Meditation - the Inner Key


Lifeforces #1, Shinagawa, Fee 15,000 /17,000 yen with Japanese translation
Contact hari@lifeforces.org to book a place

If you've considered taking up meditation but don't know where to begin, start here!

Over the years a good deal of mystique has developed around meditation, yet it is one of the most natural of human abilities. We have all had moments in our life when we were not thinking or analyzing our experience, but simply "going with the flow." In these moments, there was no past or future, no separation between us and what was happening and that is the essence of meditation.

Contrary to a common misunderstanding, meditation is not a limiting or narrowing of our attention so much as focusing on what is happening now, experiencing ourselves as being at one with what we perceive. This experience is deeply joyful, as we become freed from the illusion that we are separate from everything else in the universe. In fact, meditation isn't a withdrawal from life but a deeper, fuller presence in life.

Another popular misconception holds that meditation is merely about the mind. In fact, meditation causes real physiological effects such as decreased oxygen consumption, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure and an increase in the intensity of alpha, theta, and delta brain waves. Most interesting, research done in Japan in the 1960s showed that veteran meditators not only experienced an increase in alpha waves (indicating a state that is both relaxed and alert) but could also maintain that state with their eyes open—something nonmeditators generally can do only with their eyes closed.

It is this ability to be both extremely relaxed and alert at the same time that best describes the meditative state.

Many people are turned off by meditation because they start with a practice that is either too difficult for them or doesn't suit their temperament. Meditative awareness is not an intellectual exercise, but it brings a clarity that lays bare the workings of your mind. Having cultivated an alert and relaxed mind, you become free from reactive conditioning, more able to respond creatively, and more in harmony with the way things are. You may come to meditation to become free from the harmful effects of stress on your body and mind. But be prepared for your motivations to change as you grow in self-awareness and inner peace. Meditation doesn't just change you; it can transform your life.

Traditionally, the process of meditation has involved long practice and the following of a particular school of thought. Many of these practices, such as visualization, are actually meditative practices, not 'pure' meditation, which in the words of J. Krishnamurti (jkrishnamurti.org), one of the greatest exponents of meditation the West has known, is "Meditation is the absence of thought." This absence of thought should not be confused with unconsciousness, sleep or deep hypnosis. It is a state of profound non-consciousness that is only realized by the conscious states preceding it and after it.

Learn to meditate in an afternoon!

Is it really possible to learn to meditate in an afternoon? Doesn't it take months if not years? Isn't it uncomfortable at least? The answers to these questions are "Yes" "No" and "No," respectively.

I will show you in an afternoon how to meditate. This is not a theoretical course; rather you will come away having had an experience of what meditation is and how to make it a daily and enjoyable event. It's true. Meditation is enjoyable!

The Meditation Class

The class is being offered on Saturday December 20th from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. It costs 15,000 yen / 17,000 yen with Japanese translation, and space is limited to 10 students. Please call (03-3472-1714) or e-mail (hari@lifeforces.org) to reserve a space.