How to meditate
One blade of grass looking for the field.
May 1, 2000
Copyright by The Electric Wigwam (N.H.), 2000, all rights reserved

I would like to talk to you about how to meditate and reach a higher state. What it is and what it isn't. I wonder what modern man thinks meditation is. I have been seeing a lot. Ask yourself, what do you think it is to meditate?

Most people I have asked that of think it means to make your mind blank. That is not meditation. That is "not thinking".

When you hear people say, "Clear your mind." It doesn't mean make your mind blank. It means clear your mind of noise. You clear your mind of noise by being aware of what is here and now. Life is so much fuller if you feel here and now.

Focus what you think about. If you came to me and said, "Teacher, what should I learn first?" I would tell you to contemplate what it means to be aware of this very moment. No other moment is important except the moment you are drawing breath in. And when that breath is gone, that moment is no longer important.

What does it mean to be aware of now? Think. What do you think it means? Stop. What are you aware of now? What are your senses telling you now? Do you feel your physical senses? Experience those things. Every second, experience them. Get the full of what they are.

Often, too many people spend their time thinking of what they are going to do next. Then they don't experience now.

You don't have to sit down to meditate. You can be in any stage or position. Ultimately, your goal should be to reach the meditative state in your everyday life no matter what position you are in, so there can be a base for more things.

Try it.

Your body should not be underestimated when you think of what is important. Very often, people reaching for spiritual awareness ignore their bodies. They believe the soul is the only thing important. They don't realize the body would not exist if it were not important to what needs to be.

Your body is the greatest tool you have. Disciplining and training your body will bring you a level of inner calm and strength. When your body is not disciplined, neither is your mind.

There will always be people who are not physically perfect, whose bodies are not perfect. But our bodies should be as perfect as we can make them, because they are our tools. If you were a cook you would keep your pots clean and your knives sharp to be a good cook. If you are a soul you keep your tools clean to be the best soul you can be.

Those who see the food of the cook may never see the knives or the pots he cooked with, but if the pots and knives are not good, the food will not be its best.

Likewise, when power is not disciplined, not trained, it can hurt the body. It must be in harmony. By training the body, we train the soul. When the body is trained, you don't worry about it. You will know it will take care of itself. But this is not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about meditation.

Mediation is not a state of doing nothing. Many people believe that to meditate they must focus on one sound, one word, and clear their mind of everything else. Though this can be helpful, it is not really meditation. It is actually the opposite of meditation. When we meditate, we open ourselves up to the vastness of creation. If you believe you are meditating by filling your mind with one sound or one object, then you are closing down to everything else.

The true way to meditate is to be aware of this very moment. As this moment passes, let it go and be aware of the next. When I say be aware, I mean be aware of everything. Everything from the smallest sight, sound, feeling of the air on the hair of your skin, all the smells around you, to the big events and things around you. Then let it go and go on to the next moment. When you do this, you are connecting to something bigger than you are.

When we first learn to meditate we should practice sitting quietly and being aware of everything around us, without letting our minds drift into a daydream or fantasy. If we let our minds drift into daydream or fantasy then we are not focused.

The only connection we have to creation are the things that have been given to us, (such as) the world around us. And our connection to that world is our body. Our connection to our body is our soul. To activate that connection, you simply become aware. Focus on experiencing everything that happens in a moment. Every smell, every sound, the feeling, the thought that you have about it. Don't examine your thought. Don't justify your thought. Don't even think about your thought. Just experiences all of this. When you do this it opens up the connection.

When you are in harmony of all that is around you, like this, suddenly you realize you are in harmony with everything there is. That is what meditation is; reaching for that harmony.