This marks the first in a series of Q&A's with the lovely Karen Corazon.
Karen is a shaman from Lima, Peru whom I met in 2008. She has studied with shaman Don Antonio and studied ayahuasca and power plants for 8 years with the Shiphibo tribe. She is also an ayurvedic practitioner and works with tarot cards too. Easygoing, wise, deep and very irreverent :) she is a powerful healer and a great person to speak to when in need of guidance.
Our first question came from another friend of mine who we shall call Ms K and it is related to meditation.
Q: Are there any precautions or dangers associated with meditation?
For examle I've heard it said that if you fall asleep while meditating there is the danger of leaving your body and not being able to return. Also I know some religious people say that meditation leaves your mind open to other entities.
KC: As far as I know, meditation is just a state of mind. It is the state where the mind is at ease, in peace (and pretty much blank). Though meditation seems to be for many people, a supernatural activity, it is very natural for us humans. Though, the mind plays tricks on us; since the mind is what the Ego identifies with and not our SELF or consciousness.
Meditating is the ability to silence all our senses, stop trying to understand, grasp or categorize/ organize/classify the information we get from our perception, and allow our consciousness to BE in the present moment.
Meditating is the ability to silence all our senses, stop trying to understand, grasp or categorize/ organize/classify the information we get from our perception, and allow our consciousness to BE in the present moment.
Some people meditate naturally in Nature, while riding trains; while practising yoga or tai chi or simply while taking a walk home. Meditating does not require a special setting, but only the willingness to let go of thoughts, expectations and emotions.
If someone falls asleep while trying to meditate it is cool. That might lead the person to recognize that moment before falling asleep and entering into the Alpha level. By doing it repeatedly, voila! you are meditating.
Some people think that meditating is supposed to take at least 1 hour, in perfect silence and stillness. Though both silence and stillness help a lot, the amount of time one stays in that state tends to increase with practice. The more you prepare yourself to shush the thoughts and clear the images in your mind, (and the faster you let them go), the closer you'll get to the meditative state.
It is not possible to not find your way back to your body; meditation is not astral projection; though astral travelling might occur while meditating. And even during astral projection or out of body experiences, you can't get lost. We are wired through an invisible thread that connects each of us to our physical body. Lobsang Rampa's work including the Silver Cord, the Cave of Ancients and Third Eye is a great guide to understanding the complex circuitry that we are.
My advice to you Ms K if you wants to continue trying meditation, is to get as comfortable as possible, find a spot where you feel at ease, and start with breathing exercises. Nothing complicated: just pay attention to your breath. That is it. It is a very easy technique to keep the mind focused on one single thing, that is completely natural and relaxing. Watch your respiration as much as you can. I found that to be very helpful, I can't try to meditate without starting with the breathing.
Other techniques I learned from Tai buddhist monks, who first guided me into meditation, were visualizing the full moon over your head or a warm bright light enveloping your body and having a relaxing effect on you.
Meditation is not a goal to obtain, or somewhere to get yourself. It is the art of being able to quiet your mind and allowing your SELF to be present in the here and now.
Other techniques I learned from Tai buddhist monks, who first guided me into meditation, were visualizing the full moon over your head or a warm bright light enveloping your body and having a relaxing effect on you.
Meditation is not a goal to obtain, or somewhere to get yourself. It is the art of being able to quiet your mind and allowing your SELF to be present in the here and now.
Karen Sonqo
Gotta love this guy.... "Crazy Monkey Mind balabalabala"
D: One thing I'd like to echo from Karen and Mingyur is that I find with meditation (and everything else I've tried to make a habit) it works better when I start small and gradually build. The mind doesn't want to do anything new or be observed and still tries to find sneaky ways out of me meditating such as: "I haven't got time for that now" or "let's just do this really unnecessary thing first..." but a mini-meditation can be one or two conscious deep breaths or just a few minutes of watching the breath. This alone triggers the relaxation response, takes our brains to alpha and reduces stress. When I tried to start with 20-30 minutes per day I found it much harder to maintain but starting with just 5 minutes if that I found it much easier to create the habit.
"Habit is habit and is not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs one step at a time."
Mark Twain
Have fun out there.
Dx
Excellent!!!! Thanks for this, D and Karen!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the feedback! I love how she explained meditation as a natural thing without a lot of ritual or complexity. Dx
Delete