Heart Meditation... from a book by Deepak Chopra "A Path to Love"

Meditating on the Heart.

Sit comfortably in a quiet room by yourself, choosing a time when you feel settled and unhurried. Early morning is best, since your mind will be alert and fresh; try to avoid late evening, when your awareness is preparing for sleep. Close your eyes and focus your attention on the middle of your chest, where your heart is. (The fact that the physical heart is to the left is irrelevant here--the spiritual heart center lies directly behind your breastbone.)

Be aware of your heart as a space. Don't try to hear your heart beat or any other sound you think the heart makes. The heart center you want to find is a point of awareness where feelings enter. In its pure form it is empty, pervaded by weightlessness, absence of care, peace, and a subtle light. This light may appear as white, gold, pale pink, or blue. But again, don't strain to find a light of any kind. You are not trying to sense the purity of the heart center right now; all you need to feel is whatever is there.

Letting your attention rest easily there, breathe gently and sense your breath going into your heart center. Here you might want to visualize a soft pastel light, or a coolness pervading the chest. Let the breath go in and out, and as it does, ask your heart to speak to you. Don't phrases this as an order; just have the faint intention that you want your heart to express itself.

For the next five or ten minutes, sit and listen. Your heart will begin to release emotions, memories, wishes, fears, and dreams long stored there, and as it does, you will find yourself paying attention.

You might almost immediately get a flash of strong emotion, positive or negative, or a forgotten memory. Your breathing might change. You might gasp or sigh. Let the experience be what it will be. If you daydream of drift off to sleep, don't worry. Just bring your attention back to your heart center. Whether is speaks to you in sadness, fear, delight or pleasure, its message is equally beneficial.

Paying attention to your heart is the object of this meditation.

You will notice as you continue this exercise that three things are coming together; meditation, purification, and attention. You are learning to be with your heart in order to heed its spiritual meaning--this is meditation. You are letting repressed material come up to be released--this is purification. You are listening to your heart without judgment or manipulation--this is attention.

February 19 - Class Summary -Meditation in Action-

Meditation in Action!

Brief pre-class discussion:

James: We are going to discuss how meditation affects every aspect of our day, and how to stay centered away from the meditation pillow. We are coming to the final 2 classes of this series where we start to wrap things up. By now I hope everyone has established, resumed, or improved a meditation practice.

Alixxxxxxxx: Well James the lesson may be wrapping up but the meditation integrated in our lives is just beginning for some and joylously continuing for others!

James: Yes. And this group is not going anywhere... meditation is a path that is best shared. We may run series but we will be here every Sunday doing something.. for as long as there is an interest.

Floxxxxx: It's NICE to Remember it's available, the practice itself as well as the class ;)

Alixxxxxxxx: I have spent the entire week thinking of the time when I began meditating and the many things that could distract me from finding the time to meditate. I imagine there are others who will attest to this.

Floxxxxx: Having a house mate is a big one.
Majxxxxxxxxxx: *still gets distracted unavoidably*
Alixxxxxxxx: When the children are small and the spouse is just as needy. And favorite television shows are on tv

James: Well, there is a saying I got from a book given to me by a career counselor my freshman year of college... which says "If you want something to happen, make a space for it"

Alixxxxxxxx: I find when I meditate each morning and each night my day goes much better.

James: Meditation changes everything.. and I mean everything.

Tonights topic is Meditation in Action...

There are so many ways to approach this. But like the practice of meditation itself, I would like to keep this simple and to the point. In fact, its about a point, or bindu as the yoga folks like to call them. A point in the center of your chest.. the 4th chakra.. the heart. This week we are talking about meditation away from the meditation pillow. No matter what we do, whether we are walking in a calm forest, or down the street of a busy city, we are either connected to that point of peace, or we are not.

In previous weeks we talked about feeling the actual point in your chest where the feeling of peace is felt. That bindu, that wellspring of peace. Its easy to find it when sitting in meditation. As you breathe, you feel it. It may take time to unwind the tension but eventually your breath feels good.. it feel good just to breathe. There is that peace.. and it has a point where it is centered.

Every breath you take, from this moment on, you can sense this point. Anytime, anywhere, you can center yourself on it. But if you meditate regularly, you will find it is so much easier to awaken the feeling of peace.. it will be there in the fraction of a breath, anytime you remember to remember. And meditators have this sacred duty to each other, to remind each other.
When you are centered, everything is different. People sense it.. they don't know what it is, but they sense it. About you. They react differently to you. You react differently to everything around you when you are centered.

The universe is made up of vibrations, and it responds to vibrations, whether you want to think of this physically or metaphysically. And your awareness is different when you are centered. And centering on the heart space gives you the ability to live from a deeper place. Both seeing things from a deeper place, and coming from a deeper place in your actions.

Awareness is the key to understanding.. the key to getting out of life what we came here to get out of it. No matter where you go, or what you do, every moment is an opportunity, and awareness is the way to take it in fully. What the buddhists call mindfulness.

You learn to be a witness.. to your own thoughts, and reactions.. you learn to not identify with your patterns, to see beyond them. As your consciousness becomes more spacious, you see that it is not just one thing. That thoughts, emotions, and impulses come and go, like leaves floating on a stream, and you are sitting on the bank, watching.. not in it.

There is a great book on Buddhist Meditation that borrowed its title from a line in an old Carolos Castenada book. Its called "A Path With Heart". The author of A Path With Heart is Jack Kornfield. In the Castenda book, the indian sorceror Don Juan was teaching Castenada about the path.. and he said to always choose a path with heart. And this line stuck with me, and obviously stuck with the author of that book.

So Meditation in Action is about this... living that path with heart.. feeling peaceful inside.. having a buffer against the energy draining elements of this world. For thats another benefit to being centered. Those people and situations that normally leave you feeling drained.. can't touch you as much.. This is something you have to experience for yourself.

When I say meditation changes everything, I cannot emphasize that enough. But like we said in the beginning of this series, you have to practice regularly.. there is an inertia to it. A momentum. A cummulative effect.. both in gathering energy, and learning to hold it. And when meditators gather, we should be breathing this peace and sharing the energy a group of us brings together.

Diane: And as James says when we center on the heart chakra

James: It should be easy to find that point when we are together.

Diane: It opens our energy to love and balance and this is a great place to be each day

This helps me sometimes, place your palms together in front of your heart center, and then breathe with the awareness of the heart space. There are chakras (minor ones) in your palms.

Try this now if you like.. and open to the energy of this group. Breathing deeply and smoothly, letting the heart space open like a flower to the sun. Relax this space and let the breath caress it from the inside.

In yoga there is a term for sharing this energy in a group.. its Satsang. A gathering done consciously to produce this energy sharing.. everyone speaks and listens from that center. This is what I would like to cultivate here in this room. That awareness and understanding. I can't tell you how powerful it can be. But we can experience it. Literally satsang means Company of Truth. Because that which is higher comes through us when we gather for that purpose. And much is said that is not known by the sayer before saying it. Its an interesting experience.

Discussion before Meditation:

Floxxxxx: bindu meaning chakra?
Jamesxxxxx: bindu means point
Floxxxxx: ok. So all chakras aren't bindu?

Jamesxxxxx: Are there any questions, or does anyone have something to share?

Alixxxxxxxx: Yes. There is a difference between bindu and chakra
Jamesxxxxx: Bindu just means point, its more often use to refer to the third eye. For there are meditations that use concentration on that point.
Alixxxxxxxx: The difference is that the chakras are energy centers within you and the bindu is the point of experiencing the peace of the energy they share with you.

Alixxxxxxxx: I am interested in knowing how meditation experience is coming with the silent ones in the room. Do any of you wish to share?
Sunxxxxxxxxxxxxx: I love it..sorry i'm dealing with kids
Jamesxxxxx: Yes!
Sunxxxxxxxxxxxxx: I did the palm movement over my heart chakra.. wow ..love that :)
Jamesxxxxx: ::smile::
Alixxxxxxxx: Yes it is a good experience Sunset
Stuxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Making progress
Alixxxxxxxx: Good Stu!
Jamesxxxxx: it looks like praying but its an energy thing
Alixxxxxxxx: That is wonderful news!
Alixxxxxxxx: April? Majick? Do you have anything to share?
Majxxxxxxxxx: I'm good :)
Alixxxxxxxx: I am so excited we are always together sharing meditation each Sunday! During my daily meditation I think of each of you!
Sunxxxxxxxxxxxxx: hehe smiles thank you for offering to share and experience together
Aprxxxxx: just to medititate even when you dont feel like it do it anyway
Jamesxxxxx: YES
Alixxxxxxxx: Yes!

Bluxxxxxxxxx: I still have a hard time being able to settle down into the stillness
Jamesxxxxx: Sometimes if you get past 5 minutes of resistance, you suddenly break through to something wonderful. Blue, thats why we are covering so many tools to help with that.
Bluxxxxxxxxx: I have yet to break thru into anything but the silence
Alixxxxxxxx: Blue the thing to know is that you must allow the thoughts and things which are around you to flow through you and it will go away from your attention once you allow the self to accept everything as part of your being. Then your focus will be to the peace you are attempting to achieve.
Jamesxxxxx: In the second series we will be covering very different approaches to meditation.. like Vipasanna (Insight Meditation) which does not attempt to control or limit anything you are experiencing.. Some people do better with different techniques.
Alixxxxxxxx: Thank you James
Jamesxxxxx: But the goal is the same. We are almost out of time and we only meditated together brieftly as an exercise..
Alixxxxxxxx: But we have achieved alot!
Jamesxxxxx: Shall we do this once more with a little more focus?
Floxxxxx: sure :)
Alixxxxx: Yes

Guided Meditation:

Ok.. lets assume the position! Sit as aligned as you can.. head neck and trunk in a line. Sitting on edge of chair with feet on floor may be best, but find your own best position. Then relax and be very still. Starting with top of head, let relaxation fall over you like a blanket.. Relax forehead, jaw, neck, shoulders. Arms, body, hips, legs feet. Then breathe deeply and smoothly, feeling a warm peaceful energy filling you as you do this.

Breathe out all tension and heaviness. Open your heart.. relax that space and feel the breath moving through it. At any time you can put your palms together in front of your heart center.. or just focus there.. whatever feels good.

Begin to feel the peace as the energized breath caresses your heart center from the inside.. like a warm breeze moving through the leaves of trees. stirring this space as it passes.
Open to the peace.. and let your awareness locate the point it is felt.. where it bubbles up like a wellspring. Be with this point.. focus on it, relax into it. Let the peace radiate outward until it surrounds you...

If you want, close your eyes and feel this for a few breaths. Taking one final deep breath and releasing, let us bring this meditation gently to a close.

February 12 - Class Summary -Meditation Chakras-

We continue our discussion of focus methods by exploring breath awareness as a method of energizing the chakras. We will also cover these 7 energy centers and their significance.

There are 7 major chakras in our "bodies". In sanskrit Chakra means wheel. They are circular, spinning wheels of energy, like vortices. Everyone knows of some of these, but they do not know they know. Certain types of feelings or energies are associated with specific chakras. Like feelings of love and peace are associated with the heart chakra, and we actually feel these things in that location.

For the purpose of our step by step approach to meditation, chakra focus is one of the focus methods we use to supliment the basic stillness and breath awareness. For most of us, just trying to be still only gets the "monkey mind" stirred up. I would like to go over the 7 chakras briefly.. we will go into much more detail in future classes. Then instead of talking about how to use them in meditation, we'll start our group meditation a little early and I will talk you through it in real time.

You might want to take a couple of deep focused breaths now. There are 7 major chakras, and countless minor ones. Each chakra is associated with specific things. Specific energies.

*The root chakra located at the base of your spine, is said to be about survival energy.

*The second chakra, located a few inches above that in the center of your lower abdomen, is about procreation.

*The third chakra near the naval is about power and control.... and ego.

*The fourth chakra located in the center of your chest is the heart chakra, and is the middle point of the 7. This chakra balances the energy of the lower chakras, with the energy of the 3 higher ones, which are said to be the spiritual centers. I think everyone knows that the heart is about love, and its also the physical location where we feel peace. For the purpose of meditation, I prefer to begin with the heart center and work upward...

*The 5th chakra is located in the center of the throat. It is associated with knowledge, and readiness for higher truth.

*The 6th charka is the third eye, known as the command center. The third eye is where we are said to see spiritual light, and is about wisdom. The third eye, between and above the eyebrows, where some people from India paint a red dot.

*The 7th and last of the major chakras is at the crown of our heads. This is the chakra of spiritual oneness.

Many of you will be able to feel these centers if you try..especially during meditation. Everyone has these energy centers, and certain feelings are associated with those locations in our bodies.. love and peace being the most obvious, but also getting choaked up can be 5th chakra energy. Chakras become more active as you clear the pathways and energize them. For the purpose of meditation, we are mostly going to focus on the 4th, 5th and 6th chakra. Centering in peace.. and then coaxing the energy up to the higher centers. When I hear the expression "rise above something", I think about chakras because our consciousness can be shifted upward and it changes our perspective.

One of my favorite examples of this is when you fall in love. You are in the heart center... but you have two ways to go from there, and its said that the heart chakra pivots up and down. If you go down from the heart, the third charka is about control and power.. more fear based.. you want to build a wall around your beloved because you are afraid you will lose them. If you take the energy up to a more spiritual place, then you are able to soar higher together, instead of being stuck in fear. We take a deep breath and let the love take us higher. That is kind of an oversimplification, but I think it illustrates my point.

I have often wondered if the first and seventh, second and sixth, and third and fifth chakras are supposed to balance each other. Using the energized breath, we can stimulate and open each ofthese centers.


Guided Meditation:

Lets get into a comfortable position for meditation... whatever works for you.. and lets you align head, neck, and trunk without tension. Then become as still as you can, and relax your body.. starting with the top of your head, and working down. Forehead, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms sit as still as you can, without tension anywhere breathe deeply and smoothly to your comfortable capacity.

Feel the universal energy that is all around you (prana or chi) filling you as you inhale. Breathe out all tension... focus on relaxing as you exhale. Breathe in warm peaceful energy, breathe out all heaviness. As you breathe in this warm peaceful energy, open your heart to it.. let the heart center open like a flower opens to the dawn.

Feel the breath coaxing it open until you feel a peacefulness there as you breathe. As you feel this peace.. try to locate the point you are actually having the sensation. Breathing in warm peaceful energy.. let your awareness tune in to the place you are feeling the peace. Breathe out all heaviness and tension, then repeat.

Let your heart open like a flower to the sun, just allow it. Feel the warmth of it.. the warm glow. Breathing in warm peaceful energy, feeling it fill your heart, breathing out all negativity. As your heart fills with warmth, as you inhale, start to feel the energy moving up to your throat center. Let the throat center open.. feel the warmth overflowing from the heart center and moving upward as you inhale. You may feel a sensation in your throat. Breathing in warm peaceful energy, feeling it fill your heart and radiating upward

As it continues to increase, feel it travel from your heart all the way to the space between your brows in the time it takes to inhale a deep breath. The heart overflows. The energy moves upward as you focus it upward. Feel the area in the center of your forehead open to this energy..let peace and stillness radiate from this point. Breathing in warm peaceful energy.. feeling it move upward toyour third eyes.. relax this space. See if you can feel it.

ok.. lets take a couple of deep breaths and just relax. Let's come out of it now..

February 5 - Class Summary -Meditation Concentration and Mantras-

This week we will are looking at focus methods and concentration.

For many people, posture, stillness, and breath awareness are enough to achieve adequate results in meditation. For many the "monkey mind" as the Buddhists like to call it, can ripple the water and spoil the effect. For this reason we use focus methods that can help us achieve the stillness we seek by taking a slightly more active role.

Mantra is one of the most common focus methods used in meditation. Some attribute mystical properties to certain vibrations and words, but for our purposes in this first series, we are going to focus more on using matra as a method of calming the mind, and the actual word or sound chosen is not what is significant.

We will also be looking at concentration and its role in meditation. Concentration must be approached gently in meditation, as to not introduce its own tensions into the mix.

This is a lot to cover in one week, so I ask that during the presentation you limit questions to this weeks topic. There is time in the beginning and end of the class where open discussion of other meditation topics can take place. I thank you in advance for your cooperation on this.

Focus methods are used to help bring the mind into a state of calm. The most common is mantra, which is a word or sound that is repeated silently, over and over, in order to bring the mind into a focused state.

Concentration is key to this process, and we will go over an exercise to help develop this ability.
Other focus methods include taking the breath awareness further to include energizing individual chakras. This will be covered next week so I won't do into an explanation now.
In the second series we will cover a Buddhist technique which is like the opposite of concentration. Instead of being one pointed, you focus on anything and everything. In the end what we are trying to achieve is the same as what we covered last week.... stillness. Sometimes it is just easier to go about it round about. The mind is a slippery devil.

So before we talk about mantra focus, I would like to give you a concentration exercise to work with. This is a favorite among meditators... It involves a candle. Any candle will do as long as you can see the flame. So one in a glass won't work well. Its best if the flame does not flicker excessively, so try to do this somewhere without a breeze, and cut the wick short, which also helps prevent flickering. A tea light could be used but I recommend elevating it to make easier to focus on.

Set the candle about 18 inches in front of you and sit as comfortably as you can. The standard meditation pose is great for this. Basically, you want to just gaze at the flame. Try to see nothing else. Imagine getting close enough that it fills your field of vision, than you WILL see nothing else.

Gaze at the flame for a few minutes if you can, thinking of nothing else... just practice focusing on it. When your eyes get tired, you can close them for a time, and then switch your focus to the afterimage of the candle flame. This works just as well.

Try this exercise for 5 minutes or so.. longer if you are comfortable. You want to practice focusing like a magnifying class focuses the sun onto a piece of paper, causing it to burn. Focus gently, using only your mind, not making faces or wrinkling your forehead. This can help you to train your mind to focus on whatever object you choose.

For the purposes of this weeks class we are going to use a simple universal mantra. As I said in the beginning, this first series is meant to be as generic as possible. Mantra is more of a yoga or Buddhist tradition, but its so common and so easy I think it is worth covering here. When we cover mantra in the second series we will learn about the meanings and what some believe about how the vibrations can effect us. Tonight it is just something to focus the mind.

The mantra we are going to use is "So Ham" which is pronounced "So Hum". When used it is synchronized with the breath. Once you reach the point where you are settles into the breath awareness for a few minutes, you start saying this mantra silently.. as you inhale, you say or "hear" "sooooooooo", as you exhale you hear "hummmmm". Let the vibrations of it echo through your field of consciousness, drowning out thoughts and other distractions.

Synchronizing the mantra with the breath makes it even more effective. You can continue using the method of breathing we learned last week, letting the breath be a circle of figure 8, with no pause between inhalation and exhalation.

We will use the mantra during the guided meditation at the end.. that may help make all of this clear.

Again, if you missed the previous weeks, we have all the summaries available on our site Meditation Paths thanks to Alitewithin :-) .

There are other mantras, and you can choose something that has a meaning to you, but no meaning may actually be best. I used to use "earth peace" as I inhaled, and "sky mind" as I exhaled, while focusing on the stillness of the earth for the first part, and the spaciousness of the sky on the second. For me these images helped mirror what I wanted to happen in my field of consciousness.

This is a very simple technique.. (the step-by-step approach). We are setting the scene for meditation to happen on its own. Like a light shining up from the bottom of the pond when the water becomes still enough. It's in there already. It is the nature of consciousness.


GUIDED MEDITATION:

Ok, when meditating at a computer, the same principles apply in deciding how to sit. If you are in a chair, you might find it most comfortable to sit close to the edge with feet on the floor.. hips higher than knees makes the back balance more comfortably. But if you prefer sitting back, that will be fine.

Align head, neck and trunk in your position. Sit with head high as if its suspended from the ceiling on a string...Rest the hands on or near the keyboard, or palms up on your thighs. Then relax forehead, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, body, hips, legs...Sitting straight and aligned, be totally still and as limp as you can without changing your position.

Let the stillness settle over you like a blanket. Be as still as the floor under your feet. As your body slowly settles into this stillness, the field of consciousness will more easily do the same. Once you feel comfortable sitting still, bring your awareness to the breath.

Breathe deeply and smoothly to your comfortable capacity. Let the stomach be soft, moving in and out instead of the rib cage. Breathe without pausing between inhalation and exhalation.as if you are breathing in a continuous circle (or figure 8).

Occasionally check forehead and neck to make sure you are still relaxed. As you inhale, feel the prana or chi filling you, like a warm energy. As you exhale, let go of all heaviness and tension. Breathing in warm peaceful energy. Breathing out all cares and distractions.

Do this for several breaths with your eyes closed.. feeling the peace settling over you, then come back to look at the screen. Now as you take your next breath, hear the sound "sooooo" as you are inhaling, and the sound "hummmmmmm" as you are exhaling.

Soooooooo in hummmmmmmm out. Feel it vibrating your consciousness. Sooooooo in, hummmmmmm out. Stay totally relaxed.. just hear this vibrate in your mind.Soooooooo in, hummmmmmmm out. Feel the energy building from the focus of your mind.. and feel the relaxation deepening. Sooooooo in, hummmmmmmmmm out.

Do this for several more breaths with your eyes closed.. concentrating on the vibration of it, then come back. The more focused you are, the more it will shift your consciousness. Taking one final deep breath and releasing, let us bring this meditation gently to a close.

When you do this yourself, you will want to sustain the mantra for at least 5 minutes.then depending how you feel, you can continue or shift to some other focus, or just "be".