Spiritual Portal

Sometimes u r inspired to do something different upon waking but it is one of the most important practices to myself to wake early in the morning and start meditating. Before the mind gets filled with activities and still a bit in the land beyond our dreams from being asleep all nite. This makes it easier to get in that meditation space.

I fully agree, I'm trying to wake up earlier myself

I was reading up on "Insight Meditation" yesterday and found this,

"

SUSTAINING ATTENTION -- SITTING

Time and Place

Focusing the mind on the body can be readily accomplished while sitting. You need to find a time and a place which affords you calm and freedom from disturbance.

A quiet room with not much in it to distract the mind is ideal; a setting with light and space has a brightening and clearing effect, while a cluttered and gloomy room has just the opposite. Timing is also important, particularly as most people's days are quite structured with routines. It is not especially productive to meditate when you have something else to do, or when you're pressed for time. It's better to set aside a period -- say, in the early morning or in the evening after work -- when you can really give your full attention to the practice. Begin with fifteen minutes or so. Practice sincerely with the limitations of time and available energy, and avoid becoming mechanical about the routine. Meditation practice, supported by genuine willingness to investigate and make peace with oneself, will develop naturally in terms of duration and skill.

"
https://wahiduddin.net/meditation/insight.htm


I have an empty room with white walls and when the sun rises the light that peeps through the partial opened blinds is quite comforting. Alternatively, I've found meditating in complete darkness at 3AM to be a little scary. I've had wonderful meditations at this time though as well... So I wonder, does lighting affect our meditation?

i believe that sometimes we wake on purpose and think to ourselves we can't get back to sleep. However maybe we are not supposed to.
i believe that we have spiritual guides that actually help us wake up at nite to use this time for meditation instead of thinking constantly about sleep.


i think it is nice when we are inspired to meditate and it does not become 'mechanical' that is why it is wonderful when we wake up in the middle of the nite and can't go immediately go back to sleep to meditate. We should entertain the idea that we are often given inspiration from higher sources to practice our spiritual routine and not ignore it. i like no lite or very dim lite when i meditate. But i suppose other people may feel differently. Too much lite makes me too aware of the outer world and takes attention away from the inner world.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your reply. I thought about you as I awoke last night at 3:11AM. I felt something was trying to speak with me. Unfortunately it's all to real sometimes and I am fearful... I think about Murshid Inayat Khans words here...


I am such a person. I even think this may have been my teacher getting my attention. I tried to meditate but thought I was going to leave my body and wasn't quite comfortable at the time. I have been questioning the significance of religious wars. How HE would handle such a thing when the teachings are to respect all religious ideal... And I wonder what he has to say about religions that support cruel punishment.

I hope your day is going well.

i just have found that i seem to wake up at nite a lot and if i am not really tired i believe it is a calling to meditate. i do not have the ability to leave my body at will as you seem to have Eric. It is quite a gift! Even if it is not developed. i would say that i leave this dimension quite frequently and enter one in which i am in an altered state of heightened peace and bliss. i look forward to this happening even though it is infrequent. At nite there are very few distractions except those in your own mind. That is why i also go deep in the woods when i can to get away from all distracting sounds of civilization. Nature seems to be and interiorizing influence on consciousness. Also; when we can go deeper in meditation it is easier to think of friends and send them our best thoughts and prayers.

Thanks Steve. Just wanted to note, it's never at will. Maybe it is a gift but I am still too egotistical and self centered to enjoy the benefits. I am usually scared if it happens when I am more alert and over imaginative. Yes, meditation helps still the thoughts. I have meditated at this time before and understand this altered state you speak of, even if it is only to a small degree. I think there is a difference between having an OBE and this meditative state. While I was attempting to meditate I think since I was laying down the gears had switched to the incoming out of body.

At one point I tried to recreate the conditions for successful OBexperience but almost always these happenings are not of my own will and instead are partly due to a physical tiredness mixed with mental alertness. In college years it was very strong and it was my lucid dreams that caused me to research more eventually leading me to BlueNova who introduced me to your forum!  :)

Now days, if I were to try and recreate it, I do not carry the energy to see it through. If an opportunity arises for me to practice I only get half way before losing concentration/energy and falling into a very vivid dream.

Thanks for your insights. If I am in a deep enough state it is quite a feeling and thinking of friends during this meditative state broaden that Lovely compassionate feeling.  :)

It is also cooler in the summer in the morning hours and quieter both in environment and in the mind. The mind and body are refreshed from a dip into another dimension and less cluttered by the days events.

Sometimes the energy of a full moon has this affect on us also.

We should entertain the idea that we are often given inspiration from higher sources to practice our spiritual routine and not ignore it. Sometimes the energy of a full moon has this affect on us also.

The 2017 November full moon, also known as the beaver moon or hunter's moon, will rise Friday, Nov. 3 and reach its peak early Saturday morning, Nov. 4, 2017. This is now!

The vibrations of the full moon was so strong last nite that i woke in the middle of the nite and went to a lake/park to energize and meditate.....and....we could not even see the full moon here in the midwest because of the cloud cover.

Sometimes it is just natural and seems inspired by the great ones. We probably have no idea just how much help we get from the 'otherside' when we solicit it. However in times of need it becomes quite apparent and even at other times we are often inspired by events around us that keep up our meditation practice and influence our spiritual and physical efforts. Being grateful and acknowledging such events and people in our life facilitates Gods grace.

I feel so good about waking up to the deafeningly  silence around me! It is my time to spend alone with God and is the best way to still the mind. 🤫

My mind is so full of illusions I think I made up myself!!

A quiet mind is like a thief whose day job is policeman!

Dear ding dong,

Do you mean to say a quiet mind is contradictory in nature?

So happy to see you posting again B.

<3

Yes, I think so. That's why you have no doubt heard things like no-mind, destruction of the mind, killing the mind, etc. The mind must be completely destroyed for the Self to be realized. It can be temporarily subdued, but it inevitably rises up again after its rest (causing frustration for the yogi). A thief may become a policeman during the day and convince everyone, and at night become a criminal.

While I have the mind I like to think I can steer this ship as its rightful captain. That is to say, through scrutiny and discipline, cast out unwelcomed thoughts and lay anchor to the velvety silence as often as possible. This does not mean being closed minded. When the forces of the world pull on me, and they will, I will work to keep the perspective geared towards my Ideal until finally arriving to my destination. To completely surrender to the almighty may mean physical death and lifetimes of renunciation. We are limited after all. Understanding what makes me truly happy and doing whatever I can to reside there has its moments of growth and selfless service- a greater Joy than I could have imagined, so this dense life of struggle and discovery isn't all that bad. Miracles are happening in every moment. Often these beliefs are kept safe guarded, to be practiced without interference. Perhaps we let the thief rob us of our liberty when forgetting we're born in a dualistic reality. Maybe the thief is actually a great teacher in disguise?

You say you can steer your ship as its rightful captain. It is the thief, the pirate, who says so. Sri Ramana Maharshi explains in "Who am I?" that the root of the mind is the "I" thought.


And from "Reality in forty verses":


I was just having a little fun with the idea of "quiet mind", but there is a genuine point to be made here. That is that the mind can never truly be quiet so long as it manifests as such - and the root of its manifestation is the I-thought.

It has taken me years to realize what I consider real happiness, and even that glory belongs to God. Realizing my limits, flaws and mortality which is subject to birth and death and linear time, it is a practice to undo the superficial, habitual and deteriorating activities that have only brought additional suffering.  Gurunath has allowed us to experience his stillness, for a moment. It was peaceful. I believe you're right, we can temporarily subdue mind with meditation. The peace is so Lovely. As a house hold Yogi I am finding it difficult to balance. Moving past layers of material existence I become intoxicated by the almighty, immobilized or most always crying from divine influence. The Beloved is so Beautiful....

Then there is the responsibility for work, friends and family. I am not yet initiated but am reminded of the postman from AY who asked not to move to the second phase of Kriya yoga because of the difficulty he was having in performing his task whilst on Earth. Yes, now 30 years old I feel a responsibility while I am here experiencing this realm for myself and my family. To give them the Love they have graciously given me, the Love I continually seek- God. I will always steer back to the silence, a portable paradise as quoted here from Yogananda(Thank you for the daily inspiration button). In coming to terms with my responsibilities for my happiness, it is not so much an effort as it is a Joy, where Love is the teacher and guiding force. I imagine it will take even more years to undo the damage I have committed, absorbed and was even born into, it is my path and one that makes me happy.

I like the quote from Sri Ramana and the thoughts of I and it's origin and here we are, partial truths striving for the ultimate. More and more I am believing all paths lead to the one, how we get there is just fine. Here I am learning to live in the world and keep above it, continually forced to escape my attachments and reside in an even greater Love, to the best of my ability.

My friend often prays, "It is not mine to have but yours to keep" when thinking on his existence and the Lord. More thoughts for this thread but it's time to go... To let go.  :)

B, I have tried visiting your meditation room the digital portal but have not seen it up and running for sometime. Do you mind sharing what happened? I'd love to sign in if you ever decide to bring it back.

Thank you for the space, wishing the family here much Love and a Blessed day.

Where else could they lead? There's nowhere else to go!


That place has long been defunct. It was a fun experiment, but had some bugs, and not many people started using it. I must have missed making some money by not making it a smart-phone app, because now I meditate with a Buddhist group and they are always talking about some app they use which does the same thing. It is apparently popular. Maybe it existed before I even created my webpage, I'm not sure. And sorry, I don't know the name of that app.

Yes I often have to remind myself that agitation is a choice we make in our mind. Happiness is another choice. The people around us who give happiness are yet another choice! I suppose the original thought of I was a choice as (.....) has been seemingly saying yet there is that thought of I. It is difficult to deny its existence! Even then there is the thought of denial. Only briefly have I experienced that which is beyond I. It may be important to recognize the thoughts that we entertain to create the idea and reality of ‘I’. Quite often the questions we ask are just as important or more important then the answers we appear to have.

The stillness and the darkness of nite can sometimes feel like my only friend. It is a welcome visitor when it wakens me to its solitude and takes me into its deep dark arms and presence.

Eric I think I found what you were looking for; better late then never! I do understand What you are saying about the search bar and agree! Someday we may get a chance to move on to a different format oh it will be quite a feat indeed-financially and starting with our own site. Hopefully with a better functioning format on some level. You gain something and loose something in living every day; And there are risks with any new ventures.

Dear Steve,
Thank you for resurrecting this thread. I believe you are right about spiritual guides. I think this happened in mass last night in my environment. My entire family, after discussing the lack of sleep with them, is in the same boat. We have all experienced little sleep, but believe I was awoken for a reason. To solidify my reason is direct experience- communication with an intelligent universe, an unseen but felt presence and direction that would be called guidance- a Woman today told me she too woke up at the same time I did(3 AM) and that she spent two hours meditating before going in to work. On top of this I am being followed by 1111 and other repeating numbers today that I have come to understand as the Universe trying to grab my attention. When experiencing God I am receiving chills that tell me there is something trying to communicate, RIGHT NOW.
So I better get to it. Thank you for the inspiration!
Peace my divine friend. <3 I have more to share... but after attempts to meditate!! <3 <3