Meditation: Your Key to Accessing Universal Consciousness
Answers to Your Meditation Questions
Written by Jane Elizabeth Hart
Founder and Spiritual Leader
Center for Enlightenment
Copyright © 2007 by Jane E. Hart
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Q. What is meditation?
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Q. Why should I meditate?
A. Meditation is the single most important action you can take to change your consciousness. It is the best way to connect with your soul, develop intuition, release fears and control your mind.
Every soul has a different path to God Consciousness. You will find your unique way through a consistent practice of meditation.
The moment you decide you want to make the effort to know more about God and your soul, you send a signal into the universe. A powerful magnetic charge is set up between your “day-to day” mind and the eternal mind of your soul. As you meditate, you are lifted into the God Consciousness.
Meditation opens a new world of understanding that gives your life new meaning. You see the world from a fresh perspective and have a greater understanding of your everyday life. You receive solutions to your day-to-day problems as you contact new ideas.
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Q. What is the first stage of meditation?
A. It is to observe the mind and realize how busy it is. That is a big step! Many people think, “My brain goes crazy, this isn’t working, I can’t do it!” but the meditation IS working. The mind races constantly and you are not aware of it.
You must first notice and acknowledge that the mind is very busy, and then learn to take charge of the mind and your thoughts. Notice how you think the same thoughts over and over. You will realize how boring you actually are! You will become aware of the fact that you are not using your mind to solve problems. Instead, your mind just keeps moving in circles, keeping you busy and distracted!
You need to realize that you are using your mind in a limited manner. Observing your thought patterns is a wonderful exercise. You will see that you actually have limited avenues of thought, your ideas repeat themselves, and you dwell on tiresome topics.
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Q. What are some practical tools I can use to still my mind?
A. A mantra can help you to focus your thoughts and quiet your mind. A mantra is any word or short phrase which you repeat so your mind can focus with less effort. Some people prefer listening to music, or listening to the sounds of nature.
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Q. For how long should I meditate?
A. If you are a beginner, doing five minutes a day is really good. As time goes on you might expand that to 15 minutes or a half hour. Just showing up for mediation time counts for something spiritually, even if you have trouble getting centered. Some days are like that!
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Q. How often should I meditate?
It will also help to find a specific time that works for you: when you get up, at noon, before bed – whatever time works best. Try to keep it consistent.
Having a regular time and place for meditation creates a “meditative mood” in which the mind is receptive.
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Q. Why is it so important to have a regular meditation time?
A. It is crucial to make a commitment to God and a promise to your soul. It doesn’t matter so much when you do it or for how long. The point is to make meditation a priority. By having a specific time you also set up a vibration and rhythm for yourself that make it easier to go. within Perhaps you already meditate occasionally, but you’ll find it is worth the extra effort to meditate regularly.
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Q. Are there any preferable ways of sitting during meditation?
It doesn’t matter so much how you sit, where your hands are, or how you breathe. The point is for your body to be comfortable, so it won’t be a distraction. Find a posture that helps you stay alert, yet relaxed. Typically people sit when they meditate, but other styles of mediation are also valid.
You may prefer to walk when you meditate, or perhaps you find it easy to meditate when you practice yoga. Some people are able to still their mind when they are performing a physical activity, like running, swimming or dancing. The rhythm of the movement can be mentally soothing. Any action in which you become absorbed and forget yourself will be valuable. Creating art, playing an instrument, listening to music or the sound of a fountain can help take the focus off yourself and begin to move you into a meditative state.
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Q. What specific things should I do when I meditate?
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Q. I'm not sure if I am meditating. I feel like I am just sitting there. Am I doing something wrong?
A. Don’t get frustrated if “nothing happens” during your meditation time. It is normal for your mind to race around from thought to thought. Gently try to bring your attention back to the music, mantra or your breathing. Don’t waste time getting angry with yourself. Stilling the mind is a challenge for everyone!
You might also notice that you meditate and find it relaxing but “nothing happens.” Be assured that your consciousness is changing bit by bit. You might not have grand revelations, but be aware of sudden ideas you get during the day that urge you to do or say something you normally would not. Your soul can send you messages anytime if you work to make that connection each day. It is common to reap the results of meditation at other random times, so pay attention to “hunches.” This is your soul talking to you by means of your intuition. Intuition is your “phone line” to your soul!
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Q. If I don't feel anything during meditation, how can I trust things are actually happening?
A. Meditation gives you an opportunity to move out of the everyday realm of being. It is as if you are on the top of the mountain and you can see in all directions at the roads that are leading up the mountain. If you meditate and there is something coming up for you in the future that is going to stand in your way, you have an opportunity to get some guidance about it. For example, you may not “feel anything” in your morning meditation, but you could be driving and suddenly slow your car down, or make a stop and don’t know why. You may never know that you have just missed an accident. Your intuition may guide you in a subtle way to change the order of events so that you avoid a catastrophe. You might not even know you avoided it! In this way you may be experiencing results but are not aware of those results.
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Q. I am constantly distracted by my thoughts when I meditate. What can I do about that?
A. Even if you spend your entire meditation pulling your mind away from distracting thoughts, that is OK. God within you notices your efforts! The fact that you are attempting to forge a conscious bond with your soul by quieting your mind is a great step – so don’t give up!
If you find yourself constantly worrying about the tasks of your day during your meditation time, it might help to write them down. Trust that you will best accomplish them after you have meditated. Then sit down and focus completely on connecting with your soul. Say, “This is my time with You, God! I am choosing to be one with You! It is very important that I am one with You!” The more you say that, the closer you get to it!!
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Q. What is happening on a spiritual level when I meditate?
A. As you meditate, you are building a bridge or a line of communication between your personality and your soul. You are setting up “spiritual phone service.” Your daily meditation is the way you “pay your phone bill” and keep your line active. If you meditate and your soul doesn’t give you a message, it does not mean you are not “hooked up.” A telephone is working even if it isn’t ringing! The point is that you become better able to hear your soul anytime it “calls you up.”
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Q. I feel different "in my own skin" since I've started meditating. What's happening?
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Q. What does it mean to have revelations during meditation?
A. A revelation is an idea that comes to you in an instant and permanently alters your consciousness. You go “Wow!” and behave differently afterward. You suddenly understand something in an instant and your consciousness is immediately changed. A revelation focuses your mind, as opposed to random thoughts that distract you. It sharpens and attunes your entire being. You know it is true from the tip of your toes to the top of your head. Also, such a revelation could come to you later in the day as a result of earlier or accumulated meditation.
You could be driving along and all of a sudden, BOOM! – you are hit with a spiritual concept. Maybe you will see a billboard whose message allows you to suddenly understand something that had been puzzling to you for a long time.
Perhaps you will see a movie and something in it triggers you. An entire understanding results from that new thought and something suddenly makes a lot of sense to you that hadn’t before.
Revelations put a situation in a different frame so you perceive it in an entirely new way. Even if the revelation is something that causes change or chaos in your life, or is a little risky, underneath it, you will feel safe and secure. That faith will help you to take action even if other people disagree.
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Q. What can I expect to happen after I've continued a meditation practice for a considerable time?
A. Eventually, you learn to be in a receptive, listening space most of the time. Your spiritual focus will be “up on the mountain.” You will always be there. You won’t always be sitting and meditating as such, but no matter where you are or what you’re doing, there will be a part of you that is connected to the other channel.
Let’s make this analogy. You are like a stand alone computer – God is the whole internet. Through meditation, you are able to access the entire web. And after awhile, when you need information, you are already connected. When you begin a meditation practice, it’s like getting a modem attached to your computer so that you can get onto the internet.
As you progress in meditation, your “internet access” gets “upgraded,” so you can get information faster and more effectively. Eventually, the “internet” is always “on” and you don’t need to “log on” each time you need to be connected – you just always are connected to get what you need for yourself or for everyone else. Not something you tum on and off once or twice a day – it is always on.
(Reprinted from Spiritual Power Tools: Support for Your Soul, Copyright© 2004 by Jane E. Hart, www.cfenlightenment.org.)
You have been a stand-alone computer for many years. But one day you decide to go out and get a modem so life will be a lot easier and convenient for you. That is what it is like when you decide to make a commitment to a meditation practice. Wire yourself up to God! You can get any sort of third dimensional (worldly) information over the internet at any time of day – stock market figures, movie times, shopping, whatever. Well, it’s the same way with spiritual (fourth dimensional) information once you have been meditating awhile. Anything you need for your soul is available any time through the spiritual, fourth dimensional “computer” – but you have to go through the careful process of setting it up.
That is why you should start out meditating in a regular place at a specific time, and make a concerted effort to still your mind. Nowadays we trust that ifwe ask the internet for information, answers will come. Eventually we will come to trust our developing intuitive faculties in the same way.
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Q. What other benefits will I receive from meditation?
A. Meditation opens up avenues for new information to come into your mind. You will be able to respond to people differently and remain in a centered emotional place more easily. By means of meditation, you will find freedom from the drama of life and its resulting confusion.
Meditation soothes and calms the frantic anxieties of the limited self, and makes you receptive to specific directions and responsive to divine ideas which will bring positive results in your life. Your life will become more efficient and streamlined.
Eventually the habit of meditation will lead you into living in that higher consciousness all the time. The lower thoughts will get erased out of your mind because you are not feeding them. You might say that meditation “upgrades” the level of your mentality, or consciousness. You go beyond your physical senses and mental limitations and begin to identify with your soul. Any feeling of separateness disappears.
Meditation aligns your body, mind and soul. You might also say that meditation aligns your conscious, subconscious and superconscious minds.
This type of alignment causes the redirecting of your mental energy. You can now go beyond your conscious mind into the superconscious mind, which is also termed God Consciousness or the silence within, or the Now. It is the place where everything is known to you, and all problems are solved. It is an all knowing space, where all solutions are available.
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About the Author
Jane E. Hart is the founder and spiritual leader for the Center for Enlightenment. The Center began in response to the increased public desire to learn more about karma, reincarnation and soul evolution.
Jane teaches that all souls have within themselves a central point that leads to spiritual’ mastery. Her purpose is to help all seekers connect with that inner light, which enables them to express their full God potential. Jane’s own spiritual journey has continued for over four decades. Over that time, she has guided countless spiritual seekers to work in the best interest of their souls.
About Center for Enlightenment
With the arrival of the new millennium more people are seeking to learn about their inner spiritual nature and deepen their relationship with God. The Center for Enlightenment was founded to support this need and offer guidance for personal and spiritual unfoldment in a non-denominational environment.
The Center for Enlightenment honors all religions, and the one life (God) manifesting in all things. The foundation of the center’s teaching rests upon the understanding that God is energy in expression as the vibration and life of every soul.
The mission of the Center for Enlightenment is to assist humanity in realizing that the soul’s purpose is to awaken and live to its highest potential. The Center for Enlightenment exists to provide greater understanding of spiritual concepts and teach practical steps to aid in the soul’s evolution.
For more information on the Center for Enlightenment, visit the Center’s website at www.cfenliqhtenment.org.
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