The mind is truly like a monkey: it is very hard to keep still. How do we get to keep it still? Through meditation.

 

 

Wonderous Light by Helen Kottler, 2006,

22″x30″, gouache and collage on black paper

 

 

 

 


MEDITATE TO FIND A QUIET MIND

 

 

by Harry Kottler

 

 

Meditate to find a quiet mind.

Eliminate mind’s chatter.

Decide that you will take the time to

Illuminate being as you gather

Tranquility and equipoise

And become the Witness of your thoughts.

Then you’ll find that you will be

Enlightened to your essential source.

 

Tranquility takes effort.

Order your whole life.

 

Find time for meditation.

Intend to end your strife.

Never take the day off.

Decide peace is worth that price.

 

A mind that truly steady finds

 

Quiet everywhere.

Under God’s sun,

It sees just One.

Even

Trials can’t bring despair.

 

Meditation is supreme.

It is more than relaxation.

Never doubt its total power.

Decide you want elation.

………………

Meditation Instructions

This is how we meditate. Sit upright in a chair or in a crosslegged position. (If these positions are difficult, you can meditate in the courpse pose, lying flat on your back with your arms at your side. However, some people fall asleep in the courpse pose.) We use the mantra, Om Namah Shivaya. (If it’s easier, just use the one syllable Om, and that will be okay.) As we breathe in we think the mantra and as we breathe out we think the mantra at a normal pace of speaking.* (If the mind is very busy we can say the mantra faster and not link it with the breath.) The object is to quiet the mind and experience pure “being”. If thoughts come, we gently return our mind to the breath and the mantra. Before sunrise is a good time to meditate, but you can meditate at any time of day. Although its purpose is the attainment of complete freedom, it will also relieve you of stress.

As an experiment, you might try meditating for twenty minutes or longer. Let us know what you are experiencing so we may be able to assist you in your meditation

*A very focused way of doing this is to watch the breath coming into the space of the heart, where it pauses momentarily before you breathe out. When you breathe out it stops outside in a place in front of the heart . In those two places the breath can stop, the mind can stop, and you can find meditation.

 

………..

http://harryandhelen.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/08/meditate-to-find-a-quiet-mind-an-acrostic-poem.htm