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.