Basic Meditation Tips to Achieve Stillness

[effilang]

 

 

 

Q: Thank you so much, how can I connect to space, I mean how can I imagine the space and connect to it.

 

A: Hello. The first thing you must do, is understand that the process of imagination is a function of the mind and the thoughts it produces.

 

The space between the thoughts, is the still point in the midst of the movement of the mind. It is like the subtle pause after the inbreath and the outbreath of air from our lungs.

 

It is the point of no-thing, whence wu wei is birthed.

 

If you can remain at rest within this sea of relative emptiness and empty your heart of desires; the body of the Tao will embrace you in it's transformative energy and you will begin to awaken to your original essence and see your true face, as it is before you are born into the physical dimension of duality: Taiji.

 

The second thing to understand is that the thoughts on their own cannot be rid off. They are evidence of a live and conscious being, and you should be happy you have them. When your body dies, the thoughts will die with the brain.

 

I will give you an easy method that you can practice at your leisure.

 

1. Sit comfortably on a chair or on the floor, and make sure your back is naturally erect.

 

2. Take a few minutes to relax your body completely. Relaxation is one of the most important things, not just during meditation, but during every activity we perform in life. When the mind and the body are relaxed, the spirit is still. When the spirit is still, it can manifest the Tao perfectly.

 

3. Place your attention on a single point. This is your anchor.

You can pick your Xia Dantien or the tip of your nose.

 

4. Maintain your attention on the anchor point, but do not apply any intention. There is a difference between the two. Although both intention and attention can lead the mind. The former is pregnant with desire, while the latter is empty of it. We want to disengage the heart, because when the heart stirs it produces thoughts and emotions. So, to be effective we apply an open attention instead of a closed intention.

 

5. Keep your attention on the anchor point. Nothing should sway you from it. Not even the breath. If you notice you are voluntarily adjusting your breathing; remove the attention even from this activity and replace it back on the anchor point. The breath will regulate itself. When at rest, it is an involuntary mechanism and it does not need conscious direction from the mind. The thoughts need Qi to function, so the breath is connected to the thoughts, and our awareness provides the fuel.

 

Because of this, the breath can be used as a yardstick in measuring the efficacy of producing tranquillity. If the breath is slow, the thoughts are weak and the awareness is disengaged from their activity. If the breath is fast and laboured, the thoughts will be heavy and over-active and our awareness will be dedicated to supporting their proliferation. If the breath becomes so slow, and for long periods of time seems to stop completely. Then you are beginning to touch upon the state required to support spiritual transformation in deep mediation. Your awareness will be completely disengaged from the Taiji dimension and it's full potential will be redirected towards the transportation of consciousness into the absolute emptiness of Wuji.

 

6. If you notice that your awareness has been hijacked by a torrent of thoughts or one idea that has spiralled into a full blown Hollywood blockbuster. Do not get aggravated or irritated. Just gently redirect your attention to your anchor point.

 

7. Repeat steps 4 to 6.

 

At first you will notice that you're only able to maintain focus for short spans of time, maybe even seconds at the beginning.

 

With daily practice, this will grow into minutes and hours, until eventually your awareness will condition itself to continuously stay in this relative emptiness within your mind, whether you're working or talking or lying down.

 

This relative emptiness is a pathway to the absolute emptiness of the Wuji. It is like a thread which will lead you into the ultimate fire of spiritual transformation.

 

In time, you will find that rather than needing to engage the "thinking" mind to express yourself in the world; your expression will come from a higher faculty; a source beyond the impermanence of the physical mind, and you will finally begin to express your soul directly. Action, thought, mind, emotion, awareness, everything will blend into one, and you will move as a whole being in every facet of your life. One divine entity, expressing itself directly as a manifestation of the perfected nature of the Tao. 

 

Best wishes.

Xuan Daoji