Tangible Effects of Meditation

By Gita Saraydarian

Your life should change for the better because you do meditation. Meditation is not the end; it is the means to achieve a more meaningful life.

Much of popular meditation practice is for the purpose of achieving relaxation and serenity through breathing and emptying the mind. This is the first step. Sometimes, we need years of practice to achieve a state of quiet mental poise or to achieve the ability to detach and empty ourselves from the personality life. To achieve such a state, we can practice what is called “gradient meditation,” slowly moving from simple to more complex and comprehensive meditation practice.

The objective of gradient meditation is to expand the consciousness slowly and deliberately in order to understand life from its causal levels. The causal level is any level of consciousness that is beyond what is called the physical, emotional, and concrete mind. These are the levels of higher mind and intuitional, and beyond. It is these levels that provide the deepest and most meaningful influence upon us. This is the world of higher thinking, creativity, inspirations, inventions, discovering the plans and purpose in life. When we learn to practice proper meditation, we will be able to link to the higher, non-material parts of life and then be able to articulate this contact in the many ways that we live and create.

You can be successful in the practice of meditation if you choose a method that suits you the best and if you are able to accomplish some of the key ideals in meditation. The goal is to progress to a state where you can focus and concentrate and tune into a higher frequency of understanding and awareness. You are conscious when you do this and thereby are able to express this contact through your life expressions.

Approach meditation with the intent for a deeper understanding, inspiration, and connection to your inner essence.

Five basic steps for meditation:

1. Focus through deep breathing, saying a prayer or mantram, and relaxing your body, mind, and emotions.
2. Detach from daily problems and do not let anything interfere. Align yourself to your essence, your soul.
3. Meditate by concentrating on a subject through observation and deep thinking. (See below for various forms of meditation). Limit this stage to a short time-frame wherein you can stay completely focused. Start with 3-5 minutes and increase only when you are sure to maintain your concentration.
4. Note the inspirations received and write the ideas or express them in some form.
5. Send blessings by letting the energy flow out toward others.
This is the basic format of what is called “occult meditation” or creative meditation.


Forms of Meditation:

1. With your eyes closed and thinking and focused on a subject.
2. With eyes open, especially if you cannot concentrate or cannot quickly detach.
3. With a group, such as a serious study group and question/answer/sharing of insights.
4. Reflective reading, listening, or observation with intensity and concentration of any high level creative expression or even being in nature.
5. Participating in group meditation and group meetings, worship, and observations especially during holy periods such as Wesak or other religious festivals.


Material for Meditation:

Choose your meditation source material carefully. Everything carries a certain vibration or rhythm. Whatever material you use to read, listen to, or observe and experience, make sure it is truly high level and has the capacity to pull you to a new level of awareness. It is for this reason that many Wisdom teachers use sacred scripture and deeply inspiring materials for meditation and deep thinking. Use material that takes you beyond the emotions and concrete mind, ones that have been created by truly gifted persons.

In many spiritual traditions meditation is done by weaving or creating tapestries or paintings or art objects or creating sacred music or dance. Meditation is not only observation, it is also participation and the act of creation.

When you use high level material, or create high level material, something deep inside of you moves. You are lifted and creative ideas flood your mind. This happens to me every time I meditate or create something and also when I watch a beautiful dance, or observe gorgeous paintings from old Masters, or hear a deeply moving song or symphony. Something inside of me shifts and lifts. Seemingly intractable problems are solved after being uplifted with this sort of high-level experience.

Effects of Meditation:

Meditation is scientific. When practiced on a regular basis, it gives us tangible effects in our physical, emotional, and mental life as well as giving us an expanded consciousness into the higher worlds. In the YouTube clip below, I present some of the effects of meditation, part of a one-hour lecture on the basics of meditation.



Enjoy!

Gita
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Resources:

The one-hour lecture on the Basics of Meditation was presented at TSG Center on February 8, 2009 and it is available on DVD as well as CD and Downloads.

Gita Saraydarian has created many online meditation courses using the Ageless Wisdom Teachings as source material. Link here for more information.

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Gita Saraydarian is the Founder and President of TSG Foundation, an organization dedicated to the Ageless Wisdom Teachings. For a complete list of past blogs and other writings, click here.

Copyright Notice: Gita’s Blog articles are copyrighted by The Creative Trust, 2009.