An Easy Guide to Meditation
AN EASY
GUIDE TO
MEDITATION
ROY EUGENE DAVIS
I salute the supreme teacher,
the Truth, whose Nature is Bliss;
who is the giver of the highest
happiness; who is pure wisdom;
who is beyond all qualities and
infinite like the sky; who is beyond
words; who is one and eternal,
pure and still; who is beyond all
change and phenomena and who
is the silent witness to all our
thoughts and emotions—I salute
Truth, the supreme teacher.
–
Ancient Vedic Hymn
CSA PRESS, PUBLISHERS
The publishing department of
CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
PO Box 7 Lakemont, Georgia 30552-0001
Telephone 706-782-4723 Fax 706-782-4560
[email protected]
www.csa-davis.org
copyright © 1995 by Roy Eugene Davis
Digital Edition
copyright © 2011 by Roy Eugene Davis
978-0-87707-401-4
Contents
Chapter Two: Experiencing the Natural Process: How to Meditate Effectively
Chapter Three: Meditation Techniques and Routines to Use for Satisfying Results
Chapter Four: Awakening Through Progressive Stages of Spiritual Growth
Chapter Five: Lifestyle Guidelines Supportive of Our Primary Aims and Purposes
Introduction
The period in human history through which we are now passing is characterized by rapid changes in the outer realm, while indications of accelerated intellectual growth and spiritual awakening are increasingly observable in the transformations occurring in the social order. That we are being confronted by effects of powerful evolutionary causes is obvious to anyone who is sufficiently perceptive to examine the evidence. I look upon the world scene with an abiding sense of wonder and am serenely optimistic about our near and distant future possibilities. I hope you are viewing the unfolding drama of life with a thankful heart and pronouncing it good.
Because of these unfolding circumstances, and the widespread interest in matters related to facilitating expanded states of consciousness and improving functional abilities, the information in this edition of
An Easy Guide to Meditation
will, I feel, be helpful to many readers. The first book issued under this title was published in 1978 and distributed in many editions in several countries. Now, to make the message even more widely available, the text has been newly written, the format is designed for convenient reference, and the price is within the means of anyone with a sincere interest in the subject.
After reading this book, and putting into practice some of the recommended routines, please consider sharing copies with people whom you know to be interested in enhancing their lives. Having a harmonious relationship with the Presence and Power that produced the realm of nature and enlivens it, and which, ultimately, determines satisfying outcomes for all worthwhile endeavors, is certainly a most favorable condition for all of us.
During my early teenage years I pondered the meaning of life and aspired to clearly know it. Near the end of my eighteenth year I was fortunate to meet my guru Paramahansa Yogananda in Los Angeles, California, and to be accepted by him for training. Now, as I write these words, forty-five years have passed; each has provided invaluable opportunities for continued spiritual growth and service. I have traveled the world to share this information and have discovered that, behind the screens of social fabric and cultural influences, all people are, at the core, the same: that one, divine essence is the reality of us all.
Everything I recommend in these pages, I do, or have done. The basic principles, practices, and guidelines are universal. I did not originate them. They are not mine, nor do they belong to anyone. Some of the insights shared here, and explanations of how I view our relationship with the Infinite, are my own because I, like everyone else, see from my personal perspective. Take to heart whatever is meaningful to you. Use your intellectual skills to determine the meaning of whatever is not immediately clear to you. Use your intuitive abilities to see beyond words and concepts, to truth—that which is factual. Doing this is the only approach to understanding the processes of life that will satisfy your heart.
If you are a beginning meditator, the guidelines in the early chapters will be sufficient to enable you to practice with benefit. If you a more experienced meditator, review your practice to be sure you are doing it correctly, then use the various techniques and procedures to improve your meditative skills. Even if you are not inspired when you first sit to meditate, sit still anyway, and wait in the silence. In time, your innate, soul urge to have awareness restored to flawless clarity will implement the meditation process and direct its actions to a successful conclusion.
Planet Earth is our present dwelling place but it is not our permanent abode. Where did we come from? Why are we here? What are we supposed to do while here? What will become of us when we depart this world? How can we awaken to higher understanding and live with meaningful purpose? These are questions we should ask until the true answers are known. I pray that the allness of life becomes known to you, and that all your needs are met and your destiny is fulfilled.
Roy Eugene Davis
Lakemont, Georgia
CHAPTER ONE
Meditation as a Foundation
Practice for Personal Benefits
and Authentic Spiritual Growth
Meditation, correctly practiced, is the simple process of removing attention from conditions and circumstances which, when cognized and overly identified with, fragment and cloud our perceptions. Meditating, while remaining alert and observant, enables us to easily experience pure (clear) levels of awareness or states of consciousness. Doing this on a regular schedule provides frequent opportunities for physiological and psychological rest, while freeing attention to explore more refined states of consciousness and to effortlessly experience spontaneous unfoldments of innate, spiritual qualities.
Please remember, as you read this book and proceed to the practice of meditation, that the secret of successful meditative experience is to relax into the process, allowing constructive adjustments of mental states and states of consciousness to occur naturally. For this reason, it is recommended that anxiety, as well as any inclination you may have to exert effort to accomplish something, are to be avoided when meditating. Anxiety about the outcome of an endeavor indicates an attitude of need and keeps us too self-centered. A sense of personal effort or excessive use of will power, to accomplish a goal or to make something happen, arises from self-consciousness which needs to be renounced so that more refined levels of awareness can be perceived and experienced.
At all times, whether meditating or routinely engaged in everyday circumstances and relationships, it is helpful to be inwardly aware of the fact that you are an immortal, spiritual being temporarily relating to the human condition. While in this world you express as a Spirit-mind-body being, with your spiritual nature remaining superior to the mind and the physical body.
You need to know that you are a spiritual being so that you can do helpful things to allow your innate qualities to unfold and express. People who are self-consciously identified with their personality characteristics, or with the physical body or objective circumstances, sometimes become forgetful of their essential nature as spiritual beings. Then, if they endeavor to facilitate spiritual growth, they may tend to think in terms of trying to transform their human, conditioned nature into a spiritual one. The truth is, the human condition does not become spiritual; when conditions are ideal, our spiritual nature awakens and blossoms, allowing us to clearly apprehend that we are but using mind and body while the reality of us, our spiritual nature, remains ever what it is. At the innermost core of our being we are individualized (though not independent) units of the omnipresent consciousness of God. Even partial, intellectual understanding of this primary fact of life can enable us to have a more clear, mature perception of ourselves and of our world, and provide us freedom to make rational choices and implement useful actions.
While the primary purpose of meditation practice is to facilitate awakened spiritual consciousness, the side-benefits which contribute to our wellness and improved function are several:
•Mental transformations and thinking processes become more organized as the result of meditative calmness and the influence of refined states of consciousness.
•The body’s immune system is strengthened and physiological functions are encouraged to be more balanced and efficient.
•Biologic aging processes are slowed. Older, long-term meditators are mentally and physically younger than their calendar years might suggest.
•Stress symptoms are reduced. The nervous system is refreshed and enlivened, allowing awareness to be more easily processed through it.
•Regenerative energies are awakened. These, directed by innate intelligence, vitalize the body, empower the mind, and have restorative and healing influences.
•Intellectual skills are improved, causing delusions and illusions to be dispelled. Intuition awakens, allowing us to directly know whatever we desire to know and to experience a vivid sense of unerring inner guidance.
•Appreciation for living is enhanced.
•Creativity is stimulated.
•Innate spiritual qualities awaken, enabling us to be more insightful, and functionally skillful.
•Rapid, more satisfying, authentic spiritual growth is nurtured because body, mind, and awareness is beneficially influenced by refined superconscious states.
Spiritual growth is
authentic
when it can be validated by its obvious, beneficial influences and when we can easily demonstrate higher understanding and unrestricted functional abilities. As the defining characteristics and vitality of a living plant can be known by examining the characteristics and quality of fruit it produces, so our states of consciousness and degree of higher understanding can be determined by how we are living our lives and the personal circumstances that prevail. What we do and what we experience has a direct correlation with our habitual states of consciousness and mental states. The more spiritually aware we are, the more harmonious and fulfilling are our lives.
I am not suggesting that we measure spiritual growth by material standards; only that when we are spiritually aware we should spontaneously demonstrate soul-empowered aliveness and enhanced functional abilities. We should have fewer delusions (fixed, erroneous beliefs) and illusions (misperceptions), and be able to function more skillfully. It cannot truthfully be said of us that we are spiritually awake if we continue to exhibit characteristics common to clouded states of awareness, deficiencies in intellectual skills, addictive personality disorders, almost constant frustration of desires, and other kinds of limitation. We may “love God” and feel ourselves to be committed to spiritual growth—and (perhaps) presume ourselves to be quite holy—but if results are not unfolding in constructive, everyday circumstances, we would do well to admit that we have problems that need to be solved and we will not really be fulfilled until they are.
If you are primarily interested in experiencing the life-enhancement benefits of meditation, proceed with dedicated intention; spiritual growth will follow. If you are more focused on spiritual growth, accept the side-benefits as they unfold. Doing so can only make life better and more enjoyable.
Regular meditation is of value to anyone who is able to learn it and adhere to the recommended practice routines. Individuals with disabling mental or emotional problems should not attempt to meditate until they have been restored to a functional degree of wellness. For practice to be effective, the meditator must be able to remain alert and attentive to the process, while being alert and discerning so that distractions are avoided.
If you have a religious affiliation and it is satisfying to you, you need not change it in order to practice meditation. Meditation will enable you to be more soul-centered and God-conscious. With progressive spiritual growth, your understanding of your relationship with the Infinite will improve. You will be more insightful: more intellectually and intuitively capable of discerning the difference between truth and untruth.