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( Please scroll down for World Peace Meditation! ) Inner Peace
There
are many paths to inner peace. As we are all different, the best path,
or combination of paths, is the one that suits you. True inner peace,
like true happiness, is not dependent on external circumstances, but
becomes the mental/emotional bedrock of our existence. Therefore inner
peace, like contentment, is a skill that can be learnt. |
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HH The Dalai Lama
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 When
we strip all our emotions to their essence, it appears that they are all
based on two core emotions. There is love and there is fear. What is not
love based is therefore fear based. When there is greater love in our
lives, there is less fear. Try it for yourself - observe
your emotional reactions, impulses and thought processes for one day, in
every situation you encounter to see the truth in this. In each
situation ask yourself, “What do I fear here?” If you are being
honest with yourself you usually find there is something to fear in even
the commonest interactions! This exercise can be very enlightening.
Mansukh
Patel suggests that although there are currently 40 wars across our
planet, that is nothing compared to all the wars going on in each one of
us, every day! Our search for world peace must therefore begin within
our own hearts, with the process of building our inner peace. When we
can reach a space of greater peace within us, it automatically affects
all who come in contact with us for the better, after all, we are all
homeopathic doses of whatever we are in the universe. We can add to the
weight of disharmony or we can choose peace.
Lama
Gangshen declared once at a conference in London, “You in the West,
you send your pioneers out in their space ships to explore the
furtherest reaches of the universe, while in the East, we send our
explorers to the great uncharted territory within!”
The
effects of meditation are cumulative. Just like transforming the body
cannot be done overnight, transforming the mind also takes time and
discipline. You may not notice much change for many weeks, and even
then, it may be those around you who observe differences first. You may
also find it difficult to begin with, but the important thing to
remember is not to get disheartened or annoyed with yourself when your
mind wanders off! That is the nature of the mind, just gently bring it
back to your point of focus.
I will also give you a guided meditation for world peace, which you may record and play back for yourself, and also describe some other techniques you could try. Firstly, let me give you some general guidelines on preparation.
Either
sit or lie down where you will be warm and undisturbed. Your body
temperature may drop as you relax, so you may like to use a
shawl/blanket. If sitting, you may sit cross-legged or kneeling, sitting
back on your heels. You may be more comfortable with a cushion under the
coccyx to tilt your pelvis forward a little. If sitting on a chair, have
your back straight and your feet flat on the floor.
Decide
how long you are going to allow, and set a clock if necessary. Try to
allow at least 20 minutes, but even 5 or 10 is better than none! Before
you begin your meditation, take a moment to settle down and set your
intention. Allow yourself a moments “decompression chamber” time, to
go from the mundane to the sacred. You could do this simply by taking 3
deep breaths, right from your lower belly as you allow your body to
relax and release any surface tension. World Peace Meditation Preparation as above.
Take your awareness to your calves, notice how they are. With your mind,
feel all around them, noticing any areas of holding or tension, any
denseness. Notice any emotion that is there, any and let it all go. Let
them completely relax. Let them become soft and loose, soft and loose,
soft and loose and relaxed. Feel the weight of the muscles as they hang
heavily off the bones, soft and warm, soft and warm.
Do the same at your knees, thighs, buttocks & pelvis, belly, lower
back, stomach region, chest area, back, shoulders, neck, head and face. When
your whole body is relaxed, focus on your breath again. Just follow your breath as it gently
flows in and out of your body. Don’t try to alter the breathing, just
observe how it is. Just allow it to be, like the waves on the shore,
flowing in and out, in and out. You might notice where you are breathing
from – is it your belly or your chest? Is the breath loose and
expansive, or does it feel tight and constrictive?
Take
your awareness to your heart centre, in the middle of your chest. Begin
to be aware of a golden seed of peace resting gently at your heart
centre.
With each breath the seed of peace slightly, gently, rises and falls,
like a white feather in a breeze. Notice now how with each breath the
golden seed also seems to expand a little as it rises and falls. Notice
the golden light that emanates from the seed. See how bright it is, bath
in the beauty of its golden glow. Feel the energy of peace resonate
throughout your whole being at the deepest level. With each breath let
the seed expand and grow, expand and grow. With each beat of your heart
the energy of peace travels throughout your whole body, throughout your
whole energy system. Continue to expand the light of peace at your heart
with each breath. Allow the light of peace to become so strong that your
physical body appears to dissolve around about it.
In
the centre of this incredible golden light of peace, see an image of our
beautiful blue planet,
gently rotating, softly spinning. Hold the earth in the energy of
complete peace, of bliss, of love. Sense a feeling of sisterhood, a
feeling of brotherhood, enfold and permeate the planet. Sense a feeling
of divine purpose, of order, harmony and perfection. Imagine that, just
for this moment, all of the people on earth are reaching out for each
other’s hands. All the people are reaching out in love and compassion,
holding hands, looking lovingly into each others eyes. Everyone is
included. Everyone is accepted, lovingly in the circle. We see our own
humanity in each other’s eyes. We accept our strength and out
weaknesses, out errors and our greatness. Hold the feeling of unity and
compassion, the feeling of peace. When
you are ready, allow the sense of peace to settle back within your own
body.
Hold it, anchor it within you. In a few moments you will return to
everyday consciousness, you will take the sense of peace and unity with
you, to radiate from you to fill every part of your life, to alight on
everyone around you and everyone you even think of. Now have a good stretch and maybe even give your neck/face/shoulders a
short massage with fingers and thumbs.
WORKING
WITH THE BREATH
There
are many techniques that use the breath, here is one example. Begin
by following your breath, counting at the very end of each breath. When
you reach 10, begin again, do this 4 times. (so you are completing 4
rounds of 10 breaths.) On
completion of the first stage, you then begin counting at the start of
each breath –
look for the very first impetus of each new breath, and count 4 rounds
of 10 breaths. Once again, just gently bring your mind back to the
breath when it wanders off, beginning at 1 again. In
the third stage of the meditation you follow the whole breath.
Be aware of the impetus that is the beginning of the breath, observe the
breath in its depth, speed, rhythm, volume, rate – every aspect of
each new breath. Note the turning point between in breath and out
breath. Note the point that the breath ends, and allow yourself to just
“be” in the space of stillness between the end of one breath and the
beginning of the new breath. There is a whole world to be discovered in
the breath!
It
might be helpful to limit your meditation to 10-20 minutes to begin
with. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get past the first stage –
it is the nature of the mind to wander. With practice it will gradually
become easier.
VIPASSANA
It
is said that more people have become enlightened from using vipassana
meditation than any other method. In
the movement form
you simply put all your awareness on the action, i.e. walking. It is a
very different thing to normal walking, which is done mechanically, with
no awareness.
Begin
with a 5-10 minute walk focussing all your awareness on your feet as
they touch the earth. Lower your eyes so you can only see the ground a
few steps ahead. When something else attracts your attention, you give
it your full, complete attention until it is no longer attractive, then
return your awareness to your feet. Be alert to all the movements of the
body, but at the same time, be aware of everything that passes through
your mind and all the emotions that come and go. Don’t get caught up
in any thoughts – simply observe their existence without judgement or
getting caught up in them. In
the sitting form
the primary focus is on the belly.
Sit
comfortably where you won’t be disturbed for 20 minutes. (Remember to
switch the phone off!) Your spine should be straight and your eyes
closed. Focus your awareness on the rise and fall of the belly, just
above the navel, with each breath. As before, don’t identify with
whatever comes up, simply observe the process of your thoughts,
emotions, sensations etc. and then return to the rise and fall of the
belly.
ZAZEN Zazen means emptiness. There is no focus on anything in particular. It is not even meditation, as in meditation you are trying to do something. In Zazen, you are simply being. Sit inside or outside, but choose somewhere that there isn’t a lot of movement to distract you. Get comfortable before you start, then remain as still as possible. Don’t “look” at anything in particular. Rather, relax the eyes, have a soft focus, allowing a diffuse image. Don’t even breath – just allow the breath to occur. Eventually Zazen can lead to great stillness. There
are many more forms of meditation. Ultimately,
the best one is the one that suits you. Enjoy the journey! |
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How
can we expect others to lay down their guns, when they may have had
years of bloodshed and witnessed their loved ones killed, when we get
angry if someone disagrees with us or cuts us up on the motorway?
Choosing peace takes some effort. Usually it is not the way we have been
conditioned to respond, to act, to be.