Meditate.
Meditate.
Adapt to the challenges put in front of you.
The practice of meditation is currently flourishing. No wonder, as most people's days are tightly scheduled with overflowing calendars, appointments, conferences, calls, and deadlines. Many function under constant pressure and tension, rarely coming to their senses. Such exhaustion over time can result in so-called “lifestyle diseases”1, previously pretty much unknown yet nowadays common all around.
I made my own experiences burning out at a relatively young age, juggling multiple businesses at the same time. I should have known better as since I was a child, I had always dreamt of experiencing the true meaning of meditation in life and with it, hopefully experience a real path towards “enlightenment”. I have no idea where this deep desire came from, as both my parents and my surroundings weren’t familiar with the concept of meditation, so it’s no surprise that it took me the first twenty years of my life to find a meditation that worked for me. Having said this, earnest desire is only met with tangible results if one dares not to give up and just keeps going.
Fast forward another ten years and after (by then) practicing different types of meditations regularly, one of my best friends asked me why I would meditate. I knew his question was “rigged”, as whenever a topic came up that was somehow “spiritual”, he involuntarily and subconsciously considered it his duty to challenge me.
In fact, I met many people in my life who have not realized their fear of spirituality and what it sometimes can do to them and their environment. Humans are naturally equipped with seven major types of fears, some which are well known such as death fear or stage fear, and others which are less obvious, such as “Spiritual Fear”. Whilst fears also carry a meaningful purpose (i.e. to survive, to overcome, grow, etc.), the latter one is often a real life theme of the individual.
People with spiritual fear are often brilliant in various areas of their lives, yet they rarely succeed to connect the dots beyond that as they attribute the sanity of their brilliance to not let their mind wander into another domain (i.e. a “spiritual realm”), unknowingly believing that they’d thereby protect themselves and their tribe. Sometimes that’s true, though mostly the opposite is the case which explains the state of science, research and education we have in the world today, where asking for the science beyond the science (“spirituality”) is almost considered a mental crime.
Back to my friend — this exchange of blows between a more spiritual and a more materialistic perspective was a great give-and-take and priceless learning opportunity for me. With him challenging me in anything touching “spirituality”, I knew that I could not reply with my usual “to reach a state beyond the mind” upon his question as to why I mediate, so I simply said: “because I’m not as good a person as you are and I found meditation a suitable way for me to become the best version of myself” — which was perfectly true at the time, for I could be a real jerk in certain aspects of my character.
Indeed, during the course of my life and my “career” in meditation, I would make the case that doing any form of meditation is often linked to personal matters the individual is confronted with at the time, so it’s more of a universal life tool which enables us to tap into an innermost force that we all have natural access to and is not necessarily connected with religion or our modern understanding of spirituality at all. Just as in my case at the time when I wanted to work on my character by pacifying my moods, meditation can be applied to simply calm oneself, gain a better focus or concentration for a task at hand, help with mental disorders or stress and even find relief from emotional trauma or painful memories.
The one common denominator of it all is the quietness — no thoughts, yet pure awareness — the place from which solutions arise to problems that have yet to be born.
Not without reason the old German saying goes “In der Ruhe liegt die Kraft” which loosely translates into:
“Calmness is the source of strength.”
The Subjective-Objectiveness of Meditation
Given the complexity of the quantum universe, where particles with fundamentally different properties can interfere with each other2 it’s not surprising that different humans’ points of views become entangled as well.
No wonder then, that the subject of meditation is a very personal matter associated with different cultural backgrounds, religious perceptions and contemplated by highly individual experiences. Therefore by definition it’s difficult, perhaps even impossible, to truly objectively assess it.3
That having said and leaving the aspect of spiritual fear aside for a moment (which blocks openings to real objectiveness anyway4), there are some basics that anyone willing can follow by experience, for instance the facts that:
our mind doesn’t like repetitions and that it feels bored after a while. This technique is used in all major religions one way or the other, whether it’s in the form of repetitive chantings (songs, sounds, mantras, etc.), repeating prayers, benedictions and decrees, specific ritual body movements, etc. — in essence they’re all following the same principle to get the “mind to shut itself off” or at the very least “move into a more passive state”;
once we focus on something NOT to think or do, it inevitably becomes the center of our attention, or as the modern expression goes: “[don’t] think of a pink elephant” — which then according to the Ironic Process Theory (“IPT”)5 is very hard to get out of your mind;
normally we cannot control our mind (and with it our thoughts) directly, but only in an indirect manner. Certain breathing techniques (including Pranayama6 and those utilized by professional divers, the military, yogis or tai chi practitioners etc.) however allow us to indirectly control our thoughts, or rather, lose ourselves from thinking by moving over a doing into a feeling stage;
when exposing ourselves to certain extremes (e.g. ice cold temperatures, multiple days of dry or water based fasting, etc.), involuntarily and in some shape or form a forced natural reset of our physical and mental faculties occurs, thereby allowing us to better penetrate the inside of our minds;
by simply hugging a tree7 (e.g. during an exhausting hike) we’re provided with an almost unexplainable (yet exhilarating) new found strength whereas the conscious practice of grounding is often accompanied with a sudden but peaceful centered relaxation in our own being;
…and many more.
A more technology-savvy approach to experience meditation and the popular topic of mindfulness (when perhaps focusing on mind-emptiness would yield even better results) include apps such as:
and hardware-driven solutions such as:
which not only helps to get you in the mood but some can also measure your progress by hacking various data points, brain waves etc. along the way.
These modern times tools follow the amazing successes of famous mind machines such as the Brainman and the Brain Tuner, or lucid dreaming8 devices such as:
or the Procyon device.
Other (and for many decades) well researched and previously explored techniques to achieve deep meditative states include the floating water tank (sometimes also called “isolation tank”9) which uses sensory deprivation and is recognized as an official therapy called “REST” (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy)10.
If you don’t have any of those tools available don’t worry, cause neither had Massenet, yet he composed a most marvelous piece of music called “Méditation”, so be sure not to miss listening to it:
Cello: Ekkehard Hessenbruch, Piano: Toby Ruckert, Source: SoundCloud.
History of Meditation
When it comes to meditation I’m more the old-school type and like to appreciate the applied knowledge (a.k.a. wisdom) which has been proven to work throughout the ages, no matter how technologically poor they might be portrayed in history.
The well known and established Vipassana11, Transcendental and Kriya Yoga meditations, and my personal favorite — the lesser known Heart-Soul Meditation of the ancient Mahāsiddha Tradition — are examples where I see the real meaning and benefits of meditation unfold and come to life in its fullest.
Another unique path towards meditation is by identifying, embracing and utilizing your individual personality’s groundnote as established by the Nada-Brahma system of Vemu Mukunda, linked to the ancient Nāda Yoga12 tradition.
“Every human being who has found the groundnote of his individual voice has also found the groundnote and the key to his life. The wonderful part in the study of the voice is that it reflects not only the character of an individual, but also his overall development and stage of evolution. The essence of his personality is expressed in the speaking voice.”
— Hazrat Inayat Khan13
Today’s mainstream concept of meditation unfortunately is a much less holistic and often merely superficial affair, albeit at least addressing how to relax, however with little or no understanding of what really happens14 behind the scenes, i.e. capturing the deeper purpose of certain breathing techniques, the differences between imagination and visualization, or the quintessential consequences that arise out of refurbishing harmony between body, mind, spirit and soul in the context of an increasingly complex world.
Compare this with Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga Principles15 — the Eight limbs of Yoga — in which he explained how Yoga works on different levels of the human being (not just body, but also mind and soul). To him Yoga wasn’t only physical exercise, stretching, breathing exercises or meditation, but indeed all of these and more:
Yama – Moral principles related to society. So if somebody lives a successful and harmonious life in society, he is also practicing one part of Yoga.
Niyama – Personal principles, such as what to eat, when to eat, when to sleep and so on.
Asana – Body postures to enhance the energy flow in meridians by applying proper pressure on different parts of the body (using the principles of reflexology).
Pranayama – Breathing exercises to regulate mind and energy.
Pratyahara – Controlling the mind from its deviation to the external world through the five senses Sight, Hearing, Touch, Smell and Taste.
Dharana – Concentrating internally (here “Meditation” starts).
Dhyana – Observing the changes occurring during Dharana.
Samadhi – Thoughtless state which is beyond the mind.
whereas “Yama”, “Niyama” and “Asanas” are in physical level, “Pranayama” and “Pratyahara” are in mind level and “Dharana”, “Dhyana” and “Samadhi” are considered to be beyond the mind.
As one can see, during ancient times of meditation history, there was a clear evolution of mastery required before one was confronted with the consequences of meditating. Perhaps this is the equivalent or subconscious purpose of the aforementioned “spiritual fear” in modern times? Or perhaps meditation in itself is nothing but a stepping stone to proper self analysis followed by true self-realization?
In any case nowadays we’re lucky — cause everyone who wants can meditate. In ancient times however, it was a privilege!
Motivation, Uses and Experiences
The reasons why people start to meditate are different, so is the motivation which keeps them going. Everyone has their own states of knowledge, applied at various experience levels, realizing wisdom in their own pace and way.
My personal Harujuku Moment16 to earnestly begin pursuing meditation with the discipline it required for me came, when I had a devastating live piano performance. I had the occasional memory lack when playing by heart and without sheet music but what was worse was that on stage I tended to mess up the piece trying to jump through such gaps by accelerating beyond recognition, only to fail with my own weakness.
Visualizing the entire piece beginning to end, I promised myself that during the next performance I wouldn’t panic or accelerate in the face of a self-induced attack, instead I would do the opposite by slowing down, risking the “danger” of producing a few embarrassing moments on stage. This put my mind exactly where it needed to be as once it had realized that I wasn’t going to be afraid, it didn’t play any jokes on me and knew that if it disturbed my flow, I'd just slow down and focus more on the present moment.
For me the key takeaway from this realization was: I am not my mind. Yes, my mind is a part of me and it also has some kind of personality. But it ain’t me. On the other hand I knew that visualization techniques and centering myself17 on the present moment were just two small parts of the repertoire that meditation beholds, so I wondered, what else could I use meditation for?
Today I’m lucky to have encountered absolutely extraordinary individuals who apply the benefits of meditation in new ways and who explore its many different uses in their daily lives, not just for themselves, but also for their friends and family, nature and their environment as such. They use it for instance to:
better navigate a world of constant information overload, system designed misinformation and indoctrinated education;
sharpen their 6th sense, intuition and ESP levels and even sense illegal surveillance (e.g. in industry espionage);
spot subliminal and hypnotic manipulation and help others remember common sense for everyone’s sanity;
prioritize work for optimized flow states18 using their own subconscious, thereby producing the most productive and efficient outcomes;
open their minds and push the boundaries of perception, thinking and execution, thereby creating new innovations and thinking outside the box;
expect the unexpected, i.e. that AI could be nothing but the foundation of a new religion, or to simply gain a better focus by increasing one’s attention span19;
grow plants more successfully, heal nature and help others simply by emanating a certain happiness or smile;
…and many more.
Of course these simple (admittedly more modern times) uses of meditation are nothing akin to Himalayan masters’ siddhis20, but they might just suffice facing a real life frequency or chemically induced mind control event, or an outstanding hypnotic adversary encounter as depicted in Jessica Jones’s Kilgrave character21.
For me personally the experience of stilling my mind has resulted in an ability to confidently identify the thoughts and feelings I actually have. I don't believe I would know myself quite so well, if I didn't take time each day to still the worry, the chatter and the mental noise.
If you’re new to meditation, I would encourage you to take notes on your practice and use those insights, as it takes time to learn bringing memories of experiences encountered during meditation from subconscious levels up to a conscious state and later remember them.
A couple of friends wrote a wonderful small book called “Living Reflections” that I helped with for photography while living in New Zealand. It covers certain insights from their meditation journey, that I’m sharing with permission as follows:
My personal observations after starting meditation many years ago (other than getting a grip on my moods to help me with character building) were simply that whenever we would leave the house for a while, our fridge would naturally empty itself. There was much less waste in our life all around and things just seemed to “fall into place”.
Health, Science and Being
As mentioned earlier, the Subjective-Objectiveness of meditation is complicated given its entanglements. This quantum mechanical phenomenon in which the (quantum) state of two or more objects must be described in relation to each other (and even if such individual objects are vastly separated in space), will likely leave physics baffled for decades to come, especially with the disparity between classical physics (where in its mechanics such entanglements are absent) and quantum physics (where entanglements are a primary feature)22.
Meditation on the other hand could serve as a bridge to overcome conflicts between our more material world and seemingly less material (nonetheless just as real from a microcosmic perspective) domains. Indeed, considering the practical implication of meditation raises a question: the practitioner simply sits and from the outside (it appears) does nothing — so how can it have an impact on physical or mental health?
If headaches (or pains in general) can clear23 just by meditation (without taking pills or using other remedies), surely there must be a process which explains the working function or underlying principles of the procedure in a more scientific way?
During meditation, the practitioner enters different states of awareness, e.g. from conscious to subconscious (and in some rare practices also other types of conscious levels) whilst all the time remaining both the subject and the object, i.e. the doer and the observer. Perhaps this explains why certain meditations have a profound physical and mental effect on our health and wellbeing and could potentially dissolve the conflicts in quantum24 vs. classical physics (or naturalize the interaction between the creator and its creation) at an inner level before they externally occur.
Luckily, deep meditative states have one scientific fact in common: the brain wave frequencies25 eventually reach the so-called “Theta state”. Today we have five known and well researched brain states covering different frequency bands and fully measurable by modern EEG26 systems as follows:
Gamma (γ): > 35 Hz (Concentration)
Beta (β): 12–35 Hz (Anxiety dominant, active, external attention, relaxed)
Alpha (α): 8–12 Hz (Very relaxed, passive attention)
Theta (θ): 4–8 Hz (Deeply relaxed, inward focused)
Delta (δ): 0.5–4 Hz (Sleep)
Source: ScienceDirect — Brain Waves.
And then there are those aspects of life which we would normally not even see being meditative in nature, such as breathing in and out or certain professions which can only be carried out by being both creative and reflective at the same time, plus they require skills with keen observation and focus, yet demand detachment from the ultimate outcome. Consider e.g. the work of a sculptor — for indeed we’re all sculptures of our own life’s work.27
By keenly observing our breath and the mode of attention while being immersed with the subjective objectiveness of our activity, a natural evolution of the aforementioned brain states can be followed (i.e. “from being focused and active” all the way to “passive relaxation and inward focus”) and our inner qualities and challenges start revealing themselves.
Regardless of whether “Self” is made or whether it’s unveiled, once we start carving our character (and with it our future), most of us (at least initially) meet with certain obstacles. It’s the irony of progress that with no stones left unturned, some mud also shows and the forces which arose by feeding our own demons, fight to survive.
Adapting to a new physical environment (e.g. a hot or cold climate) is relatively easy for us — we can simply change our clothes. But how to adapt to a new mental environment? When moving from a state of mind to a frame of mind in the context of meditation, we can often hear things like:
“I would meditate, but I just don’t have the time.”
“I simply can’t sit still for long, I get so many thoughts or am constantly interrupted.”
“I’ve tried it, it’s great, I’ll do it more often in future.”
“It’s similar to XYZ which I have tried before/which I already know.”
“When I do XYZ (walking in nature, surfing across the blue ocean) it’s akin to meditating.”
However, none of these are truly real. If you dig deeply, you’ll realize they are mind tricks played by the forces we’ve created around ourselves, trying to stop us from becoming entrepreneurial sculptors of our own lifes. Many people therefore end up with a mixed bag of meditative experiences without really catching the essence of it.
To address these natural occurrences effectively, most human beings need to set themselves some rules and principles when embarking on a journey that could upset their status quo. In my case I simply promised myself that I would meditate daily for a year, without fail, and if I’d miss one day, I’d meditate twice the next, and so on. It worked!
Another (much later) step on my meditative journey was to simply not set a time limit at all. Of course that’s generally unimaginable and highly incompatible with a typical western lifestyle, yet if you wake up really early (say 3 am) or start meditating only at night (say 8 pm), you actually have hours of meditation to fill before you venture back into sleep. The “beyond time space” you then create in your mind is what makes those meditations so effective and rewarding: you’re not projecting expectations externally, instead you’re allowing the meditative force itself to expand and implode within you.
From Mental Chaos to Blissful Calmness
Nowadays many people suffer from so-called attention deficit hyperactivity, a disorder also known as “ADHD”28. From a mere psychological perspective it’s considered a neurobiological disorder but similar to the conundrum produced when comparing traditional vs. quantum physics, ADHD could originate from unresolved internal conflicts, e.g. self-esteem issues or repressed emotions that show up as symptoms.
While genetic and neurobiological factors certainly play a role and ADHD might simply be a sign of a world that is moving ever faster, such “conflicts in the brain” can manifest in the form of attention problems, impulsivity and hyperactivity. Therefore people with ADHD can behave similar to “forward offenders” who have difficulty adapting in a busy society with restlessness symbolizing that they are looking for a deeper meaning and a stronger connection to their inner world.
Meditation is a wonderful tool to explore such deeper meaning and connection as it literally enables us to rewire our brains29 and allows us to train it moving out of stressful mental zones automatically.
It’s also important to reflect upon the natural consequences of meditative states if and when we get them (e.g. increased confidence, the absence of anxiety or an ability to more quickly adapt to different situations) as it helps with better adapting new neurological pathways. This is being explored in the following video using certain audio stimulants (here in the Delta range of 0.5 - 4 Hz) and visualization themes (optional to watch as people may associate them differently):
Even if you’re not suffering with ADHD but perhaps have trouble falling asleep, the above is well worth a try, especially in the evening.
As for the best possible time to meditate — the standard answer which can be found both in old scriptures as well as in the latest writings of popular motivational guides nowadays is “to be always in constant inner communion with one’s self”.
Being more pragmatic though it’s only natural if this changes during your “meditation career”. It certainly has for me. Initially and when I simply wanted to push myself to ensure I would meditate once daily, I fixed a slot for right after lunch which worked perfectly well for me. Later I enjoyed the sunrise and sunset as opportune times for meditation and reflection.
Nowadays I think anything is fine given the priority I want to assign to my life-long carving project as a sculptor. Just get down to business, for meditation is a great way to get into the “zone” — the mental state that is optimal for what you are trying to do.
Risks, Benefits and Rewards
With all the upside meditation can provide us with, I really cannot emphasize the downsides enough as well. In reality, they’re not downsides, but just taking the aforementioned tricks played by the forces we’ve created around ourselves as an example, one has to be mentally prepared to potentially meet with adversity — from within or without — when adopting the practice of meditation.
Not only that, there are actually a number of factors which highly influence the successful outcome of meditations. For instance if done properly, certain meditations can also clear some old left-over memories of past diseases, resulting in seemingly negative effects at first, but with the body ridding itself of the then unwanted stuff, apparently negative effects (i.e. headaches, rashes, phlegm, fever, etc.) can occur. Such a body-mind-spirit detox isn’t something you might have asked for when starting to meditate, but it’s rarely avoidable, so ideally one is ready to accept such natural consequences.
Similarly, if you do anything “wrong” during meditations, i.e. applying more force or feeling during certain visualizations, breathings, etc. or accidentally confuse certain terminology, e.g. consciousness with energy, light with fire, colour with temperature, etc. — then don’t be surprised if you get a corresponding reaction.
I’ve met several people who have experienced e.g. “kundalini syndrome” and other syndromes stemming from their initial steps adopting meditation practices. I’m no exception. One single five minute mistake caused me sleepless nights for nearly three months, so speaking from own experience — please, don’t underestimate this aspect and make sure your have really evaluated the history and background of the meditations you’re going to embark on and ideally have a teacher who can help you fix things in case they go wrong. There is a reason why in the East the Guru is the One who dispels the darkness of ignorance and the one who points the way.
We have to take responsibility for the
principles, practices and the people
we have adopted in our lives.
— Sri Tejas
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