Meditation East & West
Meditation – East & West
What we offer
- Many world styles – Eastern & Western orientation
- Spiritual & Aesthetic/Scientific
- Techniques & traditions to balance & integrate the mind
- All with the aim of Reflexive Self-Consciousness
What is Meditation
In the technical sense, Meditation is a mental process whereby we progressively disclose the meaning of a central thought. It requires that we set the limits to the application of the words we are using. The purpose of meditation is to discover a meaningful pattern in our mind. We then move on to Contemplation, which is objectless and silent.
What is experienced by the meditator when Meditation is practiced properly is a high degree of mental alertness with perfectly integrated mind content, and stillness of that content.
Meditation, MAD-itation, or something else?
Meditation is not mere suppression & diversion of thoughts & distractions in the mind – that would bring only MADness to the mind. It is also not mere ‘concentration’, repeating of some mental formula or routine, although ‘concentration’ is the first step on the way to meditation.
Many activities are practiced today which are falsely called ‘meditation’, but are nothing to do with meditation as such. Care is required if we are not to waste our time doing things which lead to very short-term & shallow results. True meditation is neither suppression nor diversion. Meditation is also not ‘relaxation’.
Meditation is not ‘getting in the zone’ while running or practising yoga or stretching. We can have a very nice psycho-physical feeling, generated from certain body chemistry & glandular secretions in the blood during some of these activities, but this again is not meditation. It feels good and may be good for a short time, but we have to go out again and exert quite a bit of energy to generate the feeling again, and its nature is ephemeral, lasting only a few hours.
True Meditation is a state of mind, highly alert and super-efficient in response to mental inputs & outputs. It is not a state of ‘stupid’ awareness, sleepiness, drowsiness and false-calm.
To be clear about this is vital to understanding & a genuine application of meditation. It is also essential if we are attempting to refine our mental processes and continue developing meditation beyond the initial thrill of the first day or week or month. We owe it to ourselves to seek clarity and to know for sure what we are performing, rather than having a haphazard or misguided approach.
We are aiming to Meditate, not MADitate, merely become annoyed with the behaviour of our mind.
Culmination to Meditation
The culmination to true meditation is what in the West is called Contemplation, or technically Reflexive Self-Consciousness, consciousness conscious of itself, a very high degree of alertness and mental clarity with perfect stillness of mental content. In the East this is called samadhic contemplation. A practical rationale and many exercises in how to attain this are offered to those who take Eastern or Western meditation disciplines with us. Again Contemplation is mostly misunderstood, both in definition & in practice, so we need to be careful how we use our terms if we wish to practice what is the high culmination to meditation. (Even in a modern dictionary the limits of application to the terms meditation and contemplation have been interchanged. This is clarified very clearly for our practitioners.)
East or West?
It is useful to know in learning & developing meditation practice that some individuals have a Western psyche and are best suited to Western Meditation which is based on careful logic and initiative will. Others are Eastern and respond better to the Eastern methods. East & West are opposing disciplines. Each is unique, each has its technique & associated disciplines, and each individual is usually more proficient in applying one or another. Ultimately of course we benefit from being able to practice both.
Discover True Meditation
To discover your own individual proficiency, & your East-West orientation as a starting point, book an introductory Meditation East-West session, and make true meditation an integral aspect of a balanced life. Or if you prefer, select one of our Meditation Styles which you would like to experience from the current range available.
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