If you're asking yourself the question,
How can I improve on my meditation experience?
How can I make my meditation experience better?
The question you want to ask yourself is,
What experience do you want to have?
And what kind of meditation are you doing?
It's all very important.
Meditations have different purposes.
And those different purposes will give you different experiences.
You may be asking your meditation to give you an experience that's not part of that kind of meditation.
So there are things that we do for any meditation that we kind of,
A mindset that we create outside of meditation.
And then there are things that we can do in the meditation to help promote the most natural and abundant experience that that type of meditation has to offer.
Many people think of meditation as a tool.
I meditate in a certain way,
And I expect a certain experience.
And while this seems pretty innocent,
In truth,
It's a little confusing for your mind and body.
Because most meditations,
Especially mantra meditations,
Or relaxation meditations,
Or even a meditation of just being still in nothingness,
These meditations are going to give you rest,
Relaxation,
And a deeper experience.
But we are a mind and a body meditating,
OK?
And so we experience our meditation through our mind and through our body,
No?
So the purpose of our meditation is to have an end result.
But in between,
The mind and the body may have to go through some purification,
Some changes,
In order for those results to come back to you.
A common example of this is that in mantra meditation,
Or complete nothingness meditation,
Or even in a body awareness meditation,
We want to get to a quiet place.
And yet our mind is racing,
And our body is having sensations that are just the antithesis of what we want.
And we think,
Then,
That we're meditating incorrectly.
We'll see this a little bit later on,
As I take you into a meditation,
And show you what we're talking about,
And allow you to experience and learn how to improve your meditation.
But the mind-body is not static.
Hm?
My meditation teacher,
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
Used to tell me that on the way to the transcendent,
On the way to the atman,
On the way to the pure consciousness,
That there is a road that doesn't just travel in my mind about my mantra,
But there's a road that my body takes.
Because in order for my body to relax so that my mind can go deep,
And me to experience what I want,
The absolute nature of life,
My body may need to get rid of some stress and strain.
That's what he would say.
A lot of unstressing in meditation on the way to the transcendent.
And while we think,
This meditation leads me to transcendent,
That it must do that all the time.
My body must be in that state all the time that allows it to go deep into the transcendent.
It's just not realistic.
Just not realistic.
And so the thing to do is to prepare your mindset before you go into meditation that says,
I may not have the exact experience that I want,
But I'm going to allow what needs to happen in my mind and body so that the transcendent can come through to me.
So the mindset is,
In meditation,
I don't try.
Because when you try,
It's effort.
Effort on the level of the body,
And effort on the level of the mind.
Because the mind and body are connected by our central nervous system.
So let's go into meditation right now and experience this.
OK?
So I'd like to ask you to close your eyes.
Sit comfortably.
And if you can't close your eyes,
Then just watch me on the screen and just follow my directions.
We start off not by trying in meditation.
So if you have a mantra meditation or a no-thinking meditation,
Just take a nice,
Deep breath.
Relax.
Let go.
Let go of all your expectations that this has to happen today,
Because I really need it.
And just what will happen today will happen.
And you'll be natural about it.
And you get yourself ready to go within,
To get quiet,
Or to think the mantra,
Or to do the mudras,
Whatever it may be.
You go into a quiet,
Inner,
Energetic space within you,
Which is not centered on your mind,
Which judges,
But is centered on the peace and the space between the thoughts.
As either you go into the nothingness,
Or you think the mantra effortlessly and easily,
Or you do the mudras.
So go ahead and close your eyes now,
As you are,
And then begin your practice,
Whatever it may be.
Go into the no-thinking state,
Or begin to think your mantra easily and effortlessly.
Hmm.
Good.
And what you will notice is that your body begins to relax.
Your mind gets spacey,
Non-specific.
And if that's a new experience,
It may grab your attention.
You've got to come back to that quietness.
Or a thought may come in,
Into your mind,
Of,
Am I doing this right?
What can I do better?
There's nothing you can do better right now.
Just be in the moment.
Be in your technique in an easy and effortless way.
I'll give you a minute to go in deeper.
Good.
You'll know that you're going within,
Not because your mind tells you that,
But because you lose track of time.
You lose track of where your fingers,
And your hands,
And your feet are.
Good.
You go into a timeless place,
Where you don't know whether a minute passed,
Or five minutes passed,
Or 10 minutes passed.
And any of these signs are good signs of meditation.
Now here,
The expectation of a particular experience is a mental thought that will take you from the effortless,
No-thinking state into a judgment state.
Why am I having this experience?
That judgment will interfere.
So whenever we have a thought like that,
We don't have to start over.
We just say,
Thank you,
Thought.
And now I'll return to my mantra.
Thank you,
Thought.
Now I'll return to the nothingness.
Now I'll put my attention back onto my mudras,
Or back onto my body and its sensations.
Because the mind will always want to come in.
And we just gently,
Lovingly,
Unjudgmentally say,
Thank you,
But I'm going to come back and favor my meditation,
Favor my technique.
If you get lost and get upset,
Then you've gone too far.
The thought has really gotten you,
Then stop for a moment.
Stop and just feel the body.
Where in your body is there sensation?
Surely that runaway thought is causing that physical sensation in your body.
Feel it in your body.
Invite it to release.
Feel it release within your body.
You'll notice that the power of that thought has subsided quite a bit.
And now you can go back to your technique.
Yes.
Know that the essence of who you are is non-experiential.
It's a pure nothingness.
And it's hard to describe it if you've never had it.
It's an experience that's besides the mind.
So that is the experience of meditation.
And any other experience could be beautiful,
But not essentially experience of your true nature.
So allow for whatever happens in meditation,
As long as it's easy and comfortable and gentle.
Allow it and know that it's successful meditation,
That some days you'll have those experiences that you always wanted and some days you won't.
I can remember all my going through that with Maharishi,
And he would remind me,
My mind is not in control.
My body may cause unstressing,
And so I just need to allow it to go through and release and then be open to what wants to happen.
We want to have control over our meditation,
Don't we?
And there with your eyes closed,
Just say,
I release control and allow whatever wants to happen to me right now.
I will follow my teacher's direction for my meditation and just allow.
And any time your mind takes you off,
Say thank you and just come back.
How does that feel?
Better?
So you see,
It's very simple.
To have a better meditation experience on a regular basis is to be more natural and allowing.
Meditations will always be different every day,
Just like your experience in the world is always different every day,
Because we're a mind and a body.
We're a spirit,
Which this body is inside of,
Experiencing a mind and a body,
And it will change.
So we allow it to change.
It's not that hard to do.
If we take the expectation that I must have this kind of meditation every day,
Or this must happen in my meditation,
In order for me to feel comfortable that I'm successful in meditation,
It will get in the way,
Learning to be in the moment.
Good.
So now,
If you haven't already,
Go ahead and open your eyes slowly.
Come out of meditation slowly,
Even if you feel like you're on the surface.
Come out slowly.
Wiggle your arms and toes.
Just come out really nice and slow,
And it will extend that smooth,
Gentle,
Transcendental nature and allow you to transition into this three-dimensional world much smoother,
With more bliss and more peace.
OK?
Good.
All right,
Then.
Go give it a try.
I'd love to know how you're doing.
Take care.
Love to you.
Bye.
