Post by Mysti on Jul 7, 2007 12:20:06 GMT -5
17. THE MEDITATION GARDEN
INNER PLANES GUIDES & GUARDIANS
We have now come quite a distance. You should be able now to get into the meditative state fairly easily. You should also have begun to develop your ability to visualize. So we want to look forward to contacting our spiritual guides, angelic protectors and inner planes teachers. The next few lessons will help us in developing that ability. But, we do need to become a bit more aggressive in meditation. We need to change our meditation techniques slightly.
THE MEDITATION GARDEN
One very pleasant way to develop contact with spirit guides is to develop a meditation garden, as I will call it, as the place with which to meet these spiritual entities. We will also have several other uses for the meditation garden that will be developed in future lessons. While I say, Meditation Garden,@ it does not have to be a garden: It should be whatever you and, more importantly, your inner child select together and feel comfortable with and a place that supports or harmonizes with your spiritual path. It might be a temple or a cloistered garden in a monastery. It could be a small beach by the ocean. It could be a clearing in a woods. It could be a sacred spot like Stonehenge. It may resemble a physical garden that you are familiar with, perhaps from childhood, or it may be something totally unique. One student saw his Meditation Garden@ as an underwater grotto.
But, as you begin to develop the garden (or your temple, grotto, cloister, beach, etc.), allow the design and appearance to issue from your subconsciousness, from your inner child. This garden will be as much or more the inner child=s place than that of your conscious mind. So it is important to let the child within do the major construction of the mental image of this place.
Structure of the Meditation Garden:
Let your mind visualize a garden or sheltered spot, maybe next to that water fall. Let this be your special place, with a grassy ground, or with whatever nature elements you favor. Spend a bit of time letting your inner child tell you what the place should look like, don=t force it. Let this space unfold and develop naturally without any pressure, perhaps though with a bit of encouragement.
This is a special place you will be able to go to in meditation whenever you want to, so be sure it is the place that the inner child selects. It will become your bridge or link between the physical world and the inner planes. I=ll first give you a guided meditation, so you can get a feel for what your garden should be. Perhaps you will want to have a CD or tape that is playing very softly as you sit in meditation.
<DIR> <DIR>
Feel yourself sitting on a marble chair or bench, perhaps comfortably padded with cushions, or let it be whatever sort of chair or bench you feel should be there– perhaps, it is even the meditation chair you are now sitting in. And, be aware that there is a gate behind you; it is the one you just entered to get to your garden. Now, see a second gateway with a gate, directly in front of you, on the opposite side of the garden from where you are. This is the gateway through which your guides and angels will enter. The garden is surrounded, except for the gates, by a stone wall or is it a picket fence or maybe a thick prickly hedge?
Let your consciousness just sink into enjoyment of your special spot–hear the flow of the water from the waterfall or perhaps from a gurgling brook or fountain. Maybe you have some soft wind chimes that ring at intervals. Do you hear the birds chirping? Do you hear the rustle of a light wind in the trees you have planted in your garden? It is your favorite time of the year. There are flowers blooming; can you sense their aroma? Are there bees buzzing as they move from flower to flower? The sun is so pleasant on your face. Let the sounds from the CD or tape encourage you to sink deeper into your special place. Perhaps you are aware of a rabbit or squirrel hopping by. Maybe your own pet animal is resting by your side or in your lap.
As you seem almost to drift into the soft sounds of the taped music and as you feel the pleasantness of the day, mentally reach out and invite your angelic friends and your spirit friends to come and join you in the garden. Do you have parents or friends in spirit? Ask them to join you. Oh, hear the tinkling of the wind chimes softly ringing. It is a very peaceful place. You are almost asleep in that sort of doziness such a pleasant time and place brings. If you know the names of your guides and your angelic helpers, whisper their names and invite them into your garden. Or, say, "I do invite my spiritual guides and angels to come here, to join me in my garden." (The pagan might invite the God or Goddess. The American Indian might invite one or more of the wise ones or his totem animal spirit.) Be sure you have mentally opened that gate on the other side of the garden.
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There, in the distance, you see a figure (or more) walking down a gently sloping pathway toward that gate. Mentally, or very softly say aloud, ACome in. Do come in, you are most welcome here.@ And, now, send out love towards the figure approaching the far gate. But, be sure to use the challenge affirmation as each guest enters by the far gate. No doubt your guide or angelic being will want to tell you something, so now allow your mind to still, to quiet down. Use deep
breathing, the 4x4 breathing, or whatever works for you. When the meditation period is over and you have reluctantly bid farewell to your guests as they depart, be sure to close (lock, bar and seal) the far gate mentally and then leave yourself, by the gate just behind you. Close, (lock, bar and seal) that gate also.
Initially, you may see your garden in the spot just above the eyes, sort of just in front of or just inside your forehead. Or, you might, from the start, feel and sense the garden as being around you as you sit in your meditation chair. Eventually, you will want to develop the feeling that you are actually sitting in the garden, that you are not just seeing it from afar. Remember, that in this meditation that it is your garden with your brook or waterfall and whatever else you add to the image in your mind=s eye. The garden itself could be a spot on a beach, or a mountain gully, or on the plains. It is for you and your inner child to design. You and your inner child might feel more comfortable in an oriental temple or a castle courtyard, or even in an underwater grotto. If you want bamboo chimes, wonderful. Or, if you want tinkling bells or the murmur of birds chirping, that=s great. Again, make this garden personal to you. But remember to open a gate at the far end to invite your spiritual friends in. And, at the end of your meditation, be sure to shut that gate and to retire from your special garden through a gate behind you, which you must also shut. This shutting of the gates is akin to the sealing of the psychic doors along your spine. The gates themselves may be temple doors or portals, whatever is appropriate to the meditation site image that you and your inner child develop. It doesn’t matter– it is what feels right to you. Most of us will feel as though we are seated facing eastward, looking at the far gate in the east.
Actually, for those who wish to or for those who feel drawn to a temple, you can visualize yourself inside a temple that fits your path and inclinations. You then hear temple bells, the bubbling of a fountain in the temple, but still a doorway on the opposite side through which your guides will enter and leave, and a doorway behind you that you exit through. And this will be your special place, your special temple. The druid may feel drawn to a grove of trees.
One possibility for the American Indian path may be to find that your Agarden@ is a sort of very small floating island in the sky, where you sit with a hogan (or other dwelling) just behind you; you are facing a small council fire which burns in front of you. The ancestors and spirits will come to you from the far edge of the island, somewhat beyond the other side of the burning fire. A sacred pipe and tobacco will, no doubt, be by your side.
Elements of the Meditation Garden:
Now, there should be these elements in your mental image of your garden or temple or cloister:
1. The bench or chair that you are sitting on in the garden.
2. A gate (or door or portal) directly behind you (your exit to the physical world).
3. A gate (or door or portal) directly ahead of you (the doorway to the inner planes).
4. A fence or wall or similar enclosure surrounding your meditation place. This might be a picket fence, a stone wall, the walls of the temple, or even a thick hedgeBwhatever feels right to you and to your inner child.
INNER PLANES GUIDES & GUARDIANS
We have now come quite a distance. You should be able now to get into the meditative state fairly easily. You should also have begun to develop your ability to visualize. So we want to look forward to contacting our spiritual guides, angelic protectors and inner planes teachers. The next few lessons will help us in developing that ability. But, we do need to become a bit more aggressive in meditation. We need to change our meditation techniques slightly.
THE MEDITATION GARDEN
One very pleasant way to develop contact with spirit guides is to develop a meditation garden, as I will call it, as the place with which to meet these spiritual entities. We will also have several other uses for the meditation garden that will be developed in future lessons. While I say, Meditation Garden,@ it does not have to be a garden: It should be whatever you and, more importantly, your inner child select together and feel comfortable with and a place that supports or harmonizes with your spiritual path. It might be a temple or a cloistered garden in a monastery. It could be a small beach by the ocean. It could be a clearing in a woods. It could be a sacred spot like Stonehenge. It may resemble a physical garden that you are familiar with, perhaps from childhood, or it may be something totally unique. One student saw his Meditation Garden@ as an underwater grotto.
But, as you begin to develop the garden (or your temple, grotto, cloister, beach, etc.), allow the design and appearance to issue from your subconsciousness, from your inner child. This garden will be as much or more the inner child=s place than that of your conscious mind. So it is important to let the child within do the major construction of the mental image of this place.
Structure of the Meditation Garden:
Let your mind visualize a garden or sheltered spot, maybe next to that water fall. Let this be your special place, with a grassy ground, or with whatever nature elements you favor. Spend a bit of time letting your inner child tell you what the place should look like, don=t force it. Let this space unfold and develop naturally without any pressure, perhaps though with a bit of encouragement.
This is a special place you will be able to go to in meditation whenever you want to, so be sure it is the place that the inner child selects. It will become your bridge or link between the physical world and the inner planes. I=ll first give you a guided meditation, so you can get a feel for what your garden should be. Perhaps you will want to have a CD or tape that is playing very softly as you sit in meditation.
<DIR> <DIR>
Feel yourself sitting on a marble chair or bench, perhaps comfortably padded with cushions, or let it be whatever sort of chair or bench you feel should be there– perhaps, it is even the meditation chair you are now sitting in. And, be aware that there is a gate behind you; it is the one you just entered to get to your garden. Now, see a second gateway with a gate, directly in front of you, on the opposite side of the garden from where you are. This is the gateway through which your guides and angels will enter. The garden is surrounded, except for the gates, by a stone wall or is it a picket fence or maybe a thick prickly hedge?
Let your consciousness just sink into enjoyment of your special spot–hear the flow of the water from the waterfall or perhaps from a gurgling brook or fountain. Maybe you have some soft wind chimes that ring at intervals. Do you hear the birds chirping? Do you hear the rustle of a light wind in the trees you have planted in your garden? It is your favorite time of the year. There are flowers blooming; can you sense their aroma? Are there bees buzzing as they move from flower to flower? The sun is so pleasant on your face. Let the sounds from the CD or tape encourage you to sink deeper into your special place. Perhaps you are aware of a rabbit or squirrel hopping by. Maybe your own pet animal is resting by your side or in your lap.
As you seem almost to drift into the soft sounds of the taped music and as you feel the pleasantness of the day, mentally reach out and invite your angelic friends and your spirit friends to come and join you in the garden. Do you have parents or friends in spirit? Ask them to join you. Oh, hear the tinkling of the wind chimes softly ringing. It is a very peaceful place. You are almost asleep in that sort of doziness such a pleasant time and place brings. If you know the names of your guides and your angelic helpers, whisper their names and invite them into your garden. Or, say, "I do invite my spiritual guides and angels to come here, to join me in my garden." (The pagan might invite the God or Goddess. The American Indian might invite one or more of the wise ones or his totem animal spirit.) Be sure you have mentally opened that gate on the other side of the garden.
</DIR></DIR>
There, in the distance, you see a figure (or more) walking down a gently sloping pathway toward that gate. Mentally, or very softly say aloud, ACome in. Do come in, you are most welcome here.@ And, now, send out love towards the figure approaching the far gate. But, be sure to use the challenge affirmation as each guest enters by the far gate. No doubt your guide or angelic being will want to tell you something, so now allow your mind to still, to quiet down. Use deep
breathing, the 4x4 breathing, or whatever works for you. When the meditation period is over and you have reluctantly bid farewell to your guests as they depart, be sure to close (lock, bar and seal) the far gate mentally and then leave yourself, by the gate just behind you. Close, (lock, bar and seal) that gate also.
Initially, you may see your garden in the spot just above the eyes, sort of just in front of or just inside your forehead. Or, you might, from the start, feel and sense the garden as being around you as you sit in your meditation chair. Eventually, you will want to develop the feeling that you are actually sitting in the garden, that you are not just seeing it from afar. Remember, that in this meditation that it is your garden with your brook or waterfall and whatever else you add to the image in your mind=s eye. The garden itself could be a spot on a beach, or a mountain gully, or on the plains. It is for you and your inner child to design. You and your inner child might feel more comfortable in an oriental temple or a castle courtyard, or even in an underwater grotto. If you want bamboo chimes, wonderful. Or, if you want tinkling bells or the murmur of birds chirping, that=s great. Again, make this garden personal to you. But remember to open a gate at the far end to invite your spiritual friends in. And, at the end of your meditation, be sure to shut that gate and to retire from your special garden through a gate behind you, which you must also shut. This shutting of the gates is akin to the sealing of the psychic doors along your spine. The gates themselves may be temple doors or portals, whatever is appropriate to the meditation site image that you and your inner child develop. It doesn’t matter– it is what feels right to you. Most of us will feel as though we are seated facing eastward, looking at the far gate in the east.
Actually, for those who wish to or for those who feel drawn to a temple, you can visualize yourself inside a temple that fits your path and inclinations. You then hear temple bells, the bubbling of a fountain in the temple, but still a doorway on the opposite side through which your guides will enter and leave, and a doorway behind you that you exit through. And this will be your special place, your special temple. The druid may feel drawn to a grove of trees.
One possibility for the American Indian path may be to find that your Agarden@ is a sort of very small floating island in the sky, where you sit with a hogan (or other dwelling) just behind you; you are facing a small council fire which burns in front of you. The ancestors and spirits will come to you from the far edge of the island, somewhat beyond the other side of the burning fire. A sacred pipe and tobacco will, no doubt, be by your side.
Elements of the Meditation Garden:
Now, there should be these elements in your mental image of your garden or temple or cloister:
1. The bench or chair that you are sitting on in the garden.
2. A gate (or door or portal) directly behind you (your exit to the physical world).
3. A gate (or door or portal) directly ahead of you (the doorway to the inner planes).
4. A fence or wall or similar enclosure surrounding your meditation place. This might be a picket fence, a stone wall, the walls of the temple, or even a thick hedgeBwhatever feels right to you and to your inner child.