HOW TO USE EVERYTHING YOU DO IN LIFE AS A SIMPLE AND SATISFYING MEDITATION PRACTICE
A real personal daily meditation practice is simple, immediate and enhances every aspect of life with serene satisfaction…WITH a sweet AUDIO PODCAST version performed by the author!
Lovingly written, produced and published by Chinmayan
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This is the WEEKEND edition of THE DAWNING LIGHT # 1267
Our PREMIUM version of our “Daily Journal of Transformational Writing”
SPIRITUAL SOUP KITCHEN Section # 217 Stories Written by Chinmayan…to inspire you to develop your own ability to tap into the flow of divine inner guidance within your heart…and use the challenges and rewards of daily life as your destined dharma path…
Images in this story courtesy of Pixabay)
A real meditation practice is simple, immediate and enhances every aspect of life with serene satisfaction
The End Of Another Golden Day
The sun is getting to the end of this day’s journey across the sky, with its light becoming golden and gentle as it is slowly sinking behind the mountains to the west.
I am at this beloved writing desk aboard my tiny house, which gives me a grandstand view of the sunset through the wide-open window.
This is one of my favorite times in the flow of days, this glimmering pause between the dying day and the coming night.
All the masters say that sunset is one of the best times to meditate and do practices because of this pause…and I have always found this to be true…and have come here to “catch the wave” towards higher consciousness that rises and surges towards the divine at this time.
Here Is A Preview Of The Things I will Be Talking About In This Story—
*Meditation is the best thing you can ever do for yourself
*Simple Meditation practices are the best for daily life
*Using every scrap of time to meditate and raise your consciousness
*The amazing power of even short meditation breaks
*The more you practice, the more positive results
*Turning everything you do into meditation practice
*Taking meditation into the rest of life in “ensuing meditation”
*The best time to meditate and pray
*There is nothing more satisfying or pleasurable than to meditate, pray and sing kirtan and enter the “inner paradise within”
Meditation Is The Best Thing I Can Ever Do For Myself
One of the many beautiful things about meditation that I love the most is its immediacy and simplicity.
If I want to listen to music, I have to have a bunch of things to make it possible…this laptop to access my playlists and a sound system to play the songs I want and need to hear and power to run them both and a place to sit while listening.
With meditation and practices, I do not need anything other than myself and a bit of focused time to come into my own inner sanctuary. It is simple…all I need is to follow my own breath into that “portable paradise” that I carry within with me wherever I go.
Once I decide to practice, there is no waiting…I can enter that sanctuary easily as soon as I sit up straight, close my eyes and re focus my attention from the outer world onto simply watching my breath.
Then, I am “riding” each breath in and out as I come back into this very present moment. It is immediate.
Simple Practices Are Best For Daily Life
It is simple, which is an essential aspect of practice. I have been initiated into some of the most powerful sadhanas available in the Vajrayana Dharma path from high Tibetan meditation masters over many years. Those practices are important and have their place, for they are done for the specific purposes and results they produce…
I am grateful for all the retreats I have had where we did these “advanced” practices in a group with our teacher. But these practices need a lot of time and a retreat situation to do them properly.
But, for me, with limited available time and living a daily life in the world, it is the simple practices that I rely on.
I have found it to be true as Kalu Rinpoche told me, “Simple practices are the best for daily practice…easy to learn, easy to do yet profound and progressive in their beneficial results…”
Even children love to meditate! My daughters received instruction from Kalu Rinpoche and started meditating before they were 3 years old…
The Amazing Power Of Even Short Meditation Breaks
Many people that come to my classes and courses tell me, “I would really love to develop my own meditation practice, but I don’t have any time for it with the demands of my daily life.”
But, when I suggest that they just focus on doing 3 to 5 minute meditation sessions and describe how all you need to do is to take a very brief time out, close your eyes and go for it with full focus during these short sessions to start getting the amazing benefits from regular practice, they suddenly realize that they have many opportunities in the midst of even the most hurried day to do practice.
If You Have A Busy and Demanding Life, Use Every Scrap Of Time To Meditate, Pray and Sing kirtan
A good habit that I have developed over the years is to use every scrap of time to meditate, pray and sing.
Every minute of meditation practice produces amazing and cumulative results. The more you practice, the more the results will multiply and once they start coming, you will understand how important practice really is.
If Ani and I are out on errands, or take a break from work or even when in a long line at the grocery store, I will look for an opportunity to close my eyes and meditate and pray.
If we are in the car taking care of business, we love to pull over, find a shady place and take a 5 minute meditation break.
Turn Everything You Do Into Meditation Practice—From Driving To washing Dishes
Whenever we need to drive anywhere, especially if it will take some time to get wherever we are going, we do “driving meditation” by saying to each other “Let’s go into silence and prayer.”
This “driving meditation” has become a precious part of my path because after all these years, I am able to immediately shift into a high state of awareness and consciousness.
I have to be totally focused in the present moment, constantly monitoring everything going on on the road around us, and maintaining the highest level of concentration in order to drive safely and well.
Once we are driving, the good habits are so ingrained, that mundane part of me attends to the driving very well while the higher part of me is completely free to pray and invoke the divine through singing and chanting.
I have had thousands of breakthroughs simply from using driving as part of my practice—-rather than listening to the radio, talking or letting my mind drift along on the river of irrelevant thoughts.
“Satsang of the Saints In Deep Meditation” Every one who has ever attained enlightenment or became a saint had a dedicated meditation and prayer practice they sustained over many years….
In “Ensuing Meditation,” Everything You Do Is Done In A Higher State of Consciousness
Kalu Rinpoche would stress that “There is formal sitting meditation which is so necessary, especially in the beginning of your practice.
But, once you have developed your practice and achieved higher states of consciousness, it is important to maintain that state after ending your session.
When you are washing dishes, wash your mind. Be present and focused in whatever you do.“
This is called “ensuing meditation”…continuing your practice into the rest of your life, so that everything you do with your body, speech and mind becomes meditation practice with no division between formal and informal practice.”
Night Has Fallen—It Is The Best Time To “Make A Major Prayer Effort”
As I have been writing this, the sun has set and night has drawn her dark cloak across my world.
The stillness of evening has come and with it I hear the inner calling to shift into a time of deep prayer, “making a major prayer effort” as we say here on Still Mountain.
There are always so many inviting enticing things I could use this time for that I love doing…and yet, I know that there is absolutely nothing more satisfying or pleasurable than choosing to use the next hours and minutes to pray, meditate and sing…for I have long reached the stage that, as soon as I focus on practice, I arrive in the paradise within.
I would love for you to experience the clarity, bliss and peace of mind that can be reliably achieved with even 5 minutes of daily meditation.
We are planning on producing a new Meditation Training Intensive course that will be open for all readers of the “Dawning Light” in both online and in person formats in the near.
Once we have all the dates and details worked out, we will be sending you a complete information and registration packet.
This is the very best gift I can ever give anyone and the best thing you can do for yourself.
I teach authentic mediation practices in a way that is enjoyable, yet will make a major difference in your life! Stay tuned!
There is nothing more satisfying or pleasurable than to meditate, pray and sing kirtan and enter the “inner paradise within”
A SPECIAL SONG FOR YOU From Chinmayan’s Inspirational Playlists
“The Calling” by Fat Rat
This sweet song, with vocals by Laura Brehm. Is all about answering the inner calling we all have (though most of us ignore it) to rise up into the presence of the divine…
This is a haunting song with lyrics for easy singalong…
Authentic Meditation Training and Practical Spirituality For Daily Life
Stay Tuned for upcoming programs and trainings for our subscribers and supporters of “The Dawning Light”…
We are planning to launch our next “Meditation Training Intensive 101” course in the near future. When we set the dates and open this course for registration, we will announce the details in this newsletter first so that all of our “Dawning Light” friends will get first choice.
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Exactly what is needed to live a peaceful life. Society, can be a downer but with the light , life is a dance of pure bliss…
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