generates out of the heart of a person - out of the mind. He says, "what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this is what defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defiles a person." It is in the world of the mind that we must enter if you wish to follow the way of Christ.

Another challenging teaching about thought comes in Matthew 5:27-30, where Jesus explains the commandment "You shall not commit adultery." He tells us "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman [or a man] with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." According to the teaching of Jesus, it matters not whether you don't act on the feeling of lust, it matters whether or not you allow that feeling (or thought) to linger in your mind.

Yet, how is it possible to control one's thoughts? Where do thoughts even come from? Don't they just seem to appear?

Here's what I think we can deduce from Jesus' teaching. There are three categories of thoughts:

• Things you think and then do
• Things you think but do not do
• Things you think and reject and do not do

Thought exists independent of the mind. We can attach to them or we can detach from them. If we attach to them, they will exist in us in 1 of 2 ways, either they will become things we think and then do; or they will become things that we think but don't do.

What Jesus is teaching us, is that what matters is whether or not we attach to the thought.

Think of your thoughts like leaves floating down a river. We can see the leaf coming and we have a choice. We can either pick it up (attach) or we can see it and let it pass (detach).

The more we practice discernment about which thoughts to pick up and with to let pass and reject, the more we refine the flow of thoughts to provide more of the ones we pick up and less of the ones we let pass. Like a computer algorithm that learns your preferences, the system of thought learns your attachments.

This is why Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see G-d." Purification of the heart comes by way of this process of attachment and detachment; by perceiving the space between your self and the thought. The grace of the Spirit of Consciousness of G-d that informs your consciousness helps you see this space and recognize thoughts you want to attach to and those you should let pass. The space between your self and the thought provides an opportunity. You can either pick up/attach or you can let it pass/detach. As one learns through the Consciousness of G-d to discern the thoughts of the lower mind and the thoughts of the higher mind, and to engage in attachment to thoughts of the higher mind and detachment of the lower mind, they will grow in their perception of the nature of G-d.

This is the symbolism of purification rites and ritual sacrifices, setting apart Israel as a holy people, the Holy of Holies in the Temple, and the descendants of Aaron as priests.

All of this is to help us understand that the Holy of Holies is really your seat of consciousness and the act of purification really occurs through discernment and attachment/detachment of thoughts.

If you can perceive the occurrence of a thought, then as with all perception, there must be an object and a perceiver. The object is the thought. The self is the perceiver of the thought. The ego deceives you into attaching yourself to all thoughts that come up in your mind. Transcending the ego gives you the space needed to either attach or detach from the passing thought. You can either hold it or let it go.

This is why we meditate. We need to engage the world of the mind so that we can refine our thought waves and grow in the universal Consciousness of G-d.

Step 2 · Coming soon

Observing Thoughts

Coming soon.

Step 3 · Coming soon

Focusing Upon an Object

Coming soon.

Step 4 · Coming soon

Japa Meditation (repetition of a word or phrase)

Coming soon.

Step 5 · Coming soon

Sama Vritti (Box Breathing)

Coming soon.

Step 6 · Coming soon

Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing)

Coming soon.