Meditation

To schedule training in the type of Meditation I have termed “Surfing Consciousness” (TradeMark), please call or email. It requires two days, with one hour of class each day. You can come to my office here in Santa Barbara, or we can Skype. For those under age 16, I offer simple meditation and breathing techniques that can be taught in a one hour class at my office, also free of charge. This is a service I offer to the greater community, and is not associated with any money, tradition, religion, or guru.

Other traditional meditation types include Transcendental Meditation, Vipassana Meditation, and various other Buddhist and Christian traditions. See which type calls to you and try it out for yourself.

What is meditation?

Meditation is a way to connect to your own highest consciousness and perhaps beyond. This is the ‘real you’ and can be thought of as ‘above’ or ‘beyond’ or ‘our innermost self’ instead of what we typically think of as ‘yourself’ (the ‘ego’ or thought-based identity). This is the real ‘Self’ who can observe the thoughts, emotions, and physical body. There are many paths and many types of meditation. When you are ready to learn, a teacher will be easy to find.

It may be helpful to understand the quantum physics concept that the universe is a field of creative energy, or pure consciousness, out of which everything arises. We are in it, and are made of it, and we also ARE it. In Ayurveda, there are 5 levels or vibrations of consciousness that we can perceive: physical, energetic, emotional/mental, intuitive/spiritual, and pure consciousness. Meditation helps us integrate pure consciousness, and become awake to all our layers and to our connection to everything in the universe.

“Surfing Consciousness” Meditation is a simple way to anchor into a vibration that will help you allow integration of all 5 layers of yourself, and all 7 states of consciousness. The type I teach requires no focus or concentration or difficult body positions, and can be done by anyone of any religion, spiritual belief, or physical ability.

Meditation Manifesto

 Why meditate? Not just for an experience of calm- you can find rest, lower blood pressure, a break from thought and ‘life,’ relaxation, improved focus and concentration, better posture, better health, or even brain wave synchronization, by doing many other great things.*  Meditation can feel difficult (depending on your conscious and subconscious beliefs about yourself), and takes time and consistent practice, so unless an ascetic detached lifestyle really is your path,**  the idea of meditation may look unappealing at first glance.

Meditation is a process by which you become more aware- of yourself, of others, and of life itself. The more aware you become of the truths of life, the better you are able to participate, make decisions, find what you truly need, and become fulfilled. Meditation acquaints you directly with your true self, and how that manifests in your intuition, your emotions and thoughts, and your body and energy. Meditation teaches you that each moment is a new opportunity to make a new start and change everything about how you react to things that happen. What an incredible moment is every moment!

By sitting with only yourself consistently, becoming aware of the nature of your attention/mind and also of every part of yourself that grabs your attention and pulls you out of each meditation, learning to allow yourself to be exactly as you are in the moment, learning gradually how to let all thoughts/emotions/sensations rise and fall without grasping at them or analyzing them, you learn to accept and love yourself exactly as you are in each and every moment.

The more you practice, the more you see glimpses of your true self. This Self is whole and complete, part of the unified field of consciousness, and consists entirely of love, which includes peace and joy and compassion. You learn that all perceived good and all perceived bad in yourself is actually the same. It is all manifestations of our underlying energy: just as clouds across the sky come and go, so do thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. What we decide to perceive when we are less aware is based largely on our habits/programming and subconscious reaction patterns- and attempting to nail down a thought or emotion or body sensation makes it seem more permanent, more easy to identify with, but is as effective for our evolution and understanding as is attempting to nail down a cloud.

As we use meditation to contact our truest selves, it allows us to watch this process, become acquainted with our habits, and to see and release the subconscious tangled mess that gets in the way of perceiving the truth. The more often we contact truth, the less the old habits can stay. Truth is a candle in a pitch dark room- even a tiny match casts light everywhere, changing darkness to light without doing anything directly about the darkness. Darkness disappears, as our habits and confusion start dissolving as soon as we begin.

The longer we consistently practice, without expectation or attachment to outcome, we are able to experience and be aware of our center, which is peace. We begin to accept ourselves exactly as we are, feel gratitude for the opportunity to practice and grow and live in more and more awareness: more candles are lit in the rooms of ourselves. The more truth we are able to hold, the less our subconscious patterns rule our behavior, the more we see life as it really is, and are able to make decisions that are positive for our growth. This leads naturally to better health, more enjoyment of life, improved relationships, and faster roads to fulfillment of our purest desires for our lives.

The more we know ourselves, the more compassion we have, for ourselves, our past selves, and for others. The more compassion we have for others, the more we are able to see their truth, their suffering, and the more we may be able to help alleviate it. Is this not why we are here? To love like this? To love ourselves, others, everything in the world? I think so. Being awake is being awake to our true nature which is love, and all aspects of love, including peace, joy, and compassion.

Our state of mind is entirely dependent the level of clarity of our perception about what we see in ourselves and in the world around us. When we are awake to truth, there is no confusion or conflict anymore. We become full of truth. It is time to wake up and be the change we wish to see. Stopping the war with ourselves will stop the wars we see around us. I suggest you start today. Ask for help. Know this is what we are all here for. It’s time to wake up.

*guided visualization, yoga, pranayama and other breathing exercises, biofeedback, walking in nature, surfing, playing and listening to music, art… the list goes on and on

**Being called to any type of religious or similar lifestyle is a gift, and some of my greatest teachers have been nuns, monks, and/or celibate religious scholars and philosophers. Most traditions of meditation are from ‘monk’ traditions (as opposed to ‘householder’), and are best learned and practiced in a celibate, austere, quiet, and ascetic environments, away from messy human ‘life.’ For those who would like to benefit from learning meditation right away can do so with a simpler technique. Meditation is for everyone, and since peace in our world depends on peace within our individual lives, meditation types that are learned quickly, can be done quickly, are free from induced suffering, are as effortless as possible, and help us become more fulfilled as humans by clearing out stress and allowing us to be more aware, awake, and clear… in my experience, this is the type of meditation technique it seems most helpful to learn first and on which to build a foundation of consistent practice, and this is the type I teach to beginners.