Our Attention and Awareness: Theme of the Week

Let's admit it.

 Our attentions are stretched then. Our awareness burdened by the mundane. Our stress levels at the mercy of the callings of animate and inanimate objects. The plethora of screens surrounding us have added to the awareness and attention problem.

Examining the nature of attention reveals some interesting features. It's like jelly: it's wobbly and sticky. When we get pinged on IM, or get an email on the crackberry or a text message on the iPhone, the attention wants to wobble and hobble to that new distraction and tend to it.

We cannot fight it, but we can shepherd it back to home base where it can be healthy and nourish our body and mind; rather than starving them of spiritual stability. The attention's home is in the heart. So distractions are ok, as long as we quickly wobble back to home base of the heart.

So, let's make it the key action for this week of Swadisthana Chakra, the source of our attention. Let it squat in the heart like a hipster from an Occupy Movement. Wobbling out to attend to mundane matters, with the intent of returning to the heart ASAP.

Power Meditation Series Kicks off at WCC [Ann Arbor / Ypsi, Michigan]

Hello there enlightened folks! Yesterday we kicked off the July-August Power Meditation series at Washtenaw Community College.

The vision of this "intermediate" level series for meditators with some experience of meditating at home are simple. Power is the expression of our qualities developed through meditation. Those who are currently meditating at home are aware of some of the qualities gained through Sahajayoga Meditation. One's development in meditation skills cannot be certified as meditation is a living experience, which means that one's meditation skills are something that need caring and feeding. Else, they can recede and become dormant again. However, one can verify with the help of the central nervous system.

It is most easy to verify our qualities by gauging it's power on others. In our first experience course in meditation, there is a great emphasis on building one's personal meditation practice through experiential learning. The power course places emphasis on verification of skills gained through a basic meditation course like that. In our first session we had a deep meditation, followed by a hands-on session on putting another person in meditation.

Power is amplified significantly when using mantras. The use of sound to sharpen and direct our attention helps in moulding our and other's awareness. To point a finer point on how to use mantras, they can be said in our head or hummed and their power still translates.

A good question that came up during the first session was: What is the difference between a mantra and a heartfelt prayer? A heartfelt prayer works well when our heart is connected to our awareness and the universal consciousness. However, if we are struggling with our balance and need to connect, heartfelt prayers may take a significant amount of time to grant us connection and resulting benefits. Mantras are said in the divine language of Sanskrit. The frequencies and syllables are closely attuned to the spiritual centers within us. So mantras can be considered as a good jump starter when your battery feels down.

Let's wish the cohort of Summer 2012 best wishes in accomplishing their goals of becoming powerful yogis and yoginis.

How Are We Learning to Meditate? Summer 2012 Edition

This summer, the Michigan Meditation Meetup, meeting in Ann Arbor is doing something different, something powerful - something highly relevant to the goal of transforming seekers into meditation practitioners.

The summer programs kicked off in downtown last month and we haven't looked back. In the first session, meditation enthusiasts were introduced to the fundamental experience and knowledge of meditation basics. Knowing, feeling and working with the inner energy and our channels is the first priority in the experiential learning approach of Sahaja Meditation.

When followed up a week after the initial experience of practice, all new practitioners reported gains in their knowledge of the energy channels and the inner energy within. This was a good foundation to get into the details of the nature of our inner energy.

We asked participants to estimate their knowledge on a scale of 0 - 5 on these two main topics. Once we knew we were clear with the basics, we had the opportunity to delve into experiences which would take our experiential learning deeper. The chart on the left is about the general awareness of the system of spiritual centers and channels within us, the one on the right reports learning about the inner energy in us. (n=4 workshop participants).

The use of hand movements and attention exercises are traditionally shared as techniques to bring balance to the soul. The use of sounds has a deeper impact on the process. Traditionally, the use of mantras is not introduced until after 5 or 6 sessions. But on a recommendation of master teacher, Shri Mataji, we decided to bump up the mantra learning earlier into the process. 

Corresponding to the two main aspects of the inner system, two basic sets of sounds were introduced: AUM (OM) for the channels and root mantras that harmonize with the spiritual centers. At the one month mark, we asked participants to rate their learning on these topics and the results are below.

 Many learners are already familiar with the use of the OM chant in their meditations. Or atleast they have seen other meditators use them. So it was not surprising that there was some prior knowledge in the session participants (n = 3). It would have been truly surprising if the knowledge of mantras for spiritual centers was known, as that knowledge is quite exclusive to the Sahaja Yoga Meditation system. 

With two more meetings, the basics course will be completed and the path ahead is open. The next step would be to seek out engaging learning activities which would stimulate the learners and provide profound learning experiences.

Have a great summer ahead.