Aug
Open Mic: Meditation Question and Answer Series
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This article is part of the Meditation Question and Answer Series. Other articles in this series include:
- What Is Meditation?
- How Do You Meditate?
- How Do You Make It Stick?
- What About Those Stray Thoughts?
- Does It Work?
- Am I Doing It Right?
I’ve been meditating since I was 8 years old. At the time, my family moved from the tropical island of Trinidad to New York City. In the basement of one of the 6 apartments we lived in over an 18 month period, a group of adults gathered to do meditation and yoga. I don’t remember anything profound happening during the meditation, but I was hooked. I felt that it was a way to directly connect with Spirit.
Every year since then I committed to a daily practice of meditation. I would start out with good intentions and meditate for every day up to 3 months. At the 3 month mark, the material world would start to disintegrate. That’s pretty scary when you’re in your teens, and it was equally petrifying as an adult.
In July 2006, I re-committed to the daily practice and this time I said I was going to push through the “amorphous” barrier, no matter the cost. What I’ve found on the other side is an immersion in Spirit that is unequaled. I can only experience and be in It. I cannot try to “get” it or “hold onto” it. It just is. Mystics say that there is an experience after this of being It. That’s what I’m shooting for.
In the meantime, I would like to share what I’ve learned of meditation: from the very rudimentary, where do I start, to what do I do with all those thoughts milling around, to what happens when I feel so exposed, to how can I go deeper.
Throughout this week, send me your questions about meditation and I will answer them as best I can from my 16 years of experience and from what I’ve learned from my teachers.
Looking forward to all of your questions.
In Spirit,
Nneka
August 6th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I’d love to begin meditation. I’m just not sure how to start!
An entire post dedicated to the starting of it would probably be great for people. I imagine this is one of (if not) the hardest part!
August 6th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Hi Nneka,
Thanks for your post. I have been ruminating about whether or not one needs to “sit on the cushion” to meditate. Can’t one just be mindful of what it is they are doing/being during the day and get the same results?
August 6th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
[...] I accept karma. I believe we are all subject to it. It is an inexorable Law. Is it possible though, that there could be an exception to it? Well, yes. Not so much an exception but more a transcending of it. You, at your highest level, which is spirit, is not subject to Karma whatsoever. Therefore if you can attain a certain level of consciousness, you can eliminate your karmic debts i.e. you rise above karma, from the material plane to the spiritual. Karma and the Law of Attraction are laws that operate only on the lower material level. Rising above this plane can be achieved through scientific prayer or meditation. These practices, both of which are experiencing the Presence of God, raise your level of consciousness ever so slightly, every time you practice them. The more you are in that Presence, the higher your level of consciousness and the lower your ‘bad’ karma. [...]
August 7th, 2007 at 1:20 am
i started meditating 38 years ago, off and on. sometimes i manage to meditate regularly for years, and then it goes again. i’ve read and experimented, had a teacher - and still i can’t say that i have a well-entrenched daily meditation practice, one that i will not forgo no matter what. any thoughts on that?
August 7th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Hi guys, keep the questions coming! This is really interesting.
Paula, I got to yours first so that I could lay some foundation. Check out the post: What is meditation?
August 14th, 2007 at 9:09 am
[...] This article is part of the Meditation Question and Answer Series. For other articles in the series, you can visit the introduction post. [...]
August 14th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
[...] Open Mic: Meditation Question and Answer Series Meditation Q&A: How Do You Meditate? [...]
May 21st, 2008 at 4:12 pm
[...] This article is part of the Meditation Question and Answer Series. For other articles in the series, you can visit the introduction post. [...]