Learn to meditate

Free classes and workshops

“If we practise meditation daily,
rest assured that the problems of our life,
inner and outer, are solved.”
– Sri Chinmoy

 

 

About meditation

“Life is given to each human being
For a very special purpose.
This secret each human being
Must discover for himself.”
– Sri Chinmoy

About Sri Chinmoy

All of our classes, concerts and other events are inspired by meditation Master

Sri Chinmoy, who dedicated his life in service to aspiring humanity.

About our classes

  • Practical tips for meditation
  • Relaxation & breath control
  • Guided visualisation and more…

Meditation Matters

A weekly journal and podcast published each Thursday, exploring the many worlds of meditation.

Meditation matters

A weekly journal and podcast published each Thursday, exploring the many worlds of meditation

213: Integral Wellbeing (1)

213: Integral Wellbeing (1)

The health of our various organs – heart, lungs, liver, skin – are all affected by each other, for they are interdependent parts of one whole. This same principle applies to the various sheaths of our consciousness – body, vital, mind, heart and soul ¬– which comprise our whole being. The health, vitality and fulfilment of each are essential for the wellbeing of the others, and of the whole.
Read and listen more

210: Never Flatten the Curve

210: Never Flatten the Curve

The muscles of the fittest athlete will atrophy if not exercised. Daily-polished woodwork shines: left alone for a week, its sheen surrenders to dust. If we neglect our daily meditation, we can lose all the hard-earned benefits of years of spiritual discipline.
Read and listen more

207: Be Spiritually Contagious

207: Be Spiritually Contagious

Spiritual qualities are more contagious than any virus. Peace, light, love and joy are not constricted by social distancing; washing our hands does not remove them; they can spread from one to millions in a heartbeat, they easily span the globe in an instant.
Read and listen more

206: Always Test Positive

206: Always Test Positive

In our peculiar phraseology, in our upside-down world so enthralled with negativity, it is an apt irony that to “test positive” is a most feared outcome with all manner of negative repercussions, while to “test negative” is positively desirable and cause for celebration.
Read and listen more

205: A Splendid Isolation

205: A Splendid Isolation

To spend time alone – to be isolated from the outside world and our usual outer routines – is the ideal prescription for the deepening of our spiritual practice.
Read and listen more

204: Imagine Your Highest

204: Imagine Your Highest

Everything that exists, started in the realm of imagination. The words you are reading were imagined, then written down; the chair you are sitting on was imagined, then designed and produced; you imagined yourself eating breakfast this morning, then it happened. Imagination paves the way and sets up reality.
button link=”https://www.canberrameditation.org/articles/204-imagine-your-highest” type=”big”]Read and listen more[/button]

203: The Pond of Milk

203: The Pond of Milk

In our private meditation at home as well as group meditations, it is so easy to feel it will be OK if I offer a token, dilute effort today in lieu of my A-game. No-one will know and no-one will mind…
Read and listen more

202: Self-Giving (2)

202: Self-Giving (2)

Self-giving is the meeting place of meditation and action, where our inner and our outer life converge. Inner and outer self-giving go together, grow together and flow together. Self-giving in meditation is the best training for action: self-giving in action is the best training for meditation.
Read and listen more

200: Within

200: Within

All our outer thoughts, intentions, actions, reactions, experiences and achievements arise from within. Our entire outer lives are patterned within. The wheel of karma turns from within. Our will is forged, our destiny is mapped, our future sculpted, within.
Read and listen more

199: Your Cone of Silence

199: Your Cone of Silence

“The cone of silence” is a figure of speech, denoting an imaginary area, pact or bond wherein certain knowledge is protected, never revealed, from which secrets cannot escape. For this exercise, let’s imagine this cone of silence is absolutely real – yet instead of keeping secrets inside, our cone keeps everything out.
Read and listen more

198: Silence (3) – Creative Visualisations

198: Silence (3) – Creative Visualisations

To enter into a silent mind is very challenging, for we are used to our minds being constantly engaged. Challenging, yes: impossible, no! We simply have to practise and persist, doggedly, determinedly, eagerly, relentlessly – and patiently.
Read and listen more

197: Silence (2)

197: Silence (2)

Silence is the empty space between thoughts, desires and sensations. As thoughts and desires gradually subside, these spaces expand and blossom into fullness.
Read and listen more

196: Silence (1)

196: Silence (1)

When we speak of silence in meditation, we speak not of outer silence, the absence of sound; but the inner silence, the absence of thought and desire. This inner silence is the womb and cradle of our meditation and all spiritual progress.
Read and listen more

195: Unlearning

195: Unlearning

We are accustomed to the notion that progress is the outcome of learning. In our outer lives, learning and education are fundamental values, cherished personal goals, pillars of civilisation, bedrock of our society, culture and economy.
Read and listen more

193: My Mind – Pure or Sewer?

193: My Mind – Pure or Sewer?

If someone comes to the door of my home, I choose whether or not to welcome them: if they are a friend, I may invite them in; if a stranger, especially if dirty, crazy or aggressive, I refuse them entry.
Read and listen more

192: The Power of Thoughts (3)

192: The Power of Thoughts (3)

Imagine the whole stream of thoughts is being projected onto a screen and you are merely an observer, watching them pass by. They are not yours, and you are not theirs. Feel your own existence, happy and complete, separate and independent from what is happening on the screen.
Read and listen more

191: The Power of Thoughts (2)

191: The Power of Thoughts (2)

To control our thoughts we first must accept responsibility for our thoughts. Many of us feel that thoughts just appear from nowhere and are not our responsibility – yet even if a thought does appear from nowhere, it is still our choice whether to accept or reject each thought. If we do not take responsibility for our thoughts, we are fated to remain merely their puppet and parrot.
Read and listen more

190: The Power of Thoughts (1)

190: The Power of Thoughts (1)

Most of us do not meditate in order simply to have an enjoyable experience during meditation: we meditate to find and cultivate peace, happiness, love, patience, tolerance, compassion, wisdom and creativity that we might grow in these qualities and express them in our daily lives. We spend time in meditation in order to improve the quality of all the rest of our time we are not in meditation.
Read and listen more

189: The Past is Dust

189: The Past is Dust

What is dust? Useless, meaningless, annoying waste matter, discarded remnants from previously useful, meaningful things and events. What is dust good for? Nothing. What do we do with dust? Get rid of it.
Read and listen more

188: Forgiveness

188: Forgiveness

Forgiveness is both a product of and prerequisite for fruitful meditation and spiritual progress.

Meditation opens and expands our hearts, as a slow-motion blossoming of a flower petal by petal. As our hearts expand, the quality of forgiveness grows naturally and spontaneously, without any conscious effort on our part, for forgiveness is inherent to the heart as fragrance to a flower.
Read and listen more

187: Group Meditation (4)

187: Group Meditation (4)

We may be inspired to attend a group meditation for what we will gain from the experience, yet just as significant is what we offer the group. Our very presence offers positive reinforcement and encouragement.
Read and listen more

186: Group Meditation (3)

186: Group Meditation (3)

As one candle can ignite many, so the presence of just one person meditating well, may inspire others to a wonderful meditation.

Some days we are up and some we are down. Sometimes we are the candle lighting many, other times we are in need of igniting. For both roles, the only essential need is our presence.
Read and listen more

185: Group Meditation (2)

185: Group Meditation (2)

The discipline of attending a meeting at a set time and place creates momentum, which is essential to our progress. It takes more effort to attend a session on the other side of town than simply meditating at home. Each time we make that effort we recommit to our purpose, we place more store in the value of our meditation and hence, the more likely we are to give our all to the meditation itself. The more we give, we more we invariably receive.
Read and listen more

184: Group Meditation (1)

184: Group Meditation (1)

Meditation is self-discovery. Hence the experience of meditation is always inner, and personal. Meditation itself is not a social activity. Nevertheless our inner experience, and our overall spiritual wellbeing, can benefit greatly from meditating with others who are following the same spiritual Path or have the same focus and goals.
Read and listen more

183: Patience

183: Patience

Patience is our goal in disguise. The more we develop patience, the closer our goal approaches. Surrender of our own timeline immediately hastens our progress, whereas impatience always slows us down or grinds us to a halt.
Read and listen more

181: Dry Spells (7) – A Spiritual Journal

181: Dry Spells (7) – A Spiritual Journal

On holidays we take photos of scenes and events we want to remember, and store these photos in albums. When the holiday is long over, looking through the photos we revive the memories, feelings and sensations of those scenes and events. The photos keep the memories of the holiday fresh and alive in our consciousness whenever we turn to them.
Read and listen more

180: Dry Spells (6) – Practise and Persist

180: Dry Spells (6) – Practise and Persist

If we could meditate well under all circumstances and conditions, then we wouldn’t need to meditate – we’d already be perfect! Once we are fully illumined, then meditation without effort is our natural and spontaneous state, our default setting. Until then, practise – and persistence – makes perfect.
Read and listen more

179: Dry Spells (5) – Most Delicious Food

179: Dry Spells (5) – Most Delicious Food

We cannot eat most delicious food every day – yet we still have to eat every day to sustain ourselves on earth. Some days we may be fortunate to dine at the finest restaurant; while on others we have to subsist on dry crackers. If that’s all there is, we’ll eat those dry crackers and be sustained by them, and see what tomorrow brings.
Read and listen more

175: Dry Spells (1) – How to Respond

175: Dry Spells (1) – How to Respond

Every meditator endures dry spells.

Like writer’s block or an athlete’s form slump, these spells arrive without warning, with no apparent cause and no clear remedy. Like the weather, a dry spell might last a day, a week or months on end.
Read and listen more

174: Two Simple, Powerful Mantras

174: Two Simple, Powerful Mantras

The mantra “I am the Heart” is simple, adaptable and supremely powerful. This mantra can be employed during meditation or any other activity, in silence or aloud, anywhere and anytime for any duration.
Read and listen more

173: Ready for Enlightenment

173: Ready for Enlightenment

A spiritual Master lived in an ashram with his disciples. One disciple, who had been with the Guru for several years, was quite convinced that he was doing very well in his meditation, spiritual discipline and service to the community.
Read and listen more

171: Music and Meditation (15) – Sound and Silence

171: Music and Meditation (15) – Sound and Silence

Music arises out of, and leads back to silence.Silence is the canvas on which music is painted, the stage on which music is performed, the backdrop against which music poses, the air which music breathes. Silence sends forth music as its emissary, to reveal its secrets – love, sweetness, joy, harmony, perfection. Silence is the sun’s power, music the moon-beauty.
Read and listen more

169: Music and Meditation (13) – Soulful Singing

169: Music and Meditation (13) – Soulful Singing

Singing occupies a central role in the practise and ritual of most spiritual paths and traditions, for good reason.Spirituality lies beyond the realm of the rational, of reason, description and even understanding – as does music, and so is music a natural language of spirituality.
Read and listen more

167: Music and Meditation (11) – Usha Bala Elo (a)

167: Music and Meditation (11) – Usha Bala Elo (a)

The dawn is one of nature’s most glorious mysteries and life’s most magical, auspicious moments. The transformation of night into day, darkness into light, despair into hope and promise, one state of being into its polar opposite, is at once exquisitely beautiful, thrillingly wondrous and utterly exhilarating.
Read and listen more

166: Music and Meditation (10) – Love as Song

166: Music and Meditation (10) – Love as Song

Every spiritual quality can be felt, nurtured, enlarged and intensified by singing: sweetness, tenderness, sympathy, love, aspiration, longing, joy, ecstasy, courage, determination, devotion, valour, vigour, enthusiasm, self-offering – all respond to the right song as a sunflower to the sun.
Read and listen more

161: Music and Meditation (5) – Music as Spiritual Teaching

161: Music and Meditation (5) – Music as Spiritual Teaching

For a spiritual Master, music offers a vast realm of opportunity for spiritual teaching. Where lectures, discourses, questions and answers must navigate the perilous pathways of doubt, fear, prejudice and misunderstanding in the seeker’s mind, music has an access card directly to the listener’s heart and soul, carrying with it inspiration, aspiration and ever-unfolding realisation.
Read and listen more

160: Music and Meditation (4) – Angels of Peace

160: Music and Meditation (4) – Angels of Peace

Peace is the most urgent, desperate need in the world – peace between nations; between religions, cultures and ideologies; peace within society; within classrooms, workplaces and organisations; peace in the family; above all peace within ourselves, between the various needs and demands of our own body, vital, mind, heart and soul.
Read and listen more

159: Music and Meditation (3) – Sri Chinmoy’s “Flute Music Meditation”

159: Music and Meditation (3) – Sri Chinmoy’s “Flute Music Meditation”

Music is imbued with consciousness. In spiritual music, the consciousness of both performer and listener are of utmost importance. Music composed and performed from a state of deep meditation will be saturated with a meditative consciousness the way fragrance pervades a rose garden in full bloom. The more open and aspiring the listener, the more of that consciousness can be received and assimilated.
Read and listen more

158: Music and Meditation (2) – Levels of Consciousness

158: Music and Meditation (2) – Levels of Consciousness

Orpheus, the Sirens, the Magic Flute, the Pied Piper: myth and folklore abound with tales of music mesmerising and leading us to other realms – some good, some not so. Music seemingly has the power of a drug or talisman: it charms our mind into quietude, rouses our will to action, calls forth our emotions, touches our heart and might even reveal our soul.
Read and listen more

156: Not Mine, but Thine

156: Not Mine, but Thine

If we are meditating, we acknowledge the existence of a higher force or consciousness within us. If a higher being or potential were not within us, meditation would be a pointless pursuit. We meditate to discover this deeper self, to access and utilise this greater power, to become this fuller reality.
Read and listen more

155: Spiritual Wisdom and Meditation

155: Spiritual Wisdom and Meditation

Sound cannot exist in a vacuum. It might be formulated, but cannot be heard. Atmosphere is needed to carry the vibrations or waves and in effect, give life to sound.

Imagine the full expressive range of a cello: rich, resonant, yearning, commanding, desolate, playful, soaring, sumptuous and satisfying. Now remove the body of the cello so only the strings, fingerboard and tailpiece remain, and imagine the same music being played – there is just a thin sound with no depth, warmth or soul.
Read and listen more

153: Eagerness (a) – Each Moment Your First

153: Eagerness (a) – Each Moment Your First

Eagerness is a universal currency of the inner realms: an executive force of love, commander of immediate action, impelling current of progress, dancing partner of newness and identical twin of delight.

Eagerness is always fresh and enlivening. Eagerness keeps us always positive, open and receptive. Eagerness is always creating, elevating, expanding and enlightening.
Read and listen more

152: Gratitude versus Aspiration

152: Gratitude versus Aspiration

We are told that gratitude is a miracle, essential for fastest spiritual progress. Surely we shall be most grateful for what we have and what we are when we have achieved perfection, so the fullest expression of gratitude will blossom once we are perfect.

We are also told that aspiration is a spiritual miracle, indispensable for fastest spiritual progress. Aspiration is an intensified longing for as-yet unachieved perfection.
Read and listen more

151: Keinen Bequemen Stuhl

151: Keinen Bequemen Stuhl

The source and only source of all peace, love, joy, wisdom, light, satisfaction and fulfilment is our soul. Our soul is more than ready and eager to offer all these qualities to us in infinite measure – as long as we show that we need them and value them. All happiness can be ours – for the asking.
Read and listen more

150: Freedom from Attachments

150: Freedom from Attachments

Persistent thoughts, desires and emotions are huge impediments to our progress in meditation, and we would like to be rid of them – but how?

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If we would have our attachments release us so we can finally enjoy peace and freedom, we must first release our attachments so they too can fly free.
Read and listen more

149: Your Visitor-Child

149: Your Visitor-Child

Right in front of you is the most beautiful child, more beautiful, more perfect than you have ever seen in this world or could ever have imagined.

This child is an emissary from a far-away realm and will be here on earth for just 15 minutes, in transit to another even further-away realm.
Read and listen more

148: The Eternal, Ever-New

148: The Eternal, Ever-New

Our minds are preoccupied with dividing, ordering, controlling and possessing our environment, including our own lives. The concept of time is a mental phenomenon: we focus much on the past and the future, to the detriment of our enjoyment of the present.

Through meditation we learn detachment from our minds’ preoccupations, including our obsession with past and future: as we enter deeper into our hearts, we become more centred in the moment, in the Eternal Now.
Read and listen more

147: The Eternal Beginner

147: The Eternal Beginner

In the outer world, at a certain point knowledge of a subject might be considered complete. Not so in the infinite spiritual realms, for here where all is ever growing and transcending, nothing can ever be complete.
Read and listen more

146: A New Goal, New Vocation, New “I”

146: A New Goal, New Vocation, New “I”

Meditation redefines our very being.

There are many reasons for starting to meditate – seeking to reduce the stress in our lives, sharpen our concentration, improve our physical and mental health – yet all who continue with meditation, soon find that it beckons us far, far beyond anywhere we could possibly have hoped or imagined.
Read and listen more

145: Roots and Fruits

145: Roots and Fruits

Our life-fruit and our soul-root need each other.

Roots are the source, fruits the goal. Roots represent raw materials, fruits the finished product. Roots are the inner world, fruits the outer world.
Read and listen more

142: An Empty Mind (2) – The Goal

142: An Empty Mind (2) – The Goal

If our daily meditation practise is an endless train of thoughts because we have surrendered to them as to an oncoming illness or to old age, then we might as well as be chatting or watching television. To compromise in this way is to accept weakness and admit defeat.

Read and listen more
141: An Empty Mind (1) – The Challenge

141: An Empty Mind (1) – The Challenge

To constantly progress in meditation we must always strive for a silent, empty mind. Only in a thoughtless mind can we experience the true peace, beauty, vastness, clarity, light and joy of our inner being; otherwise though we may have glimpses of our deeper reality, we are selling ourselves short and will never realise our potential.

Read and listen more
140: Selfish and Selfless

140: Selfish and Selfless

In meditation I sit alone, avoiding others and eschewing all involvement and even thoughts of the outside world, my focus directed exclusively within myself with the avowed goal of my own self-improvement, personal benefit and greater happiness. Meditation would appear the epitome of an anti-social, selfish behaviour.

Read and listen more
139: The Frog in the Well

139: The Frog in the Well

A little frog had lived his whole life at the bottom of a well. He knew no other environment and yet was content with his life. He had abundant food from the various insects that flew into the well and small water creatures that bred there, so in time he grew quite plump and fancied himself an authority on the world.

Read and listen more
138: Heart-Garden

138: Heart-Garden

Our spiritual heart is a vast, beautiful, wonderful, delightful, sun-flooded garden we can never tire of exploring and enjoying. In the heart-garden all are welcome and all find perfect happiness.

Read and listen more
137: Beyond Fear of Death (2) – The Soul-Bird

137: Beyond Fear of Death (2) – The Soul-Bird

On a sunny day, if we build a mud hut and close in all the windows and the doors, then inside that hut it will be dark. Remove the walls and all is light. Fear is the darkness resulting from our mind-built walls of division and ego. As aspiration and meditation gradually dissolve these walls, the darkness of fear simply disappears.

Read and listen more
135: Time, Energy and Sleep

135: Time, Energy and Sleep

Energy comes in many forms: physical energy, emotional energy, mental energy, psychic energy. We derive energy from our food and drink, from air and water, from sunlight, colour, music, art and beauty, from action, interaction, inspiration, ideals and emotions. We also expend energy in many ways: physically, vitally, mentally and psychically.

Read and listen more
134: Stressed for Time?

134: Stressed for Time?

Time and stress are intimately related. The pressure of time is the oxygen of stress. Without time and beyond time, there can be no stress; stress evaporates. So the surest way to alleviate and remove stress is to go beyond time.

Read and listen more
133: Which Technique is Best?

133: Which Technique is Best?

The question is often asked: which technique is best for meditation? Should I practise mantra, breathing and counting, concentration on a candle, creative visualisation, singing or gazing at the sky?

Read and listen more
131: Samurai

131: Samurai

When we concentrate and meditate, outwardly we are statues of the Buddha: all calm, poise and serenity.

Yet inwardly we must be samurai warriors: all focus, vigilance and intensity.
Read and listen more

130: Having and Being

130: Having and Being

The goal of our outer quest is to have; the fulfilment of our inner search is to be.

What we have is material, which is immaterial; what we are is spiritual, which is real.
Read and listen more

129: A Drop in Search of Its Ocean (4) – God-Realisation

129: A Drop in Search of Its Ocean (4) – God-Realisation

Though the drops may have forgotten their source, they retain always an innate and compelling urge. Their urge is ultimately to return to the ocean from whence they came. Yet because they have forgotten the ocean, initially the urge presents itself simply as a yearning to transcend their drop-limitations, to grow, learn and explore, to join and become an ever-larger entity.
Read and listen more

127: A Drop in Search of Its Ocean (2) – Reincarnation

127: A Drop in Search of Its Ocean (2) – Reincarnation

A drop is like a soul. All souls originate in the ocean of infinite consciousness – God – and at some point find themselves magically, mysteriously or miraculously evaporated from their ocean-source. They are still one in essence with the God-ocean, yet seem now to be separate, on their own.
Read and listen more

126: A Drop in Search of Its Ocean (1) – Water and Consciousness

126: A Drop in Search of Its Ocean (1) – Water and Consciousness

Every drop originates in the ocean; and to the ocean, every drop yearns to return.

The ocean is comprised of countless drops. Yet we don’t perceive the ocean as innumerable entities: we perceive the ocean as one.

When the sun shines on the surface of the ocean, some of its surface water is evaporated. It changes its form from liquid to gas, and so apparently disappears.
Read and listen more

125: How Would You Like Your Potatoes?

125: How Would You Like Your Potatoes?

I was once fortunate to stay for about 10 days at a fine hotel in Phnom Penh, which incorporated an international school for chefs. The student chef’s training included preparing meals for our large group of vegetarians. It seemed that at least one dish at each meal had to be prepared from potatoes, and that no dish could be repeated over the course of our stay. Alongside a superb array of other courses, we marveled at the inexhaustible panoply of potato presentations.
Read and listen more

124: Who is Not God?

124: Who is Not God?

A seeker once came to a spiritual Master, eager to ask one burning question: “Who is God?”

The Master smilingly responded: “Who is not God?”
button link=”https://www.canberrameditation.org/articles/124-who-is-not-god” type=”big”]Read and listen more[/button]

123: What About God?

123: What About God?

Talking or writing about God is pointless, fruitless frittering.

Whoever or whatever God is, lies beyond the realms of thought, analysis and even description.

God can only be felt, experienced and realised.

Whenever we try to describe, define or confine God, God eludes us.
Read and listen more

122: Breath of the Heart

122: Breath of the Heart

Choose a quiet, uncluttered place. Sit so that the spine is straight, yet relaxed. Close your eyes and focus all attention on your breath.

Imagine the outside world has dissolved. Nothing exists beyond your controlled breathing.
Read and listen more

120: From One Candle

120: From One Candle

As we grow through our meditation and spiritual practise in peace, poise, clarity, creativity, purpose, joy, inspiration and aspiration, it is inevitable that we will want others to enjoy these same benefits. The practise of meditation is so simple and its effects so overwhelmingly positive, how can we not wish our friends and loved ones – indeed all of suffering humanity – to share in our miraculous discovery?
Read and listen more

119: Folded Hands in Meditation (8) – Devotion

119: Folded Hands in Meditation (8) – Devotion

Folded hands are the symbol and expression of devotion. Devotion is the fast lane of spiritual progress. Devotion and meditation help each other like two arms, left and right. Devotion deepens, sweetens, purifies, clarifies and intensifies our meditation practise.
Read and listen more

117: Folded Hands in Meditation (6) – A Lightning Rod

117: Folded Hands in Meditation (6) – A Lightning Rod

When we sincerely aspire for a goal, we will take help from any quarter and explore any means to reach our goal. We will listen to advice, read books, attend classes, practise techniques, make sacrifices, travel to far places, we will adjust our diet, daily schedule, exercise regime and sleep patterns – anything to help us reach our goal sooner.
Read and listen more

116: Folded Hands in Meditation (5) – Thy Will

116: Folded Hands in Meditation (5) – Thy Will

Meditation is the withdrawal of our mind’s engagement with the outer world, to enter into our heart’s realm of peace, light and delight. Our hands are the executors of our will in the world. When we fold our hands, we both practically and symbolically withdraw our means of action from the outer world.
Read and listen more

112: Folded Hands in Meditation (1) – Body Language

112: Folded Hands in Meditation (1) – Body Language

What should we do with our hands during meditation? We do not meditate with our hands: yet our hands are extremely significant parts of our being – practically, energetically and symbolically – and what we do with them can tremendously influence our consciousness, actions and environment.
Read and listen more

111: To Dispel Unhappiness

111: To Dispel Unhappiness

Meditation and unhappiness are incompatible. If you can dispel unhappiness from your system before you sit down to meditate, your meditation will be freer, easier and more effective.
Read and listen more

110: Chasing Shadows

110: Chasing Shadows

https://www.radiosrichinmoy.org/wp-content/uploads/meditation-matters-copy/110-chasing-shadows.mp3 Desire is a yearning to possess the unpossessable. It juggles chimeras and grasps at thin air while feasting on reflections in its castle in the sky. The world we sense...

109: Frustrated and Empty

109: Frustrated and Empty

When we do not get what we desire, we are left feeling frustrated and empty: if only our desire had been fulfilled, surely happiness would be ours and all would be well. Yet when we get what we desire, we are again left feeling frustrated and empty: somehow the fulfilment of our desire has not given us the happiness and satisfaction we had hoped for.
Read and listen more

108: The Ocean of Grace

108: The Ocean of Grace

Each life is a river flowing to the sea. From the perspective of the river, its current appears to be its own doing, its own driving force. Yet when we step back and view from a larger perspective, we see it is actually the ocean that is drawing the river towards it.
Read and listen more

107: The Swift-Flowing Current of Grace

107: The Swift-Flowing Current of Grace

Each life is a river flowing to the sea. The current of a river flows always strongest in its depths. This underling current is the guarantee that the river will reach its destination. When you look at the surface of a river, you may see little eddies and swirls flowing in many different directions. Rocks and snags initiate all manner of disturbances, convolutions and conflicts in the surface flow.
Read and listen more

106: The Tadpole and the Frog

106: The Tadpole and the Frog

A tadpole and a frog appear completely different creatures. Yet they are one and the same. A tadpole can live only in water. Like a fish, it uses its tail to swim around. A frog can live both in water and on land. For the tadpole to become the frog, it must first develop legs.
Read and listen more

105: Where are we Heading? (4)

105: Where are we Heading? (4)

You live the richest, most varied and fruitful life that any human could imagine. And yet … and yet … after all, you are still no closer to answering: Who am I? Why am I here? Where have I come from and where am I heading?
Read and listen more

104: Where are we Heading? (3)

104: Where are we Heading? (3)

In addition to the senses you had as an animal, you now have that most marvellous instrument of awareness – the mind. It is as though your world has just exploded in scope, variety and possibilities. The power of the mind to perceive, to analyse, organise, classify, quantify and control is dazzling and unparalleled.
Read and listen more

103: Where are we Heading? (2)

103: Where are we Heading? (2)

Eventually you become a huge tree, with magnificent strong branches and countless fluttering leaves, offering shade and protection to all and sundry, great and small. You bear flowers and fruits. You are admired by the world. You live a long, full and fulfilling life as a tree.
Read and listen more

102: Where are we Heading? (1)

102: Where are we Heading? (1)

To answer this question, let us embark on an imaginary journey. Immerse yourself, allowing no outside thought or distraction to enter. Sit somewhere where you can be quiet and alone. Assume your meditation pose, breathe calmly and close your eyes.
Read and listen more

101: The Red and the Green Lollies

101: The Red and the Green Lollies

Two little boys were extremely fond of a particular red lolly. Every day they would visit the corner store and purchase their supply, served in a white paper packet. They were agreed: nothing could equal these red lollies. They loved everything about them: their unsurpassable taste, texture, colour and shape.
Read and listen more

99: Evolution (2)

99: Evolution (2)

Up to now, our evolution has been unconscious, determined by some unseen force of nature. As long as our journey is unconscious it is bound to be fraught and haphazard, with many false starts, wrong turns and missed opportunities.
Read and listen more

98: Evolution (1)

98: Evolution (1)

In school we learn about evolution. We learn about how we humans have evolved from animals, most recently from apes and chimpanzees. We learn about Charles Darwin, his theory of the Evolution of the Species and of Natural Selection. When I was in school I readily accepted and subscribed to these theories as fact.
Read and listen more

97: The Six Blind Men

97: The Six Blind Men

This is a traditional story… Six blind men lived together in a forest. They had heard rumours of the elephant, which they were not able to verify since none of them had seen the elephant. They agreed one of them should find the elephant and report back.
Read and listen more

96: You Want a Revolution?

96: You Want a Revolution?

Order reigns even in chaos; within order, chaos lurks. All outer phenomena bear the signature of hidden forces. If you want to achieve, influence or become anything, go to its source. We regard the landscape around us as a fixed anchor of our existence. Yet even solid rock is a veneer, a thin crust floating atop a slowly seething sea of molten magma.
Read and listen more

95: Bird in a Cage (3) – Return

95: Bird in a Cage (3) – Return

Lost in your flight, your song and the thrill of freedom, you are now drawn not by what is below, but rather what is above. Tilting your neck upward, a radiant sky beckons as you bend your being up into its heart of infinite blue. The higher you fly, the brighter and fuller the hue until even its blue is dissipated into pure light as the all-real.
Read and listen more

94: Bird in a Cage (2) – Flight and Freedom

94: Bird in a Cage (2) – Flight and Freedom

In a rush of light and air, instinctively your wings engage to keep you aloft. Dazzled, your world spins in a hurtling rush of colours, shapes, scents and sounds. You are in another realm. Around the garden you fly, drinking in the array of vivid colours and sweet fragrances. Giddy you rise beyond your own backyard to discover more gardens, vibrant and abuzz with the joy and industry of life.
Read and listen more

93: Bird in a Cage (1) – The Cage

93: Bird in a Cage (1) – The Cage

This is a creative visualisation exercise. Sit in a quiet place, alone, where you will not be disturbed. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing for a few minutes, carefully regulating your breath to relax your whole body while calming your thoughts and emotions.
Read and listen more

92: Everything in a New Light

92: Everything in a New Light

The world is a white wall. Shine a red light on the wall and it appears red. Shine a green light: it appears green. Like the wall, we perceive the world according to the light of our own consciousness. When we are sad, the world appears ugly: when we are happy, the world is beautiful. We shine our own light on the world, and so the world appears.
Read and listen more

91: Ten-Armed Goddess

91: Ten-Armed Goddess

Many of the Hindu cosmic gods and goddesses are depicted with multiple arms, each arm performing a different task, revealing a particular capacity or bestowing a gift or boon. We too can develop multiple arms. We too can become the 10-armed god or goddess. Our arms represent our capacities, manifest our talents and convey our gifts in the outer world; through our arms we build, create, reveal and offer.
Read and listen more

90: No Standing Still

90: No Standing Still

Everything is in constant motion. Nothing ever stands still. Even the so-called laws of the universe are in constant flux. We are either jumping up, or falling down. We are breathing in, or breathing out; gaining, or losing fitness; growing, or decaying; learning, or forgetting. So it is with spiritual progress. There is no standing still: we are either moving forward or we are falling backwards.
Read and listen more

89: Expectation

89: Expectation

“Peace begins when expectation ends.”
– Sri Chinmoy

Expectation hobbles our meditation. We are used to always expecting some result from any activity we engage in. Otherwise, what’s the point of the activity? Yet meditation is an activity like no other. Meditation is much more effective when it is practised with no expectation of any result whatsoever.
Read and listen more

88: Your Heartbeat

88: Your Heartbeat

Your heartbeat is the constant of your life on earth. Whether you are awake or asleep, healthy or unwell, your heart beats within. No matter how you look or what you wear, your heart beats on. No matter what you are thinking or feeling, what you have been, what you are or will become, your heart beats. In happiness and despair, in victory and defeat, in glory and shame alike – your heart beats on regardless.
Read and listen more

87: Everything Takes Time

87: Everything Takes Time

Meditation transforms us from within. This process is completely natural and normal. If you bring forth divine qualities – peace, light, wisdom, love and compassion – your outer life has to change for the better. Being a natural process, spiritual growth takes time.
Read and listen more

86: Brick by Brick

86: Brick by Brick

Every day we cannot enjoy a sumptuous feast. Some days we might have all the ingredients on hand for a full banquet, while at other times we might go to the pantry only to find dry bread. If that is all that is available, then on that day we won’t starve: we get by on dry bread.
Read and listen more

85: Surfing

85: Surfing

Meditation is like surfing. A good surfer practises techniques and hones skills. Preparation is essential; preparing the board, preparing oneself, finding the right break at the right beach.
Read and listen more

84: Sunbathing

84: Sunbathing

Meditation is self-discovery. Pure meditation is not something we do, it is what we are: not an action, but a state of being.
Read and listen more

83: The Piano Strings (3)

83: The Piano Strings (3)

Like the piano, our heart has many strings, each tuned to a spiritual quality. Whereas the piano has strings for various notes, our heart has a “Love” string, a “Beauty” string, a “Peace” string and so forth.
Read and listen more

81: The Piano Strings (1)

81: The Piano Strings (1)

Recently I was driving along the freeway, my mind a tangled knot of problems, anxieties and stresses of the day. Suddenly, with the distant mountain range for its stage, was an unutterably glorious sunset. Spontaneously I let out an “Ah!”, my mind’s petty preoccupations arrested and banished in a panoply of glory, beauty and serenity.
Read and listen more

80: Two Thieves

80: Two Thieves

Swami Vivekananda often told this story… In ancient times, there was a most rare and precious jewel, renowned throughout all the lands. It had many owners over the years: it was traded for great riches; bestowed as a highest reward; even battles were fought over its possession. In time, this jewel came universally to be regarded as the most precious object in all existence.
Read and listen more

79: Aspiration

79: Aspiration

Aspiration is the single secret of meditation. Aspiration is the inner cry, inner yearning for something truer, higher, vaster, deeper, freer, ever more perfect and divine.
Read and listen more

78: Two Engines

78: Two Engines

We all feel there is something missing in our lives; something subtle, indefinable, somehow always beyond our reach. This sense of missing something makes us feel incomplete. This sense of incompleteness drives us, motivates us to fill this void, either temporarily, or once and for all…
Read and listen more

77: Birds in the Sky

77: Birds in the Sky

Imagine thoughts during meditation are birds in the sky. You are not the birds. You are the sky. Perhaps the biggest hurdle we encounter in meditation, is the very first hurdle: the stream of thoughts flowing through our minds. What to do with these thoughts?
Read and listen more

76: Am I a Failure?

76: Am I a Failure?

We know that the goal of meditation is to enter into a completely vacant, still and silent mind. Yet even after years of practise, I am still being bothered by thoughts and distractions. Does this mean I am a useless meditator, wasting my time? Not at all! To be able to silence the mind at will is a monumental achievement requiring an enormous effort of will, practise and persistence.
Read and listen more

75: All These Thoughts!

75: All These Thoughts!

We are so used to our mind’s constant clutter, that we become inured to its incessant activity. The only time we notice so many thoughts is when we sit down and try to meditate. It’s as though all of a sudden there are all these thoughts at the precise moment we don’t want any! Of course the thoughts have been there the whole time…
Read and listen more

74: Morning Meditation – To Serve the World

74: Morning Meditation – To Serve the World

If we are inspired to feed the hungry, we must first grow and harvest some crops. If we are inspired to give money to the poor, we must first earn the money. The same applies to inner wealth: peace, love, happiness and satisfaction­. We must first find and cultivate these qualities before we can offer and share them with the world at large. Many feel a calling to save the world. There is so much suffering, unhappiness, ignorance, anger, fear, stress and despair.
Read and listen more

73: Morning Meditation – Instructions for the Day

73: Morning Meditation – Instructions for the Day

All of us have a sense that there is something or someone superior in wisdom and capacity – whether part of our own being or beyond us – to which or to whom we would ideally turn for guidance, instruction and inspiration. Be it a family member, friend or counsellor, a scripture, our spiritual heart, soul, God or some other deity, we all feel the need to turn to some source greater, deeper and more illumined than our own minds and emotions.
Read and listen more

72: Morning Meditation – Gliding from a Height

72: Morning Meditation – Gliding from a Height

There is a widely held view that we are all either “morning people” or “NOT morning people”. Those who regard themselves as NOT morning people tend to find it more difficult to meditate successfully in the morning, and report better quality meditations in the evening.
Read and listen more

71: Morning Meditation – Your Identity Card

71: Morning Meditation – Your Identity Card

Next time you are angry, stressed, confused or depressed, look at yourself in the mirror. What do you feel from this face? Do you find it attractive – or otherwise? One time after you have had a good meditation, do the same: look at yourself in the mirror. What do you feel from this face?
Read and listen more

70: Morning Meditation – Tuning our Instrument

70: Morning Meditation – Tuning our Instrument

Every day is a new game, a new song, a new journey, a new examination. Our instrument is our consciousness. Just as an athlete prepares with stretching and warm-up exercises, a musician carefully tunes their instrument, a traveller packs their bags and a student studies for an exam, so our morning meditation prepares our consciousness so we are in shape for our daily game, song, journey and examination.
Read and listen more

69: Morning Meditation – Money in the Bank

69: Morning Meditation – Money in the Bank

Meditating first thing in the morning is like putting money in the bank.

When we have money in the bank, we can withdraw it to spend whenever the need arises. It is said: “Morning shows the day.” When we wake up we are relatively unconscious. What we do first thing after waking can hugely influence our state of consciousness for the remainder of the day.
Read and listen more

68: The Musk Deer

68: The Musk Deer

The original source of musk fragrance is the male musk deer, which produces the famous scent from a gland in its body. The story goes, that when the deer first becomes aware of this fragrance, it becomes enchanted, and starts to follow it, seeking its source. The deer walks around in search of this alluring wonder. No matter which way it turns, the fragrance remains always slightly out of reach. It cannot locate the source. Obsessed, the deer starts to run and run, madly pursuing the elusive unattainable.
Read and listen more

67: The Tiny Infinite

67: The Tiny Infinite

There is an infinite universe around us … and an infinite within. To embrace the infinite, it is customary to identify with something vast, like the ocean or the sky. You can instead choose something very small. The finite realm we inhabit, which dominates our present awareness, is a fine, flimsy gauze covering the infinite reality within and all around. Just as height and depth in meditation are ultimately the same; so the same truth is embodied within the vast, as in the tiny. Vast and tiny are conceptions of our mind; beyond the mind’s domain, vast and tiny alike dissolve in the One.
Read and listen more

66: A Thumbnail, a Black Dot

66: A Thumbnail, a Black Dot

To meditate, we must focus the mind. Our tool is concentration. The better our concentration, the easier it is to enter into meditation. As a chef cannot work with a blunt knife, so one cannot meditate with a scattered and wandering concentration.
Read and listen more

65: Vaster than the Universe

65: Vaster than the Universe

Sit alone, somewhere quiet. Dive deep into your heart. We feel our spiritual heart in the region of our physical heart, in the centre of our chest, but deeper within. Imagine you are not your body, mind or emotions but only your heart of peace, love, light, joy and gratitude blossoming and spreading with the sweetest fragrance. You are all heart from top to bottom, within and without.
Read and listen more

64: Turning the Light On

64: Turning the Light On

When you go into a dark room, if you want light, you turn on the light switch. This is exactly how meditation works to dispel our inner darkness – our problems, worries, doubts, fears and anxieties. If you want light in a dark room, you don’t blunder about in the darkness, exploring all the dark corners in the expectation that somehow the room will miraculously become illumined.
Read and listen more

63: The Mountaintop

63: The Mountaintop

Sit alone, somewhere quiet. Focus on your breathing, bringing it under your conscious control, calming, slowing and making your breath one steady flow – in and out, in and out, through your nostrils. Breathe with your diaphragm, your upper body remaining perfectly still.
Read and listen more

62: The Power of Imagination

62: The Power of Imagination

The present mind and heart are two entire ways of being, each seeing and feeling the world and ourselves differently. The mind craves control; the heart seeks love. We can only control what is fixed and certain; hence the mind’s mission to define, delimit and detain. The mind wants to reduce the universe so it can be possessed, known and dominated.
Read and listen more

61: The Mind and the Heart (7) – Sound and Silence

61: The Mind and the Heart (7) – Sound and Silence

The present mind and heart are two entire ways of being, each seeing and feeling the world and ourselves differently. The mind craves control; the heart seeks love. We can only control what is fixed and certain; hence the mind’s mission to define, delimit and detain. The mind wants to reduce the universe so it can be possessed, known and dominated.
Read and listen more

60: The Mind and the Heart (6) – The Licensed Driver

60: The Mind and the Heart (6) – The Licensed Driver

It’s not that we don’t like the mind. The mind is not bad. It is potentially extremely good. It has just headed in a wrong direction. The mind is like an adorable little boy of the family who thinks it great fun to splash paint over everyone’s food – at every meal. At some point, his ways need to change, before we all starve.
Read and listen more

59: The Mind and the Heart (5) – The Ruler and the Sky

59: The Mind and the Heart (5) – The Ruler and the Sky

The mind and the heart perceive and comprehend reality differently. The mind’s modus operandi proceeds on the understanding that it is observing something separate from itself. The mind constructs models of reality based on evidence it receives from the senses and other sources. These models are constantly changing as new evidence comes to light, just as the mind itself is subject to constant change.
Read and listen more

57: The Mind and the Heart (3) – Unity and Division

57: The Mind and the Heart (3) – Unity and Division

The mind divides; the heart unites. Yesterday I was poring over some accounts; George was studying calculus – we were both much in our minds. We met and started a conversation. It happens that George and I like different colours, different kinds of music, different foods, movies and sporting teams. After 5 minutes, we made a long list – of all our differences.
Read and listen more

56: The Mind and the Heart (2) – A Coup d’Etat

56: The Mind and the Heart (2) – A Coup d’Etat

Our mind is the servant that has become the master. Fire can be used to cook, to warm us and give light: or it can destroy. The mind is meant to be an instrument for our use, processing information from the senses, and applying its intellect for our own and the greater good. The mind is a wondrous power, an indispensable tool to aid us to live and operate in the world.
Read and listen more

55: The Mind and the Heart (1) – The Coalface of Progress

55: The Mind and the Heart (1) – The Coalface of Progress

We have seen that of the five levels of our being, the lower three levels – body, vital and mind – are finite, while the higher two levels – our spiritual heart and soul – are infinite. The qualities we seek: peace, love, joy and satisfaction, all are infinite. All abide in our heart and soul. Yet our present consciousness is most dominated by our finite parts: in particular, our mind.
Read and listen more

54: A Unique and Dramatic Tension

54: A Unique and Dramatic Tension

At the heart of the human condition lies a contradiction which gives rise to a unique and dramatic tension. This contradiction is in the very character and attributes of the various levels of our being: body, vital, mind, heart and soul.
Read and listen more

53: Our Five Levels of Being (5) – The Soul

53: Our Five Levels of Being (5) – The Soul

The soul is our source, the only part of us which is eternal – yet we have of the soul, only a vague awareness. We have become estranged from our own true self.If you ask people if they have a soul, most will immediately answer, “Yes”. But ask them to prove it; you will likely get a blank stare of bewilderment.
Read and listen more

52: Our Five Levels of Being (4) – The Spiritual Heart

52: Our Five Levels of Being (4) – The Spiritual Heart

Make a list of all the qualities you most treasure; the qualities you, and the world, need most urgently. Your list might include peace, love, oneness, joy, fulfilment, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, wisdom, courage, strength, belonging, kindness, tolerance, patience, beauty, sweetness, perfection, satisfaction.
Read and listen more

50: Our Five Levels of Being (2) – The Vital

50: Our Five Levels of Being (2) – The Vital

There are two convenient ways to represent a model of our five levels of being. One way is as a 5-story building, where the body is the ground floor and each succeeding level is the next floor above. This model is useful to understand some aspects of the relations between the various levels.
Read and listen more

49: Our Five Levels of Being (1) – The Body

49: Our Five Levels of Being (1) – The Body

We are complex beings… infinitely more complex than the physical Universe around us. While no model can ever adequately represent the multifarious levels of our consciousness, nevertheless for our purposes it is helpful to envision ourselves as comprising five essential levels of being.
Read and listen more

48: The Ultimate of Everything

48: The Ultimate of Everything

The highest moments in our lives, the pinnacle experiences, are but glimpses of our deeper selves, our true nature. When we are swept off our feet with happiness; when we gasp at the sheer beauty of a sunset; when our heart melts in the smile of an innocent child; when we are lost in wonder at the towering majesty of mighty mountains or the twinkling mystery of far galaxies; when we thrill to pure poetic perfection; glow with the flame of inspiration or soar on the wings of song; when we are seized with the revelation of a new truth; when we exult in silent speechless bliss of rapt meditation – these moments are signposts to the Beyond, the eternal reality within.
Read and listen more

47: Just a Moment

47: Just a Moment

Stop. Clear your mind and recall any most inspiring incident, experience or feeling from your past… Fully immerse yourself in and treasure this memory for a while. You will notice that what you have recalled, is just a single moment.
Read and listen more

46: A Hole in the Ground

46: A Hole in the Ground

When you walk past the building site of a new large building in the city, and peer through the window of the siding walls protecting the site, for months on end all you will see is a hole in the ground.
Read and listen more

45: Mantra in Practise (3)

45: Mantra in Practise (3)

Mantra is a most effective form of meditation practise because it simultaneously involves many levels of our being. The body is involved in creating the sound; we feel the vibration, resonance and cadence of the mantra in our very limbs.
Read and listen more

44: Mantra in Practise (2)

44: Mantra in Practise (2)

After chanting all the words on your list in turn, each for a minute or two, conclude with the mantra “AUM” for a while. Feel that the sound is emanating spontaneously from the depths of your spiritual heart.
Read and listen more

43: Mantra in Practise (1)

43: Mantra in Practise (1)

A mantra is the repetition of a phrase, word or syllable. The mantra is the focus of our meditation and the meditation itself. The mantra, its meaning, sound and resonance are at once an anchor for the mind and an invocation of a spiritual force, power or quality.
Read and listen more

42: The Manifold Munificent Mystery of Mantra

42: The Manifold Munificent Mystery of Mantra

Human beings have a deep, mystic relationship with words. Words connect us with meaning, sound, vibration, and with Being itself. They are a means to communicate, to illustrate, to educate, to elevate and to liberate. Words link silence with sound, bridge Heaven and earth, marry the human with the Divine.
Read and listen more

41: An Anchor for the Mind

41: An Anchor for the Mind

If a boat is left by itself on the ocean, it will be in constant motion: moving this way with the tides, that way with the wind, another way with a current. The boat itself has no say in where it goes, helpless before the forces of sea, sky and moon.
Read and listen more

40: Gratitude

40: Gratitude

Gratitude is a magical force in our lives. Just as light and dark cannot coexist in the same space, so gratitude and negative feelings cannot co-inhabit our consciousness. To dispel darkness, turn the light on: to relinquish negative thoughts and feelings, invoke gratitude.
Read and listen more

39: A Most Beautiful Child

39: A Most Beautiful Child

If you have attained ultimate perfection, you do not need to change. If you are completely happy, you do not need to change. If you are already fulfilling your potential and your life’s highest purpose, you do not need to change. Yet who can say that he or she is already utterly perfect, happy and fulfilled? No-one.
Read and listen more

38: Change

38: Change

If you have attained ultimate perfection, you do not need to change. If you are completely happy, you do not need to change. If you are already fulfilling your potential and your life’s highest purpose, you do not need to change. Yet who can say that he or she is already utterly perfect, happy and fulfilled? No-one.
Read and listen more

37: A Creative Visualisation

37: A Creative Visualisation

Close your eyes and imagine that you are sitting on a beach. You are alone. It is a perfect day. The beach stretches as far as your eye can see in either direction. Feel the sun’s warmth on your skin, the faint sea breeze on your cheek, taste a little salt in the air.
Read and listen more

36: The Ego: Dinosaur of the Era

36: The Ego: Dinosaur of the Era

As the dinosaurs of yore, our ego now proudly roams and rules the world… and as the dinosaurs found their days were numbered, so the time of the ego’s reign is now well and truly up. Consciousness is constantly evolving, within us and around us.
Read and listen more

34: Our Heart Flame (3)

34: Our Heart Flame (3)

You have become the flame. You are inundated with the flame’s light, purity, simplicity, beauty and delight. Because you have become the flame, and a flame has no mind, therefore you have no mind. Because you have no mind, thoughts and distractions find no foothold in you.
Read and listen more

33: Our Heart Flame (2)

33: Our Heart Flame (2)

Imagine your breath forms a bridge between your heart and the flame. Across this bridge, you and the flame offer yourselves unreservedly to each other. The flame is offering you its light, simplicity, purity and delight: you are breathing in and absorbing all these qualities as you inhale.
Read and listen more

32: Our Heart Flame (1)

32: Our Heart Flame (1)

Sit somewhere quiet where you can be alone and undisturbed. Place a candle in front of you, at eye level. Light the candle. We shall use the candle flame as the focal point for our concentration and meditation.
Read and listen more

31: Meditation as Magic

31: Meditation as Magic

Magic tricks often rely on distraction: the magician will set up a scenario, then draw our attention away to something else. While we are watching what his left hand is doing, his right hand completes the “trick”, so that when we return our attention to the original scene, the “magic” is complete and we are duly amazed.

So is it with meditation.

Read and listen more
30: A Flower-Heart

30: A Flower-Heart

For this exercise you will need a fresh flower.
Sit somewhere quiet where you can be alone and undisturbed. Either place the flower in a vase or hold the flower by its stem in front of you.
Gaze at the flower with your eyes half-open, half-closed, so that there is little else in your peripheral vision.

Read and listen more
29: Breathe and Become Joy

29: Breathe and Become Joy

Sit somewhere quiet where you can be alone and undisturbed. This exercise can be done either with your eyes closed or else open and resting on a simple object such as a flower or candle flame. Sit somewhere quiet where you can be alone and undisturbed. Focus exclusively on your breathing. Slow your breath and make the flow of breath through your nostrils as calm and controlled as possible.
Read and listen more

28: Breathe and Become Power

28: Breathe and Become Power

Sit somewhere quiet where you can be alone and undisturbed. Focus exclusively on your breathing. Slow your breath and make the flow of breath through your nostrils as calm and controlled as possible.
Read and listen more

27: Our Treasure is Within

27: Our Treasure is Within

Imagine peace is now spilling over from the inner vessel in your heart, flowing into your mind, quieting your thoughts, so that your mind is now the smooth surface of a still lake; from there it flows into your feelings, calming and soothing your nerves and emotions;
Read and listen more

26. Breathe and Become Peace (2)

26. Breathe and Become Peace (2)

Imagine peace is now spilling over from the inner vessel in your heart, flowing into your mind, quieting your thoughts, so that your mind is now the smooth surface of a still lake; from there it flows into your feelings, calming and soothing your nerves and emotions;
Read and listen more

25: Breathe and Become Peace (1)

25: Breathe and Become Peace (1)

Sit somewhere quiet where you can be alone and undisturbed. This exercise can be done either with your eyes closed or else open and resting on a simple object such as a flower or candle flame.
Read and listen more

24: A Secret Paradise

24: A Secret Paradise

The ideal of a secret paradise is woven through fairytales, myths, legends and religions of every race and culture. This paradise might take the form of a garden, a bodiless realm of light, a heaven beyond the stars. We catch glimpses of such a realm in our sleeping dreams and in our inspired imaginations.
Read and listen more

23: Naked and Alone

23: Naked and Alone

It has been often remarked, that we come into this world naked and alone – and we depart, naked and alone. To enter into pure meditation, we must also be prepared to stand naked – that is to say, naked of ego; and alone – without human company.
Read and listen more

22: Intimations of Immortality

22: Intimations of Immortality

Saints, mystics, poets, seers and seekers in every culture have sought the secret of life eternal. The ever-growing annals of Near-Death Experiences and the findings of quantum physics offer present-day support to the notion that at least a part of us lives on beyond death. If so, what part? Are we immortal?
Read and listen more

21: To Change the World

21: To Change the World

There is so much wrong with the world – but what can I, just one small person, do about it? Anything? Nothing? How about … everything! There is no such thing as “the world.” There is only what we perceive it to be – and what we perceive is a reflection of our own consciousness – which itself changes from day to day and even from moment to moment.
Read and listen more

20: We are the Source of Love

20: We are the Source of Love

We are used to dealing with specific expressions or feelings of love: we speak of being in love with someone, of loving a hobby or a song or the way reflected moonlight dances on the water on a September evening.
Read and listen more

19: A Cry for Freedom

19: A Cry for Freedom

How many of us are truly free? Not free = not happy. Freedom has been the guiding light, the catch-cry, the struggle of humanity for aeons. “Give me liberty or give me death!” cried American revolutionary, Patrick Henry.
Read and listen more

17: Breath of Life

17: Breath of Life

Our breath represents our very life. Without our breath we can’t exist on earth. Yet how often do we focus on this most essential component of our existence? Do we ever pause to offer even a moment’s gratitude to our breath?
Read and listen more

16: Purity

16: Purity

For our health, we value purity in our food, water and air: even more essential is the role of purity in our thoughts, intentions and actions.
Read and listen more

15: All You Need is Love

15: All You Need is Love

Love is not an action, not something we “do”. It is the matrix of our being, the power grid of the universe. It is a force within us which we can invoke, enter into and bring to the fore.
Read and listen more