Fragrant Heart Blog

The other day I went into a healing centre and there above the doorway hung a line of Tibetan prayer flags. They were in bright bold colours of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Each flag had a single Mandarin symbol printed on it and below the translation in English. As I read each one I thought how meditative these high vibrational words and sentences were. I asked my friend's colleague where the flags had come from. He said he had bought them in a shop in Sydney, Australia. I do so appreciate whoever wrote them. They are quoted below and you may be interested in using them in your life. Perhaps you too may resonate with these high vibrational words and sentences.

As a suggestion you could concentrate on one of them each time you meditate, quietly repeating the word as a mantra to enable you to remain in one pointed focus in your practice. You could write the words on cards and place them around your home, office, in your car, wallet or purse to read to yourself and absorb the essence of these words. You could memorize some of the sentences and repeat them as affirmations. Singing them out loud in the shower, in the car, or as you exercise, are other ways of holding them in your consciousness. This last idea is probably best done alone unless you are a great singer!

As you continue your meditation practice these very qualities will be more and more an integral part of your life.

PEACE
To bring peace to the earth strive to make your own life peaceful.

HAPPINESS
When one's spiritual needs are met by an untroubled inner life, happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others.

LOVE
An inspired form of giving, love breathes life into the heart and brings grace to the soul.

COURAGE
Not the absence of fear or despair but the strength to conquer them.

TRANQUILITY
The peace that comes when energies are in harmony, relationships are in balance.

WISDOM
Knowledge, intuition and experience, combine to guide us in thought and deed.

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We come into the world on the inward breath and we leave this world on the outward breath. Breath is with us all our lives. It is something that we cannot do without for too long. If you are one of the many people who have taken "The Learn How to Meditate in Five Days" course from our website you would have had the opportunity to become very aware of the breath. The one pointed focus is the breath, just allowing the breath to come and go as it will, not trying to control, coerce or manipulate the breath but just observing it. As you now continue to do your daily meditation practice you may be finding that as your mind quietens, your breath is naturally deepening. You may also be aware in your daily practice that your body is becoming a lot more peaceful, still and calm.

As you go about your day after your meditation remain aware as much as you can as to how you are breathing. From time to time breathe deeply into your lower lungs which forces your belly to expand, and as you breathe out, breathe out until you are empty. Notice how your body feels after taking a deep and clearing breath.

Take a few moments right now to become conscious of your breath. How are you breathing? Are you breathing fully and freely, so that each inhalation expands your belly? Or are you breathing high in your chest so that each breath is shallow rather than full and deep? Breathing deeply keeps your body relaxed and reduces feelings of being uptight, stressed and agitated. I believe that if you can maintain awareness of your breath throughout the day you will also enhance your meditation practice. In time whatever you are doing will be that of one pointed focus and concentration. It is possible to move through your day in a meditative state, fully conscious, fully aware. The breath is always there as your guide to the internal state of well being, or not, inner calm and inner peace, or not.

If you are feeling particularly nervous about something and you can sit quietly by yourself for a little time (even if this means escaping into the bathroom) try this form of one pointed focus. Breathe in through your nose allowing your belly to expand, and as you breathe out, breathe out through your mouth making the sound…aaaaaaah. On each outward breath keep on allowing yourself to make the sighing sound. Do this repeatedly until you feel calm. As you breathe out keep on relaxing on the outward breath, letting the air fall out of your body, moving into a state of relaxed calmness and focus, and as you breathe in, breathe in so that your belly expands.

Recently I had an email from a friend who said that his partner had decided that meditation seemed to be a rather inefficient way of sorting one's stuff out. I took "stuff" to mean fears, and negative thoughts about oneself, others, and life in general. Is meditation inefficient in this sense? It would seem from all the research available that meditation is indeed a very efficient tool to align yourself to life. Training and focusing the mind through whatever style or technique suits, whether based on the physical or mental senses brings about change.

In many of the circles and groups I have moved about in there was often a great emphasis on 'enlightenment'. This is a state that produces oneness with the universe, increased awareness and understanding, and a continuous state of bliss. The emphasis on being all light and love so often left many of us still dealing with "our stuff." I had mistaken the real purpose of meditation (to focus and concentrate the mind with its many beneficial mental and physical side affects), to escaping from all that appeared to be mundane. I wanted to become very spiritual and above having to deal with such things as relationships, working, and paying the bills. Well, I was doing these things but in a haphazard way because my attention was always on the light and the love that seemed to me to be separate from daily living.

Back in those days I had an expectation of meditation. So much for the Budda's teaching of "Anicca, Anicca, Annica," ( Everything constantly rising and falling and passing away). I wanted to be out of this miserable world on a high of bliss and everlasting nirvana. That was my goal and my immense struggle for a long time. Perhaps that is one of the reasons people get so confused about meditation. It is so often seen as a mystical practice; of reaching a state of holy endowment, sitting in some serene cross-legged pose.

In writing Fragrant Heart I wanted to create a website that focuses on the practical benefits of living your life in greater peace, calmness and relaxation. If 'enlightenment' happens along the way, well and good.

As I researched and talked to others and brought my own experience into this website, I found that most people are looking for a meditation practice to reduce the stresses in their lives. In doing so there are the side effects of letting go worry and anxiety, and experiencing increasing states of inner peace and calm. In this very fertile practice it will stand to reason that "stuff," "baggage", or whatever else is deemed as limiting to fully experiencing the joy of being alive will also gradually dissolve.

If you also consider meditation to be inefficient in dealing with your "stuff" I would encourage you to find a meditation technique that interests you. There are so many of them. In doing so you will find that the benefits of meditation will come to you much faster.