The Power of Meditation

“As research on meditation continues to deepen, it’s beginning to look like the practice of simply sitting still may be the most powerful tool we have available to us to transform not only our own lives—but human consciousness as a whole.”  Craig Hamilton, Unlocking the Power of Meditation

Unequivocally, meditation is the single most powerful component of spiritual practice. Before the evolution of the conceptual mind, it was our natural state, one of conscious presence: alert, aware, instinctive, able to respond immediately to any stimulus in the environment. At this stage of our evolution, however, we were unaware that we were conscious; still embedded in the Mind of God, symbiotic with the All.

Then came an Awakening. We evolved into the next level of consciousness. We developed the capacity to think, to organize thoughts into concepts and construct civilizations out of them. In one sense this evolution was a great loss. We were no longer innocent, no longer “safe.” We precipitated out of Oneness and discovered separateness. Duality was born in human consciousness. This event, as I have related elsewhere, was interpreted as a Fall from Grace and the mythology of Eden emerged. Instead of experiencing awakening as a miracle of freedom, we felt it as a punishment and concluded that we had “sinned.” We broke some sacred law and as a result were condemned to pain and suffering. We were forced to make our way into the unknown, burdened with guilt and shame.

This has been the human condition for thousands of years and now we stand on the threshold of a second awakening. Christians call it the Second Coming, but this time our awakening does not depend on imagined salvation. No one is coming to rescue us. This time we must save ourselves.

We have been Spiritual Children. We evolved into Spiritual Adolescents. Now it’s time to choose to take the next step into Spiritual Adulthood. This is a time of great potential. This is an unprecedented Rite of Passage. As I discussed in “What’s Going On?” the planets are aligning. The Heavens are revealing our spiritual potential. The energies are gathering to boost us to the next level, like a rocket separating from its first stage, letting the past fall away with all that no longer serves the journey.

The natal chart of the USA shows us our role – what needs healing, maturing, reframing; what wants to emerge. This is our spiritual practice: letting go of conditioned thinking, healing emotional wounds, reframing the story we have told about our past, finding self-acceptance and allowing it to bloom into self-love which ultimately will become the flower of Oneness.

As we liberate ourselves from the bonds of conditioning, we will see who we really are. We will reconnect with that Spiritual Child, the one born in innocence and bliss, as well as the Soul from which it emerged. It is deep inside us that unimaginable love, wisdom and strength reside. And the way we access that bottomless well is through meditation.

There are many misconceptions about meditation. One of the most common is that we have to subdue the mind. In our modern world we are addicted to thinking. “I think; therefore I am,” declared Rene Descartes and the thinking mind became CEO of human experience. We mistake thinking for consciousness. We believe we are conscious because we can think, but consciousness is the context of the rational mind. What we come to realize as we practice meditation is that Consciousness is all there is, that we are consciousness, that all the consciousness in the Universe, and perhaps beyond, is what we have named God.

The conceptual mind cannot grasp this truth, but we can know it by becoming aware of Awareness. This does not require silencing the mind, but as my meditation teacher Craig Hamilton explains, the mind generates thoughts. That’s its function. We can’t suppress that natural function, but we can ignore it. We can refuse to be seduced down its countless rabbit holes.

When we first begin to meditate, we probably spend most of our time thinking. We remember something we need to do. We plan out our day. We rehearse an upcoming performance. We carry on arguments with opponents. We wonder how long we’ve been meditating. We decide what to have for dinner. All of this is the conceptual mind at work. Our job is to notice when we are following a train of thought and simply release it. Let it go. No matter how much we want to finish planning that menu, we let go and return to being aware. As we practice this simple state of consciousness, we become aware of those thoughts and disengage quicker. After a while, we hardly notice them. Now we are in meditation. We are experiencing the profound, unlimited spaciousness of Consciousness.

Another great misconception about meditation is that it should take us to some amazing place – spiritual ecstasy, enlightenment, Nirvana. Once we overcome our resistance to meditating, we move into expectation. A good meditation is a profound meditation. We are frequently, if not always, disappointed. We were not transported, therefore the meditation was a failure. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes we will have extraordinary experiences, but they are the cherry on top of the sundae. The real intent of meditation is to be firmly grounded in the moment, in awareness. To just sit and experience space. To reach the point of total acceptance of everything that is present in the moment. This simple act opens up enough space for the unknown to enter.

I have meditated for almost 50 years; daily for the last two. In the early stages of my practice I received definite benefits. My children told me I was much easier to get along with when I meditated. I definitely was calmer, less reactive. But my meditations rarely fulfilled my expectations. I would fall asleep. I would get caught up in thought. When I was guided on meditative adventures I wouldn’t see anything. That really made me feel inadequate. I’d hear from others about their amazing visuals, envy them, demean myself.

It was only when I began working with Craig Hamilton that I fell in love with meditation. In the past two years, I have found what I sought my whole life.  Craig has developed a meditative approach he calls “Direct Awakening.” He will teach a new three-month course in January and when it is available I will send you the link. Craig is not teaching a belief system. Rather he has a discovered a path to inner truth and wisdom, not a way to seek enlightenment somewhere “out there,” but a way to reconnect with the Self inside, the one that is and always has been Enlightened.

We practice the future by reconnecting with our true Self. This is the Awakening – rediscovering that we are, and always have been, a spiritual being. Enlightenment is choosing to live that truth.