I’ve meditated for over 40 years. I’ve read a variety of spiritual books, all of which indicated the necessity of doing so if we want to grow. Many of them would suggest a starting point: allocate 20 minutes, sit, and quiet your mind and eventually, your mind chatter would slow down.

I made one very useful mistake. I assume all meditation required that we sit in a lotus position. This ended up being a blessing. At first, I would sit within a full lotus and my knees were uncomfortable, to say the least, but I had the determination. Amazingly, after a few weeks, my mind chatter stopped. A heavenly experience.

With time and external activity in the outer world, I found it a challenge to switch gears and enter into meditation. With the help of my fellow meditators, I developed a prelude which helps me to transition from the outer world to the interior. I hope the following will be useful:

Prelude

I’m mentally walking to my favorite spot, sitting close to where two streams join. I raise my awareness to 10,000 feet and look around. What do I see? The valley to the north with a background of mountains, to the east are mountains, to the south I see San Diego, and the shoreline, to the west I see the infinite ocean.

Then I move my awareness to a point in space where the earth is to my left, the sun to the right, the moon centered above, and no gravity.

Transcending my Earthly Bounds my magic carpet unfolds. I’m facing a beach and see my Temple in the Sky on an island. In front of the temple, Jesus and Buddha are waving me to join them. I jump into the water; then they instruct me to walk. I walk on water to them standing in front of the temple.

As I walk up the beach, I face two Karmic Pillars on the left is a money tree and I can pick what I want. I notice ships loaded with money that I am only allowed to direct for good. On the right is a beehive of gals swarming and a few are attracted to me and land on my shoulder.

As I walk thru the Karmic pillars, Jesus and Buddha escort me around the temple to view the world: musicians, dancers, boats, planes, every possible food imagined, theatre, racing, vendors, horses, money changers, etc.

As we circumvent the Temple, I transcend the outer world and ask to enter. Buddha and Jesus each open a door. Inside is a circular setting with the alter in the center surrounded with arena seating of my fellow travelers who radiate a welcoming aura. I am then escorted to the center by my late friend Bill who welcomes me joyfully along with his wife. Bill accompanies me to a scene of the last supper. Jesus at the center along with his disciples. I bow then kneel.

Gratitude

Then, I observe the disciples rotating out and my many earthly teachers entering: my parents, my kindergarten teacher, grade school, family friends, high school, coaches, employers along the way, companies that provided jobs, providers of professional services, the structures of local, state, and national government that add to my world, the millions of people that have provided services, directly and indirectly, such as water, food, clothing, energy, etc.

Then, I am escorted to my right, where many Saints and Masters have formed an oval seating. At the top is Mahatma Gandhi leading today’s meditation. Also in the circle are Babaji, Krishna, Yogananda, Easwaran, Ben Franklin, and my fellow meditators from this plane.

Unity

I sit and allow my Mind to become still; knowing there is nothing else to do. As I finish and leave my temple, I feel the vibrations of my fellow travelers and take them with me. Then, I parachute back to the spot where the two streams meet.

Rich Meyer, Blogger & Author