Awakening Christ Within Campaign

How to Meditate to know Christ Within Us - (Extracted from our Christmas Meditation Service program) ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10) By meditation we connect the little joy of the soul with the vast joy of the Spirit. We are fortunate to have a long history of Christian meditation practice and contemplative prayer. Indeed, anyone who has meditated deeply on the truths within the Bible will find countless references in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that prove meditation is an ancient practice.

So what is Christian meditation and how may we practice it effectively so that we may fully awaken Christ within us and know God the Father directly?

The highest commandment Jesus gave was, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.’ (Matthew 22:35-40) To understand the significance of this we need to first consider that if God wants anything he can create it — just like that. He has no need of anything from us; with the exception of one thing: our love — he gives us the freewill to give our love to him or withhold it. The greatest gift he can give us — his beloved children — is himself. That means fully revealing himself and his kingdom to us, which is why Jesus has said the highest commandment is to love God with all your heart and soul. God also likes to play hide and seek with us and he likes to test our love. He likes to see if we love him more than his gifts and more than earthly temptations. Yet if we go on daily making efforts to develop our love for God then one day, when the nectar of our love is so sweet and so irresistible the Lord of the Universe will have to come like a honey bee and drink from it and then he will never leave our awareness for the rest of eternity. We will have the friend behind all friendships, the father behind all fathers and the mother behind all mothers.

If we consciously set out to love God we will most likely find that it is very difficult, because it is hard to love what to most of us is an abstract concept — not like another human being or pet, for instance, that we can see, hear and touch. So in order to love God we need to begin to know and experience God directly. How can we do that?

Jesus has said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' (John 14:6). Understanding these words is the key to understanding Christian meditation and awakening Christ within us. (Those who succeed in awakening Christ within experience the meaning of these words first hand.)

The first coming of Christ was at the birth of creation.


Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.' (John 8:58)


Christ was born not only in the body of Jesus; Christ Consciousness was already manifest in all creation. Jesus was fully tuned into and manifested that Christ Consciousness. He knew what ‘Christ’ meant.

Christ is God’s infinite intelligence that is present in all creation. The infinite Christ is the ‘only begotten son’ of God the Father and is the only pure reflection of Spirit in the created realm.

God the Father is God both outside and inside creation that is eternal and unchanging.

This is why Jesus used to refer to himself in two ways: as a 'Son of man' and as a 'Son of God'. When he talked of himself as the 'Son of man' he was referring to his body and when he was talking of himself as the 'Son of God' he meant his soul fully united with Spirit or Christ Consciousness. Jesus spoke of this consciousness when he proclaimed: ‘I and my Father are one’ (John 10:30) and ‘I am in my Father, and the Father in me.’(John 14:11)

To further understand what the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit represents imagine a star burning brightly in empty space existing by itself. Then imagine a blue crystal sphere is placed at distance from it so that the light from the star reflects off of the blue crystal sphere as blue light. The star symbolises God the Father, the blue crystal represents the Holy Spirit and the blue light represents Christ Consciousness. In other words the Holy Spirit is the womb through which God the Father's consciousness manifests within creation as the Christ Consciousness or the 'only begotten son'. In other words, the Christ Consciousness can be defined as a reflection of God the Father’s consciousness within vibratory creation. A person can only know God the Father once he or she has succeeded in knowing the Christ Consciousness or the only begotten son. This is the true meaning of ‘...no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ One who has fully united his or her consciousness with the 'Christ Consciousness' is able to feel themselves equally present in the leaf on the tree as well as the far distant stars, for their consciousness is omnipresent. Such a person feels themselves within all people and they love all equally.

The Christ consciousness that animated that little baby body which was called 'Jesus' and became fully awakened in him is what we must strive to know. It is within all people as their soul, which is made in God's perfect image.


Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)


The soul can be considered to be an individualized unit of God’s consciousness — a little wave on an infinite ocean. Hence Jesus’s concurrence with the Old Testament statement ‘Ye are Gods’. (John 10:34) Crucially our soul consciousness is normally buried by the mud by ego consciousness. The ego can be considered as mistaken self-identity, which causes the illusional sense of being separate from God, which in turn produces only fragmented states of our soul consciousness. In other words we identify ourselves as mortal bodies with individual personalities as opposed to our true nature as immortal souls with eternal life. The two states of awareness can be referred to as ‘Son of man’ consciousness or mortal body consciousness and ‘Son of God’ consciousness or immortal soul consciousness.

This is why Jesus has said that the Kingdom of God is within.


'Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! For, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.' (Luke 17:21)


From this statement we can also rationally deduce that the Kingdom of God is not a physical place but a state of consciousness — or more precisely: a state of conscious awareness. Likewise Hell can also be deduced as not a physical place but a state of consciousness experienced through loss of feeling and awareness of God. The greater the lack of feeling and awareness of God, the greater the delusion and ignorance one experiences and the greater the suffering that results. That’s why some people experience their lives as ‘hell on earth’, whilst saintly people often experience their lives as ‘heaven on earth’ — even in the midst of life’s many storms and trials.

To have Christ fully awakened within us requires us to purify that ego-consciousness and restore soul awareness.

Jesus told us how to do that by telling us that:


'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God'. (Matthew 5:8)


To love God more and more we need to purify our hearts. Meditation is a practical way to do that.



Further Notes:

1. The difference between ‘Jesus’ (Son of man) and ‘Christ’ (Son of God) is explained by Jesus in the Matthew 22:41-46 because the Pharisees did not understand the difference between the incarnate Messiah and the infinite Christ Consciousness he embodied.


‘While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, ‘What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?'

They say unto him, ‘The son of David.’

He saith unto them, ‘How then doth David in spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, ‘Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?’ If David then call him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?’ (Jesus refers to Psalm 110:1)

And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.


Jesus’s intent was not to deny that the human body of the Messiah or Christ was descended from King David, as both he and his listeners knew had been prophesied in scripture; but to make clear that the all pervading Christ Consciousness could not be limited to the physical body of a son of David or any other human being.

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees from his realization of the ‘Christ’ as the Universal Consciousness present in all vibratory creation, and fully reflected in his own body, known as Jesus — and also that the Christ Consciousness was manifest to David through a vision, described in the Book of Psalms. David ‘in spirit’ — after spiritual upliftment by the cosmic vibration of the Holy Spirit — wrote that the Lord God (the Father existing beyond all vibratory creation) expressed his will to the Christ Consciousness (the Lord of Creation). The Father’s vibratory message articulated in interpretation might be expressed thus: ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, ‘Your are the abiding existence of my true reflected presence in creation, enthroned on my side in my consciousness of immutable righteousness and truth. Exert your reigning influence over all workings in creation until, through my almighty power of love in you, I make your satanic enemies of delusion — who constantly obstruct your perfect works — your footstool and your slaves.’

Jesus made the indisputable point that David would not have used the title ‘my Lord’ in speaking of a son. For a father to speak deferentially to a son or descendant would be completely out of keeping with the patriarchal culture to which Jesus and David belonged. David clearly perceived the distinction between the Universal Christ and its manifestation in human form as the Messiah.

The interchange of the intelligence between the transcendent and immanent ‘Lords’ (Cosmic Consciousness and Christ Consciousness or God the Father and God the Son) manifested only temporarily in the consciousness of David by means of a vision. But since the Christ Consciousness was steadily and fully reflected in the life of Jesus, he let himself be called ‘Christ,’ but explained that the Christ Consciousness in him could not accurately be called the son of David.


As Saint John said: ‘As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God.’ (John 1:12) The plural number in ‘sons of God’ also shows distinctly from the teachings he received from Jesus that not the body of Jesus but his state of Christ Consciousness was the only begotten son; and that those who could clarify their consciousness and receive, or in an unobstructed way reflect, the power of God, could become the sons of God. They could be one with the only begotten reflection of God in all matter, as was Jesus: and through the Son, Christ Consciousness, ascend to the Father, the supreme Cosmic Consciousness.

2. Modern physicists tell us everything in the universe is in fact made of energy and that’s what Albert Einstein’s famous theory E = mc² shows. The Holy Spirit is the word or intelligent vibration — intelligent energy going forth from God. Any utterance of a word, such as ‘flower’ expressed by an intelligent being, consists of sound energy or vibration, plus thought, which gives that vibration intelligent meaning. The Holy Spirit combined with the Christ Consiousness (God within creation) is what is causing that energy to vibrate into the form of light wave energy and other unseen wave energy, gases, liquids and solids; all of which is intelligently ordered and structured into the physical universe.

Theoretical physicists are presently leading science toward understanding the vibratory nature of Creation through such theories as ‘super string theory’.

In our next article we will use the little understood Book of Revelation to offer proof for our explanation of the Holy Spirit, and we will share an ancient, scientific meditation method used for contacting and experiencing the Holy Spirit directly.



Meditation Procedure

‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10)


To successfully meditate we must first still the ego consciousness in the sanctuary of the soul by inviting our restless thoughts to assemble and still themselves in a service of deepest united love for Christ.

Perfect awareness of Christ’s consciousness can only be experienced when the mind becomes perfectly still — free from all restless thoughts and subconscious dream-like activity. A perfect reflection of the moon can only be seen in a puddle of water if that water is perfectly still. If there are any waves on the water then the reflection of the moon becomes distorted. In the same way in order to know Christ within we must still our consciousness mind and all the wave like movements of the subconscious mind.

When we meditate we are aiming to flow our attention inward and be still, whilst remaining fully alert and attentive. If we can achieve this successfully we can let further processes occur spontaneously — we don’t need any other technique or method. We simply allow the innate urge of our soul to be restored to full ‘Son of God’ consciousness’ to determine the meditation process. Calmness is one of the greatest gifts of God; it is the eye of Spirit, the pure intuitive perception of the soul. In this way our attention and awareness are brought together with the Ultimate Reality and we become fully aware of the true essence of our being as immortal soul with eternal existence.

So if you can meditate easily and naturally without complicating the process with ritual and procedure that is the direct way to awaken Christ within your consciousness.

But if you find it difficult to still your mind then you may find it beneficial or useful to use ritual or practical techniques. There are a variety of different meditation techniques. The most common is to use prayer as a prelude to meditation. We simply pray with our deepest love and devotion to God for success in meditation practice, then when the prayer is finished one simply rests, waits and watches — then meditation can proceed spontaneously. The secret is to wait and watch but be alert, intent but don’t be frantic or impatient. Wait and watch in the deep silence.



Prayer word or mantra meditation

Another popular technique used by millions of people around the world is to repeat a prayer word or phrase mentally as a focus for their attention. Many of you will already be aware of the World Community of Christian Meditation inspired by John Main. John Main was a Benedictine monk who was taught mantra or ‘prayer word’ meditation by one of our Eastern Yogi cousins. John Main later found many parallels with early Christian writings; most notably those of the Desert Father John Cassian who wrote about the principle of repeating a phrase in order to reach continual prayer. The Desert Fathers were hermits, ascetics and monks who lived a life of solitude, prayer, labour, poverty, fasting and charity. By following the example of Jesus’s life with great love and devotion many were said to have experienced being one with Christ.

John Main advocated the use of a simple meditation technique based on an early Christian practise of repeating continuously the word prayer ‘Mar-an-ath-a’. Maranatha is Aramaic and it simply means ‘Come Lord’, referring to Christ. Let us practice this simple meditation technique:



Prayer

O living infinite Christ, present in the body of Jesus and us all, please manifest yourself in the trueness of your glory, in the sovereign power of your light, and in the omniscience of your wisdom. Out of the womb of all creation, be born in the cradle of our consciousness that we may worship you in truth and understanding in the all revealing light of wisdom.

Please take away from our minds the weight of indifference and forgetfulness. May we drink the nectar of your ever blessed presence. You are the only pure reflection of God within us, manifest yourself unto us; for you and we and God are one. Please help us to realise this.

Oh Lord, from this day forward teach us how to fish for you in the deepest waters of our souls.

Amen.

Guided Meditation To begin our meditation practice sit with the back straight, away from the back of the chair. Keep your chin parallel with the floor and your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands on your legs with your palms facing upwards, at the joint between your thighs and torso. When sitting for meditation it’s very important to keep the spine straight and completely relax the body without slouching. If you have a neck or back problem then just do your best to sit as upright as you can manage comfortably. Relax the body by taking three deep breaths and consciously relaxing all your muscles on the exhalation.

Now place your awareness in the front region of the brain near the forehead. Then you can either repeat the prayer word ‘Ma-ran-ath-a’ mentally on the in-breath and out-breath or you can use it without being attentive to your breathing. Do whatever feels most comfortable to you. Just continue to repeat the prayer word and if your attention wanders just bring it back to the process of repeating 'Maranatha' — whilst keeping your awareness at the front of your brain. In time by self-training you will remain self-focused and when you no longer need the mantra to stay focused then you can let the mantra fade away, whilst abiding in the stillness or thought-free state.

Remaining fully alert and attentive we may sit in the silence and all that remains is to be conscious of what we are as soul. Purity, peace, happiness beyond dreams, are sparkling and dancing within your soul. Seek that peace within you and let it join the transcendent, infinite peace without. Seek to immerse yourself in that Eternal Light. Become one with that ever-living light of Christ peace and joy.



Further Notes:

Some confusion has occurred within modern Christian meditation circles regarding the apparent contradiction between making effort when meditating to achieve results and simply ‘letting go and letting God and just being.’ In reality the two positions are not contradictory. We must at first use our will power if we want to gather our consciousness, concentrate and remain focused. When our awareness strays from the practice we use our will power to bring it back to the conscious task of repeating the prayer word. In other words, we use will power and make an effort to remain concentrated. The ‘let go, let God and just be’ aspect of our practice can only occur when the mind has become perfectly still. If we want to awaken Christ within us fully then the intensity of our efforts to meditate regularly and form the spiritual habit of meditation is vital. With practice we can learn to maintain concentration, which will help to calm and eventually still our mind.

Jesus explains this perfectly in the parable of labourers:


' For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

'And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And said unto them; "Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you." And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

'And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, "Why stand ye here all the day idle?" They say unto him, "Because no man hath hired us." He saith unto them, "Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive."

'So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, "Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first."

'And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

'And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, "These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day."

'But he answered one of them, and said, "Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?"

'So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.' (Matthew 20:1-16.)

This passage may be interpreted as meaning 'For the Kingdom of God is known by a master who comes on earth and, like a divine householder, calls people from the material world to labour spiritually in the vineyard of deep meditation and self-discipline, thus earning wages of liberating wisdom.

'The master called truth-seekers who stood idle, having renounced attachment to material possessions to serve their greater desire for God but were yet lacking fulfillment. He told them, "Come in the first morning of my appearance on earth, I invite you to work in my vineyard of self-discipline, and I will give you wisdom for your labour."

'And the master went out in the third hour and saw more truthseekers and would-be renunciates standing inactive in the market place of material activity, unable to find God and the right Master to lead them on the right path. So the master spoke to them, "Go into the vineyard of my discipline, and whatever wisdom is rightfully your due according to your spiritual labours shall be given unto you; and those truth seekers followed him."

And the master went out six and nine times with the same message. Finally he went out at the eleventh hour and he asked them to work in his vineyard of discipline and assured them that they would receive wisdom according to the intensity of their work.

'Then the master of the vineyard called the steward — God’s divine law of cause and effect or reaping what we sow — and commanded that the spiritual labourers from the last to the first be given their liberating wages of wisdom. Owing to their spiritual intensity the disciples who came last received the same divine illumination as those who joined the master first. But those who came first reasoned that they should have received more and voiced their feelings: "O good master of the household of God, we expected to be given more of your store of divine wisdom, for we have been with you longer and have bourne longer the heat or trials and self-discipline than those who came last. How is it that you have given equally to the latecomers and to the earliest spiritual labourers?"

'The Master answered. "All truth seekers, being the divine children of God, are given the same liberating wisdom whether they come first or last - provided their spiritual enthusiasm is intense. Go your way in peace and be satisfied with what you have received, even though you have had to labour for it longer. According to the will of the Heavenly Father it is lawful for me to open the way to divine attainment for all who have ardent hunger for spirituality; whether they come first or last they equally deserve to receive the same liberating realization. Because God's wisdom flows through me, I intuit his perfect justice, which actuates my impartiality. Therefore, the last to enter the spiritual path may, through intensity, become the first to receive wisdom; and the first, if besotted with half-hearted enthusiasm, maybe the last to receive emancipation.”

That is why many may be called to a master because of their spiritual desire, but few are chosen to receive liberation in Christ’s consciousness unless and until they fulfill the requisite intensity in their deep meditations and earnest practise of spiritual discipline. Every devotee of Christ has equal, impartial opportunity; each determines when he or she shall be chosen to become ‘Sons of God’.

Many people meditate for many years but still don’t find Christ within because they do not make enough effort in their meditation. Should we not find the pearl after numerous divings, we can’t blame the ocean. We can only blame our own diving; as we are not going deep enough. If we dive really deep we will find the pearl of God’s presence.

Intensity in all our religious practices is the only way. Intensity consists in striving to make every today's meditation deeper than yesterday’s and every tomorrow's meditation deeper than today's. Those who don’t meditate regularly and deeply are restless whenever they do meditate, and give up after a short effort. But if you make a greater effort day-by-day, the ability to go deep will come.



How we can meditate to know Christ within us – Part 2


Further helpful techniques to deepen meditation

Prayer word or mantra meditation is quite simple to practice. The key is to maintain concentration but be relaxed and attentive. Some of you may have difficulty maintaining your conscious awareness on the process of repeating the prayer word without it wandering off into worldly thoughts or losing it to subconscious motion picture shows.

Ordinarily, you don’t know how restless your mind is until you try to practice concentration and meditation. It is only when you sit quietly and begin to meditate that you see the myriad thoughts coursing through your mind. But if you continue to sit still and practice meditation refusing to be distracted by the restlessness of your thoughts, you will find suddenly that your mind has become calm. The mind is like a child; you have to patiently humour it without getting upset by it. Gradually it will come under your control.

Some of you may struggle with your body through physical discomfort and other distractions; but if you can go deeper into meditation, not only will your thoughts settle down but your body will become calm also and joy will come into the temple of your heart. When joy comes, you know you are contacting God.

Some of you might find it helpful to employ the mind’s faculty of imaging and use guided visualization in order to help concentrate the mind and stop it wandering.

Jesus said, ' The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of life.' (Matthew 6:22)

If we observe someone who is deep in concentration focusing their will on achieving something they often furrow their brow. That’s because the point between the eyebrows is the seat of concentration. It is also known to our brothers and sisters in Eastern Philosophical Traditions as the third eye — or the door — and that is what Jesus is referring to when he says 'the eye' rather than 'the eyes'. When it is single (singularly focused on God) the body is filled with the Holy Spirit and ever-new-joy and peace is felt. When concentration in the third eye is perfect and unwavering a bright star can be seen that is many, many times brighter than the sun. When this is seen the meditator should seek to become fully absorbed in it gently contemplating its meaning and origin.


'And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.' (Revelation 22: 4-5)

To use guided visualisation before meditation gaze upon a picture of Jesus and with great love and devotion commit to memory his blessed image. Then when meditating with our eyes closed we can recall and hold Jesus’s image to help focus and concentrate our minds. Further Notes: It can be helpful to sing a devotional song and whilst you are singing try to gaze upon an image of Lord Jesus with great love and devotion offering your heart and soul to him. Try to look continuously at his image with a soft focus and try to blink as little as possible.

Although there are many different pictures of Jesus it does not matter, which picture you choose so long as it inspires and uplifts you. Because artists throughout the centuries never knew what Jesus looked like when he was alive they have had to improvise and use their imaginations. Many have put their heart and soul into creating images with such love and devotion for Christ that they have made those images truly holy. This fact alone should be admired and celebrated.



Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Please teach us to redeem our matter-bound mind that we may give it to you in prayer and ecstasy, in meditation and reverie.

Divine beloved teach us to behold your face in the mirror of our stillness within. Open the windows of faith that we may behold you evermore in your mansion of peace and bliss.

Amen.



Guided Meditation

Let us now sit in the correct position for meditation keeping our spine straight, our feet flat on the floor and our chin parallel to the floor. With your eyes shut gently place your right or left index finger at the point between the eye brows so you can feel where to begin to visualize the image of Christ. Keeping your eyes steady and maintaining your concentration remove your finger and place both your hands on your lap with your palms turned up the way. Hold Jesus at the point between your eyebrows continuously with great love and devotion.

Breathing slowly, but without forcing the breath; try to make his image as clear on the out-breath as on the in-breath. Use your will power to make his image as clear and as constant as you can. Between each breath hold steady Jesus’s image so that he never leaves the mind screen even for split second. Simultaneously you may want to repeat a mantra or prayer word to further concentrate the restless mind. Remember don’t force the breath, just let it flow gently. This takes significant mental effort but that’s good.

If during the practice you will feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper into a relaxed state you may begin to feel inner joy.


'My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.' (Psalm 104:34)

Be aware of joy but don’t react to it. It is unhelpful to break your concentration to try and measure the results of your meditation efforts. When you have reached a deeper state of consciousness and the mental noises of the conscious and subconscious minds have quietened down, keeping your attention and awareness focused between the eyebrows you can disregard the prayer word and image. Just rest in that calm and alert state.

How we can meditate to know Christ within us – Part 3

Now let us look at some of the finer points to be aware of when meditating as well as common obstacles that hamper successful meditation:

Life does obviously not solely depend on food or exercise but is sustained from within. Similarly strength comes from within and not from muscles.

If we want to lift an object up we must first use our will power to direct the life energy or life force within our body to make the muscles in our arms and hands contract. What we mean by life energy is this: a dead person made to exercise artificially does not become strong — nor does he or she live if their stomachs are stuffed with food, since their life energy is absent.

By tensing any muscles in the body life energy can be put forth in the body and by relaxation life energy can be withdrawn. When we are meditating we want our life energy to be withdrawn from the body as much as possible and moved to the spine and higher brain. That’s why people who don’t relax their body before meditation find it difficult to meditate properly. Deep concentration is possible only in a state of complete relaxation.

To help overcome any unconscious muscle tension in the body when we first begin meditating it’s important that we use deep breaths and consciously relax all the muscles in body properly.

When meditating we need to sit completely still as moving the body even a little causes the life energy to flow to our muscles, which will be counterproductive to our meditation efforts. If we refuse to let our body move in the first five minutes of meditation we’ll find it should relax of its own accord. The more you ignore its demands and concentrate on the Lord, the more you will burn with joyous life, like a globe afire. Then you will know that you are not the body.

Another common problem is to allow the body to slouch or the head to droop forward. This will dull our awareness and likely induce subconscious dream-like activity and sleepiness. It may take some time to strengthen your back and neck muscles to allow you to maintain the correct position but that will happen with practice— if you make the effort. If you have neck or back problems you may benefit from using pillows to support yourself but try not to lean into them.

Correct eye position is useful to master. Keeping your eyes closed try to keep your eyes steady slightly turned upward as if you are looking at a point an arms length away that’s level with your head. That will help you keep your attention focused at the point between the eyebrows, which helps maintain alert concentration and awareness.

Proper breathing is important. When you begin meditating always breath as deeply and as gently as is comfortable — never forcibly hold the breath during meditation. As you relax you should cease any effort to control the breath. As you meditate ever deeper your breath may become weaker and you may notice over time that pauses between inhalation and exhalation are gradually becoming longer. These are a glimpse of a deeper, more advanced meditation state to come. If you become so calm and relaxed that your breath seems so shallow and faint that breathing feels almost unnecessary that is fine. Don’t worry, this is another sign of a deep meditation state and it’s a very good sign. ‘I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.’ (1 Corinthians 15:31)

We’ve already covered the mental aspects of meditation and the need to patiently use our will power to bring our mind back to our practice every time our awareness wanders. But we need to be aware of our subconscious mind and its function of recording our regular activities as habits. This function is vital as it allows us to live in the world skillfully without having to continuously relearn often repeated actions. But we must consciously replace recordings of bad habits with recordings of constructive good habits. If your mind has been trained to wander restlessly through the maze of myriad worldly thoughts over the many years of your life, then you must patiently retrain it to obey your conscious will; and in remembrance of the indwelling Lord cease wandering. Practise makes perfect — there is no way to avoid this. That’s as it should be because we need to strengthen our will power to concentrate deeper and deeper and the only way to strengthen our will power is to exercise it.

Moods are another obstacle to meditation to be aware of. In the same way that the subconscious mind records repeated actions as habit, every action you perform — physically or mentally —leaves a trace in your mind. Any habitual tendencies or predisposed moods you experience were created by the things you have already done. Whenever you try to break out of the mould and accomplish something constructive or new, immediately your past wrong actions try to nullify your present good efforts. But if you keep on trying, and concentrating, that power of concentrated thought will obvert your past actions that are trying to keep you down.

If you let yourself be continuously driven by the effects of your past actions, you will find yourself in a bad way. Suppose you jump into a fast-moving stream or river. Of course you will be carried along with its current, possibly to great harm. But the first act of jumping into the stream was your own fault. You started the cause that brought about the effect. Likewise, you created your stream of wrong thoughts — first allowing them entry into your consciousness and then repeatedly swimming along with them — and now you are allowing yourself to be carried away by their force. You must break away.

How? By use of concentration and willpower to bring that stream of conscious and subconscious thoughts under your control. When as a result of concentration and meditation, your mind comes under your control — when you can step out of the stream of restless habit-compelled thoughts into an inner calmness and quietude — you can attune the mind to constructive positive thoughts of accomplishment. Then it is necessary to use your will to follow through. For instance, when you make up your mind in the morning about what you are going to do that day, you have to use sufficient will power, garnered from concentrated thoughts focused on your intention, to follow through on those plans before the day is over. Thereby, you are actually accomplishing success, not merely wishing for it.

No achievement happens of itself. If some persons have ‘smooth sailing’ it is because they had worked hard before and thereby attracted that seemingly effortless success. But even if you are not one of them, that doesn’t mean you cannot succeed now.

Those who are intimidated by the effort required and hence give up, never get beyond the obstacles of body and mind. The greatest victory to be achieved is over our own selves; it lies in the conquering of our mental deficiencies and wrong habits. A saint is a sinner who never gave up trying to improve themselves.

Through regular practice and persistent effort you will plunge deeper and deeper into the spirit of meditation to where the mind crosses the entrenchments of bad habits of physical and mental restlessness and arrives at the sanctuary of peace and bliss. The deeper the meditation the easier it becomes to perceive Christ.

Keeping the regular company of meditation-minded, God-seeking people is vital. If you mix with such people regularly, you’ll be reminded that their life is the way to live. And if you mix with worldly people all the time, you’ll find it difficult to motivate yourself to meditate. Mind is influenced by environment. Do not be a victim of your environment; endeavour to regularly keep good company that inspires your continuous self-improvement. Meditation groups that sit regularly are helpful for this purpose. Remember Jesus’s words:


‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ (Matthew 18:20)


Encourage each other onward and help one another in moments of weakness and indifference, and you’ll find Christ is much easier to find than if you are always trying to meditate on your own.

Sometimes life can throw all sorts of challenges and problems at us that make meditation very difficult despite our best efforts to cultivate good habits and a helpful environment. This world can be a testing ground. Often we make the greatest progress on the spiritual path when we are facing tremendous obstacles; when we’re being forced to exercise to the limit our spiritual muscles of inner-strength, courage and positive thinking in order to resist the onslaught of constant trials and problems. You cannot make steel until you have made the iron white-hot in fire. Remember that as a child of God you are endowed with greater strength than you will ever need to overcome all the trials in life that God may send you. Have courage and pray ‘Heavenly Father, change no circumstance in my life! Change me! If you wish to test me then your will be done but please possess and guide me that I may overcome all my trials.’

When meditating it always helps to remember why you’re doing it — you’re doing it to know God. Always remember to pray and meditate with deep devotion. Do not let your meditation efforts become mechanical or you’ll forget God. No-one can awaken Christ within by their own efforts alone. We need God’s grace to do that. Get devotion! Remember the words of Jesus:


‘I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.’ (Matthew 11:25)


The searcher of hearts wants only your sincere love. He is like a little child: someone may offer him his whole wealth and he doesn’t want it; and another cries to him, ‘O Lord, I love you!’ and into that devotee’s heart he comes running. Pray to him with devotion — unconditional, one-pointed, steady devotion. When your love for him is as great as your attachment to your mortal body, he will come to you.

So let us repent any indifference we may have to God. Those who are indifferent to him suffer. Give unto him your love. He is your Father; you are his child. It is your duty and privilege to love him. Offer him your heart right now. One moment of sincere soul call will arouse God, and his response will surely come if you will continue to call to him. Friends, name, fame, money — all mortal possessions are temporary and will vanish. But with God all joys are real and everlasting. With your heart’s sincerity give him a soul call — a magnet call, a heart-rending call of deepest longing — and you shall receive his mercy.

Meditation also requires that instead of praying only for the gifts of God, you turn your attention to the giver, God himself. Why not go to that source from where all creation emerges? Meditation is not a vague mental wandering; it is to be so concentrated within that hours slip away without your knowing it. By right meditation, ecstasy comes. Ecstasy is contact with the source of all power. In ecstasy you touch that state in which anything can be done. If you persevere, a time comes when you find that the assurance and protection of God’s power never leaves you. It does not matter if the whole world is against you, if the whole world forsakes you, when you are with God. God will never forsake you. But you need to be sincere in your love for him. You will not be successful if you seek God with any ulterior motive. It is all right to tell him of your need, but want God himself more than all else. Approach him with complete surrender. Without God’s power you cannot think or will or talk or love or do anything. Why should you give more importance to other things than to him?

God is conscious of your needs. If you appeal to him with unconditional love and sincerity, he will answer. Do not be discouraged if he does not answer right away. That is his test. If in spite of his silence you still believe he is listening, and you still keep on talking to him, he will respond. He will answer through results. But do not look for the results. Just say, ‘God, I love you with all my might, with all my sincerity, with all my heart. And Lord, if I am seeking something less than you, forgive me and help me to think of you alone. Without your wisdom, how could I understand anything? Without your love, how could I love at all? How could I will to do anything without your power, which is behind my will and my love and all my feelings? Why are you hiding from me? I must convince you that I love you, that I want you alone. You must reveal yourself, for I cannot go on in my life alone. You are my life, you are my Father, you are my Mother, you are my everything. Reveal yourself unto me!’

If you go on like this, with sincerity, he will answer. God knows everything that you are doing. You cannot fool him. The thing he most dislikes is when you try to dissemble with him or you are insincere. Sincerity touches his heart in the greatest way. Where there is sincerity, there is God’s response. What have you to be afraid of? Do not think you have to be perfect; that is foolish. Before God, everyone in this delusive finite world can be considered a ‘sinner.’ Just pour out your heart to him, in the humble simplicity of a loving child.

God will not measure your defects or your merits. The preeminent merit is to be sincere with God — sincerity to him in meditation is most important. At night or anytime you sit to meditate, do so with all your heart and soul. When you pray with deep sincerity, all restless thoughts fall away, all sensory distractions vanish, and in that stillness you find him coming to you. Then you will realize how wonderful life is, how great your life is, supported by the omnipresence of God’s consciousness that lies just behind your own consciousness.

Think how wonderful life will be when you have no compulsion to seek anything at all, because you have found everything you seek in God! Nothing can enslave you then.

Everything you have that you were seeking has been given to you by God. So why forget him? Without him you would not have love or life or health or anything. He is the cleverest who seeks God, because that person is going to receive everything. Having him, no other gain is greater. As Jesus promised:


‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matthew 6:33)


As long as the soul is forced to depend on external things it cannot be happy, because these are always changing. The soul can never be permanently satisfied with anything but the love of God. Some people learn this paramount lesson of life through wisdom and discrimination; others learn by burning their fingers in the fires of sorrow. The moment you realize that in all other pursuits it was God you were seeking, then you are on the path toward your Infinite Home.

God reveals himself to us by his humbleness. We are microscopic before him, but he patiently endures the audacity of us tiny human beings. Despite his sovereign power, he does not compel us in any way. He calls us only by his love. He loves us dearly. Otherwise he would not have sent Jesus or the great prophets and saints to show us the way home. With his infinite love and patience and humbleness, he is waiting for us to love him.

One thing you must learn here on earth is that you are a child of God. When you know that, you will know that everyone is a child of God even as you are. What a tremendous realization! That all persons are of God — that everyone and everything that comes to you comes from God! The more you appreciate the divine image in everyone, the more you are alive with God’s consciousness. It is not difficult then to love all persons with love that is forgiving and compassionate and good, no matter what they do to you, because you see it is God who comes in the form of every being. In time, as you learn to love God more, you see him within everyone — friends or enemies. If you can hate anyone, you have not realized God at all. The divine person gives their love equally to all, even as the sun gives impartially of its light.

The most difficult person you have to deal with is yourself. Work for that which is in your own highest interest. How hard people labour in their factories and workplaces, and yet how many even make the least effort to know God? Why not surrender yourself to his power? Take out an hour or two from your sleep each night and meditate. Make the contact with God.

What joy awaits discovery in the silence behind the portals of your mind no human tongue can tell. But you must convince yourself; you must meditate and create that environment.

That happiness in Spirit is the only thing to live for. Meditate each day; and when you have contacted that happiness, then go about your work. Without that inner awareness of God’s joy, you cannot enjoy life — indeed, you are not even truly living. By such contact one may learn from God what one should do and follow his wise will. Calm your mind radio to remove restless static and then you can tune your concentrated power of thought to God and receive his broadcast.

In order to hold on to your inner happiness, never find fault with others; learn to blame and correct your own flaws. Be sincere with everyone, express kindness and love to each person. Love is the most powerful force that you can have. Love is dynamite. Humbleness is dynamite. Concentration is dynamite. These will destroy all obstacles and barriers to success. Meditation throws your concentration and the shells of your devotion against the walls of your indifference until you break through and contact that blissful power within.

What of it if you do not become successful in the way the world thinks of success? To be successful with God is far more important, for that success you can take with you when this life is over. You want that contact of God of which Jesus spoke. If you have that, Jesus’ promise that ‘…all things will be added unto you’ will be fulfilled anew. Meditate on God. Seek no credit from people. Do not show your devotion to others. In your heart hoard your devotion, concentrate your devotion only on him; and he shall speak to you. He shall guide you consciously. And in everything that comes, you shall see it is that power, which is loving and sustaining you. There is no greater security than this.

Use your God-given intelligence to find him. You are here alone and in a hundred years from now you will not be known. Because you are here today and busy with life, you do not think that anything will happen to you. But ‘tomorrow’ will one day be gone. Don’t waste any time.

Take some time away from sleep and meditate; and don’t give up. Night was meant to screen all the attractions of the world, that you might more intently explore the Kingdom of God. Don’t succumb to sleep until you have made contact with God. From tonight begin, and you will succeed. In every little gap of time that you have, talk to him. And have faith that he is listening to you. He is right behind the darkness of your closed eyes; and as you talk and he listens, you will find that life becomes transformed. You will realize why your parents and family and friends love you — because of God — and you will be day and night drinking of that love direct from his presence.

No matter what weaknesses or faults you have, meditate. Talk to God again and again. And once you can get him to talk, he will never leave you. Though contact of God may seem to be the most difficult thing, it is the easiest if you will sincerely try. The one who has made up his mind to know God will find him. God you have already with you. You just have to know him and receive him in your consciousness.

Remember Saint John said: ‘As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God.’

Every word in the Gospels is living. Yet people read these words and still want more to stimulate them! That is because they don’t meditate on those truths to convert them into their own personal realization.

So let us continuously pray that we all manifest in pure sincerity the consciousness of God. In that selfless consciousness learn to physically help people by service, to mentally help people by kindness and encouragement, and to spiritually help people by radiating the joy of God that you feel. To transmit God’s consciousness you do not have to talk much; just feel it, and automatically those around you will be uplifted. Do not seek the acclaim and testimony of people, but the testimony of God. Be loyal in your activities and continuous in your habit of meditation.

We want you to have direct realization of that supreme power. And that power shall be revealed to you if you are sincere in your loyalty, devotion, and desire for God. By heeding these simple truths you can know God. You know what God wants; what you need is to live by it. Please practise that in your life every day.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Please help us to find that our soul, our heart, every wisp of inspiration, every speck of the vast blue sky and its shining star blossoms, the mountains, the earth, the swan and the bluebells are all tied together with one chord of rhythm, one chord of joy, one chord of unity, one chord of Spirit, so we may know that we are all but waves in your cosmic sea.

Oh Father, break the boundaries of the little waves of our life that we may join the ocean of your vastness.

Amen



Guided Meditation

Let us sit ready for meditation with our eyes closed, back straight, feet flat on the floor, chin parallel to the floor and our awareness concentrated at the point between the eyebrows.

Just as a small cup cannot hold the vast ocean, our hearts cannot hold the vast ocean of Christ’s pure love unless we expand the cup of our hearts into eternity. Feel the love of Christ in your heart, expand it until is surrounds your whole body. Then imagine it growing so it surrounds the building you're in; then our planet. Go on expanding it so it holds the solar system with all of its jewel-like planets; then our vast Milky Way galaxy and then the whole of creation with its many billions of galaxies.

Then fill that infinite ball of love with the consciousness of bliss, unceasing watchfulness (with attention equally concentrated everywhere), the consciousness of immortality, all knowledge, peace, all pervading energy and life energy. Remain identified with this highly interesting substance as long as you can and as often as you can. Then God will be real to you and you will find his conscious guidance in everything. Accept him as the sole object of your desires, then having him you will have everything. Having everything you will not wish for anything.

Attainments can’t impart permanent joy. You want a thing as long as you haven’t got it. When you have it, you want something else, and so on for ever. Find that something else that you are always seeking — that something else is ever-new-bliss-God. When you find him you will not want anything else. But as long as you are seeking that something else, remember you haven’t found him.

Let us be with God and enjoy his presence. If you can’t keep your awareness on him then practice any one of the meditation techniques talked about today.



How we can meditate to know Christ within us – Part 4

The universe is the body of Christ: everywhere present within it, without limitation, is the Christ Consciousness. If you expand your mind to receive him, you will be blessed with the Universal Consciousness. You will know that your body is the whole universe, and that your mind is a little wave of that ocean of Cosmic Consciousness in which Jesus dwells. Clouds of ignorance will be dispelled as you behold, behind the darkness of closed eyes, the divine cosmic light — the aura of the Infinite Christ.

The more you meditate on the Lord, the more helpful you can also be to others, and the more deeply you will be in tune with God. Selfish people remain spiritually body-bound, but the unselfish expand their consciousness. When you find your omnipresence in meditation, you will find God. If he is pleased with you, all nature will work in harmony with you. By tuning into God daily through meditation your day time activities will become more wisdom-guided and less mechanical. Far greater success in all worldly duties and activities can be achieved that way.

Learn to talk to him with all your soul. Everything in the future will improve if you make a spiritual effort now.

Resuming our meditation position close your eyes and let us now a take a couple of minutes to think of all those we know who are sick, suffering, alone and lost. Let us visualize each person now happy, healthy and smiling as the healing light of Christ envelops them.



Prayer

Divine Father,

Naughty or good we are your children. Teach us to open the gate of meditation that leads to your blessed presence so that we may saturate ourselves with the perfume of your presence and waft with the breeze the aroma of your message of love for all.

Amen.



Further Notes:

We offer this knowledge in humility and love. Please accept it in the spirit it is offered. The spiritual wealth contained in this work is offered so the Children of God may take a share — and take all they can. It is not our intention, however, to offer these truths so that they may merely become second-hand intellectual knowledge. They need to be directly experienced, realized, and thereby validated first-hand.

In our next article we will share via the link below an ancient, scientific meditation method for contacting and experiencing the Holy Spirit directly and much more. By scientific we mean step-by-step that produces real and measurable results. ‘And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.’ (John 14:15-18)

As we are not the authors of this material but the humble messengers who delivers it; in our next article we shall also write about the source of these teachings and give further reading material for all those who are interested.

How to Contact the Holy Spirit Through Meditation

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