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As we add new articles to the site, you will be able to access archive material here. The Art of Divination An Introduction to the Tarot Fate and Free Will |
MEDITATION
Meditation is the art of being in the body – it’s as simple as that. To have to learn to meditate to re-enter the body suggests that something quite unnatural has happened to reinforce the mind’s identification with the external world. The fact is that virtually everyone these days spends most of the time in a perpetual swirl of aimless thought and mental abstraction. As a result, it’s quite a rarity for anyone to be fully present in the physical senses. Being more conscious in the senses is a natural palliative to the stresses and strains of everyday life so you might ask what the impediment is to remaining in this desirable state. The answer is the human mind itself.
Aimless thinking is an indulgence of an undisciplined mind. Most people assume that thinking is a virtue and the zenith of human creativity. However, they fail to appreciate that worry, fear and anxiety are thinking operating at an intensified vibration. We all know how difficult it is to stop thinking, particularly when agitation or intense feelings arise. But even in the good times when all is well, the mind, fuelled by the emotions, is constantly droning on in the background. It’s impossible just to switch off the mind and be in a state of peace and harmony. It must first be emptied of all the garbage that distracts it from doing what it’s supposed to do, which is to respond to the practical daily needs and demands of the world. In meditation, this is achieved through the gradual stilling of the mind and emotions by a focus on the inner sensation of the body. When the mind is still, an extraordinary thing occurs. The normally differentiated senses are unified and the thinking process stops. The direct current usually projected outwardly through the senses is short-circuited, literally “earthing” the attention in the natural substance of the body. This is because the attention, now centred in the body, is not allowed to be distracted by the mind’s restlessness. With the mind sensitively alert to the inner state, the external world of the senses can then be perceived with a greater degree of clarity – and this provides the means to be more effective, whatever activity is performed in the world. Many people feel creatively unfulfilled and restricted in areas of self expression. This is because the pure intelligence within the body, the source of all creative ideas, is constantly being undermined by mental and emotional distortion. Stillness, being the cessation of the mind’s movement, enables the essence of any idea to be intuited and expressed with a timeless quality that has the hallmark of originality. This is where meditation begins to take you to a place beyond the mind, thoughts and concepts. Progress in the early stages can be quite encouraging, but to persevere and overcome the enormous resistance of the mind to self-mastery is the greatest challenge that can ever be undertaken. The real purpose of meditation is to introduce to the individual who is willing the possibility of a more conscious way of life. It’s a necessary practice on the journey to self-discovery. The inspiration to turn inwards against the enormous current of creation and persevere back through the subconscious is the dawning of purpose in the individual’s life. In my own experience this happened in London around 20 years ago. Quite inexplicably, since I had no inclination towards anything spiritual or esoteric, I had the overwhelming compulsion to enter my body. A year later, after a period of one-pointed focus, my own inner reality externalised and communicated to me, shattering everything I had previously valued or adhered to as a way of life. Twelve months later I was living in Australia to be with Barry Long, the Australian spiritual master. From then on things started to get serious! How you get to the point where the life is irrevocably changed is not important. The thing is to recognise the opportunity when it comes. Lance Kelly 2009 Meditation classes with Lance Kelly now available. See “Courses and Workshops” page © Copyright Ullswater Centre 2009 |
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