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To Better Serve the Self one must modernize old wisdom brought down to humans since the dawn of man. Assimilating the message below will prepare your mind for 21st century turbulence and uncertainty

There are those who are spiritual but not religious because their faith in traditional Christianity, or other religions, is full of questions that faith alone can not answer. We are offering you an introduction to a modern world view of spiritualism. First, it is a new use of the word.- Spiritualism. Perhaps, someone will come up with a better name for it. It is not a cult or a religion; it is a way of thinking about being human and serving God by serving other humans while being happy: about it.

It is: Being a part of the Light , Being a part of the Universe in a loving compassionate useful way. We urge you to try for more success in coping with the journey of life, learn this 2lst century message about how to be with God while serving your fellow Man. . .

This is a Message from One who goes with the flow. First, becalm yourself. To prepare your mind for this experience, please, focus on this introduction for a few minutes. Try saying it over again a few times.

"I am flexible and flowing . . . I easily flow with change . . . Forgiveness, Understanding, Compassion Envelope My Spirit. . . I bend and flow with ease and all is well."

Perhaps, you will want to use this "flow saying" to comfort your "self"in daily life in your future. Make a note of it, or, make it part of your download.

Now proceed with the reading. It will nurture One's Spirit.

This is a message of enlightenment. See it as a Stream of Consciousness . . . Follow the Light . . .

Humans have now learned that a strong belief in almost any force for good is recognized as having health benefits. Those who do not believe there is a force for good in the universe are lacking. ( Agnostic/Humanist tend to believe in something of their own choice rather than the dismal choice of being a nihilist.)

According to health givers, including allopathic physicians (western medicine), whether it is faith in God, or some benevolent Higher Power, such a strong belief has efficacious healing power.

There is an emerging paradigm of "subtle energy medicine"that supplies modern spirits with rational support for following ancient practices such as massage, acupuncture, prayer, hypnosis, meditation along with herbal medicine, balanced nutrition, and so on.

Today, we recognize that the human cell wall is much more than a physical barrier with receptors designed to protect the cell's contents. The worn out world view of our body was a limiting belief promoted by the warrior-mentality. The cell was seen as a castle with a moat to be defended. As the spirit of the nurturing feminine principles is coming into prominence, we are beginning to see that the cell wall is an interactive window. The cell membrane is so permeable that millions of ions flow into and out of the cell in nanoseconds.

These energies course through the body and mind in a way very similar to the ancient concepts of: Chinese chi & meridians, and also the Hindu's prana & chakras.

American Indian shamans, and those of other primitive cultures, have never lost the fundamentals of this kind of knowledge of how the mind/body relates to  the stars and the universe.

Until recently, Western Medicine researchers concentrated on how mood, cravings, responses to stress, and human behavior are mediated by hormones functioning with the neurotransmitters such as seratonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and endorphins, among others. Medicines and talk-therapy for depression have been developed based on such medical research. Clearly, the mind and body converse by way of hormones, neurotransmitters, chemicals and electromagnetic forces. We are discovering the mind/body energies are powerful resonating signal amplifiers, which allow the cell to make appropriate responses. The body contains its own best pharmacy.

If someday, a way is found for the brain and neural system to actually experience God, first hand, (i.e., the force for good), then, simple belief and blind faith will become not necessary. We already know that we don't have to believe in gravity in order to experience gravity. Humans are gaining more understanding of the healing ways of nature and nurture.

The Way will probably be a somewhat scientific approach (If biofeedback is scientific) that blends our understanding of the unity of nature with the different levels of reality, (material, quantum, and virtual). Thereby the new paradigm will empower us to understand how the human brain/ body, particularly the nervous/endocrne systems work without the gaps of knowledge that we now fill-in with faith and belief.

Getting close to God through a true knowing would heal the fear of death. For it will confirm the existence of the soul, and provide us with an understanding of the ultimate meaning to life. When that day comes we will know with certainty that:

All Humans have, in common, these SEVEN Different Biological Responses.

1. When we experience the primitive survival response fight/flight we know we need protection so we seek it from God. This primitive survival response is part of our evolved human nature. For many, a prayer-filled (meditatiive) response is simply more efficacious than depending solely on one's Self.
2. If we feel the need to react to a threat or opportunity, we pray for the Almighty to help us to control that event in our life thereby to reward us or, on the other hand, or heal us of our wrongdoing. Thus we have found that prayer expiates the unhealthy response of a guilt-ridden conscience. We see or feel God in our reactive responses in stories about: Job, Moses, Francis of Assisi, Ben Franklin, William Blake, Albert Einstein, and others.
3. Feeling peace inside, we experience the God Force as it provides peace of mind. We have found that the saints of various religions are worthy of study. Seeing our world through the eyes of Moses, Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Gandhi, Lao Tze, enables us to better understand the value of meditation and contemplation. Thus we find we can access a good health-giving consciousness.
4. When our intuition responds better we begin to understand ourselves better, then we thank God (The Force) as our redeemer. We have learned that the ennobling spirit of gratitude is healthier than the arrogant conceit -"I did it my way"which seems to be the saying of a lonely warrior who needed the help of no one. We are healthier when we readily cry out for help in the face of overwhelming stress.
5. We are responding to God, the Creator of the Universe, when our own creative powers are synchronizing with the World as we feel it ought to be. The Book of Genesis is about the creative response.
6. When one has a Visionary Response we are in communication with the Infinite Mind. We are channeling God as the alchemist, miracle worker, and magician might do. This does not mean one is clairvoyant or more spiritual than others. It simply means one has opened a channel to the universal force for good. This is because one has a brain that, ove time, developed that way, or, for some, one has gained that ability through practice or learning from others. The 35 miracles of Christ are for some the visionary response. Others have observed it occur in their own life.
7. If you are in the Sacred Response mode then one is experiencing God, as the immeasurable potential of all that was, is, and will be. When Moses asks God for his name, God says, " I Am - that I Am." Those who need the 73 names of God, or, other such descriptive labels in order to feel and see the Higher Power are reaching to overcome their skepticism. They seek to know with the left side of the brain that is the rational mind. Such humans may never know (i.e, experience) that God is the force for good that is within humans. As the Kabbalist says, we may learn that we are God.Our role is to love, to experience the unity of consciousness, to know at the deepest level of our being that we are One Spirit in different guises.
   

These seven responses are characterized or imagined in all of the world religions. These responses correspond to levels of awareness and spiritual experience. The MeetingHouse through its links provides the opportunity to explore the many paths to God. We hope it will aid one and all to respect and tolerate the religions of others. In modern jargon, one may find that they are, "All on the same page!"

The Global Experience of the coming century ought to be for all humans to unite in the task of carefully conserving the myriad cultural heritages that embellish this planet Earth. We are in transit to knowing a much changed Global Human Experience. The Spirit of God is our guiding Light as we search the Universe. May the Light Be With You.

A SHORT COMPARISON AND CONTRAST - SPIRITUALISTS VERSUS SPIRITUAL MEDITATION

There is being offered a new unity of our religions based not on an ancient traditions but on facts that can now be observed by anyone. For those to whom materialistic ways of thinking had closed the possibility of a life after death, there is now being offered the hope of a more clearly defined immortality. To those suffering from grief after the death of their loved ones, there iis now being offered the possibility of communicating with them. There have been strong emotional commitments to both rejection, on the one hand, and acceptance of spiritualism, on the other, that have made it difficult to do an impartial appraisal of the evidence.

Spiritualism is a religion of discovery of the multi-dimensional personhood of the individual. Its presence on the world scene is one reason the spiritual but not religious are seeking their own way to God outside the church. No institutional church is necessary. though it may be useful. Spiritualism is only one kind of belief. A few of the practices among the many within the orbit of the spiritual but not religious are based upon the belief, that departed souls hold intercourse with mortals. Today, this is usually through a medium who enable the visualizing of physical phenomena or the experiences of abnormal mental states such as trances. Some are ready to get started by using a medium to take a look by"being in touch with the departed".

For those in the West , an important recent development of spiritualism has been in the direction of "spirit healing." Unorthodox healings have in the past been associated with sacred places and religious rites. Medical science is inclined to attribute all such healings to the normal mental process of suggestion working under favorable conditions. But it is also claimed by some scientists that there is a genuine power of paranormal healing found in certain persons. From the spiritualist point of view these healers are regarded as mediums who acts as agents of or channelers of spirit doctors. Healings are claimed for a variety of conditions, some of which have been regarded as incurable by orthodox medicine. A famous example of a respected reader/healer was Edgar Cayce's who did thousands of reading for many people during the 20th century. His grandson, Charles Thomas Cayce, is the director of the Edgar Cayce Foundation and the Institute for Enligtenment at Virginia Beach, Va., USA. Contact: www.arebookstore.com

The attempt to communicate with discarnate spirits seems to be one of the forms that religion is taking in human societies. There is a long history of such work; widely distributed in space and time over the Earth. Practices very like those of a modern spiritualistic seance have been reported in various parts of the world. For example, Indonesia, Haiti and among the North American Indians. There is no reason for supposing that these shmanistic ways are of recent origin. The record of a materialization seance of long ago is preserved in the account in the Old Testament of Saul's visit to the witch, or medium, of Endor. In the course of this visit a materialization appeared that was regarded by the king as the prophet Samuel (I Sam. 28:7,19).

Certain mediumistic phenomena were reported in the witch trials of the Middle Ages, particularly the appearance of spirits in quasi-material form and the obtaining of knowledge through spirits. It may be supposed that many of those persecuted for the practice of witchcraft were what would now be called mediums. Although their mediumship was colored by the fact that they were forced to organize into forbidden underground cults. The church regarded such spiritual communication as the work of devils.

On the other hand, if the person experiencing the phenomena was a devout member of the church such as Teresa of Avila, then the experience was hailed by the church as a miracle of God. Some mediumistic phenomena were also found among those regarded in the Middle Ages as possessed by God speaking in languages unknown to the speaker and levitation or partial levitation. Teresa of Avila was reported to experience levitation on more than one occasion. Herbalists were burned at the stake for doing the same. God knows you figure.

Although spiritualistic practices seem to be widespread, they were virtually unknown in modern civilized society until March 1848, when odd happenings were reported at the house of a farmer named Fox in a small town in New York state. Previous occupants of the house had been disturbed by unexplained raps at night. After a severe disturbance by raps during Mr. Fox's tenancy, his youngest daughter, Kate, was said to have successfully challenged the supposed spirit to repeat the number of times she flipped her fingers. Once communication had apparently been established a code was agreed upon by which the raps given could answer questions, and the spirit was said to have identified himself as a man who had been murdered in the house.

The practice of having sittings for communication with spirits spread rapidly from that time. Kate Fox (afterward Mrs. Fox-Jencken) and one of her sisters gave much of their later lives to acting as mediums in the United States and in England. Many other mediums gave similar sittings, and the movement became widespread. The attempt to communicate with spirits by table turning became a popular pastime in Victorian drawing rooms. Much of this activity was motivated by mere curiosity and the fascination of the supernatural, but it also had a more serious intention. Many inquirers wished to convince themselves as to human survival of bodily death; others suffered from the loss of loved relatives and friends and found consolation in the belief that they were able to communicate with them; others wanted information about the future life. To promote these serious ends, spiritualist associations or churches were formed.

The rise of these new cults were not allowed to take place without opposition. There was not only verbal condemnation with accusations of fraud but also mob violence. This was, no doubt, partly a popular reaction to a novel system of ideas and practices that were suspected of being based on either fraud or evil. The suspicion of evil was perhaps strengthened by a conjectured relationship to the discarded system of witchcraft. Although individual spiritualists were often members (or even ministers) of Christian churches, the general tendency of the established religious bodies was to suspect the movement and its claim to a new revelation that would either supplement or replace the Christian revelation. The spiritualist practices seemed also to some religious bodies to be a part of the forbidden activity of necromancy. Though there was no evidence. A decree of the Holy Office of the Roman Catholic church in 1898 condemned spiritistic practices, although permitting legitimate scientific investigation of mediumistic phenomena. The philosopher/psychologist, William James, of Harvard led a group that provided scientific investigation of these mediums. Frauds were exposed. While a few, apparently authentic, mediiums were validated. Dr. Gary Schwartz of the University of Arizona has continued and extended this work today.

For those who had lost their faith in traditional Christianity, there was offered a new kind of religion based not on an ancient traditions but, instead, on "facts" that could be observed by anyone.

For those to whom materialistic ways of thinking had closed the possibility of a life after death, there was being offered a new hope of a continum of life after "one had crossed over" to a different existence a sort of immortality. There is much controversy among scientists about this kind of research.

To those suffering from grief after the death of their loved ones, there was offered the possibility of communicating with them. There were strong emotional involvements in both the rejection and the acceptance of spiritualism that have made difficult an impartial appraisal of the evidence. While bona-fide investigations continue fraudulent tricksters continue to gull the gullible. But, then we should realize that the same kind of divide exists in the sale of securities as investments in capitalistic societies. Zoroaster's wise warnings about the duty we all owe ourselves to separate the sincere from the liars continues to guide us.

Spiritual Mysticism

In general, a spiritual quest for hidden truth or wisdom, the goal of which is union with the divine or sacred (the transcendent realm) is alive today in many forums. Forms of mysticism are found in all major world religions, by analogy to the shamanic and other ecstatic practices of non-literate cultures, and wihin secular experience.

In the 20th and 21st centuries mysticism ("the treasure hidden in the center of our souls") has undergone a renewal of interest and understanding and even a mood of expectancy similar to that which marked its role in previous eras. Such a mood stems in part from the feeling of alienation that many persons experience in the modern world. Put down as a religion of the elite, mysticism (or the mystical faculty of perceiving transcendental reality) is said by many to belong to all men, though few use it. The British author Aldous Huxley has stated that "a totally unmystical world would be a world totally blind and insane,"and the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore has noted that "Man has a feeling that he is truly represented in something which exceeds himself."

Nature and Significance of Modern Mysticism

The goal of spiritual mysticism is union with the divine or sacred. The path to that union is usually developed by following four stages: purgation (of bodily desires); purification (of the will); illumination (of the mind), and unification (of one's will or being with the divine).

It is said that "the object of man's existence is to be a Man", that is, to re-establish the harmony which originally belonged between him or her and the divinized state before the separation took place which disturbed the equilibrium"(see The Life and Doctrine of Paracelsus). Mysticism will always be a part of the way of return to the source of being, a way of counteracting the experience of alienation. Mysticism has always held, and parapsychology also seems to suggest—that the discovery of a nonphysical element in man's personality is of utmost significance in his quest for equilibrium in a world of apparent chaos. Mysticism's apparent denial, or self-negating, is part of a psychological process or strategy that does not really deny the personhoood. In spite of its lunatic fringe, the maturer forms of mysticism satisfy the claims of rationality, ecstasy, and righteousness. For recent developments of mounting significance see:

www.connectioninstitute.org

There is obviously something non-mental, alogical, paradoxical, and unpredictable about the mystical phenomenon. However, it is not, therefore, irrational or antirational or "religion without thought."

Instead, as Zen masters say, it is knowledge of the most adequate kind, only it cannot be expressed in words. (see Buddhism for more about then Zen Buddhists sect.) If there is a mystery about mystical experience, it is something it shares with life and consciousness. Mystics such as the Desert Fathers and Thomas Merton experienced a form of living in depth. Their lives indicate that within humans there is a meeting ground of various levels of reality. It appears to be more than one-dimensional. Despite the interaction and correspondence between levels,"What is below is like what is above; what is above is like what is below"(see Tabula Smaragdina, "Emerald Tablet,"a work on alchemy attributed to Hermes Trismegistus) These levels are not to be equated or confused they may be planes which can be achieved. At once a praxis (technique) and a gnosis (esoteric knowledge), mysticism consists of a way or discipline. [Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of Mary said that what Jesus taught was one can gain the self-knowledge that would enable these higher levels of human potential.]

The relationship of the religion of faith to mysticism ("personal religion raised to the highest power") is ambiguous, a mixture of respect and misgivings. Though mysticism may be associated with religion, it need not be. The mystic often represents a type that the religious institution (e.g., church) does not and cannot produce and does not know what to do with if and when one appears. As William Ralph Inge, an English theologian, commented, "institutionalism and mysticism have been uneasy bedfellows."Although mysticism has been the core of Hinduism and Buddhism, it has been little more than a minor strand - and, frequently, a disturbing element - in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As the 15th to16th century Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli had noted of the 13th-century Christian monastic leaders St. Francis and St. Dominic, they had saved religion but destroyed the church.

The founders of religion may have been incipient or advanced mystics, but the inner compulsions of their experience have proved less amenable to dogmas, creeds, and institutional restrictions, which are bound to be outward and majority oriented. There are religions of authority and the religion of the spirit. Thus, there is a paradox: if the mystic minority is distrusted or maltreated, religious life loses its sap; on the other hand, these "peculiar people"do not easily fit into society, with the requirements of a prescriptive community composed of less sensitive seekers of safety and religious routine. Though no deeply religious person can be without a touch of mysticism, and no mystic can be, in the deepest sense, other than religious, the dialogue between mystics and conventional religionists has been far from happy. From both sides there is a constant need for restatement and revaluation, a greater tolerance, a union of free men's worship. Though it validates religion, mysticism also tends to escape the fetters of organized religion.

Relation of Mystical Experience to Other Kinds of Experience

Mysticism shares a common world with magic, theurgy (power of persuading the supernatural), prayer, meditation, self-hypnosis, worship, religion, metaphysics (transcendent levels of reality), and even science. It may not be always easy to distinguish mysticism from these but its approach and emphasis are different. Though there is an element of magic, psychism, and the occult in much of what passes for mysticism, it is not to be equated with a science of the unseen or with voices and visions. Powers of the occult (or siddhis) are viewed as real, but they can also be dangerous and are not of interest to genuine mystics, who have warned against their likely misuse.

Prayer, meditation, worship, and self-hypnosis may form part of mysticism, but they are viewed as means and not as essence. Also,they are usually continuations of sensory experience, whereas, mysticism is a pure unitary consciousness, or a union with God.

As for science, it is analytic and discursive and expresses its findings in precise and abstract formulas. Mysticism, on the other hand, like poetry, depends more on paradoxes and an unusual use of language. Philosophies may lead to or follow from mysticism, but they are not the same. Nature mysticism is another prominent variant, to which poets and artists are particularly prone. These thematic images have often been described (or dismissed) as pantheism (the divine in all), though it is perhaps other than a simple assertion of identity.

Emotionalism and purified emotion are quite different. Emotionalism, a kind of unsuccessful ecstasy, may arise from unpurged elements in the being; it could also be a concession or inability to hold the flow or touch from above. The natural state of man and, evenmore, that of the true mystic is serene and not agitated, not at the mercy of what the medieval mystical book The Cloud of Unknowing", calls "monkey tricks of the soul." Be still, and still, and know. Mysticism, among the many forms of experience, confirms the claims of religion and is viewed as providing a foretaste of life after death. [Many humans ignore the mystical and just get on with their daily lives.]

THERE ARE SOME THAT KNOW THE WAY TO LIVE.

Satchel Paige was one of world's best role models. As a pitcher he was incredible. He was the best, in part, because he tried to be. Also, he was born blessed by his gene pool. After he struck out all nine of the New York Yankees in a row. Lou Gehrig said," He doesn't pitch baseballs he serves up little white peas!"He was a human whip on the pitcher's mound releasing a baseball that almost couldn't be hit. Paige was 6'3"tall, had size 17 shoes, and an arm-span of over 90 inches. Paige was a very intelligent man.

Furthermore, Satchel Paige, an All- Star when he was over 50 years old, had the right attitude. At the end of his sports career, before he was a movie star, he was invited Baseball's Hall of Fame. When young African-Americans objected to his accepting admission into the Hall of Fame for Baseball, he said nothing, until the award dinner.  All he said when accepting the award was,"There's some say I shouldn't be here. But, I'm "sposed to be here!" He lived in peace with reality's cruelties.  Perhaps, it was because early on he found a way to be happy and stay young. His health maxims were decades ahead of medical science. If you like them; turn them into a self-hypnosis script.

S A T C H E L P A I G E'S H E A L T H M A X I MS 

1. Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
4. Go very lightly on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social rumble ain't restful.
5. Avoid running at all times.
6. Don't look back. Something's gaining on you.

Your friend, the Reverend Dr. J. R. Cooper, would like to add the following:

Vital statistics say that you when you are 65 yrs you will have over a third of your life still to come. Now, you are in a pause of suspended animation.  Use your mind to plan for a better future "outside". Your life can be a fulfilling search for meaning. Life is a journey; it's the trip that is worthwhile. Death is saved for last because it is the biggest kick of all!  Help your family to see their future with you."Nuf."Sed.

You are loved , J. R. Cooper, Pastor of the MeetingHouse  urges those who can't seem to pray to use meditation and/or self-hypnosis to enrich their lives by using the techniques.   

This kind of meditation comes from the heart. It is the sending and receiving of loving kindness and compassion. Simply expressed, loving kindness, sometimes called metta in Eastern meditation traditions, is our innate desire to wish the best possible life for everyone and everything. Compassion, its partner, is the quality that enables one to feel another being's sorrow as one's own. These two branches of meditation, wisdom on the one side, compassion and loving kindness on the other, work synergistically. In Tibetan Buddhism they are likened to the two wings of a bird: To fly straight and swift, a bird must have two good wings. Loving kindness and compassion, along with equanimity and sympathetic joy, comprise what are called in Buddhism the brahma-viharas, or heavenly abodes.

The extent to which we can express loving kindness and compassion is directly proportional to the happiness we enjoy in our own lives. While mindfulness without meditation usually seizes your mind space with its endless chatter. The art of mindfulness with loving kindness and compassion are equally important, if not more so, to living a mindful life. Some of the great spiritual teachers have considered loving kindness and compassion to be the cornerstones of mindful meditation. In fact, some traditions first require students to learn the practice of loving kindness before they are introduced to the practice of mindfulness Your own soft space has always been there, just beneath the surface of a lifetime's accumulation of thoughts, emotions and habits.

As your meditation practice develops, mindfulness acts like a spiritual delete key, turning into white space the crusty buildup of delusion and revealing underneath your true, shining, stainless nature. Polished and pure, you reconnect with your original soft space and the world of universal consciousness. Consider using the self-hypnosis script the Alchemist's Cave if you have too much difficulty cleaning out the museum - the attic of your mind.

Priceless benefits. The practice of loving kindness and compassion is not a theoretical exercise in wishful thinking; it is the virtual harnessing of your life energy to confer benefits on everyone-including you. In Tibetan Buddhism, B. Alan Wallace describes why loving kindness and compassion are so important in today's world: The cultivation of loving kindness is ideally suited for the bustling world we live in. It generates a quality of mind that wishes for the well-being of others, and at the same time it profoundly enhances our ability to attain well-being in our own lives. Instead of focusing on a poised state of mental peace it penetrates deeper into the root causes of our dissatisfactions and transforms them. You could call the practice of loving kindness and compassion a form of enlightened self-interest or as the Dalai Lama says, being a "wise selfish" person.

The truth is when we help others, we help ourselves. When we send loving kindness and compassion to others, we experience increased altruism and less fear, hatred, and suspicion. Even if you look at it from a purely selfish viewpoint, the practice of loving kindness and compassion make good sense. It is virtually impossible for any of us to fulfill our dreams without the help of the rest of the world.

The indisputable fact is that we are connected to each other, interdependent for our survival, food, clothing, shelter/ education, friendships, and sense of self Loving kindness and Compassion can enable a spirit of oneness with the good and virtuous world. There need be no separation, no boundary, between our Self and the external and internal worlds. This dissolving of our "imaginary boundary', reveals the truth that another being's suffering is no more than the reflection of our own pain. This is true compassion.

As we continue to practice, our horizon of good will expands to all human beings, even those from whom we previously withheld it. The "me" is now clearly the "we.". . .  We know now that we naturally want the best for all beings, including ourselves. This is true loving kindness. Let's look at how loving kindness and compassionate meditation are related to, enhanced by and enhance your mindful meditation.

The ground of being that loving kindness and compassion share with mindfulness should be familiar to you: It is the very same ground of calm awareness that you have already begun to explore in your daily meditation practice. In Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfeld describe how mindfulness meditation practice opens the heart as well: When we realize through our own experience that happiness comes not only from reaching out but also from letting go. Happiness is not from seeking pleasurable experience for their own sake but also from opening to the moment, to what is true. It is the transformation of energy that frees the compassion within us. Our minds are no longer bound up in the task of pushing away pain or holding on to pleasure. Compassion is the natural response of an open heart.

When we settle back and open to what's happening in each moment, without attachment or aversion, we are developing a compassionate attitude toward each experience. From this attitude we develop our practice, we begin to manifest true compassionate action in the world.

If you've just started a meditation practice, you might say you've already got a full plate. Why go out looking for more? Especially something that sounds as touchy-feely as loving kindness. Besides, you might ask, if the object of mindfulness meditation is to be totally present, non-critical, and non judging, doesn't that mean also being totally unemotional?

In our normal world, there is a great deal of confusion about the meaning of the words "love" and "compassion." Frequently, what we think of as love is nothing more than possessive attachment, a kind of disguised business transaction, and a quid pro quo: "I'll love you, so long as you love me." As for compassion, this quality is all too often confused with pity for someone less fortunate. Such mistaken concepts of loving kindness and compassion, rather than bringing us closer to others, actually increase the distance, creating an abyss between the self and others. On the other hand, real love and true compassion bridge this chasm of separateness.

The boundary between "I" and "other" gives way to a feeling of transcendent, universal connectedness. Jung called it the collective unconscious. Scientists call it "the butterfly effect." "The butterfly effect" is an expression physicists have given to the theory of universal connectedness on a molecular level. Thus, a Monarch butterfly flapping its wings in Carmel, California, would have an effect on the weather patterns in the Persian Gulf. Through our practice of meditation, we open to each moment of life, jettison delusion, and discover the truth.

It calls upon you to learn to channel and manage your Anger. Since Loving kindness, is the Art of Happiness, the method suggests asking yourself who is the one suffering from this anger? The person who has harmed me has gone on to live their life (or perhaps has died), while I am the one sitting here feeling the persecution, burning, and constriction of anger. Out of compassion for myself, to ease my own heart, may I let go?

During your next loving kindness session, when your mind reaches the difficult person, take a moment to reflect on, "Is that is the one suffering from this anger?" When you realize it is you, send yourself strong loving kindness-and then send the same to that difficult person.

Approaching Your Enemies

Pick someone you dislike, and then build up to the real stinkers. This is as simple as it sounds. Instead of selecting your boss, start out with someone easier-perhaps that driver who splashed you the other day. Once you've succeeded in sending loving kindness to the splashier, you can begin working your way up the ladder to the more loathsome. At some point you'll be ready to accept the challenge of sending loving kindness and compassion to your father, your boss, your mother, or, whomever you thought you would never send loving kindness. Some people report miraculous transformations in their relationships with difficult people as a result of their loving kindness practice. Who changed? Them? You? Both of you? Does it matter?

Forgiveness

Another way to deal with your anger toward the world or a person you don't like is to see what it is you don't like about them. Realize that everyone, even you, has been guilty of the same or similar transgressions. When you were the wrongdoer, didn't you want to be forgiven? Of course you did. Anybody would, including the person from whom you're now withholding that same forgiveness. Why not forgive and move on? Get over it. For whom? Yourself.

This example - forgiveness - provides insight into how meditation leads to a happier state of mind. The practice of meditation lets you take yourself off the emotional hook. You begin to gain insight into the truth that this constellation of things you think is you is actually a collection of ordinarily uncontrollable thoughts, ideas, and sensations that arise by themselves and pass by themselves. You cannot truly control them. And that is totally okay. Meditation helps you learn to work skillfully with your sense of self and to gradually stop running around in circles and to allow these thoughts, concepts/and perceptions to come and go as they please. Freeing the mind to do its dance without interference and control leads to acceptance of what is. Acceptance of what is leads you to distance yourself from whatever it is. This is the freedom that leads to true happiness.

Musing about meditation and you may picture Thomas Merton or some other monk sitting silently in the most uncomfortable positions imaginable in the most remote place in the world. They sit in silence, never moving or speaking. It appears painful, purposeless, and boring. By the looks on their faces, they aren't very happy. In fact, the monks look somewhat unhappy. But actors have taught you that looks can be deceiving. The practice of meditation springs from each our own fundamental desire to be happy in our world. The Buddha said, I teach only one thing. There is suffering and the end of suffering.

Happiness is a state of mind. There is a way to Enjoy Food that will help you Maintain the Right Weight Slowly begin to put food on your plate. Pay close attention to the color of the food and the size of the portion you are taking.

As the Mahahisa Yoga has shown us TM enhances personal relationships; and increases job productivity and satisfaction. Those practicing TM, feel they have become more effective in daily life.business affairs. Each person, of course, has a different experience with TM. It depends on the condition of your body because mental clarity needs a stress-free system

TM in the "Work Place

R. W (Buck) Montgomery owned a Detroit chemical manufacturing firm. He instituted TM at his company in 1983. Within three years, he said, fifty-two of the company's one hundred workers-ranging from upper management to production-line employees were meditating for twenty minutes before they came to work and twenty minutes in the afternoon, on company time. As Montgomery tells it, "At the end of three months, an independent firm reported that those who meditated said they had more energy, were able to handle stress better, had fewer physical complaints and had lower cholesterol levee/s. Over the next three years, absenteeism fell by 85%, productivity rose 120%, quality control rose 240%, injuries dropped 70%, sick days fell by 16%, and profit soared 520%." .

In essence, TM is mantra meditation stripped to its simplest, most effortless form. It is practiced for fifteen to twenty minutes in the morning and afternoon while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. "During this technique" The literature states,

"the individual's awareness settles down and experiences the simplest form of human awareness transcendental consciousness-where consciousness is open to itself. The experience of transcendental consciousness develops the individual's latent creative potential. While dissolving accumulated stress and fatigue through the deep rest gained during the practice. This experience enlivens creativity, dynamism, orderliness, and organizing power in one's awareness, which results in increasing effectiveness and success in daily life."

The tutors candidly admits that, of course, TM is similar to other kinds of meditation. But  they claim, " the one advantage of all Transcendental Meditation is its extreme simplicity. Ii: is very simple for anyone to learn." It is said, that the basic difference between TM and other meditative traditions, in addition to its simplicity, is that TM "concerns itself only with the mind. Other systems often involve some additional aspects with which the mind is associated, such as breathing or physical exercises. They can be a little complicated because they deal with so many things. But with "Transcendental Meditation", there is no possibility of any interference. So we say this is the all-inclusive simple program, enabling the conscious mind to fathom the whole range of its existence."

TM in Action TM may be the most thoroughly researched and widely written about of all contemporary meditative traditions.  One TM instructor said that, "There are companies in Japan and the United States that offer TM. Employers are noticing that an employee that has reduced stress and tension and feels more creative and energized, is more productive and less prone to illness." Research on TM is said to have shown that employees that do TM have experienced "Reduced hospitalization, reduced absenteeism, less alcoholism and less anxiety."

In one study, workers who practiced TM for one year displayed a remarkable improvement at work compared to members of the control group. "Relationships with coworkers and supervisors improved, job performance and satisfaction increased, and the desire to change jobs decreased. II As a result, some businesses have recently begun to recommend that their employees meditate twice a day, in the belief that the benefits of meditation improve a company's bottom line. According the Los Angeles Times, "Businesses say the at-work sessions make for happier employees, increased productivity-even higher profits."

Hinduism and Meditation

Among the world religions, Hinduism is the most difficult to outline simply. Hinduism lacks a central historical figure (like Jesus, Muhammad, or the Buddha) whose life sets an example of right action. Hindu scriptures which are vast, imaginative poems do not easily lend themselves to interpretation. As Hinduism evolved, its adherents did not eradicate earlier belief systems. It made room in its pantheon for everyone. (It has been estimated that there are more than 300,000 Hindu deities.) Hinduism has been described as an encyclopedia of religion which accepts the validity of simple nature gods (a god for rain, for the sun, for earth and the universal God - Brahman.

Islam

"One, who dies for the love of the material world, dies a hypocrite. One, who dies for the Jove of the hereafter, dies an ascetic. But one, who dies for the Love of the Truth, dies a Sufi." SH EBLI Sufi teacher

Meditating Five Times Each Day

Like Christian monks who observe the canonical hour~ with prayer, Muslims believe you should take frequent breaks to pray and meditate on God. All Muslims pray five times each day. You don't have to be a Muslim to reap the rewards of meditating. Instead of meditating once each day for twenty minutes, schedule five five-minute meditation breaks. Perhaps at dawn, noon mid-afternoon, sunset, and bedtime.

Sufi meditation Sufism is a Persian offshoot of Islam. It has been described as "Islamic mysticism." Sufism concentrates more on meditation than traditional Islam. As P.D. Ouspensky says. "Persian Sufism is the most characteristic expression of Muslim mysticism.

Sufism is both a religious group and a philosophical school which is very idealistic. It struggles against materialism, narrow fanaticism and the literal understanding of the Koran. The Sufis interpret the Koran mystically. "Sufism is the philosophical free-thinking school of Islam." Sufism is a path towards the truth where the provisions are love. Its method is to look solely in one direction, and its objective is God. The Sufi is one who moves towards the truth by means of love and devotion. Since only one who is perfect is capable of realizing the truth, the Sufi strives his utmost for perfection. Sufis believe the only way to become perfect is to purify oneself under the training of a Sufi Master. Sufi stories But all this makes Sufis seem stuffy . They are not. Sufism is a mysticism of laughter. Like Zen masters, Sufi's like to get people's minds working with teaching stories that pose paradoxical combinations of opposites. Unlike Zen teachers, Sufis tease the mind into engagement with humor, rather than austerity. Sufi stories might be considered something like the parables of Jesus as written by Woody Allen.

You don't have to be a Muslim or even believe in a supreme being to benefit spiritually from Muhammad's idea of a pilgrimage to a holy place. Even as a meditational exercise, it can have a surprising influence on your life. This should be someplace of real significance to you, preferably in another town or state. Making the journey should take enough effort and time that your spiritual commitment to it, makes it a challenge.

It could be a significant church, synagogue, cathedral or mosque. Or it could be a special place like Stonehenge, the Ohio Indian mounds, or the great pyramid. Or it could just be a scenic/spiritual spot outside, or even inside your own city.
I. Select a site and make arrangements for the pilgrimage. Ask God's or the Divine's or nature's blessing on it.
2. on the way there, meditate on the significance of the journey to you. What do you hope to get out of it? What feeling or insight do you hope for doing it?
3. Try to achieve a real sense of reverence and sincerity.
4. When you reach the spot, again ask a blessing.
5. Spend as much time there meditating as you can. Clear, center, and relax yourself. Open yourself to whatever feelings and sensations being there evoke. Ask yourself, what is its specific significance to me? Why do I consider it to be a holy place? Try to get in touch with that feeling.
6. Shift your meditation from yourself to the holy place itself. See it in your mind's eye as well as the physical one. Try to become one with it, to see with its eyes, feel with iof ts heat, Take on its form. What does the holy place feel like to itself?
7. When you leave ask for a blessing again.
8. At home, take time to meditate on your pilgrimage. What did you learn or feel? What did you come away with? Give thanks to God for allowing you a safe journey and for whatever you were allowed to experience because of it. "One, who dies for the love of the material world, dies a hypocrite. One who dies for the Love of the hereafter, dies an ascetic. But one who dies for the Love of Truth, dies a Sufi." said a Sufi teacher

In the Shema Meditation , Rabbi FaIson elaborates, is a meditation that focuses us on the immanent and transcendent natures of God. It does this by juxtaposing one traditional name for God, Adonai ("the Eternal"), which refers to the transcendent aspect of God; with Eloheynu ("our God"), which signifies God manifesting within nature and ourselves. Rabbi Falcon compares "Shema Yisrael" with the Vedic mantra of India, which says, "The inside and the outside are one¬as above, so below." "What does it amount to, being  there expounding the Torah! A man should see to it that all his actions are a Torah and that he himself becomes so entirely a Torah that one can learn from his habits and his motions and his motionless clinging to God" RABBI LEIB

Contemplating the Shema awakens us to "the primordial space from which these sacred words emerge."
1 Find a quiet space where you won't be interrupted for fifteen or twenty minutes.
2. Sit comfortably. Gradually feel your body relax. Take a few deep and easy breaths and let your eyes close. Enter into your meditation with a "Shalom:' with a feeling of calmness and peace.
3. Begin reciting the six words of the Shema in your mind:"Shema Yisrael: Adonai Elo¬heynu Adonai Ecbad." ("Hear, 0 Israel: The Eternal is our God, the Eternal is One.") Bring your attention back to these words when your mind wanders.
4. After a few minutes, begin to meditate on the heart of the Shema, the two central words, "Adonai Eloheynu." Continue meditating on "two words until you are ready to conclude.
5. Begin meditating on the entire Shema again. After a few minutes, take a deep breath, relax and return to normal.

Jewish leaders, appear to have developed a set of practical and effective techniques as extensive as any Eastern discipline. Fortunately, renewed worldwide interest in meditation and spirituality has brought renewed attention to both and they are currently attracting new followers and credibility both among Jews and non-Jews alike.

The Tree of Life

It is said that the original teachings of the Jewish mystical tradition, Kabbalah, were given to Moses by angels who were directed by God. There are several different systems of Kabbalist teachingings One, called the tree of life, is based on the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Legend has it that there were two trees in the Garden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life.

Kabbalists believe that before Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden for eating the fruit of the tree
of knowledge, they were given a glimpse of the tree of knowledge and this insight became the basis for Kabbalah. The tree of life is a roadmap that charts the stages meditators progress through as they move from our mundane world into higher states of consciousness. The tree consists of ten sephiroth (spheres), each symbolizing a major stage in the unfolding of the divine energy as it manifests from the highest plane to the earth plane of our physical reality-and in the individual human soul. As the authors of As Above, So Below describe the process, "Via this spiritual roadmap, the meditator lifts his or her consciousness from the everyday world of Kingdom; ascends in stages to beauty (seen by some Kabbalists as the higher self), then continues onward through trans-personal realms to the transcendental crown (kether), a point of pure formless being untouched by the pairs of opposites.

Beyond this lofty height, lies the ein sot. the boundless radiance 0: the infinite. After dwelling briefly in this endless light, the meditator visualizes the light descending through each of the spheres, healing, and transforming, his or her being. from the highest to the most earthbound levels.

Ten Levels

Inner development, Kabbalists say, consists of balancing feminine forces with masculine forces creating a harmonization of forces. In the words of nineteenth-century hermeticist Eliphas Levi, the ten levels or sephiroth of the Tree of Life, £ron:.  The top down, are:
1. Kether. The Crown, the equilibrating power that makes the manifest universe possible.
2. Chokmah. Wisdom, equilibrated in its unchangeable order by the initiative of intelligence.
3. Binah. Active intelligence, equilibrated by wisdom.
4. Chesed. Mercy, which is wisdom in its secondary conception, ever benevolent because it is strong.
5. Geburah. Severity, necessitated by wisdom itself, and by good will. To permit evil is to hinder good.
6. Thpereth. Beauty, the luminous conception of equilibrium in forms, intermediary between the crown and the kingdom, mediating principle between creator and creations, sublime conception of poetry and its sovereign priesthood!
7. Netsah. Victory, that is, eternal triumph of intelligence and justice.
8. Hod. Eternity of the conquests achieved by mind over matter, active over passive, life over death.
9. Jesod. The Foundation, that is, the basis of all belief and all truth-otherwise, the absolute in philosophy.
10. Malkuth. The Kingdom, meaning the universe, entire creation, the work and mirror of God.

The Names of God

Many Kabbalistic meditations center on the various names associated with God in the Torah. According to The Book of Names, an anonymously written Kabbalistic text, The tree of life has to be lighted by one of the names of God. With¬out the name, the tree will be dead, lifeless.

Picking the Right Name

Many Kabbalists believe it's important for each person to select the right name for their individual meditation. They also caution that doing this may prove more difficult than it sounds, since the basic nature of our minds may not be what we think it is at any given moment. If we choose the wrong name, that is, a name unsuited to our minds, the Book of Names warns, "then the arrow has no force, as the minds cannot easily turn completely into this name, the results will be unsatisfactory, and may be accompanied by some initial disturbances until a name more suitable to Oi  mental makeup is obtained, by happy choice or experimerementation. One good method of choosing a name, the book says, "is to examine the list of divine names slowly, one by one, reflecting on the meaning of each."

When a suitable name for your practice is reached, "a welling up of love in the heart will be experienced as deep calls unto deep." The name most used is Yod He Vav He (Jehovah), a. .k..a.. the Brilliant Name of Fire. However, many Kabbalists reconmmend Ahavah (Love). The Book of Names says that Ahavah s best suited to meditation because the tree was made by Messiah with Ahavah alone, hence when this name is used as the meditation, there is Ahavah (Love) within and without. When nothing seems to work, and you can't seem to decide on an appropriate name, Kabbalists advise letting a "Holy Person', who has realized the ultimate nature or the Tree of Life choose for you. How to find such a holy person? "Make a beginning in this work, and such a Holy Person will appear. Typical tree of life meditations include using the entire tree as a mandala or a specific sephiroth as an object of contemplation.

As in the Christian mystical tradition, the focus of the Kabbalah is to transport the practitioner from the mundane state of everyday existence to a higher, clearer level of consciousness. Kabbalah is not manifested through the traditional rituals, services, and prayers that define mainstream Judaism. Instead, Kabbalists study with a maggid, a qualified spiritual teacher who directs the student in different techniques, among them hitbodidut meditation, a form of unstructured, wordless self-expression, much like that described by Christian mystics. One such master, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, an eighteenth-century Hassidic scholar, described the purpose of hitb0 didut:

The height of Hitbodidut meditation is when, because of your great longing to unite with God, you feel your soul bound to your body by no more than a single strand. Is there anything better to strive for in this life? Thus, through hitbodidut meditation and other mystical teachings, the Kabbalist works toward the moment when he or she will transcend the mundane trappings of the human ego and be afforded a glimpse into the true nature of the divine. Until recently, the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah were secret. In recent years, however, some of these teach¬ngs have become publicly available. For example, in the Los Angeles area, formal teaching sessions are announced with advertising in various media. These techniques have surprising parallels to the philosophies and methods found not only in Christian Mysticism, but also in Zen Buddhism.

The practice of mindful, meditational prayer begins with humankind's first desire to commune with, or receive the light of, Deity.

It is known to have existed in Sumeria, and in fact existed throughout the pagan world. Clear mention is made of it in one late pagan text, Allogenes, based on practices of centuries standing: "There was a stillness of silence within me, and I heard the blessedness whereby I knew myself as I am. Direct mention of it is made many times in the Old Testament of Judaism. Jesus was clearly describing meditational concentra­tion when he said in Luke 11 :34, "When thine eye is single thy whole body also is full of light."

The prophet Muhammad endorses the practice, noting of the faithful, "Do they not meditate on the Koran?" The goal of meditational prayer, as practiced in the Western traditions of Judaism, ,Christianity and Islam, is to awaken the participant to the immediate proximity of God.

We will use Christianity to explain more fully. The anonymous author of the Christian mystical trea­tise, The Cloud of Unknowing, defined meditative prayer as a means of reaching a state of constant consciousness of God's presence: There are some that be so spiritually refined by grace and so intimate with God, in this grace of contemplation, that they may have it when they want it in the common state of man's soul: as in sitting, walking, standing, or kneeling. In our time, the Trappist monk and scholar, Thomas Merton, reaffirmed meditation as a way for man to estab­lish a vital connection between his soul and the living God. In New Seeds of Contemplation, Merton said that the real goal of meditative prayer is:
"to teach a man how to work himself free of created things and temporal concerns, in which he finds only confusion and sorrow, and enter into a conscious and loving contact with God ... and to pay God the praise and honor and thanksgiving and love which it has now become his joy to give."
The capacity for meditational prayer is some­thing we are all born with. We may use words from the Bible, or a phrase from the Mass, such as Kyrie eleison. We may choose to say them out loud or silently, or we may choose no words at all, simply surrendering to the ultimate stillness of that place in the heart where God dwells. The need is to eliminate discursive thought. Consider chanting a word or phrase.
The Hindus have been doing it since childhood. In western Christianity, there is a chanting tradition.

Gregorian Chants

Gregorian chant is a type of Christian religious music extending back more than fifteen hundred years. Chants are vocal psalms, hymns, or prayers. They are for voice alone unaccompanied by musical instruments and sung without harmony.
The music follows the flow of the words in free rhythm. (Because of their simplicity, Gregorian chants are often referred to as plainsong. Chants are often sung by choirs, but also by soloists, and even as call and response between cantor and choir. Gregorian chants were the principal music used in religious observances during Christianity's first millen­nium. They are sung primarily in mass and the divine offices (hourly meditational devotions).
Chants are used to pray, to celebrate God, to mark the hours of monastic life, and for a wide variety of other spiritual purposes.
Around 600 A.D., Pope Gregory I (after whom these chants are named) embarked on an effort to collect and pre­serve this sacred music. During the 1960s, chanting fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence of popularity, even outside of the church. Gregorian chants have caught on so widely that they've become bestsellers on the CD racks. Chant is a wonderful way to escape stress and the con­cerns of the modern world, says Benedictine father David Steindl-Rast author of A Listening Heart.This is because chant exists in the eternal, eliminating the pressures of linear time. That's how it was composed, that's where it lives, because it was composed to glorify the eternal God. It exists for the sake of pure praise, thereby adding to one's life a dimension of rich meaning and beauty to balance out our society's enormous emphasis on efficiency and practicality.

Joining In

As a method of meditation, one of the most important aspect of Gregorian chant is its emphasis on group partici­pation. For monastics, chanting together, like meditating together, has a healing and harmonizing effect on both individuals and the group. By blending dozens of voices in music of praise the action points singers beyond their individual lives toward their place in God's greater scheme of things. As in meditation, success is not so much found in achievement, observes Steindl-Rast, as in untiring striving. "That ordi­nary people give themselves to the Chant" he writes, "is the remarkable beauty of it." Participation in this amazing form of musi­cal meditation is not limited to monastics. Many monasteries and convents, churches, and other organizations of many denomina­tions have formed groups for lay people who want to get involved in creating this special form of religious observance.

Contact a local sponsoring organization-you will find them in the community and Sunday listings in your daily paper. through the internet, or by phon­ing your own church. "Should you wish to study chant more intensely, the best way," says Cantor Donald Casadonte,"is to attend a school or summer seminar. Studying a manual, even the best one, is not enough. Sing in a choir for several years. This is the way."

It may help to realize that that Jesus was not a Christian. He was the teacher. Study his teachings. He taught that you should practice meditation . Mary Magdalene led newly anointed Christians to a loving form of Gnosis by which one could seek greater human potential. It was the church of Emperor Constantine that led us away form Gnosis. Greater knowledge can transform you, Gnostics believed in the power of silence. They derived this notion from their belief in a God who is both Father and Mother.

Gnostic poet and teacher Valentinus suggests that the divine can be imagined as a dyad. One part of this dyad is the Ineffable, the Depth, the Pri­mal Father; the other is Grace, Silence, the Womb and "Mother of the All." According to Valentinus, "Silence is the appropriate complement of the Father."
Here is a silence meditation inspired by a Gnostic text, The Great Announcement.
I. Extinguish or cover your light sources (light, candles, sun, etc.) and sit down. This can be a chair or a meditation rug-whatever is comfortable.
2. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and take a minute to prepare to focus your inner vision.
3. For three to five minutes, conceive of the masculine Mind of the Universe. This is the Mind that manages all things.
4. In the next three-to-five minute period, conceive of the feminine Intelligence of the Universe. She produces all things.
5.Visualize the two joining in union within you.

Discover that while Mind and Intelligence are distinct from each other, yet, they are One, found in the state of unity. Mother­/Father is in everyone of us. Let the images flow into each other like the water of two streams that converge to create a new, more powerful river
6.Take this divine power, which now exists in a latent state, and let it fill your body. Open your eyes and adjust to the return to the world.
7. Break the silence and say aloud, "The Power is divided above and below. The One gen­erates itself, makes itself grow, seeks itself, finds itself, "
"The One is mother of itself, father of itself, sister of itself, brother of itself, spouse of itself, daughter of itself, son of itself, source of the entire circle of existence."
8.You can continue the meditation after you are done with the silent, seated portion. Become observant of details in the universe. Look for this power in your daily life.

Reliance on a mantra as object of meditation has continued to be a part of Christianity, East and West. For example, the anonymous fourteenth-century Christian work The Cloud of Unknowing gives this advice, "If you want to gather all your desire into one simple word representing God that your mind can easily retain, choose a short word rather than a long one .... But choose one that is meaningful to you. Then fix it in your mind so that it wilt remain there come what may .... Let this word represent to you God in all his fullness and nothing less than the fullness of God. Let nothing except God hold sway in your mind and heart."
A German Jesuit priest who is also a Zen master, argues in Living in the New Consciousness. Meditation can benefit Christians in several ways: The development of insight is a natural by-product of meditation practice-it awakens our faith as we penetrate deeper into the mystery of God beyond conventional discursive thinking. We experience a new appreciation of the scriptures through an intuitive understanding. Doubts based on textual disharmonies dissolve as the soul penetrates its own depths to encounter all embracing existence. Our increased capacity to concentrate makes it easier to keep attentive during prayer and liturgical ceremonies.

What is the Goal of the Pursuit of Happiness? From Pain to Ecstasy?

Goals and Objectives is a too apt metaphor for the way most people pursue happiness. They set up some kind of arbitrary point system and then try to accumulate the right number of points in the right proportion. Unfortunately, most of us find out, all too late, that life does not imitate game boards or video games. Scoring points is not happiness. Even when we accumulate all the points (toys) we think we need in our personal pursuit of fame, fortune, and happi­ness, there usually seems to be a feeling that something's missing somehow; we haven't quite won. We try to hold onto pleasant experiences forever, but they are only transitory. We try to sweep the disagreeable parts of life under the rug. And every so often, we throw up our hands in anger and frustration, wondering aloud, "Is this all there is to life?" Is that all there is, my friend?

Once we realized the basic truth of the human condition, we began to see that what we thought was the answer may actually be the problem. The Enlightenment Period enabled the Reformation. Humans found that superstition, and fearful paranoia, the world of magic, was not reality. By choosing the dominance of logical analysis and the rational mind we escaped. We had discovered better science than alchemy so technology was on the way.We suppressed mysticism. Yes, even burning at the stake those who sought to keep mysticism alive.Mysticism had to go underground, particularly in the West. Science began to produce not only great improvements in the quality of life; but also, disquieting, even threatening, products. We evolved, then came today, a time when uncertainty about the future prevailed. Scientific progress was not enough. We have begun to explore the great potential of the human brain. We are trying another way, a way like meditation. Humans want life to be more than a materialized reality based on material goods.

There is That in Me

"There is that in me--
I do not know what it is-but
I know it is in me ...
I do not know it-
it is without name-
it is a word unsaid;
it is not in any dictionary, utterance, symbol.
Do you see 0! My brothers and sisters?
It is not chaos or death-
it is form, union, plan-
it is eternal life-it is Happiness."

WALT WHITMAN from Leaves of Grass

You, too, can meditate. Go to the internet or a bookstore. You wil find that there are many, too many, aids to learning how to meditate. However, meditation that works can only be learned by self-practice. Go to a quiet place, sit, or lie down, to relax.Close your eyes. Quiet the mind. Still the chatter. Learn to focus on a golden light or your favorite aura color. Focus on deep breathing and focus your mind in ways that are promoted in the MeetingHouse's Meditation Texts, here. The Meditative State will come to you.You will see it. For one, Rev. Cooper knows he is "there" when he sees nothing except a beautiful blue field of light. For others it may be a golden yellow light, or, a lovely lotus flower floating. You will see what it is for you. Breathe deeply. Regularly. Your brain-mind is capable of unassisted meditation.

Can science help us to achieve the Meditative State? Recent research on the effects of hallucinogenics such as ayahuasca, DMT, psilocybin, peyote, indicates that meditative experiences may, for some, stimulate changes in serotonin and dopamine. Science may assist us in finding pathways. But, why wait? There is much to learn.

The possibility of mystical technologies is of course unsettling. Consider the possibility that some scientist finds a way to provide a blissful transcendental experience by ingesting some substance. Be Fore -Warned! In the 1950s the CIA (USA) was studying the potential of LSD as a brain washing agent. Obviously, such a powerful substance could be abused by those who promote the advantages of an authoritarian Church /State as better than the Way of individuals seeking to maximize their personal human potential.

[Consider that the Incas had an authoritarian culture, writing was prohibited, so the collective memory could be controlled.The vast majority were drugged with daily chewing of Coca leaves. It was Happy Fascism designed to prevent the growth and maturation of the human personality. During the pre-history of Hinduism it is said that something called Soma was used by the religious to enhance mystical experiences. Soma may have been a hallucigen from mushrooms. The Sanskrit records provide no evidence of what it may have been. It is good that Hinduism escaped the happy fascism of the Inca church/state civilization.]

The great religious leaders, like Jesus, those who have walked with God knew, and taught, that humans have a geater potential than to merely work under the control and guidance of church/state leaders who instruct them on what to believe. Humans must practice eternal viligance against tyranny over the minds of men and women.

Still, we know that the advance of science is inexorable. (Note: Although lay people could give scientists some good advice on the correct pace of social-political change as affected by science.)

Recently, circa 2005, using an FDA approved protocol, Dr. Griffith, a researcher at Johns Hopkins, did  a group experiment that used subjects who had a confirmed faith in a belief in God. The subjects were given psilocybin extract (from mushrooms) under the guidance (for safety) of the research team. A very high percentage of the subjects had what they called the best religious experience of their lives. Like an epiphany. For some it changed their outlook for the better, in their opinion.

The Buddha himself said that asking too many questions is like being shot with a poisoned arrow and refusing to have it removed until it is known who shot it, where it came from, how fast it was going, and what the poison is. By the time you get the answers to all your questions, the Buddha told his followers, you'll be dead.

Just do it! For your own peace of mind, know that you can enjoy the full benefits of meditation without having a total understanding of its very profound underlying theories.

THE END of your Beginning . . . .The MeetingHouse wishes you well on your journey.