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February 14, 2005
Void Meditation
An attempt to catch some of the Essence of Void Meditation :
Sat in the Lotus position with closed eyes and taking slow, deep breaths. The mind is still on the outer layers of consciousness. Thoughts are flowing through my head, some I cling to, some I don't. Scanning my body and one by one relaxing the parts that are still tense. Lower legs, stomach, shoulders, neck, jaw muscles, anything that needs loosening up. I pass to the next layer and relax further.
Now letting more thoughts go and checking my breathing again. Long, slow breaths, paying attention to the breath going in through the nose and down to the bottom of the lungs. It flows and swirls like a dance of energy, in and out, in, and out again. I move into a deeper state of mind. From here the unity is sensed that holds my body and connects it to the space around me. More subtle, soft light, holding me in place. Stiller now and more focused, shifting from thoughts and into purer perception. Seeing and not thinking. Feeling and not thinking. I pass further.
The grosser layers passed by, or unfolded, the body and mind begin to shift into a greater sense of Oneness. The inner nervous system the seeing organ as feeling catches swirling, pulsating energies, colours and shapes, flowing up and down and around the body. Where it was tingling in places and dull in others before, it now flows in waves. Wave after wave, and then it's just present. Attempts at explanation start to prove inadequate, and the reason why the onus is on experience becomes clear.
The waves of ether, molecules, light, patterns, now sometimes flow, sometimes not. Soft energy like a cool breeze and then clearness, movement then stillness, form and mind. Then deeper, and into the part where words go from inadequate to hardly enough to give a good enough description.
The gross and the subtle are one, each level of consciousness one, inner and outer one. Boundaries between the self and the outer world dissipate and are perceived for the illusions that they are as the mind randomly picks out the activity of the void with a heightened awareness. I'm not just my body anymore because at this point my body is nothing seperate from the surrounding area. Dimensions fuse and I begin to float in the void. Unity is attained, the sense of 'I' fades and ego is transcended. Reality is non-dual.
Here, the Huang Po doctrine of Universal Mind makes perfect sense :
"Men are afraid to forget their own minds, fearing to fall through the void with nothing on to which they can cling. They do not know that the void is not really the void but the realm of the Dharma".(1)
(1) Quote from The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts
Sounds like when I took the wrong pill.
Posted by: Alexa at February 14, 2005 09:03 PMThanks for this Rob. :)
I wanted to add, and perhaps contrast this type of meditation with another form that I find very powerful because it is so easy to learn for the westerner.
The challenge, some say problem, with most meditation techniques is they require a person to "empty" their mind. For the busy westerner immersed in information and societal overload this can be exceedingly difficult if not impossible for many people. Its one reason why many many people don't get very far with meditation. The same people I know who practice this type of "emptiness" meditation usually are the Obsessive Compulsive types who can stay on diets, loose 80 pounds, make a million dollars, etc. They have determination!
But their is solution brothers and sisters!! lol!
It's called Vivation. The beauty of vivation is you don't have to do anything with your mind at all. Vivation is entirely kinesthetic and body centered. In Vivation we let the body lead the session. So without going into too much detail, try this for a teaser:
Find a quiet place and begin slow, circular breathing. This means there are no pauses between the exhale and inhale - continuous breathing - in.. out.. in.. out... make sure the exhale is COMPLETELY relaxed in every way. As you relax and let your inhales come out, allow the rest of your body to relax still further.
Now, the next thing is to feel all of your bodies sensations - sitting, your arms resting at your sides... it doesn't matter what sensation you pay attention to. The easiest way, the dumb-shit simple way to do this, and is actually essential to making this work - is simply pay attention to the STRONGEST feeling in the body - it could be an emotion, a sensation, a tickle on your toe, your chest cavity as it goes up and down from breathing. It doesn't matter, just pay attention to whatver is the strongest feeling in that moment. As each moment comes and goes, the strongest feeling is likely to change shape, color, texture and POSITION. As it moves you move your attention to follow it. Afterall, since it is the strongest feeling, it should by definition be the easiest feeling to pay attention to!
As you pay attention to the strongest feeling, imagine that you are pulling in each inhale through that strongest feeling. Notice the details of that feeling as it changes from moment. Notice that every moment is completely unique, with unique sensations. Notice that the strongest feeling is in fact always changing, morphing, vibrating, gyrating, softening, growing more or less intense. Just pay attention to it.
Now to the importart part - what if while you are doing this, you have all sorts of thoughts, distractions and what not. NO WORRIES!! In Vivation there is no such things as distractions, because it is all part of the unique moment you are experiencing. So, just let that moment be what it is - with your distracting thoughts and all. Just continue to bring your attention back to your strongest feeling. If the strongest feeling is all the thoughts, that's OK! Just pay attention to what all those distracting thoughts FEEL like!! :)
So here is everythng I said in a nutshell. We call these the 3 POINTS TO REMEMBER. Here they are.
1) Explore the subtle shanges.
2) Inhale through the strongest feeling.
3) Enjoy this moment as much as you can.
That last point is important. As you are doing all this, just continue to enjoy it as much as possible. Not more than you can, AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. :)
That means that if you break out into laughter or tears or whatever, that is all ok!! Just continue to circular breath, inhale thru the strongest feeling and enjoy each moment as much as you can.
Voila! You are now on an exciting journey of emotional integration and self discovery.
The reality is it helps A LOT if you have a personal coach who can guide you though about 5-10 one hour sessions to get to a point of total autonomy with this skill. I spent the better part of 2001-2004 getting paid lots of money traveling around the world teaching people this - private individuals, couple, groups, and executive clients.
Posted by: Paul at February 14, 2005 10:32 PMWow, I never you knew you'd done that Paul, that's amazing!
I've already tried this meditation technique after reading it here and have to say that it worked brilliantly and I wasn't even doing it properly! Ha, I was exhaling through the strongest feelings, or maybe not even that, I was sending energy through them, but wow it really worked. When I did it, whatever I picked as the feeling to try it on seemed to light up in my minds eye, but the best thing was that many of the things that the part was connected to lit up too! (for example, I sent energy through my lower spine and half of the spine lit up, then most of my ribcage. I did this with my nervous system and it shocked me a little, it didn't stop at my body and instantly carried on extending further outwards, possibly into my aura and beyond.)
This is an excellent way of getting a better awareness of the body. Now I'll have to try it out properly! (Also, it felt like sending energy through instead of inhaling could be dangerous if too much was sent, inhaling sounds much safer.)
And Alexa : ha, yeah I can imagine that it could read like that. :-)
Posted by: Rob at February 15, 2005 10:50 AMWell, there is no way you can do it wrong, so much as doing it more effectively and efficiently.
My sugestion in reading what you've done so far, is don't analyze it, don't try to DO anything, just inhale through whatever the strongest feeling is THAT IS ALREADY PRESENT. :)
Posted by: Paul at February 15, 2005 05:29 PMThanks Paul, I'll give that a try next time I meditate. It sounds like a great way of adding to the ways in which you can confirm the non-duality of things.
Posted by: Rob at February 15, 2005 09:32 PMMy favorite part of doing Vivation is 3) enjoying this moment as much as you can.
What I like most about it, is it is by far the most efficient method (I've found) to permanently resolve any negative emotion or pain.
Rob, feel free to write me privately and we can discuss this in more detail if you like. :)
Posted by: Paul at February 16, 2005 08:09 AMWhat a wonderful way to earn a living, teaching people to meditate. A job that truly helps people and pays the bills!
Posted by: Chris at February 17, 2005 05:15 AMcertainly,people are hungry for these kind of experiences.to be smiling is the peak state.as adults we forget to smile until jogged into it by accident,then return to a dull sort of grey trance that most recognise as life.in my workshops the best part is the question and answer period,at the end, where people can truly get what they came for....laughter.
Posted by: alistair at February 21, 2005 12:51 PM