Read
any book on the subject
and
you will get a lot of different answers to that question.
However
for our purposes let's put it simply.
Meditation
is the art of directing your mind and body
to
interact with each other in a calm, controlled manner.
Most
important, the mastery of the mind ,
if
you master that ,the body will follow suit, to a point..
(
more on that later )
In
this day and age of early death by stress related illnesses,
this
art is seeing the largest resurgence in known history.
But
other than for her own peace of mind ,
why
does a Witch need to know it ?
A
good practicing Witch requires a great deal of mind control
and
knowledge of the self, to be good at the Craft.
For
the simple reason, one cannot
handle
the amount of sheer raw force
that
a Witch is able to summon, with a mind in turmoil.
To
Ground and Center as it's commonly said means ,
among
other things, to center the mind and body as one.
The
thoughts are focused, the Chakras of the body
are
aligned and in harmony.
Then
one is ready to handle the power vortex summoned
and
send it out with a clear Will.
My
page on Chakra meditation
for
those interested
Ok
that's all well and good ...... but how to go about this?
Find
a Guru and study at his/her feet
for
the next twenty years?
Well
ya could , but I don't think most of us
have
the time for that.
So,
how to handle the matter in a more modern day fashion?
By
very simple means really, using something we all do anyway, worry.
What is worry?
The
act of intently concentrating on something,
something
upsetting in this case,
but
in a very, very focused manner
Often
to the exclusion of all else.
Well,
this is just what you do when you meditate,
only
your not trying to "think"
You
clear the mind with the same intensity that you use
when
you are worrying yourself to a frazzle over something.
You
clear the mind of the clutter and if you do true, clear,
relevant
thoughts will emerge that have always been there,
but
the everyday mind is too busy to hear them
But
how does one empty of common thought
something
as busy as the human mind?
Every
novice mediator runs into this wall
of
the stubborn minds refusal to stop thinking random thoughts
And
this is the point, when they can't make it stop doing this,
that
most people give up.
And
the fact they are trying to "make" it stop
is
the very reason it does not.
Let
me say that again, by trying to stop random thoughts from entering your
head .. trying to "make"
them
go away is the very reason they hang around and you cant seem to concentrate.
The
very attention you pay to these random thoughts
that
pop up, makes certain that they will be first and foremost in the mind.
Nature
hates a vacuum and will find ways to fill it.
Your
paying any attention to them, assures that vacuum is filled.
So
to meditate one must give
the
ever present mind something else to do
as
it CANNOT do nothing.
Let
me say it again,
it
CANNOT do nothing
It's
an impossibility.
This
is how the mind works, period
However
this negates the benefit you might get which is
The
ability to focus the mind on what YOU want
rather
than letting it lead you.
There
is no time in your life
that
your brain it is not engaged in such analytic action
so
it's difficult to overcome, as it is what it is designed to do
Something
simple, something that evokes nothing
but
your practice of meditation tends to work best
For
me it's a repetitive sound,
for
some it's focusing on the act of breathing...
for
others it's thinking of a color, but always something
that
does not create the cascade of one thought
leads
to another and another.
You
will notice I didn't mention anything you have to see.
There
is good reason for this, the eyes are just as hungry for input
as
the mind. If open, they tend to dart about looking for something else
to
focus on rather than a rock, candle flame or whatever
it
is your trying to use as a focal point
This
can be done
and it works well,
but
for a novice it's not recommended, it's very hard to command the eyes
not
to look at anything else, which I am sure you know, if you have ever tried
to focus on any object,
your
eyes wander off after a very few moments.
But
if you want to try, Often something like this, very complex ,
but
without meaning is used, this ones called a mandala
This is just one of several I have painted, to see it full size and
others
do see my Art Gallery
Which
gives the busy eye something to focus on
that
has no meaning the mind can latch on to
While
giving it something to wander it's gaze around on.
This
is very individual as to what works, but it must be something
upon
which you can focus all your mind.
Now
what to do with the random everyday thoughts
that
pop up anyway? And believe me they will !
Answer,
nothing. Yes, you heard right, nothing at all.
pay
them no heed .. don't try to do anything with them.
Like
a puppy at your feet begging for attention, if you give it none it will
get up and walk away.
The
random thoughts will do the same if you pay them no mind as they come up
and they will get lost
if
you don't focus the mind on them.
Now does this come easy?
In
a word, NO. Meditation takes practice and time to learn,
how
much depends on you. And as you might have guessed
the
thing to learn is how to ignore the puppy of random thought
at
your mental feet demanding that you pay attention to it.
Right along with the stimulus of the body..
That's
the second hurdle...
Getting
the body to stop demanding your attention too..
once
you have some mind control
the
next thing that interrupts you is the body.
You
will find yourself with the sudden need to scratch something, or a leg
or hand goes to sleep, or the feel of the breeze
on
the hairs of your arm suddenly becomes a real bother. The body, like the
mind is surrounded at all times by input
and
is always reacting to it's environment, inside and out. Once you shut the
mind off
the
body tends to become hyper aware to compensate.
The human animal is geared to react to stimuli..period.
Ever
hear of an sensory deprivation tank?
All feeling is shut off, the body
has no point of reference,
the
eyes nothing to see, the ears nothing to hear.
And
almost to a person, anyone who does this trip
reports
delusions of the mind while they where in there
Sounds
where there are none, sights where there is nothing to see etc.
Again
the vacuum effect where nature
will
fill the void with something. Only in this case the body
has
taken a hike from input and the mind is trying fill the gap by creating
feelings
that
are not there, for the sake of the senses.
So how to avoid the trap of the bodies demand ?
And the answer is the same, as for the very hungry mind and it's random thoughts.
Pay
it no mind .. One way is to seat yourself in a comfortable,
easy
to maintain position, but not lying down,
you
will go to sleep and you don't want that. And other than pain,
ignore
the body's demand that you change something.
Sounds
simple right? Not really.
Even
in sleep we move all the time.
( There ARE meditations
you do While in motion,
but that's a
whole other ball game we can discuss later )
This
takes practice and finding a position
that
works for you. For me it's in my easy chair
in
a semi reclined position with my feet up..
Not
laid back as that would invoke sleep..
but
for each person this is different.
You
have to work with it till you find that posture that best suits you.
Because
you cannot cut the body OUT of the equation anymore than the mind ..
as
each will produce detractions for others lack. So you have to accept them,
yet
pay no heed to their distractions.
One
is in control, and this feeling of control can be summoned up
on
demand to use in any situation where such is called for.
..be
it rite and ritual..
Or
getting your composure back at the check out stand or handling rush hour
traffic
without
blowing your cool or your radiator :)
The
important thing is not to give up on it..
it
will happen...with time and practice you can do this..
.and
you will live longer and better for it.
And
will be able to do rite and ritual
in
the most focused fashion imaginable :)
Thank
you for you time..
I
hope this missive makes itself useful to you