Fragrant Heart Blog

Elisabeth's reflections on the benefits of meditation

Meditation and "The Power for Expansive Change"

Posted: 27 Sep 2008

“The Artist’s Way” was written by Julia Cameron and first published in 1994. It became an international best seller. It’s a book I’ve read and reread over the years. It is a very helpful book to encourage each one of us to release the blockages within our mental processes that stop us from pursuing our creativity.

Here is what Julia Cameron says about meditation. Her insights may encourage you in your meditation practice.

“Let’s take a look at what we stand to gain by meditating. There are many ways of thinking about meditation. Scientists speak of it in terms of brain hemispheres and shunting techniques. We move from logic brain to artist brain from fast to slow, shallow to deep. Management consultants, in pursuit of corporate physical health, have learned to think of meditation primarily as a stress-management technique. Spiritual seekers choose to view the process as a gateway to God. Artists and creativity mavens approve of it as a conduit for higher creative insights.

“All of these notions are true – as far as they go. They do not go far enough. Yes, we will alter our brain hemisphere, lower our stress, discover an inner contact with a creative source, and have many creative insights. Yes, for any one of these reasons, the pursuit is a worthy one. Even taken in combination, however, they are still intellectual constructs for what is primarily an experience of wholeness, rightness, and power.”

“We meditate to discover our own identity, our right place in the scheme of the universe. Through meditation, we acquire and eventually acknowledge our connection to and inner power source that has the ability to transform our outer world. In other words, meditation gives us not only the light of insight but also the power for expansive change.”

Self esteem and Meditation

Posted: 20 Sep 2008

God in Self Esteem studies

In my last blog I wrote about growing up in a religion where I was taught, and conditioned to believe that God was a punitive and vengeful patriarch. And yes, he also sat on a big white cloud in heaven. A Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel painting must have become hardwired into my neurological pathways at an early age. Other people in the same religion, however, viewed God as divine, merciful, and loving.

Studies have shown that the higher one’s self esteem, the more people see God as loving. The lower a person’s self esteem, the more self punishing that person is, and the more they project an image of God in the same way.

We all have self esteem issues at some time in our lives

From all that I read and research, and listen to others, there would be very few people in the world who didn’t have self esteem issues at some time in their life. If you are besieged with guilt and shame, or if you blame yourself for whatever goes wrong, and you’re always apologizing, the chances are a positive view of yourself will be almost non-existent.

Meditation and how it can restore a positive self-esteem

Meditation could help to restore your self-esteem, as you become more and more aware that you are not our thoughts. How else do we arrive at this concept called high or low self esteem? It is simply through the sixty thousand or more thoughts that pass through our minds daily. These thoughts create our reality. Meditation allows us to observe the thoughts that arise, fall, and pass away. Thoughts are simply thoughts, but it is our attachment to the thoughts that create who we think we are, and should or shouldn’t be. Meditation can bring us to a deep inner knowing that we are simply pure consciousness. As pure consciousness we rest in stillness and silence; that is our natural state of being. This allows us to reside in a friendly, safe universe where we intrinsically know that we are okay just the way we are.

Being in your body, being with the breath

Posted: 13 Sep 2008

In Learn to Meditate Over Five Days on our website, the one pointed focus is the breath. Watching the breath encourages you to be in your body, and aware of your body.

I grew up in a religion where the body was condemned. The body was associated with impurities, and defilements. It belonged to nature – the earth, which is down there, and I was taught to aspire to what is up there, which is the divine, which is God in heaven. The truth is that we are nature. Nature is not something outside us. We breathe, and through breath we are alive sentient beings. We are in form. From those early limiting core beliefs a huge part of my journey has been to honour the form, to care for it and nourish it, to respect it, and to listen to it. How I am breathing tells me a lot about my physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Meditation helps you become aware of how you are breathing

When I began meditation I gradually became aware of how shallowly I breathed. I could even stop breathing altogether, and not notice that I was actually holding my breath! Through meditation I have become very conscious of the breath.

Breath is always with you

As you go about your day, become aware of the breath. You can do this just about anywhere. Take a few minutes out to be conscious of how you are breathing is really helpful. When you are stressed, take your attention to the breath for a little while. When stressed the mind becomes frantic so the breath tends to be very shallow. Observe the breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils. Be aware of the rise and fall of your chest and abdomen with each breath. Observe how watching the breath, if only for a few minutes, helps to bring you in touch with your body, and your body’s sensations. Observe how the breath helps to connect you to your emotions and feelings. Observe how the breath can calm and soothe you. Be with your breath and remain centred in your body.

Vipassana Meditation

Posted: 6 Sep 2008

It was great discovering a book written back in the 90’s, and stepping back into the spiritual and psychological thinking of some researchers, sages, and visionaries of that decade. The focus for humans hasn’t changed much from then to now, which is how to be happy, and how to be at peace with oneself and the world.

Vipassana also known as Insight Meditation

As I was perusing the book I noticed a photo of S.N.Goenka who brought the teaching of Vipassana Meditation from Burma to the West. Vipassana is also known as Insight Meditation. Its popularity has resulted in centres all over the world. Anyone can go there for a ten-day silent retreat. The ones I have been to in New Zealand, Australia and India are places of deep peace, and the surroundings are gentle and harmonious with nature.

Vipassana can be done by just about anyone

Vipassana as taught by S.N.Goenka emphasises three aspects; moral behaviour, to encourage the mind to settle, mastery of the mind through concentration of the breath, and vipassana proper, that is, purification of the mind through insight into one’s physical and mental structure. Yes, vipassana is definitely a discipline, and some people find it too strenuous for them. However, following this path can lead to dissolving the three-fold source of all suffering: craving, aversion, and ignorance. The Buddha taught Vipassana, but it is non-sectarian, and people from all walks of life have done the courses.

Vipassana can dissolve suffering

Doing Vipassana has given many people I know a greater awareness and compassion for themselves and others. Stress and anxiety have melted away as they continue to meditate daily. Others too, gave up after a few days on the course. It wasn’t for them, and they went on to seek the peace they were aspiring to in other ways.

Vipassana Meditation was a turning point in my life and a practice I continue to do. It gave me a structure and a technique, but it also reinforced that once again our true nature is that of peace, stillness, and love.

If you are interested in a course you will find a centre near you if you check the Internet.