Meditation

Our current newsletter begins a series on Meditation. While I would like to be able to tell you that I meditate on a daily basis, that would be a real exaggeration. Sometimes I need to look outside myself for motivation, and I came across this DailyOM on the subject.

I have made a concerted effort to incorporate meditation into my daily routine, and I have been moderately successful. I have kept this article in my list of "favorites" to refer to when I need a metaphysical kick in the behind.

I hope that sharing this with you will help you on your journey.


Before The World Wakes Morning Meditation

Just before the coming of the pale rays of dawn, Mother Nature exists in a state of flux. Earth's energy is stable, free of the disordered vibrations that are a by-product of humanity's comings and goings. In these first moments of day, when the sun's golden light is only just peeking over the horizon, our animal mind remains in the land of slumber though we ourselves are awake. Deep sleep has washed away the impurities of existence that accumulated within us, so our mental, physical, and emotional potential is heightened. To meditate in this peaceful yet energetically charged in-between time is to connect with the divine in an extremely intimate fashion. We discover a new kinship with the universal life force during morning meditations because our awareness becomes a mirror for earthly consciousness—we wake as the world wakes, quietly embracing the joy of being and setting the tone for a serene, fulfilling day. In the first glorious glow of morning, the light, air, and energy flowing around us speak in hushed tones of the activity to come. While we recognize that another day of being means becoming once again immersed in the challenges of action and reaction, we also understand that we can draw upon the unique energetic qualities of daybreak for comfort, creativity, and vigor. There is bliss in the simple knowledge that we have been given the gift of another day of existence. We are inspired by sights and sounds of the sun's gentle ascension. Birds serenade the luminosity, which grows richer by the minute. And though we may feel a residual lethargy, our vitality returns as our meditation helps us to become one with the stirring of other beings rubbing the sleep from their eyes. At the start of each day, our destiny has not yet been written, and so there is nothing we cannot do. How we choose to meditate is less important than our choice to attune ourselves to the spirit of wakefulness that travels round the world each and every day. Even the briefest moment of quiet contemplation in the muted light of the sun can put all that is yet to come into perspective. As a consequence of our daybreak reflections, our lives are imbued with the same stability, tranquility, and increased awareness that humanity has long associated with the stillness of early morning.

The Power Of Intention

In the July 15th issue of "Visions", we reviewed the book The Power Of Intention by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. To continue that review, Mary and Fran will give you their feelings as they read the book.

Mary: I have to say that I had difficulty wading through the first chapter. I found it to be slow moving and just plain boring. Yet, I persisted, and by the middle of chapter 2, I was hooked.

As I progressed through the book, I found that there was a lot of good information, but it really got bogged down in the second half. If you are looking for an easy read, this isn't it. As with anything, I pick what works for me and disregard the rest.

Admittedly, if I had not been assigned this book by our spiritual book club, I would have put it aside and started reading the Nora Ephron book, I Feel Bad About My Neck. But I did persist and I'm glad I did. What I've gotten from it is that when we allow our ego to get in the way of our happiness we fail to learn the lesson that it's better to be happy than to be right.

I really prefer to have it both ways, so I guess I'll just keep working on it.

Fran: I think that the word difficulty is putting too mildly. In the prologue, Dr. Dyer suggests reading the last chapter before starting the book so that you can see what a person with intent looks like. I did. And then I read the first chapter and found it not only slow but cumbersome as well. Because I'm in the same spiritual book club as Mary, I too persisted. Somewhere in the middle of Chapter 2, I began to relate with the book. One of the things that I liked was that at the end of each chapter in Part I, Dr. Dyer gives you suggestions for implementing the ideas in that chapter. I think that these do help you to find your own intention.

I've only gotten through Chapter 4, but I will keep going. As I have been reading, there are many good points in the book BUT to me, it's just not worth the "drag" of reading it. There are so many other books that offer similar premises but are more readable, and we'll review those in the future. Since I'm going to continue reading check back to see if either of us has changed our opinions. I'll post when I finish.

If you've read the book, or are going to read the book, please add your comments to the blog. We are also forming a spiritual book club where we will discuss this and other books on a free teleconference call. Please email us if you are interested and we will let you know what the next book will be.