A blog about crystals, energy cultivation and lifestyle balance …
Foundation for Meditating with Crystals – Part 2
by Eric Justin of OneOriginStarseed
Continued from Part 1 . . .
Let the Muddy Water in the Bucket Settle
Think of the mind of the average person, as a bucket of muddy water that has been churned up, and is in motion. The more the dirty water in the bucket is churned, the dirtier it looks. If one is thirsty and needs to drink, this bucket of water will not suffice, and may even make a person sick depending on its level of filth.
The mind is like this example of the dirty bucket of water. No matter how much you may try to force the mind to be still, no matter what tricks you may attempt to forcefully clean the water, and remove the dirt, all efforts will be in vain, and the energy applied, will only further complicate the issue. However, this dirty bucket of water, if left alone long enough, will in time settle by itself resulting in the water becoming clean and clear at the top, and the dirt accumulating on the bottom. This is meditation… However, just a slight movement of the bucket, will cause the dirt to stir up, and make the clean, clear water at the top unusable once again.
Eternal Waiting
Patience is a virtue that is becoming rare in the modern world. We want instant gratification, and on-demand results. Since meditation in its essence, is the practice of purely waiting endlessly for nothing in particular, it is no wonder why it too, is unattractive and unflavorful to the modern palate. The development of one’s skill in meditation, requires the development of patience in every sense of the word.
Returning to the concept of the bucket of dirty water we used above, there is only one thing that will make the dirt of the mind settle, and cause it to become clear again, and that is patience and stillness. By keeping the bucket still, and letting it play out its drama until it exhausts itself, the dirt will naturally settle, resulting in clear and clean water once more. The original mind is a bucket of clean water in which the dirt is still and sleeping peacefully at the bottom. This clean water is pure awareness. The only thing we truly need to meditate is patience and stillness.
Change your Body Chemistry
Meditation is the essence of Internal Alchemy. In ancient times, sages used the concept of a cauldron, which is used for cooking, to illustrate the process of internal transformation that occurs in meditation, in a similar way as cooking food happens in a cauldron. First, we need a cauldron which is in good working order, then we need the water and ingredients in the cauldron to be in just the right proportions. Then those ingredients need to be heated to just the right temperature in order for the cooking process to take place, and good food to be served.
The body as the cauldron in Internal Alchemy, needs to be in the right balance, with the correct amount of ingredients, and an appropriate strength of fire in order to properly cook the food. If the fire is too strong, the ingredients will be burned and destroyed in the cauldron. If the fire is too weak, the food will never be cooked properly, and may spoil before cooking is completed. Also, if the cauldron is broken or inadequate, or if the ingredients are in the wrong balance, the effort to cook the food will be in vain and the result will be failure.
See the body as a complex soup of ingredients in a cauldron, or a chemistry set in a laboratory. As the process of cooking is undertaken, the chemistry of the soup will change. By being life sensitive, with a developed intuition as a result of being plugged into nature, we can feel the correct balance and application of the energies needed to achieve the desired results of our lab experiment. It has actually been proven by modern science that the practice of meditation results in the positive alteration of one’s body chemistry.
Empty the Cup
We are all born with an empty cup. The fact that the cup is empty, means it can be used to hold something. The usefulness of a cup comes from the empty space inside of it. If the cup is full however, nothing more can be added to it, and it becomes useless. Learning how and when to empty one’s cup, is an integral aspect of alchemy.
If the cup of the mind is full of accumulated knowledge, prejudices, preferences, judgements, conclusions, etc., then life growth will be halted, and stagnation and decline will take root on all levels. In meditation we learn how to empty the cup daily, and keep one’s life potency and potential at its highest level. When this is done, we are open to what life has to offer in each moment, and are able to receive its blessings without effort. An empty cup means to be receptive. One who is full of themselves, is unable to respond to the needs of the present moment, because their cup is full with yesterday.
Listen to the Silence
A good listener, has nothing to think about… To be receptive to the whisper of nature, requires actively listening to the stillness, and silence of her life breath, in every moment. In meditation, through stillness, we become aware. By paying attention to the present moment with full sincerity, means the movement of the mind settles and comes to a halt. Once the mind is at rest, naturally one will listen to the natural play of energies which are fully alive only in this moment.
It is said that silence is the greatest teacher. All answers to life arise from spending time in quiet stillness. By becoming comfortable with silence, the drama of the mind will settle and deep healing will occur on many levels. Modern culture seems to want to avoid silence at any cost. We have lost touch with the value of silence. Silence is a mirror which shows us the truth of our existence. Fear not what you may look like now in this mirror, because with attention and patience, its image will become increasingly beautiful.
Lose Track
The mind likes to keep a tight grip on its reality. With logic, it measures every step and calculates probabilities of the future, based on what it knows from accumulated past experience. The mind tries to keep life “on track” and goes to great lengths to control the variables of each moment, by setting restrictions, coming up with formulas of action, and making conclusions to try to stop other possibilities from arising which could upset the reality it is trying to maintain.
The mind and its logic, has its function and may be necessary for successful living in the world. However, when its grip becomes too tight, and it forces one’s life energies to move along certain tracks for too long, the integral health of the spirit will be undermined, and one’s life will begin to wither.
In meditation, we attempt to do the very opposite of that which most of us struggle to maintain every day. Rather than continually forcing life to move through certain channels on a certain track, instead by being still, we willing lose track of the tight equation we have been trying to maintain, and give our spirit a chance to emerge through the gate of the stillness of mind.
The Value of Stillness
Life is an eternal dance of energies that seem to be random and chaotic, but in actuality are coordinated and in-sync at deep levels. Being constantly in motion, and in a bustle of endless activity, we lose sight that the mother of all activity is stillness. At the core of the manifest and unmanifest, and at the very root of nature, is stillness. To see this from another angle, we acknowledge that the energy required for all activity, is born from stillness. This can be interpreted as rest and action; however, the truth of stillness is much more profound than this.
In meditation, whether it’s the traditional seated types or in active movement meditation, by learning to tap into the core of stillness at the center of our life being, we open our inner world to higher dimensions of experience, as well as giving our physical life the true support it needs to conduct day-to-day affairs, and pilot its self-created destiny in the direction of the heart.
Learning to consciously cultivate stillness in all of one’s actions, and to also be aware of the movement within stillness, is to copy the pattern of nature and realize the balance which is required to make all things possible. Any successful action or activity, has a reservoir of stillness at its center, keeping the integral unity of the whole together. All are born from stillness, and returns to stillness, whether in the manifest or the unmanifest dimensions of existence.
To be continued in Part 3 . . .
Hey everyone… My Name is Eric Justin… I started this blog as a way to help clarify many misunderstandings and misperceptions which have formed around the use of crystals. I aim to promote their positive life-empowering potential in an honest and straightforward way. In addition, I am here to help promote ancient practices of energy cultivation, which can be used by all people to help establish balance and stability in their unending life journey of self-discovery and self-mastery.
Disclaimer – This blog is presented as is, for informational purposes only. We do our very best to provide honest, accurate, clear and concise knowledge based on our own experiences, reliable sources of modern crystal usage as well as traditional uses and even that which comes from history and legend. Any information we provide is to be used by our readers and customers in a responsible manner and at their own risk. By reading this blog, purchasing our crystals or practicing any of the methods we provide, each reader and customer accepts responsibility and risk for their own actions and automatically is bound to our terms and conditions. For more information please refer to our Terms and Conditions Section.
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