Getting started with meditation

[Kindle]

Hello all. Brand new here, as well as to the entire concept of the Law of One. To make a long story short, when I found the Ra Material, it just felt right to me. First time in my life I've had any sort of spiritual belief! Now I've been trying almost daily to meditate, but I keep running into obstacles. Hoping some of you here with experience might be able to help me out a little. Here's a few of the problems that I feel are preventing me from reaching my inner self.

-Keep hearing outside noise (neighbors, traffic, planes, etc.)
-my cats paw at me and meow (they knock if door is closed)
-constant thoughts running through my head
-eyes slowly start opening

Some tips I've been trying to utilize include focusing on my breath and trying to visualize an object, but I just seem to get distracted so easily. If anyone could give me any pointers it would be Greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your help!

kindle

[AnthroHeart]

I'd recommend seeing all as Creator. All is the expression of Creator knowing itself.
When you go further, you will find these apparant catalyst are you.
There is no separation.

[Gribbons]

I'm glad you posted because I wanted to share what I remembered last night when I couldn't return to sleep. Work your way into visualization, unless you feel like you're naturally attuned to that form of meditation, instead, work on unattaching yourself from your thoughts. One thing I think is very important to being able to do so is having your body be completely comfortable.

Before when I would attempt to meditate I felt I would make little progress in silencing my mind, even while using a mantra such as I AM, but what I realized when I was comfortable lying down in bed, I would hear my thoughts my subconscious was generating and they overall seemed to be of a negative nature because I was frustrated with being unable to return to sleep and some other personal problems of mine. BUT, when I made a conscious effort to not listen to those thoughts, but to hear them and then LET GO of any reaction you may have towards what you are thinking, this is meditation. It's letting go of attachment. You know when you're doing it right, you're subconscious "thought generator" will actually start working FOR you, giving you positive thoughts about yourself and how you are the Creator. When this happens, you FEEL your heart chakra begin to open up. I tell you the truth, I felt significant, noticeable energy in my chest last night when I made the effort to remove mental attachment to your thoughts. It was pure and uplifting. Loving, really.

It's kind of hard to grasp just by reading, but maybe this will help you picture what I'm saying. Your brain is always producing thoughts, like bubbles rising to the surface of the water. These bubbles are coming from your unconscious, and when they produce ripples, your subconscious voices these bubbles, these thoughts to you. If you have blockages within any of the first three chakras, you're thought will resonate with whatever tone of blockage you have. For instance, if you have second chakra blockages, your thoughts will only correspond with the nature of feeling self-doubt, like your not up to par with yourself and there's something wrong with you. (you feel: "i'm being bad" you hear: "i hate you.") Third chakra blockages would leave you worrying about if there's something wrong with you in relation to others (you feel: "why doesn't such and such like me? you hear: "you're weird" or "i'm not for you" "you're not my type") If you give in to these thoughts as being real, they will continue to lower your energy, your mood, BUT with meditation, HEAR these thoughts but give them no credence, pay them no mind, and let go. They may start to get more negative at first when your brain realizes your dismissing it as your controller, it knows your unconscious thoughts, and sometimes it might scare you, but when you continue to dismiss those thoughts, THAT is when the spirit enters as your thought patterns, and you hear thoughts of love and acceptance. I promise, when you feel this way, you'll want to go up to everyone you meet and hug them and love them and tell them YOU ARE THE CREATOR, you are amazing (which is really just a reflection of how you are feeling, as we are all one, and we are mirrors of each other.)

I used to try to meditate in a sitting stance, but I find with my body, not being flexible and is easily annoyed by not being in good posture, it's easier to meditate lying down. Find out what's most comfortable for you, and let go of attachment. When you do, you bypass the fragile ego and open up to the energies of the heart, which is literally, the transformer of energy of negative into positive. You'll feel it when you get it.

Hope that helps!

[Etude in B Minor]

Your distraction is good in a way, since you have something to work with to help guide your progress. There are many books on Zen which provide effective meditation practices and which are simple to follow. Don't be bothered if you get distracted. Just keep at it. Even if you sit for half and hour and your mind keeps coming back to what you will be having for dinner, the sitting will be training your body and mind. At the beginning either focus on the breath or on some visualization. Don't do both. Choose whichever seems more natural to you. Don't worry if you have extraneous thoughts or sensations, but realize that they are not yours. Observe them as you would birds flying by in the sky. Note them and let them go. Eventually, just like your cats, your mind will get bored of generating objects if you don't get attached to them, and your mind will clear.

So, just sit. Don't worry if distractions occur. Getting yourself to sit is 90% of the battle.

[Peregrinus]

Of course, a perfect quiet distraction-free environment is ideal. Jehoshua meditated in the desert; Gautama Siddhartha in the countryside. Barring the ability to have such, one can use white noise. I personally use Hemi-Sync and find it allows me to un-focus, as it were.

Don't worry if you meditate for hours a day. Begin with five minutes, or even a minute. The important part is to do it consistently. Thoughts will come; they do for everyone. There are many methods, but I do a simple one the same as many do. I concentrate on my breathing, in, pause, out, pause, over and over. It is important to just go with it; trying too hard won't get one anywhere. Soon the space between thoughts will come, and will get longer. That's where one wants to be.

I personally began with a goal of 15 minutes, but rarely lasted five minutes, getting frustrated because the thoughts just kept coming. Then it went the opposite way for me. About five minutes in I just went away into the stillness and came back 45 minutes to an hour later. That didn't seem right to me; I thought something was wrong, like it shouldn't be that easy, so I worked on more conscious stillness, a connection with intelligent infinity. That got me into work in the indigo, and that is a place, when one has been there, is where I enjoy being. It doesn't always happen for me. Sometimes I don't get five minutes, other times it just works. Just go with the flow and be consistent. It will happen for you.

[Brittany]

I had many of the same problems with noise, and a friend recommended noise-reducing headphones. I tried them on and they drowned out about 90% of the sound in the room. They can be bought at tractor supply stores and the like (for industrial models) or at places like Best Buy or other electronics stores. The only problem is they're pretty expensive. I often just use earplugs, or listen to trance music while I meditate. The music (mostly drumming and stuff like that) helps me really zone out. I know some purists are against music while meditating, but I say whatever works.

If your eyes keep opening, perhaps you could blindfold yourself? I've meditated with a pillow pulled down over my eyes.

As for thoughts running through your head, that just takes practice. I still have a hard time keeping my thoughts turned off and I've been doing it since I was a child. Sometimes I will visualize a cup and imagine all my thoughts pouring into that cup, to be retrieved at a later time. For some people it helps to focus on an object, like a candle flame. Then you can keep your eyes open and it gives you something to direct your attention toward and help you to focus. I do a lot of visualization when I meditate. I create an image in my mind and see how long I can hold it there, and sometimes I visualize my love spinning out through the galaxy. Again, there are many different methods, and I wouldn't say any one way is "right." You might have to experiment a bit to find a combination that works.

Hope this helps a little.

[rva_jeremy]

I have precisely the same problems, Kindle. I gave up on meditation for a long time. Something Carla once said really got me thinking to the point that I now meditate every morning.

What she said, and this resonates with me, is that the attempt is what matters. I tell myself, no matter whether I achieve a satisfactory meditation or not, this time of my day is dedicated to being open to this experience, whether or not it satisfies me. If I don't achieve a sufficient meditative state, so be it. If I spend the whole time thinking about Justin Bieber, so be it. The important point is that I'm there, and I'm not giving up, and I'll wait as long as it takes (hopefully).

This is one aspect in which I am trying working through the Lovers archetype: to court the subconscious as one would the maiden, instead of to view the subconscious as a harlot. She doesn't just give it up to you; you have to romance and woo her, earn her respect and love, understand her ways and conform to them. You have to build a relationship with your deep mind. I am learning to wait for the subconscious to accept me, to listen to it when it talks rather than simply look for it at times when it is convenient for me. It's tough because I'm really easily distracted and impatient, and I want a immediate payoff for my work of concentration.

Sometimes I feel like the metaphor for my meditation is John Cusack desperately holding a boom box over his head outside his high school sweetheart's house.

One practical tip I can give is that when I sit down to meditate, I don't start right away. Sometimes I'll just sit with my eyes open and think all the thoughts I'm thinking. I wait for my mind to slow down, I do sort of a pre-meditation. Then, when I think I'm ready, I say a little affirmation and go into it. This helps tremendously; it's not perfect, I still have fleeting thoughts, but it cuts down on them quite a bit. The chattering mind eventually spins itself out.

Good luck and thanks for bringing this up! I'm reading the replies with interest.

[Sacred Fool]

Hi, Kindle. Welcome to this forum and to the L/L ideological resources.

Yours are classic problems which recur at one time or another to everyone I know.

There tends to be a natural resistance as the busy mind starts to mellow out because the unconscious mind becomes more evident and you discover that a lot of the stuff which was shoved down in the dark recesses was put there for a reason. In other words, this process can serve to move you closer to things you find difficult to accept.


One tack is to do some concentration exercises to help you focus your mind. You can find many on the Internet. Some are body oriented (walking meditation), some visual (candle flame) and some mental (counting silently, say, backwards from 100).

Another tack might be to meditate in holy places where the dedication of others (or the natural sacredness) can provide you with a little extra lift.

Another thing you can try--just to get yourself into the mood--is meditate upon a deep feeling of love. This might be associated with some incident you can recall or it might be something you can "remember" internally.

Have fun!

[native]

I wanted to reaffirm Gribbons suggestion of laying down. You could even recline in a comfortable chair.

[Ankh]

I had (have) a lot of issues (due the difficult childhood) that needed attention when I started to meditate seriously. We are all different and as some one told you to ignore the thoughts, I for instance, needed to pay attention to them in the beginning, as it was too much issues on the surface. I started to concentrate on chakras in the beginning and as I did that a lot of visions occured in my inner view. Visions was mostly memories, flashbacks, from the past of this lifetime. And after these visions a lot of thoughts and insights occured, as these visions needed attention from the conscious mind. This process took about 4-5 months (if I remember it correctly). After that my mind was a bit calmer, at least on the surface, but there are still a lot of issues going on in the depths, for all of us. Sometimes certain issues need to be processed (and this process is called "Balancing the Self" in A Wanderer's Handbook by Carla) and sometimes my mind needs to calm down and be quiet. After a while you'll know what's the best for you in every given moment. Regarding these quiet moments you might just try different "styles" to discover which one works best for you. As time pass by you will also might find that you would like to change the technique.

Different techniques that I have tried are, among many, these:
1. Stare at one spot (with or without blinking) for at least 20 minutes, then close your eyes and relax in your whole body, give in in that relaxation.
2. Imagine in your inner view a ball of light (or whatever you find comfortable) and powerful walls that are unbreakable that shut out thoughts and other distractions as you move towards that ball in the middle with these walls protecting you.
3. Imagine that you are in the control room, go out and take elevator all the way from level 9 to 0 as you counting down and see these numbers on the elevators display plate. When the doors are opened at level 0 the most bright light meets you and welcomes you to your true home (this was a bit intimidating to me when I tried it first).
4. Close your eyes and concentrate on the sounds. After a while you will hear a constant buzz ringing in your ears. Concentrate on that buzz, and it should grow stronger and stronger.

The first technique involves your sense of sight and the forth involves your sense of hearing. These techniques are all about occupaing your brain with something to "do".

There is another technique. I refined it for my own purposes and this technique was very helpful to me to connect with chi/prana. I used it, among other things, to remove physical pain in the body. This technique is Kundalini awakening, but I don't recommend to wake up Kundalini when you are new to meditation, just practice step 1 and 2, and don't be afraid to try it in different ways so they suit you, and not the other way around. Here it is:

http://www.swamij.com/kundalini-awakening-1.htm

Good luck!

[AppleSeed]

Hi Kindle! I've had a hard time just sitting down to meditate, and I appreciate this thread! So far I've found that the best path for myself in order to quiet the mind is to start by engaging the body, and then moving into the breath. Walking works, but yoga is even more efficient.
Like Ankh I've also found the quiet time sometimes needed for contemplation - observing whatever comes up, looking at it from different angles, inside and out, and seeing what there is to learn, and feeling what there is to feel.

Have fun!

[Ankh]

Have fun!

That is probably most important - have fun! That time is not for work (if work is not needed), that time is sacred and is between you and Creator.

Have fun, brother!

[Lavazza]

I often find that I have little to no time left in my day after I've gotten everything done. One thing I do to try and offset this is take some time when I am doing something mundane (like driving on the freeway) to loosely imagine each of my chakras and how clear or blocked each may be. Starting with Red, yellow, orange and green. Then if I find I am doing pretty well in each of those areas I expand in to the upper chakras. Blue, indigo, then violet. This isn't a meditation in the sense that you are pursuing, it's more of an "active meditation", but I find it extremely helpful. Some days I'm even too busy to do this- in which case I'll try and think about them as I drift off to sleep. Usually can't get past the yellow chakra before I'm sleeping though.

[Kindle]

Thank you all for your suggestions! It's really encouraging to hear that others either have had or are having similar setbacks to meditation. I haven't been talking to others too much about this change in my life for a couple reasons. Firstly, I am so new to this that I feel like I don't have enough of a grasp on everything to portray it in the proper way. I know that day will come, but lets just say I want to be able to tell the story first-hand, not just repeat things I've read. Also, many people I know just aren't interested in changing the way the perceive life. So I feel like I'm taking this on alone. Sometimes it's been discouraging. But to see everyone eager to help me is really inspirational! Thanks again to everyone who posted their experiences, that has left me with many avenues to venture down. I will keep at it and keep checking back to see if anyone else may be of help!

[AnthroHeart]

I can relate to the feeling alone, not having anyone around me to help. I work in such a niche field of energy balancing, that I have to trust my guides, such as Ra among others. It's all baby steps, and then you learn cool new ways of doing things as you progress, and these baby steps turn into quantum leaps.

Good to have you on board

- gw

[Kindle]

Just read through the replies again, taking notes this time! Seems like every one of them offers a different and usefull technique! Thanks to all of you!

[ChuckyCheese]

Greetings to you Kindle. I cannot claim to be experienced in meditating. But as I gather, its not how well one does the meditation, its in the daily and honest attempt of it that matters. I've found very quickly once I sit down for a meditation, I hear constant ringings in my ear. If thats not enough, then surely the songs will fill my head, or a dumb TV commercial I don't really care about, or thinking of things to do tomorrow, or this, or that. It seems the list never ever ever EVER ends. And then theres the constant struggle of fighting NOT to fight the thoughts so thats goes into more thoughts, so I'm back to square one.

I'm not a good visualizer so the visual technique described by many does not work well for me. The technique that I do, (and by the way, no real claims on how well it works) is a relaxing technique. Let me elaborate. I put relax into two groups. Theres the relaxing of the brain, and a relaxing of the muscles. And then theres different levels of relaxing in both brain and muscles.

For the muscle relaxing, close your eyes, and focus your attention to your joints. From a joint relax the joint. You'll find out relaxing the joint will easily relax the muscles associated with the joints. If the joint you focus on is the wrist, let your hand sink into the cushion. And then leave it there, don't move it. Which ever joint you do, repeat the same on the other side of your body. Continue to do so on all the joints throughout your body. Very very important to note here: Don't forget your fingertips! You'll be suprised at how well your hands will relax if you focus on those fingertips.

Continuing with muscle relaxing, you can target your belly area if theres tension there. The way how I release the tension there is like UNSTRETCHING a plastic bag. OK, you know how a plastic bag looks like when you stretch it. Now if you don't put as much tension on the bag, the bag will loosen up a bit. Well, thats how I would describe relaxing with the belly area or any area with muscle associated with it. Just try to "unstretch" it by not putting any more stretching into it. Sounds strange, but it works (for me).

For relaxing the brain, I remember Quo said to let the thoughts come and go. Don't ask me which session, because I can't pinpoint it to save my life if I have to. It does take a lot of practice to allow the thoughts to come and go. You are on your own there.

I hope this write up is a contribution to a starting point on the how-to for your meditations.

L/L Chucky

[Grillwise]

Hi guys,
During my chakra meditations, I start from red, and follow through to violet. During this "balancing" attempt, I feel that very familiar tingle, sometimes very greatly. I had a thought recently during this, and I am now unsure about a thing or two. Allow me to expand: I used to think that this tingle, or power surge, was the chakra being activated, or charged; however, through breathing in and out, I realize after several breaths focused on the particular chakra, the tingle dissipates. Are these tingles, that I thought were charging my chakras, actually the blockages in them? And if so, as they dissipate, am I, in turn, unblocking them? This is curious to me because when I go through all of the them and activate them with breath and love energy, I feel a tremendous influx of energy pouring into the top of my head throughout my entire body, including non-chakra locations, such as limbs and cheeks. Like an infinitely full bucket of water pouring down my body. So the, my question is, are those fading tingles in chakra regions blockages being opened, or the charging of the chakra?

Thanks to any takers.

[Ankh]

Hi guys,
During my chakra meditations, I start from red, and follow through to violet. During this "balancing" attempt, I feel that very familiar tingle, sometimes very greatly. I had a thought recently during this, and I am now unsure about a thing or two. Allow me to expand: I used to think that this tingle, or power surge, was the chakra being activated, or charged; however, through breathing in and out, I realize after several breaths focused on the particular chakra, the tingle dissipates. Are these tingles, that I thought were charging my chakras, actually the blockages in them? And if so, as they dissipate, am I, in turn, unblocking them? This is curious to me because when I go through all of the them and activate them with breath and love energy, I feel a tremendous influx of energy pouring into the top of my head throughout my entire body, including non-chakra locations, such as limbs and cheeks. Like an infinitely full bucket of water pouring down my body. So the, my question is, are those fading tingles in chakra regions blockages being opened, or the charging of the chakra?

Thanks to any takers.

50.10 Questioner: Each of us feels, in meditation, energy upon the head in various places. Could you tell me what this is, what it signifies, and what the various places in which we feel it signify?

Ra: I am Ra. Forgetting the pyramid will be of aid to you in the study of these experiences. The in-streamings of energy are felt by the energy centers which need, and are prepared for, activation. Thus those who feel the stimulation at violet-ray level are getting just that. Those feeling it within the forehead between the brows are experiencing indigo ray and so forth. Those experiencing tingling and visual images are having some blockage in the energy center being activated and thus the electrical body spreads this energy out and its effect is diffused.

Those not truly sincerely requesting this energy may yet feel it if the entities are not well-trained in psychic defense. Those not desirous of experiencing these sensations and activations and changes even upon the subconscious level will not experience anything due to their abilities at defense and armoring against change.

[Grillwise]

Hi guys,
During my chakra meditations, I start from red, and follow through to violet. During this "balancing" attempt, I feel that very familiar tingle, sometimes very greatly. I had a thought recently during this, and I am now unsure about a thing or two. Allow me to expand: I used to think that this tingle, or power surge, was the chakra being activated, or charged; however, through breathing in and out, I realize after several breaths focused on the particular chakra, the tingle dissipates. Are these tingles, that I thought were charging my chakras, actually the blockages in them? And if so, as they dissipate, am I, in turn, unblocking them? This is curious to me because when I go through all of the them and activate them with breath and love energy, I feel a tremendous influx of energy pouring into the top of my head throughout my entire body, including non-chakra locations, such as limbs and cheeks. Like an infinitely full bucket of water pouring down my body. So the, my question is, are those fading tingles in chakra regions blockages being opened, or the charging of the chakra?

Thanks to any takers.

50.10 Questioner: Each of us feels, in meditation, energy upon the head in various places. Could you tell me what this is, what it signifies, and what the various places in which we feel it signify?

Ra: I am Ra. Forgetting the pyramid will be of aid to you in the study of these experiences. The in-streamings of energy are felt by the energy centers which need, and are prepared for, activation. Thus those who feel the stimulation at violet-ray level are getting just that. Those feeling it within the forehead between the brows are experiencing indigo ray and so forth. Those experiencing tingling and visual images are having some blockage in the energy center being activated and thus the electrical body spreads this energy out and its effect is diffused.

Those not truly sincerely requesting this energy may yet feel it if the entities are not well-trained in psychic defense. Those not desirous of experiencing these sensations and activations and changes even upon the subconscious level will not experience anything due to their abilities at defense and armoring against change.

Dude.... Awesome, thank you so much.

Let me ask, when Ra says the electrical body spreads this energy out and it's diffused, does that mean the chakra is being unblocked, or that spreads out because it is still blocked?

Again, you're awesome, thanks.

[Ankh]

Let me ask, when Ra says the electrical body spreads this energy out and it's diffused, does that mean the chakra is being unblocked, or that spreads out because it is still blocked?

As I understand Ra, it means that the center is blocked and the effect is diffused through electrical body.

[Grillwise]

Thanks again.

Anyone with advice on how to unblock, because visualizing the blockages as blacks spots and swiping them out apparently hasn't worked. For me.

Thanks.

[Ankh]

Thanks again.

Anyone with advice on how to unblock, because visualizing the blockages as blacks spots and swiping them out apparently hasn't worked. For me.

Thanks.

Read chapter "Balancing the Self" in A Wanderer's Handbook which you can find in Library at L/L Research's website. It's one method. Use catalysts. When you get hit by them, step aside and leave the emotional, irrational swirl and use your logic mind, that what's it there for. Why are you feeling hurt/upset/or other negative state in this perticular situation? When you recognize the problem seek the perticular nexi this problem resides in. I don't know if you can unblock the nexis without conscious work with yourself in everyday life, just by using visualisation and/or concentrating on blocked nexis. I think that unblocking nexis completly involves conscious awareness of the each nexi's blocked or unblocked impact on you as a being and your interactions with other selves. One example, I have serious orange ray issues. Yesterday I was doing something that demanded a lot of orange gas from me. I prepared myself by meditating and then did it. When thoughts of "low orange gas nature" appeared in my mind I used little light touch on them, smiled inside and asked "How is the orange gas doing right now?". That's was enough! Similar situations used to break me down and leave me in some kind of cocoon of healing, not wanting to participate in this world. But yesterday I was not only feeling confident and ok, but also felt green ray. The blockages of orange nexi is not severe anymore. I don't know if you can do this without applying blockages and their impact on your life, just through meditation. But each path is unique, my brother. This was a little desciption of how I work.

[Grillwise]

Great advice, I see, very clearly, how that would work. I'll put such a method to work right now as I clear some blockages due to otherselves and confidence. I am very able to separate from the irrational swirl you mentioned, now, from your advice, I can use the mind to understand the negativity or anger. I must tread carefully, however, because my mind can sometimes over rule my heart or green ray intentions, I don't want that, but don't fear it. Thanks again mate. Really great advice. I'm certain it will work wonders on my electric/magnetic/spiritual balance.

[Joe6]

Im very novice to meditation but I believe in power of praying and laws. Aint just manifesting and praying help to opening up the chakras work? Funny that I havent done that yet myself, lol.

As I have a very active family and three kids so I usually meditate either when going to sleep and/or morning hours. Using air plugs helps a lot of cutting off outside distractions also listening noises or some other meditative sounds/music helps a lot.

I have also noticed that light diet or for some period of cutting off all animal foods, alcohol and dairy products helps lift up awareness a lot in my case.

I havent searched yet is there anything said about diet? I feel so sorry about eating animals today and Im trying to find a balanced diet without animal flesh.

My meditation experiences have been mostly short unknown faces and sound flashes. If not included lucid dreaming experiences.