In the West, we live in a very mind-oriented culture. A practice like an effortless mantra meditation is excellent for balancing that experience. It uses the mind to go beyond it, into our deeper nature. This approach has worked very well for me and for many others I know.
However, people are not all built the same way or have the same capacities. We touched on this in my conversation with Matt.
Devotion
Some are more heart-oriented and devotional. They’d be rare on a conceptual blog like this. They may use an effortless meditation, but use a mantra with devotional meaning. For example, the name of their chosen form of God. Mother Meera suggests such an approach. Then it’s a transcending practice, but motivated by devotion. Heart-based devotion avoids the meaning keeping us in the mind.
They may also enjoy prayer, kirtan, and related practices.
Physical
Some are more physically oriented. A physical presence practice, such as walking meditation, effortless yoga asana, or contemplative dance, may better serve them.
Emotional
Those who are more emotionally oriented may be best served by nervous system regulation, energy healing, and trauma therapy.
Guided
Finally, we have those who have a mental orientation but don’t find results in a self-guided practice like I recommend. They may take to a guided meditation instead and enjoy some satsangs.
There are ample guided meditations out there on YouTube and podcast platforms. Key to note is their intention. Some are for regulation or healing, some for culturing, and some for transcending. Or they could be affirmations, which drift away from a spiritually oriented intention.
Be careful with the messages they share, as listeners can deeply absorb them when heard in an open, hypnagogic state. Also, be careful with any mantras used. Meditation amplifies their effects. As I’ve mentioned, mantras like Om and Aum are renunciate mantras that can cause things to fall away from our life. They become potent during meditative practice, unlike chanting or singing.
Recently, I’ve taken a trauma-informed meditation class that favoured guided practices. They taught transcending, healing, and culturing styles. The teacher, Ava, has posted a variety of practices on her website, Spotify and Apple. These are excellent.
Traumatized people may find even a guided meditation triggering. In such a case, they might start with nervous system regulation and a more physical approach. After they build resources and heal, they may find other modalities become valuable.
Some will find the magic in a blend. For example, I recommend adding healing, effortless yoga, and culturing practices to the core practice of a transcending meditation. I’ve found this optimum for my own results. I enjoy retreats, kirtan, group healing, and contemplative dance, but these are not core practices. Others may vibe to a different mix.
Points:
– Seek quality for a daily practice.
– It may take a bit of experimentation to find your best practices, and they may evolve in time as your needs change.
– Consistency works. Have patience.
– Don’t overdo practices. More practices don’t mean faster progress. We need time to integrate in activity. Quality over quantity.
– Be alert to bypassing, using practices to escape from your life. We all need a break sometimes, but living in a state of detached aversion is tamas (inertia). It’s not evolutionary.
Davidya
Studying Maharishi’s “Science of Being & Art of Living” taught me to watch out for mood making. So that has been a favorite measuring stick for me. I know real from my TM program. I wish I knew what the primitive Christians were Really doing in Corinth. I was with a group that truly studied and worked with the manifestations described in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. i.e. chapters 12,13, 14, and the like. (and please, we stood apart completely from the notorious loony tune circus zoo crazy that Charismatics are, sadly, famous for). What was real in the original followers of Jesus? We know somewhere in there there Had To Be transcendence. Unless the Avatar did some kind of instant enlightenment?
Hi Carl
Agreed on mood making. However, there is a fine line between faking it and favouring it. For example, it’s healthy to favour gratitude. Not to pretend or mask how we actually feel (mood making) but favouring it if it’s there. There can be long habits of leaning toward heavier emotions, so that can be helpful. Our energetic tone makes a big difference in our experience of life. Nature’s support works with energy. What are we feeding?
As for Jesus, I’d say the Gnostics were probably closest. They were about direct experience rather than belief and, yes, transcending was part of the picture. And no, not instant enlightenment. If you’re going to teach people to pass it on to others, they need to experience the process.
Of course, those fine lines are so easily blurred. As usual, in 3-400 years, the original means was lost, and it descended into belief, then dogma.