At one time I had this impression that in
order to meditate it had to be done in a difficult yogic position and that I
had to be of pure mind and body in order to have fantastic out-of-body
experiences as the result of these practices. Perhaps, I thought, I might
even attain to some sort of super-human abilities such as ESP or levitation.
Who knows, maybe I would eventually see the essence of the godhead and
transcend ordinary life altogether!
These
expectations were all vanity. All I had to do in order to meditate was to
simply divorce myself from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives, and
sit. How to do this takes some effort on my part but any difficult task is
accomplished much easier if the proper tool for the job is employed.
Sitting
quietly with no expectations can be accomplished by first applying formal
prayer. Formal prayers, such as the Lord’s Prayer, are another thing altogether
from casual, conversational, prayers. Formal prayer separates my mind from
personal desires and opens my mind towards transcendence from self-centered
pleas or petitioning. My mind is then cleared so that I can actually meditate
free of the monkey-chatter that occupies much of my thought-life.
To be continued…
geo, 4,590
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