Meditate 4-12 Step.com
(Under Construction!)
This website is here to help all of us who have felt, or have
had sisters and brothers
in recovery, or sponsors or sponsees, who have all
said:
"Well, I just can't meditate!!! So instead I just do....(fill in
the blank here)"
It's not our fault! There are obstacles to meditating that have been
known and addressed for centuries, but seem to be infrequently directly
addressed as meditation has come to the west. And similarly, there are precise
meditation techniques that have been taught for centuries and can easily be
learned...it isn't just trying to have "No thoughts" or many other common
misunderstandings that leave
most of us frustrated, and give up on "meditating"!
These are some of the questions that seem to be so simple, but
so elusive:
How do we meditate?
What do we meditate on?
How do we structure a meditation?
Do I have to learn philosophy?
What if I don't believe in X?
What if I do believe in X?
If we are supposed to have a closer contact with a higher power of our
understanding through meditation and prayer, how exactly can we do that?
While this site is still under construction, it attempts to offer "Non sectarian" meditations for those in recovery, or anyone, of any background, based on historical meditation instructions which have been freely passed down for over 2500 years, that address those questions and goals.
Any references to Higher Power, Spiritual Friend, Lama, Holy Being, are to be
completely
defined by one's own experience, and can be seen to be synonymous.
They occur in the
various mp3 guided meditations with that very understanding;
this is in accordance to the
oral traditions and written traditions upon which
they have come down to us in the present!
Many of us in program have had difficulty sitting down and successfully meditating.
In the traditional teachings, this is a common obstacle, which is
"caused" by eliminating a
"warm-up" that was considered an essential part of all
meditational practices.
It has been said, that without first doing "The Preliminaries", it is like trying to do a 300 meter sprint without warming up. In our Fast Food Culture, and a world where we focus so solely on the end results, and "the bottom line", The Preliminaries were often left out when meditation practices came from the east into the west in the 20th century not being understood correctly as being a critical part of any meditation practice as an integral, essential "warm up" of any formal further meditation practice. They are a set specific series of contemplations that help the mediator have much greater success and development of the skill of meditation. In themselves, The Preliminaries can serve as a beautiful meditation on their own that are easily learned by anyone of any background as a basic meditation practice.
It is interesting that The Preliminaries contain key elements of the 12 steps
themselves:
invoking one's Higher Power and asking for help (Steps 1-3),
clearing our conscience (4th, 9th and 10th steps),
asking for help with our character
defects from our Higher Power (Steps 5-8)
and the wish to help others in
recovery (Step 12)
Many have found meditating on The Preliminaries to be a powerful path to developing a
non-frustrating meditation practice as part of their daily life and spiritual
journey in recovery. (see below for guided meditation on The
Preliminaries)
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It is hoped that this website will help anyone overcome obstacles and difficulties in meditation. Even realizing there are "obstacles" to meditation that have been documented for centuries can be revelatory.
The various obstacles - and more importantly - specific antidotes - to meditation have been taught, written down, and transmitted over the centuries from the traditions of meditation within India and Tibet in particular, and can be easily implemented by anyone with any background.
For many people in various recovery programs, meditation is often recommended as it is a part of the 11th step and critical, but often without the instructions that make it into a clear practice, rather than a vague and usually frustrating experience.
Resources:
Guided mp3 audio files
(under development)
Written out Meditations and commentaries/explanations - various materials:
What is Meditation? And what it isn't.
Why meditate? Benefits of Meditation. How to develop a realistic daily practice.
Meditation on one's Higher Power
Contemplations on Giving and Taking - a Meditation practice to develop a loving heart
How to Meditate all day
(under development)
Meditation called "The Preliminaries"
(PDF Version, click here)
A "Warm up" taught to be "preliminary" to one's formal meditation: a Meditation
in itself that includes meditating on one's Higher Power/Spiritual Friend/Holy
Being, and shifting the mind into a neutral place in order to have a productive
meditation session.
T
For further information on free formal classes being planned in the San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles areas, please send email to "meditate@meditate4-12step.com"