three times: "I'm sincere, I'm sincere, I'm sincere." Then put your hand on the navel, repeating: "I am clean," and on the third eye, saying: "I am sure."
2. Favorite quality.
If you like a certain aspect of God - love, for example - please repeat the word "love" to yourself with all your heart several times. Saying the word "love" with all your heart, try to feel how it resonates in the innermost depths of your heart: "Love, love, love." If you are more interested in divine peace, then please silently chant or repeat to yourself the word "peace." At the same time, try to hear the cosmic sound contained in this word, which is reflected in the innermost depths of your heart. If you want light, then please repeat "Light, light, light" with as much soul as possible and feel that you have actually become light. From the tips of your fingers to the top of your head, try to feel that you have become the word that you are repeating. Feel that your physical body, subtle body, all your nerves and your entire being are overflowing with a flood of love, peace or light.
3. Invite your friends.
Feel that you are standing at the door of your heart and that you have invited Love, Peace, Light, Delight and all your other divine friends to come to you. But if they appear complexity, insincerity, impurity and other negative forces, please do not let them enter. Try to feel that both divine qualities and non-divine qualities have taken the form of human beings and you can see them with your own eyes.
Every day try to invite one friend to enter the door of your heart. This will be the beginning of divine friendship. Today you will only allow your friend of Love to enter, tomorrow you will allow your friend of Joy to enter. After a while, you will be able to invite more than one friend at a time. You may not be able to pay attention to more than one friend at first, but over time you will be able to invite all your divine friends at once.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q I am looking for more joy in life, but I do not feel sure that I will get it by rushing into meditation.
A When life does not give you joy, but you feel like you want joy, it means that you are spiritually hungry. When you have spiritual hunger, you will eat spiritual food. When you are not hungry, you will not eat. For fifteen or twenty years you have been insincerely or insincerely caring about the spiritual life. Because you haven't meditated for years, if you jump straight into the sea of ​​spirituality, you won't be able to swim. You cannot change your nature all at once. This should be done slowly, constantly, gradually. First move in the water and gradually you will learn how to swim. Eventually the time will come when you can swim well. But since you have an inner hunger, then you are ready to start swimming.
Chapter 3
Mastering the essential
Without preparation you will not make an attempt. There is no progress without trying. Without progress, there is no perfection. There is no satisfaction without perfection
Preparing for Meditation
To meditate at home, you must have a corner in your room - absolutely clean, and consecrated - a sacred place that you use only for meditation. There you can remove the altar, where you will have a portrait of your spiritual Master or Christ or some other beloved spiritual person whom you consider to be your Master.
It is helpful if you take a shower or bath before starting meditation. Cleanliness of the body is very useful for the purification of the mind. If it is not possible to take a bath or shower before sitting down to meditate, you should at least wash your face. Besides, It is recommended to wear clean and light-colored clothing.
It will also help if you light incense sticks and place fresh flowers on your altar. When you. inhale the smell of incense sticks, then you get inspiration and purification, maybe only an iota, but this iota can be added to your inner treasure. There are people who say that it is not necessary to have flowers in front of you while meditating. They say, "The flower is within, the thousand-petalled lotus is within us." But a living flower on the altar will remind you of your inner flower. Its color, its fragrance and its pure consciousness will inspire you. From inspiration you will get aspiration.
The same can be said about the use of candles during meditation. The flame of a candle by itself will not give you aspiration. But when you see the outer flame, you immediately feel that the flame of aspiration in your inner being rises high, higher, even higher. For one who is on the eve of the realization of God, or for one who has already realized God, these external attributes will not matter. But if you know that the realization of God is still far ahead for you, then they will definitely strengthen your aspiration.
When you do your daily individual meditation, try to meditate alone. This does not apply to spouses if they have the same spiritual Master. It is natural for them to meditate together. В остальных случаях не рекомендуется медитировать с othersи во время ваших повседневных индивидуальных медитаций. Collective meditation is also important, but in everyday individual meditation, it is better to meditate alone at your own altar.
Meditation is a divine gift. Meditation simplifies our outer life and energizes our inner life. Meditation gives us a natural and free life, a life that becomes so natural and free that with every breath we become aware of our own divinity.
Posture is important
When meditating, it is important to keep the spine straight and upright while keeping the body relaxed. If the body is tense, then the divine and fulfilling qualities that enter and flow through it during meditation will not be received. The posture should also not cause discomfort to the body. When you meditate, your inner being will spontaneously put you in a comfortable position and you the only thing left to do is support it. The main advantage of the lotus position is that it helps to keep the spine straight and vertical. But this position is uncomfortable for most people. So the lotus position is not at all necessary for proper meditation. Many people meditate very well while sitting in a chair.
Some people do physical exercises and postures. These exercises, called Hatha yoga, relax the body and calm the mind for a short period. If someone is physically very restless and cannot remain calm even for one second, then these exercises will definitely help. But Hatha yoga is not required at all. There are many aspirants who can simply sit down and calm their minds without any Hatha yoga.
Under no circumstances is it recommended to meditate lying down, even for those who have been meditating for several years. Those who try to meditate lying down will enter the world of sleep, either of inner passivity or drowsiness. In addition, when you lie down, your breathing is not as good as when you are sitting, because it is not conscious and uncontrollable. Proper breathing is very important in meditation.
The spiritual heart has revealed the highest truth: to meditate on God is a privilege, not a duty.
Eyes open or eyes closed?
I am often asked if one should meditate with closed eyes. Ninety times out of a hundred, meditators with their eyes closed fall asleep while meditating. They meditate for five minutes and then spend fifteen minutes in the dream world. There is no dynamic energy in it, only apathy, complacency, something like a pleasant feeling of relaxation. Meditating with your eyes closed and immersed in the world of sleep, you can enjoy any illusions. Your fertile imagination can make you feel that you are entering the higher worlds. There are many ways you can convince yourself that you are a great meditator. Therefore, it is best to meditate with half-open and half-closed eyes. In this case, you are the root of the tree and at the same time the topmost branch. That part of you that corresponds to half-open eyes is the root, symbolizing Mother Earth. The part corresponding to half-closed eyes is the highest branch, the world of visions, or, say, Heaven. Your consciousness is at the highest level, and at the same time it is here on earth, where it is trying to change world.
When you meditate with half-open and half-closed eyes, you are doing what is called "lion meditation."
Even as you go deep within, you focus your conscious attention on both the physical plane and the subconscious plane. Как физический мир с его шумом и othersи помехами, так и подсознательный мир, мир сна, оба зовут вас, но вы справляетесь с ними. You say, "Look, I'm on guard. You can't get a hold of me." Since your eyes are partially open, you will not fall asleep. This is how you challenge the world of the subconscious. At the same time, you maintain your mastery of the physical plane because you can see what is going on around you.
Breathing exercises
1. Inhale directed to the heart center.
Please inhale, hold your breath for a few seconds, and feel that you are holding the breath, which is life-energy itself, at the heart center. This will help develop your inner capacity for meditation.
2. Awareness of breath.
When you sit down to meditate, try to inhale as slowly and calmly as possible,