achtsamkeit lernen is the art of focusing your attention so completely on one thing that you lose consciousness of everything else around you. Although meditation often is associated with religious disciplines, modern researchers have found that it can be used apart from any religious or philosophical orientation to promote deep relaxation and mental stillness.
What happens during meditation? University studies have shown that, among other things, heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure drop. Alpha brain waves-the brain waves associated with deep relaxation-increase in intensity and frequency. Blood lactate, a chemical associated with anxiety, has been found to fall rapidly within the first ten minutes of meditation.” The Hope Heart Institute in Seattle Washington.
That has been my experience too along with the incredible, ongoing experience that selbsthilfe practices reconnect us with our Source. It doesn’t matter what one calls that Source. Labels are nothing more than labels. Our Source is beyond labels, beyond concepts, beyond definitions, beyond philosophies, and everything else you can think of.
Our Source is a divine experience of bliss and love that we can revel in 24 hours a day. 24 hours a day-while we are playing, working, eating, loving, sleeping, or talking! Meditation removes everything that prevents us from experiencing this bliss and love that we truly are at all times. Meditation melts away fear, impatience, greed, anger, lust, poverty-all limitations.
Meditation is unique for every person. While there are some classic experiences that can be common to many, meditation brings you the experiences you need to return to Source. There is no fast path. As stated below, meditation requires commitment. Without commitment there is no progress.
Along with commitment, discrimination is very important. This is where decisions to continue or abort a chosen path must be based on research and knowledge, coupled with your own experience. It is sometimes very easy to run away from something new (like selbsthilfe kurs, yoga, t’ai chi, new food programs, etc.) because things are uncomfortable in the short term, thereby denying ourselves of the ultimate long term benefits. Then again, it’s definitely not helpful to stick with something just because we don’t want to admit to ourselves that we made a mistake in going down a particular path. There is a fine line to walk and we must constantly choose and reevaluate our choices in light of our knowledge and experience.
How many of us are doing things today that we did as children either because we had no choice or the intelligence to make healthy choices? How much of our lives is really ours versus us playing out a scenario that started long ago, before we even knew what we were doing? How many of us were lucky enough to have parents who knew what they were doing? How many of us are willing to abandon our “habitual daily routines” for a life of freedom and adventure, constantly connected with Source.
Without commitment and discrimination you will stay stuck in a rut you think is normal daily living.
Hint: normal daily living is feeling every cell of your body vibrating with the energy of a thousand suns whenever you want.
Normal daily living is having a quiet, focused mind.
Normal daily living is seeing the life Source pulsating in everything your eyes behold.
Normal daily living is hearing inner music more divine than anything we have created with instruments.
Normal daily living is having loving relationships.
Normal daily is having everything you need and doing that, including work, which makes your heart sing.
Normal daily living in this way is only achieved through meditation.
Meditation is an adventurous voyage into your own sacred heart.
Meditation is a simple, yet profound, way of reclaiming you-mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
The only purpose of life is to reclaim our Divinty. Everything else is a “background activity”. Everything else! Without meditation, you are not living a true life. You are not attaining your full potential no matter how healthy and successful you may seem to be.
Some classic texts on meditation include Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, Play of Consciousness by Swami Muktananda, Living with the Himalayan Masters by Swami Rama, and Miracle of Love-Stories about Neem Karoli Baba by Ram Dass. A more recent book that could be titled Everything One Needs to Know about Meditation and Then Some is The Heart of Meditation-pathways to a deeper experience by Swami Durgananda.
The following https://www.bloombay.eu/ are ones I have used on a regular basis and can attest to their power used individually, together, or in conjunction with any particular meditation practice you may currently enjoy. Dive in! Discover the wonders of your physical body, the intricacies of your invisible mind, the grandeur of your loving heart, the sacredness of your soul, and the bliss of your being
