Basic Meditation

Hi Andrei,

The most important thing for meditation is to have a goal, to meditate upon something which is really going to help you, like for example the inner work.

Concentration and asking for insights are very important aspects. When we are concentrated and become drowsy or sleepy, we can sometimes have flashes of insights. I would recommend to experiment a bit with it before the course starts. Focusing on an object may look boring, but we can gain insights into the object which we would otherwise never have gained. The mind cannot compete with those moments of instant understanding.

Hi Andrei,

You can do meditations on really simple things like relaxing your body or feeling your heartbeat.

One I really like which is taught in the meditation course is meditating on your breath. So you can feel the sensations of yourself breathing, or do things like count each breath as you breathe in and out and focus on it completely. It's very relaxing and I feel great after doing it!

Hope you enjoy the meditation course, I think it might be starting soon for you.

David

I like to combine mantras with meditation on something. Whatever I want to understand more deeply. So let's say I want to learn more about Love, then I'd lay down, relax, lay aside my body and brain, just relaxing, then pray for help understanding Love, then do a mantra for a while, just focusing on the mantra without forgetting what I'm investigating. Then after a while of the mantra then just continue in silence, keeping the consciousness directed toward the investigation.

This is just my informal meditation that works pretty well for me.

Samael's step-by-step meditation also works really well, it's given in the courses.

Best wishes :)

Hi JimB,

Which book is Samael's approach given? Is there a particular book used in the meditation course?

Dusty

Hi Dusty,

Samael's approach is given in the Revolution of the Dialectic, starting page 63: http://www.gnosticweb.com/files/pdf/EN_The_Revolution_of_the_Dialectic.p...

The practice is given in the third week (I think) of the Gnostic Wisdom course with explanation of why and how it helps, so if you have the Secret Knowledge, Hidden Wisdom book you can find it in that.

Unless it's changed quite recently, there isn't a book that goes along with the meditation course, it consists of a short lecture and then a practice for each week.

Hope all is well!

David

Hi David!
Thanks for the reference. I'm going to read it now. I do have the book for the Gnostic Wisdom course, but I have not cracked it open yet. I am taking a different approach this time and am just going to read as assigned. Everytime I read ahead, something gets me upset. (Maybe I shouldn't read Samael's approach yet. lol) So, I figure if I read as we go, I'm hoping the egos won't have as much ignorance to use against me this time around.

I'll probably take the mediation course after Gnostic Wisdom if the Gnostic Christianity course is still not available. Did you take that course?

Say hi to Ahona. (PS did she get that Nourishing Traditions book?)
Dusty

Not a problem.

Sounds like a good approach with the book for the Gnostic Wisdom course. There is a bit more explanation in there as well about the meditation on the ego technique that hopefully will make it a bit easier to understand / practice than just the description in Revolution of the Dialectic. Although there shouldn't be anything in it that will upset you, it's a technique to go deeper into the understanding of the egos, which is an extension of the analysis of an ego practice at the end of the Self Discovery course.

I've done all of the meditation course I think, but split across a couple of course rounds. There are some great practices in it, and it's mostly practice, not much theory.

I haven't done the Gnostic Christianity course. It looks like it's going to be interesting though! Hopefully that will be available to do after Gnostic Wisdom for you.

I'll say hi, I don't think she got the book though no, but I'll ask her about it.

David

Hi Andrei,

Perhaps, Meditation course can answer it the best. Going with its program can help you to discover what is the best way for you to meditate and the best means for that.

A few simple tips for now can be to practice with something you really like, for example, meditate on a piece of inspiring classical music, wonderful smell of a flower, mystical light of a candle, etc., whatever you really like.

When mind is silenced, it brings a person into a very different state of being, everything becomes magical and perception has a real clarity.
Whatever way you choose, certainly, to get there, takes patience, dedication and serious efforts to overcome egos resistance, which is explained thoroughly in Self-Discovery course.

Best wishes,
Vadim

This is good Vadim, thankyou for this. I know what I'm after in life in terms of desire and I could use that to meditate on as it's clear as a bell in my mind. I just never knew properly what things mentally could be used for meditation. Must your eyes be closed for the process though or is this unimportant?

The foundations of my life are slowly being pieced together....but who said in life there is a necessary hurry for anything to be achieved! Since discovering the basics of spiritual or the ESSENCE of ourselves I have seen a brighter light within me. As Ghandi once said it is only TRUTH that is the true religion, only truth can set us free.

That's great, if it helps!

When eyes are closed, usually there are less distractions and it's easier to silence the mind, however it's possible to meditate with eyes open as well.