Order John's book on Amazon.com, "EXPLORING THE BEAUTY WITHIN: Includes 39 Powerful Meditation Techniques to Help You Discover Your Profound Inner Nature."
**************************************************
The following guided meditations were given during "Meditation with John" which meets every Thursday evening 6:30-7:15 PM on Zoom. Please join us.
The following guided meditations were given during "Meditation with John" which meets every Thursday evening 6:30-7:15 PM on Zoom. Please join us.
ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU: We can take refuge in meditation anchors such as the breath, the body, or the mind. They are always there for us. In like manner we can take refuge in qualities of the Buddha nature such as peace, joy, kindness, stillness, and love. They are always there for you as well. These qualities don't leave us when we are not feeling peaceful, kind or happy. We may not be aware of them, but they are always there since they are part of our true nature. We need to pause and quiet the mind in order to appreciate them as a refuge.
ANAPANASATI SUTTA (Steps 1-11): This sutta is a 16-step meditation. In this session, however, we only cover the first 11 steps. With each step, we are mindful of our breath as we work with the awareness of the mind and body, and with each step, there is a reminder that we are training ourselves.
ANCHORS: When a sailor wants his ship to remain in one place he puts the anchor down to keep the boat from drifting off. In like manner the meditator needs an anchor, also known as a focus, so that his mind does not drift off in thought. This meditation covers some anchors for the mind to focus on. These include the breath, the body, the mind, the moment, and peace.
BASKING, EMMERSED, INFUSED, SATURATED, ETC: In this meditation we focus on several phrases that will help you to use your imagination, helping you to experience more deeply various wholesome qualities such as peace, joy, love, inner beauty, to name a few. Here are some examples of the phrases you will focus on. "Basking in peace, embraced by love, showered by joy.
BEAUTIFUL!: In this meditation we try to see the beauty in whatever is in our awareness. We focus the beauty of the breath, body, mind, and the moment. We also look at the beauty of our spiritual qualities such as love, kindness, peace, and gentleness.
BHAGAVAD GITA: The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the most popular of the Hindu scriptures. In it Krishna gives advice to Arjuna who is in great despair. Various inspirational verses pertaining to meditation are quoted as the focus of this session.
BHAGAVAD GITA (EQUANIMITY): Three verses are repeated a few times, with some commentary, as we prepare for our personal battles in life off the cushion with inner peace on the cushion.
BHAGAVAD GITA (EQUANIMITY): Three verses are repeated a few times, with some commentary, as we prepare for our personal battles in life off the cushion with inner peace on the cushion.
BHAGAVAD GITA (QUIET & STEADY): This meditation is a reflection on four verses that help to quiet and steady the mind.
BHAGAVAD GITA 2:38: "Prepare for war with peace in thy soul. Be in peace in pleasure and pain, in gain and in loss, in victory or in the loss of a battle. In this peace there is no sin."
This verse is repeated several times during the session along with some commentary. The purpose of this meditation is to prepare for our personal daily battles with peace in our souls.
BHAGAVAD GITA 5:27-28: "When the sage of silence closes the doors of his soul, keeps peaceful and even the ebbing and flowing of breath, keeps silent his soul."
This verse is the focus of the meditation.
BHAGAVAD GITA 9:22 This meditation is based on this verse. It is reworded to be more aligned with Buddhist teachings. The original is "To those who adore me with a pure oneness of soul, to those who are ever in harmony, I increase what they have and I give them what they have not." This was spoken by Krishna. The rewritten verse is "To those who are focused with a pure oneness of mind/heart, to those who are ever in harmony, they increase what they have spiritually, and receive what they have not."
BHAGAVAD GITA 17:16: "Quietness of mind, silence, self-harmony, loving-kindness, and a pure heart. This is the harmony of the mind."
This verse is the focus of the meditation.
BLISS: Om Swami, in his book entitled "A Million Thoughts," says “Meditation is about discovering your natural state of peace and bliss.” That is what this meditation session is about. We start by being mindful of any peace that arises. Then we go on and explore good feelings or sensations that are present. Next we take it up a notch and see the body as being filled with bliss. This is followed by paying attention to, or discovering feelings of bliss, and then we follow our bliss.
BODY FILLED WITH BLISS: This meditation is based on a Hindu practice. The focus is to contemplate on the body being filled with bliss. The Anapanasati Sutta also mentions being sensitive to the body, calming the body, and being sensitive to bliss.
BODY SCAN 2 (trapezius to wrists): This is part of a series of meditations called "body scans." A body scan is when you consider each part of your body from head to toe or visa versa. You mindfully notice each body part. You notice how it feels, You can try to consciously relax each part as you scan through it. In this series we are going into more detail than many body scan meditations. A typical body scan is usually done in one session, head to toe. We are taking it slowly and therefore breaking it up in several sessions. We are also incorporating some visualization techniques. Sorry, Body Scan 1 (head and neck) and Body Scan 4 (back) were not recorded.
BODY SCAN 3 (hands & spine): See "BODY SCAN 2" for explanation.
BODY SCAN 5 (Chest & Stomach): See "BODY SCAN 2" for explanation.
BODY SCAN 6 (Waist, Lower Torso): See "BODY SCAN 2" for explanation.
:
BODY SCAN 7 (Buttocks & Legs): See "BODY SCAN 2" for explanation.
BODY SCAN 7 (Buttocks & Legs): See "BODY SCAN 2" for explanation.
BODY SCAN 8 (Ankles & Feet): See "BODY SCAN 2" for explanation.
BODY WORK: This meditation will teach you a few different techniques all involving using your imagination in working with your body. In doing this you will see yourself sending powerful spiritual energy into your body to heal, quiet and nurture you.
BREATHING IN WHOLESOME QUALITIES: With this technique the imagination is used as we breath in peace, compassion, joy and other wholesome qualities.
EXPLORING GOOD SENSATIONS THAT ARE PRESENT: The main focus of this technique is to notice whatever good feelings or sensations that happen to be present. The point is not to force any feelings to happen but to just be aware of what is there.
EXQUISITE: When we think of the word "Exquisite" we normally think about beautiful gems or fine art. However, there is something that is far more exquisite than these. When we apply mindfulness to the object of our meditation, whether it be the breath, body, mind or something else, mindfulness transforms that anchor into something quite exquisite. In this meditation we also consider the qualities of our true nature and how profoundly exquisite they are. They are like beautiful gems that make up our inner Buddha.
GRATITUDE: We mindfully give gratitude to various things that are in our life. Then we move on to more subtle things to be thankful for such as the breath, this moment, silence, etc.
GRATITUDE FOR THE MOMENT: This session is focused on gratitude for the things we become aware of during our mindfulness practice. Examples are: the breath, body, mind, moment, peace, silence, kindness, and even our awareness itself.
HARMONY: In this meditation we focus on being in harmony.
HIGH ENERGY: Here you will learn some meditation techniques that are sure to get your blood going. We usually only think of meditation as a very calm practice. Yet it can be very effective to meditate with enthusiasm and excitement. It can be very useful to have these stimulating techniques especially during times when you are drowsy.
HO'OPONOPONO: This practice originated in ancient Hawaii and has been modified in recent decades. Mindfully repeat the following phrases: "I'm sorry." "Please Forgive me." "Thank you." and "I love you." According to Joe Vitale, who has written on this topic, the words are directed "...to the Divine, which could be described as God, Life, the Universe, or any number of terms for that collective higher power."
INCREDIBLE: In this technique we use the word “incredible” to describe various things that you may become aware of during your meditation. Examples: Incredible peace, incredible silence, incredible love, incredible body, incredible mind, incredible beauty, etc. This should not be seen as an exaggeration. All these things are, in reality, quite incredible! This meditation should help you to see them as such, rather than falling into the trap of taking them for granted, as we all tend to do.
KIND: Here we use the word "kind" as an adjective for meditation anchors and for positive qualities. Some examples are, "This body is a kind body;" This mind is a kind mind; This is a kind silence, a kind peace, a kind love," etc. These phrases are meant to get us more in touch with our kind inner nature.
LOVE FOR ANCHORS AND QUALITIES: In this meditation we use the phrase "I love you," saying it to meditation anchors and the qualities of our true nature. We say "I love you" to the breath, body and mind. We also say it to silence, peace, happiness, pureness, bliss, etc. We make a heart connection to these powerful qualities of our Buddha nature to get more deeply in touch with them.
METTA: Metta or loving-kindness meditation trains the heart and mind to feel compassion for others by wishing people well or even imagining that you are sending positive energy to others.
MINDFULNESS OF ANY PEACE THAT ARISES
PAIN AS AN ANCHOR: This meditation was actually guided by Monty Hall who was a guest leading the Thursday night meditation group. It uses bodily pain or discomfort or even negative emotions as an anchor in the same way that we normally use the breath as an anchor of focus of meditation.
PERFECT MEDITATION: This is a perfect meditation if we see it with the eyes of wisdom. When we accept it as being perfect just as it is, in a sense, it becomes perfect. It is an attitude of the heart. We may say this body is a perfect body even though it may have discomfort. We accept it just as it is. We accept whatever peace and joy we may experience as being perfect. Even though we know we have experienced more peace and joy before, we still take the attitude that it is perfect as it is.
POSITIVE FEEDBACK: In this technique you will learn the benefit of acknowledging positive states of mind by giving simple words of feedback such as "good," "very good," and "excellent." These words go into the subconscious mind and have the effect of deepening the meditation experience.
POSITIVE FEEDBACK WITH ANCHORS: We give positive feedback like in the above technique plus we move through different anchors (focuses) like in the "Anchors" meditation.
PRACTICING: In this meditation the key word is "practice." we start by practicing being aware of the breath, body, mind, and moment. Then we practice states of mind such as peace, silence, happiness, and love.
PRECIOUSNESS: The idea of this technique is to realize the preciousness of things, particularly things we become aware of during meditation such as the breath, body, mind, heart, sensations, etc. We also can see qualities of the heart as being precious such as love, kindness, joy, peace.
PURENESS: In this meditation we focus on the pureness of the breath, body, mind, awareness, silence, and various qualities such as love, kindness, calmness, etc. We consider them pure in the sense that, as we focus on them, we are not attaching any thoughts to them.
QUALITIES OF OUR BUDDHA NATURE: Within us are beautiful qualities of our true nature. They may be hidden from one extent to another. This meditation helps to encourage qualities such as peace, kindness, love, and joy to come out of hiding. In this technique we simply focus on such qualities and try to feel them within.
SACRED ADJECTIVES: In this technique you will learn to mindfully say adjectives that describe the meditation experience in a positive way such as "peaceful," beautiful," "calm," "blissful." These words help to strengthen the connection with the mind states you are experiencing, leading to a deeper meditation.
SACRED ADJECTIVES BODY SCAN: In this meditation we apply sacred adjectives for each part of the body.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR AWARENESS: This technique is the same as above except the adjectives are applied to your awareness.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR KINDNESS: This meditation is the same as above except they are applied to kindness.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR SENSATIONS: This meditation is the same as the "Sacred Adjectives" meditation except we apply the adjectives to sensations in the body or the mind.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR SILENCE: Just like the meditation above, we will use positive adjectives. This time the adjectives are used to describe the inner silence that we experience during meditation. This will help us to focus on silence more deeply.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR SPIRITUAL QUALITIES: Here positive adjectives are used to describe various spiritual qualities that are within us. This helps us to see that these qualities such as peace, kindness, and love are indeed sacred, powerful, and beautiful. It is also meant to encourage these qualities to become more manifest in our lives.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR THE MIND: This technique is the same as the ones above except the focus in on the mind alone. You might express adjectives for the mind in a statement like, "The mind is a beautiful place," or "This mind is a quiet place." The idea is to encourage the mind to see it's true nature, rather than being a noisy, chaotic, or distracted.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR THE MOMENT: Just like the meditations above we are using positive meaningful adjectives. This time they will be applied to the moment. This will help you to stay focused on the moment in a very positive way.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR YOURSELF: In the same manner as the other Sacred Adjective meditations we will apply positive meaningful adjectives, this time, to yourself or to your Buddha nature.
SACRED ADJECTIVES FOR VARIOUS THINGS: In this meditation adjectives are used to modify various things, such as focuses (breath, body, mind, etc) or qualities (quietness, peace, kindness, etc). Examples of this are: This body is a calm body. This moment is a beautiful moment. This silence is a precious silence. This kindness is a healing kindness.
SENDING POSITIVE QUALITIES TO THE UNIVERSE OF THE BODY: In this meditation we think of the body as a universe in itself. In any human body there are around 30 trillion human cells, and our microbiome is an estimated 39 trillion microbial cells including bacteria, viruses and fungi that live on and in us. Our body is also made up of skin, muscles, body parts, organs, etc. There are 37 miles of nerves in the human body. Our vast system of blood vessels - arteries, veins, and capillaries - is over 60,000 miles long. That's long enough to go around the world more than twice! So indeed, our body is a universe in itself. In this meditation we send positive qualities to this universe, such as kindness, peace, joy, and love. So much of our body that never sees the light of day under the cover of skin will receive great light and energy from our intention.
STUFF HAPPENS: In this meditation the focus is on the fact that things are happening and that we are just watching them happen. It can make a big difference to think "breathing is happening" rather than thinking "I am breathing." In this example we are focusing more on the breathing taking place rather than "I am the one breathing." Besides breathing we will also observe other things happening such as sensations, thoughts, quietness, peace, etc.
STUFF HAPPENS: In this meditation the focus is on the fact that things are happening and that we are just watching them happen. It can make a big difference to think "breathing is happening" rather than thinking "I am breathing." In this example we are focusing more on the breathing taking place rather than "I am the one breathing." Besides breathing we will also observe other things happening such as sensations, thoughts, quietness, peace, etc.
STILLNESS: In this meditation we focus on stillness in relationship to meditation anchors such as the breath, body and mind. We all so focus on stillness in relationship to spiritual qualities such as peace, joy, kindness, and pureness, to name a few.
TREASURE HUNT: Within us are great treasures: precious gems of peace, quietness, beauty, kindness, love, stillness, etc. In this meditation we use several tools to help us unearth these precious gems, and to help us realize the riches that are within us.
We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!
|