Category: Meditation

Self-observation: An exercise of attention, in which one learns to become an indifferent observer of one’s own psychological process. True Self-observation is an active work of directed attention, without the interference of thought, emotion, or sensations.

“We need attention intentionally directed towards the interior of our own selves. This is not a passive attention. Indeed, dynamic attention proceeds from the side of the observer, while thoughts and emotions belong to the side which is observed.” – Samael Aun Weor

Eight Steps to Union

<li>Yama: Self-Restraint
1. Ahimsa: to not harm; kindness, compassion; love for all
2. Satyam: truthfulness
3. Asteya: to not steal
4. Brahmacharya: chastity, sexual purity
5. Aparigraha: renunciation, non-avariciousness, freedom from desires
1. Niyama: Observances, Precepts
   1. Saucha: to be pure and clean, physically and psychologically
   2. Santosha: to have contentment, to be happy with what you have and where you are
   3. Tapas: austerity or penance, paying your karma
   4. Svadhyaya: study of scriptures and teachings, jnana yoga
   5. Ishvara-Pranidhana: self-remembering
2. Asana: Relaxed Posture
3. Pranayama: Control of Energy, Harnessing of Life Force
4. Pratyahara: Withdrawal, Suspension of Senses
5. Dharana: Concentration
6. Dhyana: Meditation
7. Samadhi: Experience of Reality

We then worked with a meditation experiment. In the first part of it, we imagined someone that we feel a very natural and spontaneous love for, in order to evoke that quality, to feel it. The instruction was to not focus on the person, but on the quality that we feel. So, as soon as the image of the person came into our imagination and we started to feel that emotion, that care for them, love for them, that feeling became the object of our concentration, that quality, and how it affects us.

Then, subsequently, in the final phase of practice, we were to imagine having that quality for everyone on the planet, a type of universal love.

This practice is very beautiful and simple.  You lie down and relax.  You can either lie straight with your arms and legs close together, or in the form of a star.  You relax, close your eyes and begin to concentrate on the pulse, and on the movement of the blood through your body.  Now believe it or not, you can actually sense that and feel that.  This practice teaches how to move from point to point through the body.  Working with the tips of the fingers, toes, and nose, to become very attuned to feeling the movement of the pulse and the cycle of the pulse.  Little by little, the yogi that does this practice comes to the astonishing realization that you can control it.  It is possible to consciously control your pulse.  This has been scientifically demonstrated many times.  A yogi or a meditator can consciously slow down the pulse, and can even stop the pulse.  Why is this important?  This is not just a carnival act.  It is important because in the very nature of the pulse we find important elements related to the consciousness, but what you specifically observe is that the experience of Samadhi occurs when the pulse is very slow.