Meditation
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Peace be upon you,
This is taken from an article I wrote in th thread "the human and the process of rememberance"
Receptivity
Since the Nafs/Soul is based on a cycle, lets see if we can confirm dawn and dusk as the proper times for impregnation. Scientist have discovered that the brain is more receptive at certain times of the day. The least receptive time for the human is the waking state which is called the Beta wave state. The brain wave in this state is 13 to 28 Hz. This wave state is not go for receptivity because it is this wakened state that is favors the Will (Consciusness). The Will is not your vehicle of receptivity, it is the Soul (Subconscius) that is your receptor. The ideal states of receptivity occur just above and just below the Beta wave state. Lets first talk about the state above the Beta Wave state. That is the Gamma wave state at 29 to 35 Hz. The brain enters this state in response to strong a strong emotion (anger, fear, ?love?, etc). This is the state that movie and television producers aim at when trying to program you. But this is not the state we want to plant our seeds by because we want to use intellect, not emotion. So lets talk about the brain state that is just below the waking state of Beta, that is the Alpha state 8 to 12 Hz. The brain enters this level in response to daydreaming or at the brief moment of passing from waking to sleep. This is the perfect time for what is called meditation, which means to reflect on or contemplate in the mind. The word Meditation comes from the root ?Medi? which means middle. We are balanced(wusta) between the wake state and dream state, or in other words, we are balance between the Consciousness(Will) and the subconscious(Soul). At this point let me bring a verse;
(223 (Everyone) Guard your process, the balance process, and maintain to The God devoutly.
To conclude this idea, we need to have access to both the Will and the Soul in order to unite them and for the Will to impregnate the Soul. We have explained how the waking state (Beta) is not conducive to receptivity, and how the emotional state above that (Gamma) leaves out reason/intellect. We have shown how the ideal state is the Alpha State (the word Alpha fits that perfectly) below the Beta state. Lets round this off with the brain state while sleep, the Delta state 4 to 7 Hz. This state is all receptive, but there is no Will involved in this state, so it is not beneficial for our purpose, the Process(salaat).
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The timing is told to us in order to confirm this understanding, DAWN and DUSK are the times when day and night MERGE. They have EQUAL SHARE at this time.
I got confused here. Are you saying the times to offer salat are dawn and dusk? I also am not sure about the brain waves.. I am not at all functioning at dawn, how can that be the best time to process things ?
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Peace be upon you Silent Salaam,
I got confused here. Are you saying the times to offer salat are dawn and dusk?
According to this reading(quran), the times that are given are dawn and dusk. There is a verse about times of privacy that states before dawn salaat and after dusk salaat. Since we are created from the earth and connected to the energies of the heavenly bodies just the same, I think there is something energy wise about these times, also it is symbolic of what we are to be doing at those times, "marrying" the will and the spirit, consciousness and subconsciousness (day and night).
I also am not sure about the brain waves
Let me know what your research finds.
.. I am not at all functioning at dawn, how can that be the best time to process things ?
When you say you are not functioning at dawn, what you are really saying is that your intellect is not fully awake, yet not totally sleep, and this is EXACTLY what we are looking for. We are not seeking the intellect, our own thinking faculty, we are seeking KNOWLEDGE, The God's faculty. Our goal is to SILENCE the thoughts(intellect) so that we can intuit divine wisdom. So what you have just bore witness to at dawn is exactly what we are looking for. After washing your face and the rest of abulution, you should be in perfect condition for meditation.
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After washing your face and the rest of abulution, you should be in perfect condition for meditation.
I remember when I used to perform the "fajr prayer", I would go wash up and pray half asleep and still manage to go back to bed and sleep like nothing happened. When I learnt a bit about meditation, if I had time, I meditated for like 10 minutes or less before "prayer" and I'd be totally focused!
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Peace be upon you Zenje,
It all seems to fit doesn't it? D I just need to apply this understanding on a more disciplined level so that I can be sure. Most of my understanding has come from studying meditation rather than the actual application, and thats what makes the difference, actual application. I am doing it now. D
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Most of my understanding has come from studying meditation rather than the actual application, and thats what makes the difference, actual application. I am doing it now.
Yes, this is the challenge. To be able to make meditation as part of your daily routine. It is the diligent application of meditation that will lead you to glimpse the great Truth behind it all.
Having practised meditation for two years I am convinced that Meditation is the key to understanding the great religious truth of this world. And I am also convinced that it is through meditation that the great seers, sages, mystics and all the Great Prophets in the bygone ages of this world obtained their insights of God and Divinity. It is through meditation that we can "experience" God like the Prophets...
Regards,
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Salaam Naxus,
There are different methods. Breathing meditation might be an easy start, such as Chi Kung, etc. Maybe you can do an internet search on this. Tai Chi practice is also another methodd of meditation that involves not only clarity and serenity of the mind, but the body as well.
Joe
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Peace be upon you Naxus,
how do we do meditation can u explain it to me peace
Well, there are different types of meditations that are taught, I do not have enough understanding yet to be able to say if one way is right or wrong, but I have found a method that seems to make the most sense, and I think some of those here who have practiced meditation for a while agree.
Basically, starting out you want to sit in a chair with your back straight, because breathing or RESPIRATION (like spirit/inspiration) is the key to it all. Breathing is a subconscious act that we can consciouslly control, so it allows us to find that balanced, peaceful place we are trying to get to. We want to be still and relaxed and take deep breaths from the lower abdomen, you don't want to breath from your chest because that is what you do when you are tense/emotional. When people get emotional, they take shallow breaths, so we want to breath deep from the lower abdomen.
I want to stop here and discuss that Qi Gong is not meditation, it is an exercise to stimulate what the Chinese call Qi(chee), or what the Hindus call "Kundalini", or the Kemetans call "Ra", and the Christians (holy spirit), and finally what this reading(quran) calls "Ruh Ul Qudus" (Divine Energy"
The root word for "Ruh" deals with wind and BREATH. It is through the respiratory system that we bring in Qi (bio kenetic energy). Qi Gong is an excercise that moves the "qi" around the body to get it to all of the cells. Qi energy comes from the Sun, which is why it was incorrectly thought that the ancient Kemetans(Egyptians) worshipped a "sun god" called RA. Ra was just an attribute of the One God to explain the Qi Energy that was "blow into man".
Remember that The God "BLEW" into Adam of His ENERGY.
(1529) "So when I straightened him, and I blew in him from My Energy, so fall to him prostrating."
Anyway, to keep it simple we want to breath deep and slowly, this is how we transcend our animal/emotional level so we can try to get to that level where we can "talk to God", or as lote Tree said "experience" the God, and I add, the God WITHIN, because that is important to remember. We are trying to get in touch with that God within who is the One who SEES, the human bodies are just the vehicle of the One CONSCIOUSNESS who Sees, hears, etc. as stated throughout this reading(quran).
(4134) Who is wanting the present world's reward/compensation , so at The God (is) the present world's and the end's reward/compensation , and The God is hearing, seeing.
We are ONE, and we get to understand that by meditation.
I once heard a talk where it was stated that they say the mark of the beast is "666" because we normally breath 18 breaths per second(6+6+6), which gives the emotional part of us the amount of oxygen it thrives on, just like how you must speed up your breathing to exercise and all types of ANIMATED movements. So when we slow the breath down, for example to 6 breaths per minute, we take the power away from the emotional part of us and we transcend to a higher part of us that we have forgotten about, we we are constantly aske to remember.
Musa took his shoes off because the journey to the God is WITHIN.
We are told that we should be STILL when we maintain the process(salaat). It is stated that when in danger we can do so riding or walking, which indicates that normally we are to be still. It is stillness that the Hindus understood when they described the state of Peace as "Nirvana" (Nir=not, Vana=moviing).
Lastly for now, it is important to stop all thoughts. Thoughts are what block your ability to "Hear God". So you can concentrate on your breathing as well as do what is called a "Mantra" based meditation, where there is a Sound chanted. I say "sound" rather that "word" because theses words have no meaning, to help us from trying to connect the word to some meaning. We must keep the left side of the brain (intellect side) busy while we use the right side of the brain(the metaphorical, imaginative, unifiying side) to ascend/climb.
So in conclusion, salaat is the process of meditation. Meditation is our means of getting help from God through direct experience of our True Self, the vehicle of the God's consciousness (We SERVE The God). This is how we LEARN, recieve guidance.
We must get to that WUSTA(balanced place) where Peace of the Garden resides.
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peace be upon you idolfree,
I once heard a talk where it was stated that they say the mark of the beast is "666" because we normally breath 18 breaths per second(6+6+6), which gives the emotional part of us the amount of oxygen it thrives on, just like how you must speed up your breathing to exercise and all types of ANIMATED movements. So when we slow the breath down, for example to 6 breaths per minute, we take the power away from the emotional part of us and we transcend to a higher part of us that we have forgotten about, we we are constantly aske to remember.
I think adults breath 18 breaths a minute and children 40 breaths, does that change anything in that idea?
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Peace be upon you Idris,
I think adults breath 18 breaths a minute and children 40 breaths, does that change anything in that idea?
No, if that understanding is true, then it was probably based on adults, but the main point is not counting the breaths, just the idea that one must slow down the breathing to transcend the animal nature.
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peace be upon you idolfree,
Lastly for now, it is important to stop all thoughts. Thoughts are what block your ability to "Hear God". So you can concentrate on your breathing as well as do what is called a "Mantra" based meditation, where there is a Sound chanted. I say "sound" rather that "word" because theses words have no meaning, to help us from trying to connect the word to some meaning. We must keep the left side of the brain (intellect side) busy while we use the right side of the brain(the metaphorical, imaginative, unifiying side) to ascend/climb.
i have another question regarding this part, I checked up on mantra and it was speaking about saying this wierd "sound" aloud, my basic question is does it matter whether u would say that particular meaningless sound or another meaningless sound, also how does that keep your intellect busy?
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Peace be upon you Idris,
i have another question regarding this part, I checked up on mantra and it was speaking about saying this wierd "sound" aloud, my basic question is does it matter whether u would say that particular meaningless sound or another meaningless sound
There is an argument as to why you should say certain "meaningless" sounds based on the vibration certain sounds make, but I am not prepared to discuss that further as I am still studying that myself. I was told that the words are "meaningless" so that it can keep your mind from trying to make a connection. For example, if you chanted "feline", your mind tends to start thinking about cats and so on, but if you chant "Aung" , it makes no connection to anything else. Maybe others can share thier understanding regarding this.
also how does that keep your intellect busy?
This deals with left brain activity, I will try to respond next giving more info about that.
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Pulling over from the other thread
Peace be upon you Sytalls,
Excellent info in your post as well. There are, as you probably know, many more examples like the one you gave regarding the basketball teams. I recently saw a movie/documentary called "what the BLEEP do we know". It involves quantum physicists, psychologists, etc. explaining life. One part explains a test done in Washingtion D.C. where a large group of meditators meditated on decreasing the crime level in the city. It states that the police took it for a joke but in fact, it decrased crime by 25%. The person speaking said he knew it would work because this was the 85th or so time doing it successfully.
Anyway, sometimes this sounds like "magic" , just like this reading states the rejectors would say. But it is something that we all can practice and verify for ourselves.
I am still trying to understand "chakras". Many times I have heard there are 7 chakras, but recently I was taught that there are actually 14 of them. Now I say this because I have always maintained the "7 pairs" given to us were referring to different "parts" of our spirit. It seems this might refer to chakras. Is there anything more you can offer about them? I will try to find info on the "14".
O yeah, there are 14 letters in the "letters that begint the chapters". Also, brother Ayman has also shown that they are actually WORDS, not seperated letters. So it is a wise path to investigate regarding "mantras".
Lastly, this is all so interesting because it ties links through so many behavior shaping systems(religions), all the way to the oldest recorded one , the ausarian system of Kemet.
Thank you all for continuing to add to this thread, it is very beneficial for me.
Peace to you, idolfree. And to all.
This thread seems better suited for a discussion about meditation, since Lote-tree's thread is more about techniques.
As for the 14 chakras, according to what I know of Hinduism, they correspond to the 7 upper and 7 lower worlds, which make up "the universe." Each of the 14 worlds have names and divisions for planes of existence that correspond to body, mind and soul. The 7 upper chakras are the principle chakras along the spine and up to the top of the head. The 7 lower ones are below the spine and, I think,they extend down into the ground.
For most chakra meditations, the concern is with the 7 principle chakras along the spine. For those who don't know, a chakra is often described as a center of force or a swirling energy center. Each corresponds to a certain color and vibrates at a certain frequency. When the chakras are healthy and aligned properly, energy flows through the system. Hence, the words/sounds used for chakra meditations are chosen to help energize and balance specific chakras. This is the extent of my knowledge.
That is fascinating that there are 14 designated letters in the Quran. I didn't know that! A few months back, I started using Ha-meem for a simple chanting meditation--just a sort of inspiration to try it. It's very soothing and somehow feels like I'm more connected to the proper system. Perhaps these findings by brother Ayman out the letters as words relate to our energy system somehow. Please, tell me more!
I don't see this at all as magical, since the aim is peaceful internal harmony, a balance, and not power or control. It is part of caring for the body and getting in touch with our "higher selves," to borrow from the New Age language. We have the minds to understand that these parts of Hinduism may be useful without involving false worship of a lot of Hindu gods.
I enjoy the Tao Te Chin and Patanjali's sutras, but I don't take them over the Quran. Instead, I figure they're simply teachings that had some good ideas but weren't at as high a level or as accurate as the Quran.
Same with Carlos Casteneda's books about don Juan, which could be seen as studying the manuals of the enemy. D When I read them, I always think about the sorcerers of pharaoh, and how they were bested by the Power of God, which is always far above any magic man tries to use. We ordinary mortals may try to grab power that is above and beyond comprehension for all but a few, but it is still puny in comparison to God's Might. Sort of brings home the full impact of what it means to call God, the Almighty.
The wonder of The Quran is how it contains an infinite amount of knowledge, and an infinite way of coming to that knowledge, in a finite book. There are simple rules to follow, but there are also subtleties on top of subtleties--with possibilities for successive generations to come to new understandings. Or for a single individual, as well. Sometimes I read suras that I've read a hundred times and then suddenly understand something I never had before. The deeper I look, the deeper the well of knowledge becomes.
Which is why I enjoy discussing meditation and how it affects people, what they gain from it, things they've found that are beneficial. And I know nothing of Kismet...well, except that it has something with the Egyptians. Maybe you could...er, enlighten me. D
While I've heard about "prayer" studies done for heart attack patients, the movie about reducing crime through meditation sounds terrific. I'd love to see it, especially since it involved quantum physicists. My major in college was physics. Although I never pursued a degree beyond the undergraduate level, what I learned about modern physics forever changed my way of thinking. When I meet people who are overly concerned with what they call "reality," I just smile. Unless, of course, they're ready to have their illusions smashed.
Thank you for starting this wonderful thread, idolfree! I think it is especially relevant here at the FM site...where issues of spirituality, rather than organized religion, can be explored.
Peace.
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peace be upon you,
As for the 14 chakras, according to what I know of Hinduism, they correspond to the 7 upper and 7 lower worlds, which make up "the universe." Each of the 14 worlds have names and divisions for planes of existence that correspond to body, mind and soul. The 7 upper chakras are the principle chakras along the spine and up to the top of the head. The 7 lower ones are below the spine and, I think,they extend down into the ground.
The God who created seven skies and the same number of earths. His command descends between them, that you may know that The God is capable of all things, and that The God has encompassed all things with His knowledge. (6512)
coincidence? I think the signs talking about the 7 skies, 7 passageways, 7 pairs, 7 skies and 7 earths are all talking about the chakras
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Peace All,
Just wanted to add some insight into the fruits of focused consciousness, as I'm still working on finding the right meditation program for myself, but have found that some past experiences coincide with the goals of meditation.
In many aboriginal cultures, shamans and other spiritual 'seekers' use a stimulus to reach a point of focus. Hallucinogenic herbs and plants are commonly ingested to catalyze a wakeful subconscious. In this state, the person gains a vision of the spiritual realm, a deep focus beyond the physical. When this state is guided with a purpose, 'truth' is found.
My memory of my own experiences with hallucinogenics concurs with these ancient findings. In the temporary enlightened state, one is capable of seeing past the physical illusion and connect to the "one" with unadulterated vision. The beauty of this state is, the mind is completely free of distraction. The mind only processes one chain of thought at a time. It does not wander aimlessly with scattered thoughts, cluttering the thought process. It is comletely and utterly attuned to what the soul directs it to attune to. And when one's entire being is focused on one point, that one point reveals itself in ways that would otherwise go unnoticed.
I recall looking at people and only seeing the beauty, the love. I found new delight in the colors of the world, in the movement of nature, for example, in the way the trees swayed, catching the wind and absorbing the oxygen from the air. Seemingly mundane happenings that I ignore everyday were exhibiting their signs for me to see. The signs of "One" were everywhere. The sounds of life took on new meaning, even the beeping of taxi cab horns at 5a.m. in New York City. People's voices, the sound of the wind, music, cars driving by, white noise of nature, all had a new softness to them, a reminder, pure beauty.
Beyond this, in dialogue with people, an amazing connection could be felt. I could "see" into their souls. I could feel them. The spoken words were always the right words to express what the souls were feeling.
And in introspection, I could see my life and my purpose with a forgiving calm. I felt in harmony, in complete peace. Any question I could muster, the answers immediately manifested themselves, in perfect clarity. No confusion.
And it's been a long time since I've been down that path. But everything I've read about meditation since then leads me to believe that what I tapped into is the very goal of meditation. My minor experiences with meditation thus far have confirmed this.
The trick is, at this point, making the time to quiet my mind and once again reach that state of attunement.
Peace,
Tay -
Peace all,
sytalls wrote
The wonder of The Quran is how it contains an infinite amount of knowledge, and an infinite way of coming to that knowledge, in a finite book. There are simple rules to follow, but there are also subtleties on top of subtleties--with possibilities for successive generations to come to new understandings. Or for a single individual, as well. Sometimes I read suras that I've read a hundred times and then suddenly understand something I never had before. The deeper I look, the deeper the well of knowledge becomes.I do think i said something like this on this forum before - you're words really touched me, 'cause if they could have been mine for their understanding, i wouldn't be able to state them so beautifully. Thanks sytalls,
Elke
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Peace all
Elke, thank you. Must be sisterly minds in thinking in harmony about The Quran.
Idris...6512 does indeed sound very much like the description of the 14 chakras, doesn't it? Although I'm wondering if, instead of referring directly to the chakras themselves, it may mean that God's creations are mirrored within or connected to our human bodies.
Tay...although I've never tried hallucinogenics of any kind, I've talked to people who have reported the same sort of experience you had. They have also reported a bad side, as well--where their "trips" turned ugly and nightmarish.
But I do think you're right that hallucinogens are a shortcut to the same place you'll eventually reach through meditation. With practice, it is possible to go to deeper and deeper states of relaxation, because it's easier to free the mind from its clutter and reach the clarity of the unconscious.
The danger with hallucinogens would be tapping into the unconscious when we're unprepared. After all, our conscious mind tries to protect us by shielding us from certain thoughts or memories. By using the slower process of meditation, we can confront our deeper thoughts and emotions at a more appropriate pace, thereby giving ourselves time to process any disturbing truths we may need to confront along the way.
Whenever I'm having trouble with meditation, it's usually because there is something going on in my unconscious that I haven't faced up to--some truth about myself or people or things around me that I haven't acknowledged. So, I guess, in a way, that's why meditation helps with reading The Quran--by making us more willing to accept truth when we come face to face with it.