This article is comprised of some helpful notes if you’re starting meditation or yoga — to deepen your spiritual path. If you’re curious and starting from zero, or if you have experience in deep meditation, whatever that means to you, hopefully, these notes will help you.
Please note everyone’s definition of “where they are” is only theirs, based on their own experiences — so “deep” meditation may mean something to one, and something different to another — it depends only on your understanding of your truth. The important thing is not to worry about “where you are” in the process because there is no timeline. If you’re on a “spiritual path” in meditation — figure out what your goal is; is it to change your habits, to relax after a stressful day — or to discover infinite joy and happiness? Meditation and spiritual seeking are about knowing ourselves.
These notes are from my notebook from my journey — and I felt it desirable to share in hopes it is relatable and makes the process “easier” for another to see positive results through meditation. I’ve had friends show me the way, and I also have to share, because I do feel this small guide will be helpful to many.
Your Choice — Your Free Will.
First — it isn’t necessary to deepen your spiritual path; at least, I cannot tell you it is. I can’t prove if you do, it will change your life — I cannot pressure you, or give you a set of instructions to help you find “God” quickly. You have to take the first step yourself — the path to understanding and wisdom starts from within. If you’re reading this, you already have made a small step — so congratulations — because you’re on the path to joy and happiness.
Please also understand — that this is written in an “abstract” way — you may recognize some points, and others just might seem weird or convoluted. They are just notes, and they are only as helpful as they are meant to be, for you.
The path to real “enlightenment and joy” is not easy. It takes a lot of work and dedication — so if your desire into meditation is to go deep into the abyss of infinite joy (that sounds heavy doesn’t it) — Be prepared to do a lot of work. No matter where you came from — or what knowledge you have or language you speak — who / what you worship, or understand about organized religion or any of its branches, understand that the truth can only come from within yourself. Language is hard, and all of the world religions that exist have been telling us many great things, but real truth, has to come from within.
I mean, two people can barely live together and communicate clearly, especially now during the Covid 19 pandemic! You can barely communicate with your mind! You can’t expect to find true enlightenment and happiness, and bliss from a single book or passages of scripture. After you read your passages, your problems in the world are still there unless you address them in your own mind.
Here’s a bit of proof, I’m sure it’s relatable.
The Restless Mind.
I’ve been blessed with a very restless mind, but vast mind — since I was young, I have taken in every detail of my surroundings, every puzzle piece of the world, every circumstance, and analyzed it in circles until I could not pick it apart any longer. I’ve remembered every subtle detail from my childhood, the good, the bad, and the hideous and can just about trace my life back in words to the first point I remember consciousness. I don’t think that will ever be necessary, let’s hope not.
This way of thinking leads to a lot of complete disorganization and half-completed projects everywhere. Relatable examples: piles of mail on the table, bills unpaid, drawers upon drawers filled with “stuff” that was difficult to get rid of, but also meaningless — every corner of my life was filled with anxiety built up from my experiences of consciousness. In my practical world, I could not get a grip on my mind at all. My only good habit was thinking way too much about everything. To be honest — my circular thinking lead to a lot of depression — my mind would go in circles about pain, suffering, and negativity (bills that were not paid, and unfinished projects, lack of prioritization, and things outside my control like wars, leaders of countries, other people suffering… etc) that further made me think that any of my commitments didn’t matter anyway because I was just going to die one day and it would all be for nothing, and over (I’m sorry if that sounds sad — but that is how the depressive cycle works, in a way) — suffering teaches everyone, in their own way — at their own pace. That was mine.
Through my negative-cycled mind and fixation on the fear of death — I was still able to have a family, a wonderful son and wife, and maintain businesses in my practical world — but everything lacked focus. Food was on the table, but the ingredients were all over the kitchen — not organized — and everything took longer than it needed to. The house was tidy as it could be within a system of disorganization. I held onto many talents, only to never focus on one. Every project — I needed to be the expert at, if a pipe needed fixed, I was going to learn plumbing with everything else I already placed on my plate… ( raising a family and keeping my every priority at the same level because in the circular mind — it didn’t matter.)
It Matters, and You’re Matter.
The first thing I realized through meditation is that I do matter. The second thing was possibly that I am matter. So basically, through my first calm, peaceful meditation session, the word “matter” spoke to me a lot. Sometimes during meditation that is all you need. This word taught me how to love myself and also how to love everything and everyone all the same. This didn’t happen instantly. It took years of work, but the most concentrated results took only three months. That is why I wrote these notes!
Within my first few meditations I was focused only on the breath of my life and heartbeat. That is all I needed.
So, you see, meditation is a technique in which you can speak to yourself. And “yourself” speaks back to you, but in an obvious way.
The truth is, we are speaking to ourselves all of the time. These are called decisions. That is free will. But the circular mind, without clarity or the desire to be clear, doesn’t know what choice is best, that’s where meditation comes in.
Meditation was not an instant fix — but it was a fix. It fixed everything — because it was the path to truth — and a way for me to listen to my intuition (inner voice) and let it guide me to right priorities, and decisions — for me.
I started to meditate because my mind told me — it was time. That is all. I needed to understand happiness, true happiness, real happiness — and I needed to know my own truth before I could move on. To move on, or move forward in a world of “more happiness” That meant — I needed to create new habits.
Habits.
Habits are very important — and they are either good or bad — like everything else in our world. Meditation helps to create new habits — in mind and action. The great thing about meditation — is that the habits developed through the act of meditating — are all good. At least they were for me because I told myself — “I want to create good habits” and when you ask yourself for clarity, your mind speaks back to you “in the language of good” — which some define as love, some define as bliss, some define as joy. There is a reason for that.
There was a wonderful many named Swami Kryiananda, and he always made it a point when trying to break a bad habit, to not beat himself up for not suceeding right away. When he was quitting smoking cigarettes, each time he gave into the craving, he told himself “I have not yet suceeded.” Instead of beating himself up becuase he thought of himself as a failure. How we communicate with ourselves is life changing. Our thoughts are incredibly powerful. That bible verse “The strength of a mustard seed can move mountains” can really apply directly to the faith we have in our own thoughts and will power.
The Language of Love.
When you genuinely ask for clarity in your thoughts, you realize that the universe speaks back to yourself in this “love language” and then you realize that the universe is made from love, from joy, from happiness. It is the universal language, and the laws of science, mathematics, and well, basically everything all “exist” in love.
Have you ever heard the phrase? God made the world or created the world and it was good?
Have you ever heard the phrase “love is the universal language?” These truths, are all evident through meditation.
Well, have you ever heard God is truth? Or God is wisdom? Or God is everything, etcetera?
Replace God with any word, then pause, and laugh and smile. You may even cry because it’s all true. You could even use the word “shit” if it makes you laugh. There is a universal force of positivity that exists in nature, and the all of creation. It doesn’t matter what you call it, language doesn’t matter, it is just a tool we use to teach. Even Jesus had a sense of humor.
Love. That is the way things are. And you exist in that type of space. The universe actually has a regulating language of love as its infinite driving force, through time, space, existence, and you exist within that.
So what about all the negative stuff — that I mentioned before? Bills, greed, war, killing etc.
Well, many different people “beings” occupy this space — and it’s a space designed to teach us about love. That’s all. The design of the universe, and Earth, is to teach us about love, happiness, and bliss!
So, as any child or student, you can’t just know how everything works without being taught or there would be no point to exist.
But! On this planet, you need to be a teacher and a student at the same time! Learn to love yourself, your thoughts, your actions, and help others. Teach others to do the same, if you do that you can work out negative past karma which I explain below.
Pain & Suffering.
The negative stuff is suffering, and that teaches you about positive stuff. That’s all, so it’s all good.
“It’s all good”
Have you heard of great prophets like Jesus and others? Of course! there are prophets and saints all over throughout the universe. Jesus existed, and exists in the universe — “he” never vanished.
In fact, many saints and prophets still hold “Earth energy” in that their energy can be felt on Earth through meditation.
The whole story of Jesus has been passed through time because that story teaches about suffering, and death teaches us about suffering. These are just part of the lesson. Death is fearful because it seemingly “removes” us from ourselves.
Many Christians (not all, I am not judging any group here) hold onto this story in justification for bad things they might do themselves, in that Jesus suffered so “I can be an asshole and it’s okay… because forgiveness!” This isn’t the point at all. Good and bad situations in your life are regulated by Karma. It is an invisible force that can’t be seen. Jesus understood this weight and force and lived his live as a martyr and saint, as many other saints in the universe.
Karmic Weight
We might have Karmic weight on our shoulders from our own actions, or absorbing others actions. Think about the past lives of your ancestors, karma that was never worked out of your mind. You may come from a lineage of warriors who killed indigenous native people, you may come from a family of thieves, all of our pasts determine our karmic weight which rests directly on our soul, and actually makes us feel heavy.
Meditation and Yoga can work out Karmic weight, and relieve your suffering.
Death is Necessary, so is Karma.
I won’t go into the importance of Death here — but just know it is nothing to be “afraid” of. Or fearful of, because it comes. It will come, and it comes for everyone at the right time. Regulatory rules and laws of actions and the Universe are outside of your complete control, so there’s no reason to go down that rabbit hole right now.
I could go down the rabbit hole and explain things like “the ego” or any other of these universal anomalies we learn about through our time on this planet — but….. You learn all types of truths through meditation, it just depends on how deep you want to go. So let’s just talk about meditation.
Starting Yoga, or Meditation. 10 or 15 minutes, focus on the breath.
The first step is to “want” to begin. The next, step that helped me is wanting to still the mind, and find some calm.
So I took 15 minutes to sit quietly and focus on my breathing. That’s all; here’s what I did to get started.
Sit quietly, and quietly in your mindstate “I’m going to feel good” (if you want to feel good, which. who doesn’t?)… then… close your eyes — and pay attention to yourself breathing. That’s it. Do this for 15 minutes and see if you can concentrate on the one thing, breathing — and nothing else. Then stretch out, and ask yourself — how did that feel? How do you feel? Answer that for yourself. And if you feel good after your first “session” — you’re doing it right. And you will feel good. You’re speaking to yourself, and yourself speaks back to you in the language of love — so you’ll feel fine.
(this sounds kind of silly. You’re like “but I just made myself feel good” Don’t even think about it, that’s the point. That’s all you need to progress) — free will is wonderful, use it!
If you do this a few times, maybe right before you go to sleep, and you find yourself being able to focus on breathing only and how you feel — then explore breathing techniques on YouTube from Wim Hof — some of his breathing videos really help to understand the breath, and its relation to your existence. Wim Hof is a great light, and you can go down his path of realizations he’s found for himself which focuses a lot on the breath and health if you like… Or just use the information he has to offer in his books, and videos for you. He speaks some really positive stuff, so it is enjoyable.
His methods helped me a lot.
My Personal Path
I’ll take a step further and pause right now.. I would like to credit the individuals who have directly helped me down my path.
One of the greatest lessons of meditation is learning about your ego. Meditation gives you the knowledge of humility — basically teaches you how to be humble and in a profound state, teaches you to let go of everything, and this person is a very giving, and humble soul. I appreciate and love him dearly for what he’s shared.
Chris Parks, my friend, spent years searching for a clearer mind. An incredible artist he spoke to us through his work — all viewers of his work became in tune with the ideas he has learned. And he humbly enjoyed and shared his journey through his work, dedication, and focus for years. In essence, you may not understand his journey but art is creation, and what anyone creates is an extension of themselves and their experiences so you can see his path through his progression if you are a close follower of his work. He is an incredible soul for sharing what he knows.
Chris started a meditation group only a year ago and started doing guided meditations. He shared podcasts of information that were so incredibly helpful for years, and he was just planting seeds for himself and others…. Another great thing about meditation is, do it, and SHARE your experience! These little sparks of interest really did some work on me, personally, and any realizations you have during your mediation sessions will affect those close to you.
I’ve attached a list of podcasts he’s shared and some I’ve listened to on my own.
Podcasts
Conversations With Paramahansa Yogananda (read the autobiography of a yogi first)
The Happiness Lab (with Dr. Laurie Santos)
Aubrey Marcus (particularly the episode where he sat in a dark room for seven days)
The Essence of Self Realization
Chris is still doing guided meditations and I encourage you to participate if you’re interested in all of this. They are usually every Wed, live-streamed on his Instagram.
Yoga
If you would like to go further than meditation, you can join it with Yoga.
Beginning Yoga:
Now — the introduction to begin with breathing and the focus of breath in yoga — is really also a path of meditation. Although, again — language — define it how you’d like.
Yoga means “union” — there is evidence that Yoga has existed since the beginning of time. So yoga holds some pretty amazing wisdom.
Whether you take yoga classes or use it for exercise or in meditation the uniting principles of yoga are as old as time, and you can “do yoga” and you can “meditate.” It really just depends on your mindset, on what you “want” to do. It’s all about what you feel, and “why” and how you want to define it using whatever words fit.
To get started with yoga, just do a basic search for beginner poses on YouTube. Just use the search bar, and have fun. Whatever path works fo you is there. There is so much information available. The key is to change your habits though, perhaps try to search for a new yoga pose in place of having a beer, or a cigarette or something that will take you escape you from your own conciousness. Yoga is great habit to get you into re-training your brain to make positive decisions.
A beginning path in Yoga, or a beginning path in meditation in seeking joy — are both excellent. After all, the only reason to do anything is to see how you feel about doing it!
You can also blend meditation and yoga — and this is how Yoga was anciently developed since it means “union” — In an abstract sense, yoga is described as a union with the divine good. The divine good that exists in everything.
On God, Love and the Universe
The word “God” is annoying. A lot of poeple use God and Jesus to excuse themselves from responsibility in the name of fogiveness. I’ve found, that without knowing your true self, you can’t forgive yourself, or others. So this path has really helped me understand the concept of God as well. This might help others also, or you can just skip this section and enjoy meditiation and yoga without “God” stuff!
We need a union to connect our consciousness to the divine good. Otherwise — there is just good, happiness, or just bad, sadness and suffering. Both need to exist — but here is the logic.
The divine good exists in everything. Everything does not exist in the divine good. You exist. The divine good exists in you.
Let’s replace “divine good” with “God”
God exists in everything. Everything does not exist in God. You exist. God exists in you.
So — basically “Yoga” on the spiritual path, is used to understand this logic. This is the same logic Jesus understood and the many, many saints of the universe. Once you get it, you get it, it just takes a lot of practice to understand. Once you understand the logic, you realize there is divine good in death, in suffering, in pain, in sorrow. It exists in all. That is helpful to truly be happy. You don’t ever need to supress feelings of sadness, or become “numb” — this is surely not the point. Emotions are regulatory, and necessary for a reason, but understanding the purpose behind suffering can allow you to reach new heights of enlightenment and self-awareness.
And if you don’t get it, it doesn’t matter — Yoga just makes you feel good, so take part!
Using Yoga, and the path to Kriya Yoga
So… my point — if you’re interested in yoga on the spiritual path — in studying an ancient, and amazing lineage of yoga, the same yoga Jesus Christ knew, and Babaji Krishna, and many other great saints of the universe. The path to a complete understanding of the universe is a technique called Kriya Yoga, and it is known only to those who seek to know more. It truly is an ancient, and amazing gift from the divine.
Kriya Yoga, is a meditation technique taught by Paramhansa Yogananda, who is my guru. There is plenty of information on this person and he lived until 1952. You can google the information on him, what he taught, and his techniques. Read his books if you like — There is plenty of information in books and on the internet.
And that concludes my field notes, friends — it should be enough information to go as far as you want — or learn as little also.
The point is, meditation, and yoga help you feel good — use them to your advantage.
Stay blessed, Peace, Om, Love to All
“From Joy we have come, in Joy we live and have our being, and in that sacred Joy we will one day melt again.” — Paramahansa Yogananda
