There are often numerous things we say we want and far fewer that we truly commit to. But when we determine we are ready and truly commit ourselves, breakthroughs become not only possible but predictable. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
The news is out! You have heard us talk many times about the benefits of meditation. Now medical doctors are prescribing it. There are articles about the benefits in the newspapers. The benefits of meditation are real and easily attainable. All that is required on our part is our commitment to sit — our commitment to stay focused on our practice. It is our commitment to ourselves. When we do make that commitment, the benefits will appear quickly.
Avoid worry or concern about your progress... Exceptional meditative experiences are not necessary. ~Roy Eugene Davis
We should not judge the usefulness of meditation practice by what happens during the time of meditation but by our unfolding life experience. This may take some time. After a couple of months of daily practice others will notice that we are calmer, less reactive and more joyful. We will find our useful goals more easily accomplished. It is important not to become discouraged or quit before this remarkable process of transformation can begin to unfold.
The key to the peace, security, and happiness we yearn for is within our own consciousness. The resources needed to make a difference in the world are hidden in our own hearts. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
This is what we all want; peace, security and happiness. Often we think that if we had some material object or a certain relationship, these qualities of life that we seek would be ours. We forget that everything outside of ourselves changes. Relationships change and evolve; material objects get broken or damaged. A quiet mind, cultivated with a regular meditation practice, allows us to experience what we seek. These qualities are unchangeable when we experience them from within. Acting from this place of inner peace and contentment affects the world around us in a positive way.
Practice [meditation] once or twice a day. Early morning meditation will enable you to be poised and to more skillfully perform your duties during the day. Late afternoon or early evening meditation will reduce stress that may have accumulated during the day, calm your mind, and settle your emotions. ~Roy Eugene Davis
For most of us, at least twenty minutes of meditation soon after we first wake up works well because the mind is not yet cluttered with the events of the day. Experiment with the time of your meditation session, but then settle on a time to strengthen the habit. In order to promote restful sleep, you may find that a shorter second meditation just before bed time is very helpful. The effort you put in to your daily meditation practice will be rewarded many times over.
A harmonized mind produces harmony in this world of seeming discord. ~Paramahansa Yogananda
Sometimes, when we read the news, we can get overwhelmed with the suffering that people are experiencing all over the world. We wonder what we as individuals can possibly do to make a difference. When we are feeling calm and content, that energy affects those that we meet. They then pass it on to those they come in contact with—like a ripple in a quiet lake, when you toss a stone into it. Through your meditation practice, you can be the center of that ripple.You can contribute to the harmony of the world!
Easy and natural, meditation can be defined as turning our attention within to the clear aspect of our own being. In the initial stage of meditation practice, we focus our attention and allow the restless mind to become calm. As the activity of the mental field settles down, we experience inner peace. Surrender to the process allows our experience to deepen until we feel a sense of completion or fulfillment on that occasion. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Meditation itself is easy, even joyful. What is difficult is arranging our lives so that we can regularly devote at least twenty minutes a day to meditating in the silence. The effort we expend to reach the chair or the cushion every day is rewarded to us many times over once we form a stable habit of daily meditation: we become less reactive, life seems easier, our worthy endeavors are fully supported and life just seems to smile on us on so many ways.
Meditating, while remaining alert and observant, enables us to easily experience pure (clear) levels of awareness or states of consciousness. ~Roy Eugene Davis
Meditation is a practice but it is also the goal of the practice. It is resting in the awareness of our pure essence of being. When you feel yourself move from concentration into a more peaceful, tranquil state rest there. Remaining alert and observant allows us not to miss that peak experience. Even though these experiences may seem short, these tranquil moments are what affect our physical and our mental states and if you are so inclined, our spiritual awakening.
The successful practice of meditation requires balance and focus — qualities that are essential to a happy, successful life. Cultivate balance today. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Just think about how most broadly successful days start. For many of us, these days begin with meditation and gentle exercise. Life can be a blissful dance when we balance work, satisfying and supportive relationships, moderate healthy eating, and uplifting play. We all know what it feels like when we lost this balance, so why not make those wise choices that benefit us and all those around us?
The mind is purified by cultivating thoughts and feelings of friendship for others, compassion for those who are suffering, happiness for the well-being that others enjoy, and dispassion regarding bad behavior. ~The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:33
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is an ancient text that give us guidance on meditation and ethical living. The word sutra comes from the same root as the word thread.
A calm and peaceful mind is cultivated by how we interact in the world, going hand in hand with our meditation practice. When encountering people who are happy, be friendly and supportive. To those who are suffering, cultivate compassion, rather than being annoyed or afraid. Be happy for those who have fortunate circumstances rather than being jealous of them. Disregard disturbing circumstances, rather than becoming upset by them. Do what you can to respond appropriately, but don't let the circumstance disturb your peace.
When the mind is singularly concentrated in meditation, all distractions are arrested. But until such interiorization is mastered, the devotee must persistently practice mind control; and he/she should also take common sense measures to eliminate, or at least minimize, invasive external stimuli. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda
We should choose a clean quiet place to meditate so that we are not disturbed. But more importantly, we should bring all our attention to a focal point, such as the breath. This persistent and intense concentration captivates the mind and over time will make it our willing helper, rather than the inner critic it can become without mindful control. The goal of effortless freedom is gradually earned by consistent, joyful discipline.
What seems to be a mysterious force that compels us to act against our own will is only the force of habit patterns—the influence of mental impressions based on past experience. When impressions are cleared from the mental field by superconscious meditation, spontaneous right action becomes possible.– Ellen Grace O'Brian
If we are compelled to actions or thoughts that are against our will, those reactions are only habits and we can change habits. That's good news! The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is a seminal scriptural text on meditation and ethical living. It tells us that habits are impressions in the mind, like ruts in a muddy road. Those ruts can be filled by our regular practice of superconscious meditation. Superconscious means beyond our normal waking conscious state. It is those moments we have in meditation where we feel a peacefulness, a calmness, a feeling of being in the moment. All of those moments add up and can weaken and eliminate the impressions. This is how meditation can affect our everyday life and allow us to make the right choices.
By the practice of meditation, you will find that you are carrying within your heart a portable paradise. – Paramahansa Yogananda
Our true inner nature is bliss as is reflected in the name given to this great spiritual teacher; ananda means bliss. At first we get brief glimpses of inner happiness during our daily meditation practice. As we continue and lengthen our time of meditation on a daily basis, this inner contentment is accessible during more and more of each day. We come to realize that this bliss is our very nature and that it overshadows any outer source of happiness. Paradoxically, this makes it easier to be successful in a world we find increasingly supportive of our worthy goals.
