Spirituality and Consciousness

I generally use Tai Chi Chuan, specifically the Beijing 24, if I feel a need for moving meditation. Otherwise I'll assume the beginning posture of the form, and begin clearing my mind while practicing Taoist breathing. After a brief period of time, earthly concerns begin to drop away until there's nothing left of the physical world occupying my mind, I move on to a deeper level: removing all thoughts from my mind. After those have been cleared, I'm able to enjoy nothingness for a second. I feel as one with something not on this plane.

It's very agreeable to do in the mornings to wake up, the evenings to relax, and pretty much any time I feel stressed and need to unwind enough to make logical decisions.

My principle form of meditation is sitting for approximately one half hour every morning or evening. I also use the practice of mantra japa as a daily discipline. Also Ive come to the point where the remembrance of God or the highest principle seems to always be on the back of my mind..

For me, I practice Lectio Divina -- which is a method of "meditating" on scripture. It entails choosing a specific section of the Bible, reading it, and then spending time reflecting on it. A better definition (copied and pasted here from www.centeringprayer.com) is "The classical practice of Lectio Divina can be divided into two forms: the monastic and the scholastic. The scholastic form divides the process into stages or steps in a hierarchical pattern. Following the reading of a passage of scripture, the first step was to allow a phrase or word to arise out of the text and to focus on it. This was called Lectio. The second was the reflective part, pondering upon the words of the sacred text, and was called meditatio "meditation." The spontaneous movement of the will in response to these reflections was called oratio, "affective prayer." And as these reflections and acts of will simplified, one moved from time to time to a state of resting in the presence of God, and that was called contemplatio "contemplation." This way of doing Lectio Divina developed in the Middle Ages at the beginning of the scholastic period with its tendency to compartmentalize the spiritual life and to rely on rational analysis in theology to the virtual exclusion of personal experience."

Of course, I realize that you have to want to read the Bible to practice this though. Not everyone is interested in the Bible.

Quite true but you answered the question and I found it very interesting. I do not believe in the bible or scripture but I am interested in spirituality as a whole and how people incorporate their belief in everyday life. Thanks for sharing. :)

I practice Buddhist meditation. There are a lot of different practices. My teachers recommend that you begin any meditation session with Shamatha meditation (sanskrit for calm abiding or peacefully abiding). Shamatha is pretty much sitting in a comfortable position and following the breath. It can also involve focusing on an object -- a flower, a picture, statue etc. I have practiced meditation in other traditions and the one thing that is very unique about Buddhist meditation is that you do it with your eyes open. They are focused toward the floor about 5 feet in front of you. It may not sound like a big deal but I found this to be very helpful in bringing my meditation experience into my daily life. Before my meditation experience tended to focus on escaping life or the issues in my life. Buddhist meditation is all about accepting what is happening and dealing with it as it is.

Sittius,

How did you get into Tai Chi and how did you learn the form? Do you practice with a group as well?

A few years ago I practiced a little from a DVD. I think it was called the Yang Short Form. I did not master the form but remembered a few moves that I would incorporate into my day whenever I needed centering or balancing.

It's great to bring the body into your practice. Sometimes I find that I can inspire my mind with my body. And sometimes I inspire my body with my mind.

Thanks for the inspiration.