Step I~

Step I: Magic Mental Training~

04.17.2010

10:00 am
Sat for 6 minutes. I was a little sleepy as I didn't sleep much last night, maybe 3 hrs. Thoughts drifted around more spiritual topics. I had thoughts relating the practice of frequent meditation to the Muslim practice of prayer 5 times daily. I nodded out a couple of times but meditation was generally peaceful with not many distractions. I have to remind myself to just watch my thoughts not only because I will occasionally get caught in the though but because I'm accustomed to the practice of focusing on a single thought, specifically following the breath, as well as the practice of let the thoughts settle into nonthought and holding that emptiness for a period of time. I believe these are the practices reserved for the 2nd and 3rd part of Step I: Mental. It has occurred to me that these simple, short exercises could be done several times throughout a typical day. I intend to do just that, although I obviously am having to put some effort into making it a habit to do them even twice daily. I know this will come with time as it did in the past when after some months of frequent practice I would often find myself spontaneously meditating.

9:00 pm
I sat for 7 minutes. I thought I was up to 7 but I see from my journal the previous session of today was 6 minutes. I'll practice at 7 minutes tomorrow as well. Tonight I let go of trying to "retain" the memory of my chain of thoughts and just focused on letting them go as they arose. This seemed to work much better. I saw some images from my day, and had some same concerns arise such as again pondering the best way to introduce Hya to meditation. But mostly just let all thoughts pass by. I seem to be getting better at it already. I still think it would be very beneficial to include some relaxation technique before meditation. All in all, I do notice the usual benefits of meditation manifesting in my life. A deeper sense of center, calmer and stiller, more peaceful in general. Troubles don't feel particularly significant in light of the big picture. I feel the bliss of Samadhi lying just beneath the surface of awareness.