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Full Spectrum Psychotherapy
Diane Morrin, M.A.
Licensed Professional Counselor
406-827-9330
1119 Maiden Lane
PO Box 1609
Thompson Falls, MT 59873 Full Spectrum Psychotherapy
Diane Morrin, M.A.
Licensed Professional Counselor
406-827-9330
1119 Maiden Lane
PO Box 1609
Thompson Falls, MT 59873 | | Meditation is an ancient practice present in all of the world's wisdom traditions. Basically, meditation is a technique used to tame and train the mind toward single focus. The human mind is like a bucking bronco that is constantly chattering and commonly creating fearful negative story lines that lead the person down the well worn path of self created misery and suffering. Meditation quiets the mind and brings it into the positive service of its owner. Gandhi advises us "to turn the search light inward".
The process of meditation calls for us to sit quietly, with no audible noise or distractions, such as television, music, pets, and people. Sitting in silence and solitude is frequently an alien idea to many Westerners. Our culture calls us to move our attention toward that which is external to our Being. We are taught that being busy and productive is the way to success. Obviously, the success about which our culture speaks is materialistic and involves constant interaction with other people. Hence, this idea of turning our attention inward is frequently met with resistance since our culture would tell us we are not being productive. If we come to understand that what is needed now on our planet Earth is a dramatically increased level of spiritual consciousness instead of more technology and more 'stuff', then we begin to realize that the answers are not 'out there', but rather 'inward'.
What is actually happening when we meditate? When we begin a meditation practice we start by putting our attention, not thought, on our breath. This takes concentration and effort. Unfortunately, the mind is not used to nor does it want to be silent. It should be noted here that the natural state of the mind is silent. But because of our culture and our conditioning, when we begin to meditate almost immediately the mind will throw up a thought or a storyline that takes our attention away from our breath and sends it to the thought. At that moment we consciously move our attention back to the breath. As our mind becomes more trained to concentrate on the breath and as our attention becomes able to stay focused on the breath we move into an altered state. Actually, this altered state is the same state that is present in the hypnotic trance state. Our brain waves change. This change makes permeable the veil between the conscious and unconscious information that is available to our Being. This altered state allows the human being, which is composed of the body, mind, and emotions, to contact its spirit. Our spirit often has a different agenda for us than that of our humanness. We become able to contact our inner-most guidance which is our true spiritual essence. In this altered state we are no longer listening to the voice of the mind, but the guidance of our spirit.
The practice of meditation enables us to establish what is called 'the witness'. The witness is really our spirit which has stepped back from our humanness and is able to be objective about the storylines in our mind that create so much suffering in our daily life. Our humanness buys into these stories, whereas our spirit does not. Our spirit can see clearly and can guide us to the truth and reality of this physical Earth plane. This process enables us to begin to break the identification with our body/mind/emotions and move toward identification with our Spirit. By doing so we become less reactive to situations happening in our world. We are able to see more clearly and to respond more skillfully; hence dramatically increasing the quality of our life. This process of meditation has been proven to significantly raise one's level of consciousness if practiced faithfully for four years.* Meditation opens the heart of compassion for ourselves and others. We naturally respond with helping and sharing where needed. Imagine the state of our planet if all human beings had a meditation practice and moved out into the world from that new perspective? May you be one of the courageous that do just that!!
* Ken Wilber, Kosmic Consciousness Suggested Reading:
Mindfulness in Plain English
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana. Wisdom Publications, Boston. 2002
Swallowing the River Ganges: A Practice Guide to the Path of Purification
Matthew Flickstein. Wisdom Publications, Boston. 2001
A Path With Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
Jack Kornfield. Bantam Books. 1993
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