Meditation is going beyond your thinking, conscious mind; your dreaming, subconscious mind; and letting your instinctive, intuitive mind come forth.
“True meditation is a state of sleepless sleep. Alpha state and meditation are not the same. Meditation is far above the Alpha state.” At the mundane level of meditation, you train yourself to completely relax your muscles. The next level is to control the breath. By controlling the breath, you can control the mind. Control the mind, you control the body – voluntary and involuntary functions included. Then, you learn to maintain control of your senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, sound. This helps with the next step, concentration; which is needed to maintain focus, intention, and attention. The most difficult of the levels, concentration is imperative to attain singularity or “one-pointedness” of the mind.
After these levels are attained, only then does deep meditation occur. “Concentration flows into meditation like the continuous flow of oil from one vessel to another.”
You can and should develop the ability to meditate at all levels. The N.A.T.U.R.E. Center trains you in a complete meditation system, dealing with all the levels of your being. Eventually it leads to the direct experience of the Absolute reality, the Self, that is not subject to death, decay, or decomposition.
Individual schools of meditation are actually parts of the whole (Vipansana, TM, Zen, Kriya, etc). Most utilize only one method of meditation, such as emphasizing either sensory awareness, breath, mental witnessing, or mantra, while ignoring the others. In yoga (union), these are not separate schools of meditation. They are steps along the way within the greater process of meditation that systematically leads to the realization of the eternal, and the infinite.
WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF MEDITATION?
Being in the presence of, or realizing Absolute Truth, is the goal of deep meditative practices. Absolute Truth is infallible, experiential, unchangeable and internal. You can’t ‘think’ or intellectualize this Truth, since thoughts themselves are a by-product of consciousness and meditation practices go beyond the realm of the conscious.
We define Truth as a SPONTANEOUS AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE (S.A.E.).
SPONTANEOUS AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCES are observations and encounters directly from the Spirit/Source/Within that are intuitive and original.
Physical Reality cannot be true because what we perceive has not a. always been in existence in its present form b. requires external stimulus to be perceived c. needs consensus d. is conscious and PREMEDITATED, therefore, not natural.
spon·ta·ne·ous
/spänˈtānēəs/
adjective
adjective: spontaneous
performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or EXTERNAL stimulus.
“the audience broke into spontaneous applause”
synonyms: unplanned, unpremeditated, unrehearsed, impulsive, impetuous, unstudied, impromptu, spur-of-the-moment, extempore, extemporaneous;
antonyms: planned, calculated
(of a person) having an open, natural, and uninhibited manner.
synonyms: natural, uninhibited, relaxed, unselfconscious, unaffected, open, genuine, easy, free and easy;
antonyms: inhibited
(of a process or event) occurring without apparent external cause.
“spontaneous miscarriages”
ARCHAIC
(of a plant) growing naturally and without being tended or cultivated.
BIOLOGY
(of movement or activity in an organism) instinctive or involuntary.
“the spontaneous mechanical activity of circular smooth muscle”
synonyms: reflex, automatic, mechanical, natural, knee-jerk, involuntary, unthinking, unconscious, instinctive, instinctual, visceral; informalgut
“a spontaneous reaction to danger”
antonyms: conscious, voluntary
au·then·tic
/ôˈTHen(t)ik/
adjective
adjective: authentic; adjective: auth.
1.
of undisputed origin; genuine.
“the letter is now accepted as an authentic document”
synonyms: genuine, real, bona fide, true, veritable;
antonyms: fake
made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an ORIGINAL.
“the restaurant serves authentic Italian meals”
based on facts; accurate or reliable.
“an authentic depiction of the situation”
synonyms: reliable, dependable, trustworthy, authoritative, honest, faithful;
antonyms: unreliable
(in existentialist philosophy) relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.
Since real and true are very subjective terms, we’ll look at another word used to define authentic, original.
o·rig·i·nal
/əˈrijənl/
adjective
1.
present or existing from the beginning; first or earliest.
“the original owner of the house”
synonyms: indigenous, native, aboriginal, autochthonous;
2.
created directly and personally by a particular artist; not a copy or imitation.
“original Rembrandts”
synonyms: first, earliest;
noun
1.
something serving as a model or basis for imitations or copies.
“the portrait may be a copy of the original”
2.
an eccentric or unusual person.
“he was one of the true originals”
synonyms: individualist, individual, eccentric, nonconformist, free spirit, maverick;
ex·pe·ri·ence
/ˌikˈspirēəns/
noun
1.
practical contact with and observation of facts or events.
“he had already learned his lesson by painful experience”
synonyms: involvement in, participation in, contact with, acquaintance with, exposure to, observation of, awareness of, insight into
“his first experience of business”
verb
1.
encounter or undergo (an event or occurrence).
“the company is experiencing difficulties”
synonyms: undergo, encounter, meet, come into contact with, come across, come up against, face, be faced with