What is psycho-analytical meditation?
Psycho-analytical Meditation was a concept developed by Dr B.S. Goel. It involves an exploration of conscious and unconscious aspects of the mind and emotions in order to heal and bring about greater harmony or balance within. In meditation, observing thoughts and emotions as they arise or which have arisen during the day, from a detached, meditative perspective, can help to dissolve them or allow intuition to provide helpful answers. Likewise, ideas and issues that arise in meditation can also be looked at during the day through self-psychoanalysis or the Socratic process. Most of the problems we create for ourselves are because of the belief that things should be other than they are. If we could just accept that everything is appropriate and act consciously, life would be so much easier.
What is Self-awareness meditation?
Self-awareness meditation is not a particular technique of meditation, but the intention of meditation. The true purpose of meditation is to align the lower self with the higher Self. Relaxation, calmness, mindfulness, etc., are natural side effects of it but not the ultimate goal. As the meditator advances in the practice, meditation becomes a way of being rather than something you just do.
What is the evolution of consciousness?
Human consciousness has evolved over many thousands of years to where it is now, in which a large proportion of people are intelligent human beings. In the modern age, the mind is considered of prime importance. The focus in previous ages, however, was on the physical being and then the emotional being. In the future, we will evolve toward widespread transcendental awareness. As meditators, we focus on moving our awareness from egoic to transpersonal and to transcendental.
How is dream interpretation useful to meditators?
Dream interpretation has fascinated people for ages. Interpretation in the past has usually focused on dream symbolism and what message the symbols bring to us. These symbols portray archetypes with universal meaning and with no need for language. Modern psychologists use dreams to understand inner processes going on within a person’s mind. Such interpretations are also useful to meditators. However, there is an additional layer within dreams related to the mechanics of consciousness within this. Dreams show your relative balance and where you are at the moment in ongoing cycles of the five-fold process. This cyclic process takes you to ever increasing holistic awareness.
What place does psychology have in understanding spiritual growth?
Psychology has come a long way in understanding how the mind works. Increasingly, the newer transpersonal or integral psychologies acknowledge the existence of the soul and attempt to incorporate this into their theory and therapy. In my book, I particularly look at the theory put forward by Dr B. S. Goel who, after experiencing traumatic spiritual experience, underwent many years of psychoanalysis himself as well as practicing regular meditation. He concluded that meditation was superior to psychoanalysis for understanding and flowing with spiritual emergence.
Explain the Usefulness of Meditation Pointers
There are many books on meditation, but rarely do they outline what the average meditator will experience in meditation. This is not surprising, as everyone’s experience differs. Not only that, it is often difficult to put such experiences into words, particularly when trying to describe subtle dimensions. For this reason, rather than trying to outline expected experience over time, I focus on the experiences I have had and how these have been explained by an authentic spiritual master, Master Charles Cannon.
What value is it to us to know about the Kundalini and the chakras?
Within all of us is a subtle energy system, which is distributed through a system of energy vortices known as chakras. As a person evolves increasingly higher chakras increase in activity and associated with this come physical, emotional, mental and spiritual experiences. When one reaches a certain point of awakening on the spiritual path, a dormant aspect of this energy is awakened. This inner, transformative energy is known as the Kundalini. It moves through the meridians and chakras in the subtle energy body. It is transformative and literally takes one from normal egoic awareness to transcendental awareness.
There is reference in the book to the value of a guru. Should one look for a guru?
It has been said that when the student is ready, the master will appear. However, it is debatable whether this needs to be in the form of a guru. Some gurus say it is necessary, while others disagree. Obviously, there are benefits from the help of a meditation master who has been through the experiences you are having and who can guide your path. However, a guru is really a physical reflection of your own inner Self or soul. Through meditation, we learn to connect with the soul within and receive guidance from the guru within.
What can you say about the supplementary course?
I developed the predecessor for this course many years ago and used it with a meditation group I had back then. When I wrote the book, I added it as an extra and updated it with new teachings I had gained since then. Originally, I thought of putting it at the start of the book following the statement by Muktananda that experience is needed first before delving into the theory. However, I put it at the end as a supplement and really, as a kind of summary of much of the theory. It is up to the reader if the course is followed.
Do you consider yourself an expert on Self-awareness and Meditation?
No, there are many far more proficient meditators than me. However, I know how to write a book and so have put my years of research, learning, and experience together in this book. I hope this book will be of benefit to other spiritual seekers.
What is the Mechanics of Consciousness?
This is a holistic model of reality and has as its basis the one source or consciousness. From this one source comes all experience as we know it in the relative field, a multidimensional reality in which the one has separated into positive and negative polarities. It is through this duality that we can experience a relative reality. How we came to have this fragmented experience and how we can evolve our consciousness out of this illusion of duality and return to oneness is called the mechanics of consciousness.