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Why this guide: (Long claim.) It has no hyperbole or BS.
Things you will need: Just your phone. BUT, out of reach on a 20 minute timer. Nothing else, not even a Sanskrit prayer or an orange robe.
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What is meditation:
- The action of inaction
- Nothing but your state of simply being. To not be moved by the end of the world.
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How to do it:
Sit with eyes closed in a room where you expect not to be disturbed for 20 minutes, at least. At the beginning if it’s difficult, stick to it for 5 minutes. Focus on your breath or a single thought like a source of a light you can imagine behind your closed eyelids. If you become distracted, gently bring yourself back to the original thought without admonishing or judging yourself. Simple enough? Now feel the calmness of the mind, open yourself up for every possibility and awaken to the worth of every living creature in this world.
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My journal entries through these past 3 years of meditating daily:
- I feel this moment is just enough
- I feel electrified & energized
- There’s blood pulsating inside me
- Nothing can stop me feel like nothing can stop me
- I feel like I am this close to the journey that will reinvent me
- I will be the role model to my children they will always emulate
- This feeling that I’m having, how can I retain it forever??
- I think I am kinder to myself now. And to the world in general
- I can let go and become nonjudgmental
- I wish I can tell everyone in the world to experience this
- Full of calm, I want to be able to recall this calm
- There is a shining white light that has enveloped me
- I feel one with the earth
- The light is brighter than ever and I was able to encapsulate myself in it
- Everyone should experience this peace I have
- It’s me and the elements of this universe fused together
- I feel one with the universe
- There is an unbearable lightness of my existence
- This calm, I want to retain forever
- This peace has to endure
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Who should do this:
- If you want to loosen their preoccupation with your self.
- To realize that a whole lot of things are just not under our control.
- If you have not yet realized the full potential of your capabilities.
- Whether God exists for you or not.
- If you are self sabotaging and a victim of lot of mental chatter.
- If you want to change the world instead of changing yourself.
- Even if you know all the above and have been a life long meditator.
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Why do this:
- It’s brain hacking that’s based on science
- We have so many body gyms, but how do you plan to exercise the mind?
- Meditation slows biological aging by stabilizing telomeres
- Loss is inevitable, but practice of meditation will help you get over it quickly
- Your self esteem is not that important
- Why be miserable when you can be blissful?
- It’s the only cure from the thinking disease
- Life transforms from empty opulence to every minute of bliss in slow motion.
- To strengthen the spirit of the free will.
- Google: Famous people who meditate
- Let’s face it. You are hip if you are Zenning all the time.
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Disclaimer:
There are many flavors of Meditation, both in the Eastern and Western philosophical view points but this guide is made simple enough to not favor one for the other.
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What meditation is NOT:
- Cease thinking all together
- An escape plan for all worries
- Become nonchalant and withdraw from society
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In the aftermath of meditating just a few minutes each day, you will:
- Get the realization that many things in life are not tragic but just inconveniences.
- Start peeling off layers to reveal your authentic self for the world to see.
- Gain the ability to appreciate that you love someone and that’s good enough without reciprocation
- Find yourself grinning. A lot. You will be happy under any circumstance.
- Tone up your action and reaction to the day
- Start to look at everything with a fresh set of eyes every time. (Beginner’s mind)
- Realize the same food tastes better, way better while you engage your senses.
- Develop an electrifying intuitive spirit
- Now have a heightened sense of awareness
- Have an enhanced perception of sounds of nature
- Weaken your ego but priorities are reset towards self fulfillment
- Embrace challenges and start accepting criticism positively
- Have a greater sense of free spiritedness
- Sleep more and focus more
- Gain the ability to surprise yourself with patience
- Get better at decluttering your mental and physical baggage
- Be able to get away with minimal needs
- See all your amazing blessings as clear as day
- See that there is nothing really overwhelming you at all
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Lessons I’ve learnt:
Meditation is an essential vehicle to arrive at a state of mindful existence, savoring each moment of life. To not worry about the past and be anxious of the future. To just be here and be open to possibilities in the now.
By now, you must have heard of all the benefits of practicing meditation. But just like how your body doesn’t change if you don’t hit the gym, reading and listening about meditation is just not the same as doing it. You have to experience it and be part of the transformation.
Once you keep practicing, there is no need of turn on the light on again and again. The light will always be there. Just observe that silence. This will become a force of your nature. Like the ultimate truth that is always present without ambivalence.
The internal noise that our mind generates, the actions, reactions, the muses, the worries, the anxieties, in the meditative mode you let all go. You will learn to forgive yourself and others. You will find joy in the smallest things in the world that has slowed down just for you to enjoy them.
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We will continue have many sorrows. There will be a day, when you cannot share your achievements after losing your parents; but I am talking about the joy, that something we can cultivate while living in the moment. And meditation has taught me that this moment is good. Its just for me to hold and enjoy!
Somewhere along the way, I let the words that I heard in my childhood get away, “You can be anything you want to be.” I often hear them come back to me when I still everything else. My teachers have taught me to recall and hold onto the meditative state. I am also encouraged to write down how I feel after I open my eyes.
I am more attentive, more able to perceive my fellow earth dwellers’ emotions and understand that they are just like me juggling very many things on a daily basis and still striving for a singular goal of making this world a great place to live in. My heart is filled with light for everyone. And the recognition of my potential has given me a sense of purpose in life.
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What if this is not the answer:
Let your spirit be unknown. Let the excitement of your quest be alive. And attend every party where people are gathering in groups to get quiet. Meditation does not have to be a solitary practice. Now go delve in that suspended stillness. That bliss?! It’s pure mental!
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18 inches is the longest journey, from the head to the heart. It takes a lifetime to bridge those few inches. – Unknown.
We have the ability to create sorrow for ourselves, so it means we also have the ability to create joy in our lives. – Dalai Lama
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About The Article Author:
Hi, I’m Rachana. Its been my dream for years to do something to consciously create a better future where every one of us is excited about our own potential. My challenge to everyone is that they aspire for their personal best and leave a legacy of their work through their contributions to mankind.
One more thing. In December of 2044, I hope to win the Nobel.
Will you join me on this journey of growth and transformation?
Namasté.
On How To Meditate.
Find Your Meta Self, Go Inward And Transcend The Plight Of Life.
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Good points about Meditation. ‘Cease thinking all together’………………..possible? Have to try ……………….