by Indira Dasi

Created on: January 09, 2007   Last Updated: May 18, 2007

MEDITATION and CHANTING are the principle keys to contacting your Higher Self.

MEDITATION

Before you sit for meditation, be sure you cannot be disturbed by phones, door bells, children, pets, flies, etc. If you want not to be distracted by outside noises, you may use ear plugs as well. I always use ear plugs in extended meditations and do not sit in tight clothes. In astanga-yoga practice, this is called pratyahara, contraction of the senses. We have six knowledge acquiring senses: ears, skin, eyes, nose, mouth and mind; and five working senses: mouth, hands, feet, genitals and anus. This is Vedic knowledge. All input of these senses is materially based and are objects of distraction and annoyance to your Higher Self. Therefore, meditation or contraction of the external senses is compulsory for contacting your inner being.

Sit in a clean and silent place, close your eyes, and take six deep breaths in and out. Direct your attention to your HEART CAKRA or focus your closed eyes upwards on the THIRD EYE between your eyebrows. Watch your thoughts go by. Don't give them any attention. Listen to your breath instead. Breathe slowly in your belley, go as deep down as possible. Do not breathe at the tops of your lungs because it will keep you in the beta brain waves of anxiety, anger, stress, fear, fight and flight. In meditation you will slow down to the ALPHA wave. In alpha your intelligence and intuition are no longer covered by anxiety and fear. Check your bodily limbs and relax them consciously, especially your jaws, shoulders, neck and hands; keep your head straight, check your shanks and feet, and let your belley move freely. Sit in a lotus position with legs crossed in an advanced stage, or just sit comfortably on a chair with feet flat on the ground and keep grounded. Keep your hands on your lap or knees, palms turned upward.

Any sensory object or mental thought is an object of the material world - so let them go. In the beginning, sit quietly and in a happy mood, for five or ten minutes. Later, you may keep a clock with you and try to sit twenty minutes - twice a day. Schedule this practice on a regular basis. For instance, between bathing and breakfast, and before diner in the afternoon. It's also very good to empty your mind and relax your body before going to sleep. Pray that you may travel into the higher realms of the universe, or even to the spiritual world, if you like. Every soul will get out of his/her body at night and travel here and there in the higher

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