How do guided meditations work? What are group meditations about?
A birds eye view! And a dive deep in!
The word meditation encompasses within its fold many kinds of meditation- from classical to the more modern; from complete silence to chanting silently or aloud to guided sessions; from sitting crossed legged in a place to it being a 24/7 moment to moment happening! Each has its strengths; and different people find different kinds of meditation suitable and enjoyable. And the best clue for you is this- do that you resonate to! What draws you! What you feel like doing rather than forcing yourself to do! Yes you may need to try it sometimes, with an open mind and then determine if it is for you in the now. At some point the different systems blend, with only your starting point differing.
I will explore guided meditations through this writing- one of the simpler and perhaps more modern approaches to meditating; yet an offshoot of the ancient tantra and dhyana approach, where you were guided through inner exercises! The principle this works on is: that which you focus on deeply and consistently, you become over time! This principle ofcourse works in day- to- day life too, and is indeed how you shape your life and reality, but we add certain elements to this through a meditative focus- by placing our focus on vaster, deeper, higher more divine aspects of self in wondrous ways. Indeed both in tandem - a daily positive and expanded focus, along with meditation, enables each other towards best results!
This brings me to the second principle behind guided meditations: expansion of your personal energy field! For what we are really doing through these meditations (initially) is literally stretching your personal energy field to vaster, higher aspects of self all the way to Universal Consciousness! From manas and your lower or day –to- day thinking mind to buddhi to higher self or soul to Masters and higher aspects within the universe to universal consciousness- God if you choose to call it thus! Once again this can be done through other means- gyan (mind expansion) and bhakti (Love) – with each enabling the other and each such path meeting at some point! For truly expansion of your energy field is synonymous with mind and heart expansion. It is also referred to as a rising of your kundalani. Meditation works wondrously here for it directly impacts your energy fields, through the subtle bodies, chakra’s, (which are aspects of the mind or energy field!) breath… and other means.
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This expansion of your personal energy field leads ofcourse to many beneficial results- which can be understood through physics and the laws of energy! The principle like attracts like is almost self explanatory! When you tap into beautiful, loving, empowered, still, expanded aspects of being- and your energy filed resonates with these energies- you further attract that in day –to- day ways be it enhanced relationships or other means of fulfillment! The principle of energy resisting its opposite helps anything that doesn’t match it to indeed get deflected from you! Thus anger, sorrow, denser desires automatically begin to leave your nervy fields! The principle higher energies are not impacted by the lower allows you to remain in increasingly positive states of mind even in the face of the day to day ups and downs! It must be understood that nature has built in ways for us to tap into all of this in natural ways- through breath; sleep etc… but we dissipate it through our day to day acts and worries! Through meditation however you build a deep strong positive reservoir of fresh prana within- almost like a camel stores water- and even the few day to day disturbances do not drain us completely!
Universal consciousness- is a state of being which is love, joy, empowered, abundant, still, forever expanding…and when your personal energy field becomes one with this, not only do all the above principles of energy help in attracting liked wise, but it becomes easier and easier to live in accordance with the highest spiritual principles! This ‘happens’ because unconditional love, acceptance, non judgment, joy, clarity all become a part of your personal energy field… and you thus find yourself moving into these in day to day ways almost automatically; with anger and the like dissipating automatically! This helps enhance relationships (personal to wider) and live a better day to day life!
Mediation also helps in practical ways: by honing your ability to focus, increasing your attention span, and enabling multitasking- for the processes of mediation employ all of these within! Ultimately it leads to living with full conscious awareness moment to moment; it leads to living wholly in the Now!
Another offshoot through expanding your energy fields is that you can hold in your energy fields vaster dreams! This works on the principle that all dreams and desires belong to consciousness itself, and based on your personal energy field do you become a chalice to hold particular dreams! As you expand, your visions and dreams do too as well as the means to make them come true then automatically become part of you!
Mediation also helps those of you who are seekers, in receiving guidance; understanding complex spiritual truths, indeed birthing the upaguru the guru within! This works on the principle that as you focus on higher aspects and expand your energy filed, the lower static starts to disappear and you become directly linked to Wisdom itself! Thus does mediation also help those who are seeking to develop healing or psychic abilities- because truly psychic abilities are about removing the static between you and higher states of vision that are then yours automatically; and also because as you expand your energy filed, you increasingly learn to become one with the others energy fields, and that’s all it truly takes to do optimal healing or readings! The higher you can then take your energy field, the better work can you then do on the ‘other’ once you are thus connected! Mediation helps you consciously reach that honed ‘point’ where you are aware you have extended your personal energy field- into another’s or higher aspects of being! Indeed an offshoot of this conscious awareness is that when it spontaneously happens in your day, you recognize it as such and enjoy the bliss of an expanded self increasingly!
And it doesn’t stop here! During meditation, as you expand your energy field to higher aspects of self or universe- you can use that expansion to receive personal guidance, work with your subconscious mind and its limiting beliefs and hone your manifestation skills! Again this works on the principle that as you are connected to, one with higher aspects of self-the universe and its loving divine intelligences one with you at that expanded point! You may then ask questions and maintain silence for a few moments to receive an answer- with regular meditation the answers will become more immediate but initially you may receive them at any point in the day or week as a sudden clarity or message from somewhere impacting you! To work with limiting aspects of self, expand your energy field, and then ‘place’ the limiting belief in this honed point of focus… and become aware of the guidance you may receive. Sometimes showing you the root cause, sometimes what to do now, sometimes dissolving it over meditative sessions and its highest energies! Try it! It beats counseling and its acute focus on the past and negative limitation! Manifestation done during meditative states is optimal in many ways: for as you have seen above through meditation you reach an expanded sate of beingness. I will refer to this as zero point- where all instantly is! If we remained here through the day we would all be manifesting immediately- but as we don’t, at least we are sowing the seeds of our manifestation at this highest plane of creation! Like creator! If you follow this meditative input with positive thinking and all the tools of manifestation we have explored over the years- you add to it ofcourse! By doubting worrying fretting you don’t allow it to descend to your psychical plane! A magical thing to try is to allow a dream to come during meditation! Most often we manifest what we already want, and never go further! Sometimes if you leave it loose at this point of meditation you may be amazed at what universal dream your expanded energy fields are ready to embrace!
Ofcourse meditation helps you go beyond words! Words belong to the mind; words help; but at some point both the mind and its words must be left behind! And paradoxically guided meditations use words to go beyond words - like a bridge - taking you to a point where they are not required! Not only do you understand deep spiritual truths and paradoxes simply and clearly; you experience what can not be described by words – perhaps only pointed at when we call that state of beingness-love, stillness, expansion etc.
At its deepest, all these benefits of meditation become stepping stones only to its ‘reason to be’- to take you from personal consciousness into universal consciousness! This is a process–like alchemy- which turns matter to gold we turn self to Selfless or All… Spirit! But this is addressed in depth in another writing of its own! Briefly put, as you expand your personal energy field and become one with impersonal consciousness, there is no separate you! And then truly does the game of 'life' begin! Then does the journey and seeking end! Then is their both surrender and Creatorhood...! Then is their awakening or self realization
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Guided meditations work on the principle of placing your attention on divine aspects, through expanding your personal energy fields thereof and also through the principle of attrainment! Attrainment works like a tuning fork…and when the guide taking you through the meditation is linked to his/her highest finest most expanded self or energies, those energies enable all to reach there! Their energies literally mingle with yours, beckoning yours to rise alongside! Remember the lower is always drawn to the higher…with the higher not being impacted by the lower- it is a law of energy! This also brings up a co related point- that you can use meditation or other tools like music, good reading material, happy friends, hobbies etc to do seed your energy fields in this manner! It is very good for those whose energy fields are slack, without vitality, depressed- seed your energy field through meditation or other tools, otherwise the law of energy that resists its opposite is at play and the positive feel good factor is actually pushed away by your enervated energy field- and you wonder why you are unable to come out of your depression!
Guided meditations usually, employ a three fold process- a) raising of your energies, b) holding that peaked attention and expansion for general fulfillment or whatever inner work you have chosen to enable through this, or towards placing your focus potently on deeper aspects c) and the coming back to current consciousness in ways that best allows you to retain all that you have touched or embraced during the meditation. Towards this they use analogies or symbols or images - dharna or dhyana of tantra- whereby through the words you willfully place your deeply attuned focus on different aspects of self and Self…and universe!
This process can be described through many terms:
-In terms of brainwaves we go through beta, alpha, delta, gamma and higher states
-in terms of the mind we go through the conscious, subconscious, unconscious to the supra conscious mind! Or we move from ego and mamas to buddhi and chitta and higher mind and soul!
- In energy terms we go through the chakras and energy bodies known as the etheric, emotional, astral, mental, spiritual ‘bodies’ or sheaths! Yin and yang, Ida Pingala balancing is done!
-In mystical terms we move from personal consciousnesses to Prakriti, I AM consciousness, and Beyond Consciousness
-In mythological terms we embrace Prakriti, Shiva, Shakti, the Void/Absolute..
-In more universal terms we embrace Christ consciousness, Buddha consciousness… different higher selves, Master selves, Angels…Godself!
I could go on but I hope you get the point: these are different words, terms concepts referring to the same one process within! Thus meditation can be understood from so many angles and when we do- its potency perhaps strikes us anew!
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Which brings us to ‘group’ meditations! All the above play out in magnified ways due to the combined energies of all present! Remember attrainment! Remember like attracts like! And if so many are reaching higher states of being- you don’t need e to outline how it helps!
Indeed group meditations not only help propel newcomers, beginners or those who cant expand their own fields due to low vitality ,troubles etc….but also helps each one go higher or deeper!
Plus you impact your environment beautifully and potently through a group meditation!
Also as so many hone their energies; you create a larger chalice to receive from the universe its wonders! Manifestation becomes stronger! Oneness is experienced tangibly! You can use the harnessed energies for long distance healing or your own intents too!
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Auspicious occasions and days - be it a festival or cultural occasion of any culture... are not arrived at random! Certain universal alignments and planetary positions are in place, a certain sacred geometry is playing out, certain portals are open, and the universe floods us with certain energies to partake in. Through the year, different energies, essences, qualities...call it what you may... are gifted to us by our Universal Self, through all of this, to make use of and play the human game better! Consciousness enables consciousness! And seers of ancient days, tuned into these, and described them to the larger people through story, symbol and anthropomorphism … to make it easier for early mankind to understand these abstract truths and thereby be willing to partake in them! Thus they developed over time into festivals, religious occasions and public holidays and different countries, peoples, cultures would translate these in cultural ways. These days are thus optimal to meditate or focus in day to day ways on what essence they ‘celebrate’! This not helps more of us avail these energies, but as critical mass focus on them, more is available for mankind! Think how beautiful a plan- we as consciousness gift ourselves different essences and qualities through the year, and indeed ensure that the universal order functions accordingly to make that available!
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Some key points to remember- over time, meditation helps all of this to become more and more natural- one reaches these states being or receives answers or shifts from a day to day worry to bliss quicker and easier! Its much like physical exercise trains your muscles and over time you don’t hurt so much; and don’t need to do as active a work out but a maintenance one!
Ultimately it moves into a zone of 24/7 meditation …with you in touch with whatever aspects of self or universe that you are touching, out of the meditation too…and through the day!Also remember that meditation is one of the ways to enable all of this, for life itself and gyan, bhakti, kriya, different yoga’s all enable this journey! Each has its strengths, each adds to the other, and indeed they all meet at some point. For best ‘results’, a tailor made blend is best!
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Meditation –guided or not; alone or with a group- transforms you, your environment and your world!
Enjoy! That’s the only ‘requirement’! Inculcate a taste for it if you like!
Love from my heart to yours
Divyaa Kummar
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