Special Report on Applications of Meditation

8/7/2019 Special Report on Applications of Meditation

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/special-report-on-applications-of-meditation 1/99

Kellan Fluckiger

Special Report:

What Will

Meditation Do

For Me?

A Brief Survey of the

Applications of Meditation



2 | P a g e

Special Report: What will meditation do f or me?

A brief survey of the applications of meditation

This special report contains a small sampling of

excerpted information from the five volumes in the

Meditation The Amazing Journey Within series of

books.

This report will explore some of the ways thatmeditation is being used to enhance peoples lives

today in every area from education to healing to job

advancement and finances.

This special report does not give specific instruction in

how to learn to meditate or how to become proficient

in its practice.

If the applications in this report appeal to you, then you

should immediately download the full course and learn

to apply the tremendous power of meditation to unlock

the brilliance and power of your own mind in order to

make these possibilities real in your own life.

There are hundreds and perhaps thousands of ways that

meditation can help us. The methods and ways that it

can be used are as unique as you are. And it is certain

that you are a unique and powerful individual.



3 | P a g e

Remember that meditation is a tool. The first and most

important thing about any tool is to understand what it

is for and to use it correctly.

Make sure that you understand how to meditate and

achieve the complete state of relaxed awareness before

you start using applications of this powerful tool.

The critical first step is to learn to meditate in some

structured fashion. These skills are taught in the five

volumes of Meditation The Amazing Journey

Within. Four separate types of meditation are taught in

that course, with variations on each type for individual

application.

The next critical key is to meditate regularly f ormaximum effect in your life. The when, where and

how of these skills is also taught in the five book

series.

In addition, the usual questions, general concerns,

roadblocks, problems and other potential interferences

are discussed in the series along with methods for

removing each of these obstacles and achieving the

benefits meditation can offer your life.

An important starting point is to take time to regularly

meditate just f or the sheer relaxation of being fully



4 | P a g e

present in that moment and without a secondary

motive. That way you will be assured that when you use

meditation to accomplish any goal that you have set for

yourself, you will be using the tool and your own

powerful mind at its best.

As a final reminder to help you get all you can from

your meditation practice, remember that there are, of

course, other tools that we can use to help us alongwith the tool of meditation. Using the correct tool at

the right time and in the right amount assures us of the

best chance f or success.

For example, one would not get a driver license by

thinking or meditating about a car. You must take

drivers education, read the rules of the road, pass the

written test and satisfy an examiner that you know how

to operate the vehicle.

Meditation can help your mind when you study, and

study more effectively. Meditation can clear the mind

so that you will remember the answers while you take

the test, be more relaxed while you are demonstrating

your driving ability and otherwise improve your effort. It

cannot substitute for the other steps.

One would not meditate over a chemistry book with

the book closed and then expect to pass the course



5 | P a g e

without study. Meditation will help the study process,

help you learn faster, improve your memory so you can

recall what you studied, calm your anxiety about the

test and help you therefore get a better grade.

Likewise, meditation is not a substitute for a doctor or

other medical treatment when needed, even though

meditation will aid healing and help the body resist

disease.

Meditation is not a substitute for any professional help

that may be required for depression, anxiety, addictions

or other serious conditions. It can, and does help with

stress relief, anxiety relief, addiction recovery and a

host of other physical and mental illnesses and

condition, but only when used with other appropriate

resources when needed.

This may be obvious to all the readers of the book, but I

feel it is important to state the obvious so that

meditation can be the most helpful and do the most

benefit to those who practice it, while not asserting

claims that are beyond the scope of what is intended.

In the rest of this report I will give a few examples of

ways that meditation can improve your life. These

examples will be from my own personal experience, or



6 | P a g e

from the experience of those that I have helped with

this process.

While I cannot cover all the possible uses, these

examples will give you ideas as to the things that can be

done, and also instructions about how to use this tool.

In addition, there are numerous books and articles that

have been published about meditation and its benefits;

I will provide you with some references at the end thatwill be good for further reading if you want to see more

about what meditation has done for others.

Beyond these examples, in the five books in this series,

I have given not only examples, but specific meditation

scripts to address areas that meditation may help in

your quest f or a happy life. Please read those books as

well and perhaps you will find help in the suggestions

and examples in those books.

Meditation and Stress Relief

One of the most frequently asked questions is can

meditation help me with stress? The answer is a

resounding yes. The next question is obviously, how

can I use meditation to calm my anxiety or stress?



7 | P a g e

The causes of stress are plentiful. Some causes are

external, and some are internal. Some are imposed by

the world we choose to live in and some are imposed by

internal conflicts. Some causes are known and some are

hidden - even from ourselves.

Because the causes and situation are so varied, there is

not a single one-size-fits-all answer about how to use

meditation to relieve stress. We will explore some ideas,but the actual application to a particular situation

depends on the facts of that circumstance.

Not all stress is bad. The pressure of a deadline for a

report can cause bursts of creativity and hard work that

produce an excellent product. The stress of a

competitive sporting event can cause world record

performances and uplifting teamwork.

The stress of a relationship can cause deep

introspection that may result in a healthy cleaning out

of our skeleton closet and a good reassessment of our

lives.

However, we live today in a world of rapid change,

unexpected shifts and instant everything. If you are a

parent with children, the number of activities is

overwhelming. If you do not care for others, the

number of things clamoring for your attention is almost



8 | P a g e

uncountable. There are more and more ways to

communicate, and more and more clubs, games, movies

sports, work projects, etc than ever before.

Add to that, the stress of relationships, employment

worries, the economy, the world political situation,

global warming, and whatever else thrusts itself into

your world. We are literally inundated with things to

do, and things we should do, and things we must do.

There are two distinct approaches to the stress

problem, first is to identify and remove the causes of

excess stress in your life. The second approach is to

identify and understand the causes, and then manage

the stresses that you have.

The first approach is for those times when we have

stresses we dont need and dont want. The second

strategy is for when we wish to keep the things we are

doing, but need a different system to cope.

Identifying stressors in our lives can be a complex affair.

Some are obvious, like changing jobs or losing a loved

one, or getting married, or getting divorced, or trouble

with a child, parent or sibling. We can see the situation

and we know why we are stressed.



9 | P a g e

There can certainly be more subtle causes such as long-

standing feelings in a family situation, or personal

attitudes that are destructive or damaging. Bad habits

or faulty coping mechanisms can also contribute to

massive stress without being so obvious.

Meditation as a tool can help in a number of these

areas. First the obvious benefit of taking time to calm

down, and refresh your life. That in and of itself cangive a new perspective and help you identify potential

circumstances and issues you may want to modify.

Make time to meditate for 15 minutes per day. Find

time in the morning, at night, in the restroom if needed.

Get yourself a space to own and a time to get rid of

everything else.

During those times, do nothing except focus in the

manner taught in the course on one of concentration

meditations given in chapter seven of volume one of the

series. You will find a new perspective and refreshment

to your soul that is far beyond the minutes that you

spend.

Many people find that just adopting the habit of taking

time to meditate in the way described in chapter seven

of volume one on a regular basis, gives them the clarity

and calm that they need to deal with the stresses that



10 | P a g e

they have in their situations. The calming and

empowering effects of clearing the mind and the clutter

are often sufficient.

If you wish to go beyond just the calming effects of

meditation and the relaxation that it provides, then

there are several approaches that you can take. After

you have spent a few sessions learning how to enter

your relaxed alpha state, you can begin to take sometime to explore the feelings that you have that feel

stressful.

You can then begin to identify, using the awareness

meditation taught in book four in this series, to notice

and name items that bring about a reaction in your

body or mind.

As you contemplate these things as the detached

observer, and identify and name them, you may

surprise yourself at which things are the biggest

stressors.

Learning to identify and name these items without

leaving the relaxed alpha state is a skill you can quickly

develop as you learn to treat each situation or feeling

with detachment.



11 | P a g e

After you identify these things, you can write them

down after your meditation session. You will then be in

a position to rationally consider the items on the list

and then use the visualization techniques taught in

volume three of this series to set up your mind and

body f or different outcomes to the situations that you

find stressful.

Depending on the causes and effects of the stresses inyour life, you will need to decide what techniques you

want to use, and what your desired outcomes are.

It is not possible to describe all possible approaches

here, but in the books in the series, there are a number

of examples and guided meditations to bring about

successful outcomes to stress related situations.

It is also possible that a person might need help beyond

their own resources. While most of us journey through

life without extensive professional help in this area,

relaxed and truthful conversation with a trusted friend,

relative or counselor may be helpful if your situation

warrants this action.

The bottom line is that for any stress related problem,

meditation can help. First it can calm and relax you so

you can think clearly. Second, it will allow you to more

easily identify things in your life that are stressful. Third,



12 | P a g e

you will be able to make decisions about changing

things in your life more easily when you have the

benefit of regular meditation time, and fourth,

meditation will help you stick with changes that you

have made.

Please do yourself a wonderful favor and read through

the instructions in books in books one through five of

this series. These books will teach you about how to do several styles of meditation and with that inf ormation

and a good self-assessment, you will be able to decide

what your approach should be.

Gaining More Control of our Lives

This may sound either presumptuous or ambitious

depending on your point of view. Presumptuous if you

would look at me and say how dare you, I am in control

of my life. Ambitious if you look at me and say, its true

but it is way too big a pile and Ill never get on top of it.

The first point of view suggests that weve never lost

control of our lives. I believe that this is actually true,

but I would suggest that many feel otherwise: that they

have indeed lost control of their lives. It may be more



13 | P a g e

accurate to say that when we feel like we have lost

control, perhaps we have surrendered control to

something.

In such a case, we are pulled out of bed by a rude alarm

clock, and dragged to work by the clock and an

unfeeling and unforgiving work regime. We have to stay

late to finish an assignment or project we didnt know

was due tomorrow.

Then we are late to other responsibilities such as a

school or neighborhood meetings, or have to rush to a

teacher conference or to get kids or ourselves to a

sports commitment or piano lessons, or an evening

sales meeting, or a seminar for job advancement and

the list goes on forever and ever.

And that is just today. Then after that, there are classes

at the gym for working out, somebody might need help

with homework, or our partner or child might need a

minute of love and attention.

We cram our faces with food that is good, or not, we

cant really tell, and then try to fine time to do the work

we brought home with us so we can be prepared for the

big day tomorrow.



14 | P a g e

After that we are so tired we cant think straight, and

we plunge into bed with our feelings and our minds in

high gear trying to remember all we forgot to do, and

when and how were going to finish what didnt get

done before some approaching deadline.

We toss and turn and get fitful sleep, and wake up tired

and poorly prepared to do it all over again. If that is how

it feels on very many days then perhaps we have mostcertainly lost control of something.

What is happening?

When I found myself in that situation, I began to realize

that I had lost something. I was struggling and straining

to find something I didnt have, and wasnt sure how todescribe. To be sure, it had a name. I wanted more

money and more stuff. I wanted to be a more

important person at work and in my social circles.

To be short, I wanted more and more external things

to demonstrate to the world and affirm to me how

important I was. Suddenly I realized that life was upside

down, and my life was living me instead of me living a

life that I wanted.

For me it went something like this. When I was young I

found great pleasure in small things. The sound of a



15 | P a g e

pretty musical melody or the shapes of clouds in the

sky.

I built a hay fort out of alfalfa bales and hid in it with my

brother. I loved to read and live vividly in the characters

in the books and stories. I played in the irrigation ditch

with leaves to see which one raced the fastest.

As I grew up somewhere along the way I surrendered

my sense of what was real and important. I because

convinced that worth was measured in money, and

value was only determined by what someone else

though that object was worth.

Consequently, I gave full attention to money and career

promotions and external values - and achieved a greatdeal of all of that.

I found myself achieving more and more and being less

and less satisfied. My own experience was that the

situation got emotionally to a point where I knew I

needed and wanted to change. I needed far more than

just a way to get more done or a way to relax. I called

a screeching halt to everything.

I reconnected with all I had learned in my many years of

study of meditation and the martial arts. I used the

techniques that I have described in the books in the



16 | P a g e

series and I have come to a life of tranquility and

abundance. I am blessed with the opportunity now to

do what I love, to work from home, and to have a deep

and spiritually rewarding life.

I suspect that my experiences and the feeling I was

having are not unique. I have often heard from friends

and colleagues similar expressions of feeling and

concern.

Fortunately, I have been part of many transformations

that have brought people from a place where they felt

they had lost what was really important in their lives.

Sometimes this was a situation where there was just too

much to do, and sometimes it was far more serious and

things were really out of control.

The details of each particular situation are confidential

and not really important. What I can tell you is that f or

every situation, the processes of meditation and self-

awareness brings abundant and powerful results to

help you clarify, simplify and return you life to a state

that feels like really living again.

Relieving Pain



17 | P a g e

Relieving pain is a common application of meditation. In

this application it is very important to remember that

pain can have many causes. There are obvious causes

such as someone stepping on your foot.

The cause is visible, the pain is related to the cause and

the remedy is simple. With many other kinds of pain,

the linkages are not anywhere near so clear.

It is important to emphasize also that just as there are

many causes of pain, both physical and emotional, there

are many remedies. I do not claim that meditation is the

universal answer to pain or any other ailment. If the

pain is of a physical nature, then there may be

treatments needed associated with removing the cause

and healing the problem. If you break your arm, you will

likely need a splint and a cast.

However, meditation can be very effective in

managing the pain associated with the injury and in

greatly speeding the healing process. In addition to

healing more quickly, meditation can lessen the need

f or pain medication in many cases, thus improving

mental clarity and the over use of prescriptions f or

every illness.

Just as with physical pain, emotional pain can have

definite causes. If there is emotional injury that is



18 | P a g e

causing pain, there may need to be professional

treatment associated with the cause of the pain, or the

mitigation of the wound. Just as with the broken bone,

this appropriate treatment needs to be sought.

However, just as with the broken arm, meditation can

dramatically increase the effectiveness of the emotional

therapy and healing processes. Regularly meditating has

been shown in many medical and psychological casestudies to be effective in self-healing, and in improving

response to professional counseling.

One example of a possible meditation follows:

Depending on where the pain is either sit comfortably

or lay down. Begin focused breathing and relaxation.When you are breathing very comfortably and focused

on your breath, begin counting your breaths. Count

backwards from 20 to 1, with each breath getting more

relaxed.

Focus on letting each out breath melt your body into

the chair or bed or couch. With each in breath say the

number as you count backwards, and with each

outbreath feel your body melting into the surface

beneath you. When you reach 1 continue breathing as

comfortably as you can and focus on the breath.



19 | P a g e

Then in your minds eye, or vision screen or

imagination, depending on how you see things with

your eyes closed, imagine a point of light. Imagine it to

be a clear soft blue in color.

You see it in the distance and it is a soft color and fills

the space around you with its glow. If blue is a poor

choice of color for you, then choose a color that you

associate with being pleasing and soft.

As you focus on the light, you notice that it is coming

closer and closer to you, you feel its soft warmth a bit

more as it draws ever nearer. After a time, it is very

close to you and very large. It is filling your whole vision.

Soon the light engulfs you. You feel it in every part of

your body. It is a pleasing feeling and a pleasing color.

After a time enjoying the color and warmth of the light,

it begins to move away from you, and you see it getting

smaller and smaller. Soon it is far away again, and the

light then gets so small that it disappears from view.

After this is completed then imagine a light of a

different color. It appears in about the same place as

the first light, some distance from your body. The light

begins to grow and get closer. You notice it coming

closer and closer and getting larger and larger.



20 | P a g e

There is something different about this light. As you feel

it coming closer and closer to you, you feel it attaching

to the pain that you are feeling. Somehow, this light is

associated with the pain that you feel.

It is attached to the pain and the pain is attached to the

light. As the light surrounds you and engulfs your body,

you feel it attaching to the pain in every area of your

body.

If the pain is in your mind, then it attaches to the pain

there. If the pain is in your heart then the light attaches

to the pain in your heart. If the pain is in your feet, then

the light attaches to the pain there. Everywhere that

there is pain in your body, the light attaches itself to the

pain and engulfs the pain.

Then the light disengages from your body. You see the

light outside your body now, and it no longer engulfs

you, but it has taken the pain with it out of your body.

You see the pain in the light, and it is now outside your

body. You notice the pain in the light and it is out of

your head, your heart or your stomach or leg or

wherever the pain was.

The light gradually recedes and gets smaller and smaller

and takes the pain with it. As the light recedes, you see

the pain growing smaller and smaller within the light.





22 | P a g e

some anxiety. We may find ourselves constantly

worrying about weight, appearance, and our external

appeal. Meditation is very helpful in many regards in

this area of endeavor.

I personally have experience in using meditation to get

to help my appearance in two ways. I have been

overweight at different stages of my life. Specifically, I

was 80 pounds overweight and grossly out of shape. Iused the techniques in meditation and those in volume

three regarding visualization to lose all 80 pounds. I got

it off and kept it off.

In another vein, I used meditation to help myself get

back in shape so I was healthier and felt far better.

Specifically I went from a blood pressure of 220 over

180, which is critical hospitalization level to a blood

pressure of 110 over 70 with a resting pulse rate of 46.

This is where I am today, and I maintain this weight and

physical status without difficulty.

I give these personal examples so that you will be

assured that I know that these systems work. I also

know that many weight loss programs focus principally

on diet, and basically sell you food in certain

proportions. If you follow the regime strictly, they

probably will help.



23 | P a g e

I have read and studied various diet and physical

exercise programs so that I am familiar with all the fad

diets, and the sensible diet programs. I expect that

most of them will work after a fashion, if you follow the

instructions. What is far more important is whether or

not you change your underlying habits and attitudes so

that the changes you make are permanent.

What I know f or sure, is that whether or not you use aparticular f ood program, an exercise regimen, or a

combination, meditation will greatly aid your success.

You will find it far easier to meet your goals, and you

will not suffer the distress of constant hunger and fear

of failing in your eff ort. There will more on this topic in

volume three of the series on Meditation and PersonalAchievement.

There is one more point to make with regard to this

topic. Good health is always a blessing and a thing to be

desired and worked for. Meditation will help you both

in body and mind towards that end. Meditation,

because it calms and centers the mind will also help yoube able to see clearly with regard to your health goals. It

may or may not be important to follow the latest fitness

trend in your particular situation.

Besides helping you achieve your personal fitness goals,

meditation will help you sort out of all the noise, what is



24 | P a g e

right for you with regards to your physical well being,

and specifically help you set realistic appearance goals

and most of all be satisfied with them. It will help you

cut through the clamor and noise of the fads. To me, it

is more important to be content in your skin, than to

strive to make your skin like someone elses.

Meditation and Quitting Smoking

Smoking is one of the hardest habits to break, and also

one of the deadliest that we seem to love. Research is

clear that smoking kills us. There is no question that it isa deadly habit and shortens our life.

Yet we continue to smoke and although there is a

decrease in the number of smokers annually, there are

millions who wish they could quit and who should quit

for their own sake and the sake of those who love them.

Smoking is an addiction. There are various parts to this

particular addition, just like with any addiction. There is

a pleasure associated with the activity, so we do it, even

though we know it is harmful. Nicotine is addictive and

provides a pleasurable feeling. There is a comfort that

some people get from the oral activities associated with



25 | P a g e

smoking. Some find the activity itself to be a stress

reliever because they have something to do when they

are nervous. Quitting any multi-part habit like this

needs to address many of the parts to be successful.

Quitting smoking can be accomplished cold turkey, with

medication, and with various programs that all focus on

the nicotine addiction and the other parts to the habit.

Some people quit without any help from outsidethemselves. This is not the majority as evidenced by the

fact that there are still so many who feel that they want

to quit and cant.

Whatever path you choose to use to help you quit,

meditation will be a great aid. Specifically, meditation

can calm your mind and body to help you deal with

desires and cravings.

The visualization skills in volume three can help you

make the new habits real enough to pull you forward.

Learning to focus your mind through the concentration

meditation can help you keep your focus on your goal of

better health and whatever else you feel will be your

reward for quitting.



26 | P a g e

Meditation and Improving your Career

We all need to find our niche in the world of work. I

believe that work is a good thing and it can give us a

sense of accomplishment. We get an opportunity to

contribute to something, make some money and

associate with other folks in our jobs.

Work can also be boring, stifling, unsatisfying, stressful,

frightening and basically a drag. Far too many people

feel like this about their work situation. They dont like

what they do, dont feel like they make enough money,

and feel they are trapped because they dont know

where to go and how to make an improvement.

Meditation can be a powerful tool in three importantways. First of all, meditation creates a greater level of

equanimity and a reduction of anger and stress levels in

the brain. This happens because meditation stimulates

and causes new axons and dendrites in that portion of

the brain where the feelings of calmness arise. It also

reduces secretions of the amygdala and other parts of

the brain where anger and distress come from.

This reduction in negative emotion, by itself can cause a

better attitude about life, and more good feeling in

general. It brings calmness, and a better ability to see



27 | P a g e

life and our situations like they really are. We are less

prone to exaggerate and be overly negative.

Second, meditation allows calm and ration connection

with our inner feelings. What is it that we really want.

When we regularly meditate, we are far better able to

answer that question. Anything, just not this; is not a

real answer to this question and will lead to no change,

just more anger about the situation.

Meditation will help you think clearly, and realistically

assess your situation with your strengths and

challenges. You will then be able to see what

opportunities there are. When we regularly meditate,

you will always see things that you did not see bef ore.

You will understand opportunities and see potential

where you saw nothing bef ore. This is because

meditation stimulates the creative part of the brain.

Third, meditation is a power tool to actually bring to

pass the new situation you want. Perhaps you feel you

need a different job, a different career, more money,

more time. What are your desires?

Then you can combine the powerful tool of visualization

and cause the manifestation of the things you want in

your life. Meditation is the key to making bringing these

wonderful and powerful processes into action.



28 | P a g e

In volume three of this series, which is about the power

of meditation in personal achievement, we will explore

in detail how to combine meditation with visualization

and how to attract any career changes that you want

into your life. You really can have the job you want, and

all the money you want in your life. You just have to

believe in yourself.

Meditation and Self-Esteem

Many people in my acquaintance have a self-esteem

barrier. They either have lower self-esteem than theyshould, or perhaps little or none at all. This is one of the

most significant barriers to getting what you want out of

life. If you dont think anything of yourself, you clearly

send out that message, and others will treat you

accordingly.

This particular problem is one that I am very familiar

with. I had concerns with low self-esteem through

childhood, and during my young adult years. I had to

work hard to remove this barrier and get a true picture

of myself and my worth as a human soul.



29 | P a g e

You may not struggle with this particular issue, but I can

tell you that for those who do, it can be a heavy rock to

carry. Negative emotions associated with your self-

image, as measured in laboratory tests, lead to more

limbic brain activity and this leads to lower ability to

concentrate, lower ability to feel compassion and a

reduced level of empathy.

There is a long list of ills that come from low self-esteem. They can range from physical maladies to

depression, low motivation and low ability to read and

comprehend, and to study and learn effectively. Social

functioning can also be impaired as well as ability to

form lasting and meaningful relationships.

Fortunately, meditation is a wonderful tool to help with

this situation. Regular meditation will help with the

issue of self esteem in three ways.

First the simple act of meditation is inherently

beneficial to the body and mind. It stimulates the

frontal brain system and reduces stress, anxiety and

anger in the brain.

Second, as you regularly meditate you allow yourself a

space to detach from negative self images and

negative feedback that you have perceived about

yourself. Sometimes this negative feedback is



30 | P a g e

imagined and meditation will help you sort this out.

Even when the negative feedback is real, the

awareness meditation will allow you the tools and

time to disconnect from the situation and feeling and

let it pass from you without the negative impact.

Third, using the techniques taught in volume two of

the series, The Power of Meditation in Health, Healing

and Wellness, and volume three, The Power of Meditation in Personal Achievement, you will be able

to break the chains of negative thinking, restore your

rightful healthy image, and rediscover the true

brilliance that resides in your wonderful and precious

self.

Meditation with Addiction and Compulsive Behaviors

Addiction and compulsive behaviors are a severe

problem for a growing number of people in our modern

world. The treatments for these illnesses cover a wide

range. Changing your life and getting past these

problems is not trivial and often requires significant

help. This small section is not about the various



31 | P a g e

treatments for these problems. There have been

volumes written on those subjects.

However, whether the treatment is a self- imposed

better budget to manage compulsive spending, a

friend who you talk to who may help you decide not to

go gamble when the urge strikes, a 12 step program

such as Alcoholics Anonymous for a substance problem,

a better life balance with more family time for aworkaholic, or medical and psychiatric treatment for a

severe disorder, meditation can help is all of those

cases.

Taking time to meditate each day will improve the

effectiveness, speed and permanence of the

treatment. When you meditate you stop to listen to

your true self.

The inner being that is full of creativity and power.

Remember, meditation is sometimes described as

getting to know yourself a bit better.

Often, thoughts and feelings that come from through

meditation will give you a clearer perspective and more

personal power, whatever the problem may be.

Remember a very important concept.



32 | P a g e

Whatever thought you may be thinking, or emotion you

may be feeling, or desire you may have, It is only a

thought, feeling or desire. It is not you. If you are

patient, you will find that thoughts, feelings and desires

have a shelf-life.

If you choose not to act on a particular thought, feeling

or desire for a time, you will find that the nature of the

thought, feeling or desire changes.

As some time passes, often just a few minutes, the

urgency of the anger, the need for the desired object,

the feeling about someone or something will change.

This precious time gives you the opportunity to decide if

you wish the thought, feeling or desire to become partof you. You can choose whether or not to take it into

yourself and make it a part of you, or to leave it on the

shelf and let it pass you by. Meditation provides you

with that time, that precious time to think, feel and

choose.

Meditation also provides you the opportunity in your

fully relaxed and clear state to see yourself as

completely free from the chains of whatever has held

you bound.



33 | P a g e

Always keep the image fresh in your mind of the

healthy, wonderful you and bask in the warm and

refreshing feeling that comes with knowing that you are

able to be whatever you can imagine.

Meditation with Healing and Recovery

Healing and recovery from illness or accident is a vast

topic. I cannot even begin to cover the depth and

breadth of all of the aspects of healing and recovery

from all the possible ills that we have as a species.

Again, the purpose of this short section is to affirm that

meditation should be an important part a recovery

program, no matter what the illness or accident may be.

Meditation improves heart rate and circulation. It

increases breathing efficiency; it lowers blood pressure

and calms the heart and soul. All of these conditions arehelpful in promoting more rapid healing.

I am not saying that meditating all alone will heal an

illness. Although there are instances of spontaneous

healing, it would be unwise to not consult with and take



34 | P a g e

the advice of appropriate professionals regarding your

health.

What I am saying is that regular meditation that is

sustained over time will help you heal from any illness

or accident by doing at least three things.

First it will give you bodily improvements associated

with improved respiration and circulation and

functioning of many internal systems.

Second, it will reduce anxiety and fear in your mind.

There is ample evidence that regular operation in the

alpha range has an overall calming effect and allows a

person to be more receptive to physical treatments.

In addition, those who meditate generally show

increases in reading and comprehension skills, cognitive

abilities and abstract reasoning. This will certainly allow

you as a patient to play a more active and substantial

role in your recovery from an intellectual point of view.

The third benefit of meditation is spiritual. I am not inthis instance speaking of supernatural or otherworldly

things here. Our attitude and spirit have a dramatic

impact on our abili9ty to heal ourselves.

There have been many documented cases of people

who do not improve with treatment simply because



35 | P a g e

they do not wish to recover. They have lost the will to

heal and in some cases even to live.

Regular meditation can and does help with our outlook

on life and our ability to understand and relate to the

world around us. I call this the spiritual dimension to

meditation.

An improvement in this area will increase our desire to

recover and our ability to improve our recovery

prospects and speed simply by our strong desire for it to

be so.

In the book on meditation and personal achievement in

this series, we will talk about using visualization along

with the tool of meditation to achieve great things inyour life.

This process of manifesting thing in your life is very

real, and is very connected also to how fast we are able

to heal ourselves. The techniques for visualization

taught in that book may also be an aid to health healing

and wellness.

The essential point is that in every meditation session,

you see yourself as happy, well and fully recovered from

whatever your particular issue is. When you are fully

relaxed, see yourself as happy, recovered and well. Bask



36 | P a g e

in the warm glow of the feeling that comes with this

wonderful state.

Meditation for Managing Anxiety

The world we live in is more and more filled with stressand anxiety. Recent times have produced a troubled

economy, a housing downturn, a serious recession,

massive job loss in the United States and greater and

lesser degrees of economic turmoil around the world.

That is just the economy.

Work is more and more demanding with longer hours,

more job and career changes and more and more

uncertainty stemming from the economy.

The information age is changing all aspects of

employment as more people do service and information

related work and less do manufacturing and otherhands on jobs.

The population is aging somewhat due to the baby

boomer generation passing through the demographic,

and social support systems are struggling with many



37 | P a g e

unable to care for their own health and the health

needs of their children or aging parents.

Climate change is affecting world food production and

weather patterns, social unrest and government

instability worldwide provide additional impetus for a

massive sea of change which can feel destabilizing in

every area of our lives.

This small list doesnt even begin to capture the real feel

of the world we live in. On top of all these things, every

person has relationship ups and downs with spouses,

children, siblings, parents, and friends.

None of this list will seem strange to anyone who reads

this and has a good bit of stress in their life. In fact, thelist may seem too short to capture the stress that is all

around us.

This can and often leads to massive anxiety about our

ability to cope and get through life day to day. In

addition, who wants to just get by? We all want to

thrive, enjoy life and feel good about ourselves and our

daily walk!

The good news is that meditation is the ideal tool to

deal with stressful situations. Regular meditation

allows the meditator to sort out what is really



38 | P a g e

important, and take a balanced view of what should be

done when.

During meditation, it would not be uncommon to have

ideas or thoughts that may contribute to solutions to

certain aspects of your situations.

The subconscious mind is always at work, and when you

regularly exercise it in the alpha zone, it will produce

answers and solutions to your challenges. However, it is

important also to understand that stress is not solved

by meditation alone.

Meditation helps you deal with the stressors in your life.

Regularly taking time to meditate can also help you

identify what things are causing heightened anxiety andperhaps give you the needed perspective to make some

adjustments.

However, after identifying areas that you want to

change, it will still be up to you make any necessary

changes in your life that reflect your decisions.

Be sure that in each meditation session, after you have

reached your state of relaxation, you clearly see, feel,

and experience in every way a calm and relaxed you,

able and capable to handle all of lifes challenges.



39 | P a g e

If some challenges are particularly pressing, then start

by experiencing a relaxed and calm feeling after having

solved or adjusted smaller ones. There will be another

session to tackle the big, heavy ones.

Meditation and a Healthy Self Image

A well-grounded self-image and a healthy respect for

yourself are essential ingredients to a happy life. We are

not born with poor self-esteem.

All of us come into the world eager to be here, eager to

learn and full of boundless ability to experiment, grow,

make mistakes, learn from the feedback and grow some

more.

We often learn poor self images from our surroundings,

from feedback in our lives and a host of other inputs.

Perhaps we had a rough childhood, or perhaps, as wasmy case, we had it quite rough in school and among

peers.

Perhaps we were not as smart, attractive (whatever

that means,) capable, as someone else, or some



40 | P a g e

imaginary standard - and we interpreted that to mean

we were somehow less important and less worthwhile.

The real truth is that we are infinitely capable,

extremely intelligent, and capable of genius inspiration

and high powered perf ormance in any area of our lives

that we choose.

If we can learn poor self-esteem, we can learn

something different. In the book on personal

achievement, we will talk about specific areas of life

improvement that can be manifested through

meditation and visualization but the fundamental

principle is that you are a brilliant, capable, intelligent,

valuable, attractive human being with a great spirit and

soul.

Regularly going to the alpha state in meditation will

quiet all the chatter and garbage input from the outside

that you might feel carries a different message. Take

time to meditate regularly and listen to your inner

peace. Sense and feel your own unity and participation

in the world around you.

As you meditate, you can shed the superfluous input,

and take time to correctly understand the input that is

meaningful. Perhaps there are things that you want to

change in your life.



41 | P a g e

That does not mean that you are not good or

worthwhile or great. It simply means that there is

something you want to change. When we cant yet

walk, we see those who walk, and we desire that skill.

We work until it is developed.

Our self-worth does not change when we can walk, but

our ability to move certainly has improved. So it is with

changes that we might choose to make now.

We may get new skills, a new job, and more knowledge

about a particular topic. That may increase our earning

potential, but it will not make us intrinsically worth

more as a person. That value comes from our choices

about who we are in character.

So carry a positive image about your greatness.

Meditate regularly to allow yourself daily quiet time to

calm your mind chatter and re-center your efforts for

that day. Know that you are a great person and that you

can have and be anything you choose.

During every meditation session, enjoy and empower

the image of the healthy, empowered and wonderful

person that you are.



42 | P a g e

Meditation and Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle

Meditation is a great part of a healthy lifestyle. Not so

many years ago, meditation was thought of as a mostly

eastern tradition, practiced by a few, who were a bit

weird, or followed a different drummer.

How silly such concepts seem now. With the mounting

evidence and wonderful research that shows just how

much meditation can do for us, we would be perhaps a

bilt silly not to try to incorporate something so easy and

yet so powerful into our lives.

There is no single thing that takes so little time, even

as little as 15 30 minutes per day, that will contribute

so powerfully to your happiness, well-being andsuccess.

Think of it! That simple investment can pay big

dividends in physical health, mental power and

intelligence, emotional clarity and health, and spiritual

centeredness.

If you choose to make meditation a regular part of your

life, you are truly making a wise investment which will

pay you dividends your entire life. It will improve your

physical health, increase your enjoyment of life and give

you mental and emotional ability and power that you do



43 | P a g e

not have now, and that you cant yet imagine. It may be

the most important investment you ever make.

Meditation in Work and Money Matters

Nearly all of us have to work. I actually feel that work isa blessing and I love what I do. Even though that is true

now, it has not always been like that for me, and it is

not like that for millions of people who may read this

volume at some time in their lives.

Most people view work as something they have to do to

earn a living. You have to pay rent, or mortgage

payments. You have bills to pay for life and raise kids or

care for family members or animals. You need money

for utilities, phone, cars, children, college funds, credit

cards, medical expenses and on and on.

You have to eat and generally you also enjoy some typeof recreation. You go to work at some type of

occupation so you can fill all those obligations and

perhaps have some money left over to do the things

that you really want. If you have prepared well in your

education, perhaps you have a higher paying job that

easily pays for the basics. However, generally your



44 | P a g e

wants expand faster than your income and you still find

yourself struggling.

Quite often this lifestyle leads to feelings of boredom,

frustration and emptiness. You may feel mostly devoid

of accomplishment. Many end up in jobs they dont like,

or no longer enjoy and have no real feeling of

contribution to something larger or worthwhile.

You always find yourself looking for a raise to get a bit

more money to be able to buy that next thing that will

make you feel better or to pay the credit card debt

because you already bought it.

Sometimes there are office games and politics,

backstabbing and storytelling. There is water coolergossip and perhaps favoritism and unfair treatment and

you end up wondering why you dont get the

promotions and how come it all seems so unfair and

you arent really happy no matter which party you get

invited to or which car you drive.

Sometimes in your need to be noticed, or advance, you

spend extra money on clothes you think will make you

feel better, or you buy a more expensive car than you

can comfortably pay for, or spend money for some

other thing that feels good for a minute, but of course,

doesnt really get you where you want to be.



45 | P a g e

If any of this sounds familiar, you are in the majority.

Fortunately, a regular meditation habit will help you in

this situation in a several ways. I will list the ways that

mediation will be useful and then spend a little time

discussing how you might use this wonderful tool to

help.

First of all, regular meditation will help you find your

true self. I said in the beginning of the course thatmeditation is a way to get to know yourself better or to

find your inner voice. We often take our cues about who

we are and what we feel about ourselves from external

stimuli.

We start with grades in school and class rankings and

then learn pecking orders both socially and

educationally. We end up believing all this nonsense

somehow defines us and gives us a value score as a

human being. We then internalize this into a picture of

who we are and what were worth. Actually it has

nothing to do with who we are.

Grades in school or corrections on papers at work are

not judgments about your character. They are feedback

mechanisms about one particular subject or semester or

project. They are generally only the opinion of one

person, and even though the one person is the teacher

or the boss, and their opinion is final, it is still only a



46 | P a g e

comment on the paper or project and not on your

character or inner worth.

I must pause a moment to recognize that some mean-

spirited people occasionally take such an opportunity to

make cutting snide inappropriate remarks that try to

reflect far more than simple corrections to the paper or

project. If that is the case you may safely ignore that

portion of the comment, for it simply has no basis inreality.

If the grades are less than you wanted or the number of

red correction marks seems to make the paper bleed - it

is not the end of the world. You look it over to see what

there is to learn and you then have a choice to make.

Choice #1 - you do it again if you can, with the

corrections, or you study more so it is better next time.

Never pass up the chance to learn. Choice #2 you get

angry, close you mind, fail to learn what there is to learn

and do it again anyway because you have to.

If you regularly meditate and are well acquainted with

your inner voice and your own worth and value, the

choice is not difficult. You will learn what there is to

learn, fix the mistakes, perhaps having new and better

ideas to add and move on to the next project. So the

first benefit is that meditation helps you deal with the

troubling event.





48 | P a g e

outcomes to interactions with that person, you will find

yourself able to ignore the bait and let the situation

pass without incident.

The third way meditation can help you is by giving you

power to change your situation entirely. While you

may need a bit of time, regularly meditating and

visualizing a different situation will attract that situation

into your life.

Let me explain. If you follow the principles and use the

techniques contained in the visualization section above,

or those you develop or discover on your own, you can

completely bring a different work situation in your life.

That could be a promotion in your current job, or

another job entirely. Staying where you are is a choice.

You may even change you career path and decide to do

something else with your life altogether. Meditation

provides you with that time, that precious time to think,

feel and choose. Visualization provides you with a tool

to harness your limitless internal power and

imagination.

Taken together, there is no limit to the benefits the

combination of meditation and effective visualization

can bring to your life. These benefits can be in any area

of your choice including money, job satisfaction,



49 | P a g e

relationships, learning, personal development,

expressing your true worth and voice and in having a

real and lasting feeling of making a worthwhile

contribution to your own soul and the world around

you.

Meditation in Personal Fitness, Sports and Recreation

One of the sad facts of our stressful lives, at least in the

majority of the western world, is that the general fitness

level of the population is decreasing.

This can be attributed to many sources: too many

activities, stress, busy lifestyles, too much TV, poor

choices in recreational activities and many other

potential culprits. The truth is actually much simpler.

Personal fitness of body, mind, heart and spirit is a

choice that we make. We only have one life, and onebody. We only have one heart, one mind and one spirit.

The better we take care of them, the longer they will

last, the better they will serve us and the happier we

will be.



50 | P a g e

Meditation is a tool that will enhance the care and

feeding of every part of our personal fitness regime, and

will increase our enjoyment of and performance in

sports and recreation.

Meditation by itself has physical fitness benefits. It

increases circulation efficiency, lowers blood pressure,

reduces toxic chemicals in the body and enhances

hormone balance in the body.

When combined with a simple exercise program, even

as simple as a regular walk, the benefits are magnified

tremendously. If time pressures are a concern, then you

can combine these items and do a walking meditation.

Walking meditation is very effective, and your gait orwalking pace can be the object of concentration.

Counting steps is effective as well.

For example: count steps to four, then start over again

at one and count to five steps. Then count to six steps

and increase the number of your count until you reach

ten. Then start over again at four steps.

Again, remember that the purpose is to clear the mind,

and achieve a state of relaxed alertness where the mind

is free from distractions and you are fully present in the

time that you are meditating.



51 | P a g e

You can use objects in nature for the concentration

subject if you live in a suitable place where there are

trees, parks or any small natural areas nearby. You

should allow yourself to gain the benefits of adding

meditation to whatever physical health regime that you

use.

If you have not yet decided to begin some type of

process to assure or restore your own physical health,then meditation is a good place to start. By using the

processes of visualization and then moving mind

pictures into reality, you can and will improve your

physical condition and health.

However, just as we pointed out in several places in the

books in this series, meditation will not tone your

muscles. Only activity and use does that, but meditation

can help you enjoy and sustain a healthful regime.

Personal fitness of mind, heart and spirit is also a choice

and all of these parts of out self are critical to attend to

if you want to have a balanced healthy life in every

respect. Just as you would establish a program or habit

of some physical activity to assure you body gets the

exercise and activity it needs, you must do the same

with all the other areas of your whole self.



52 | P a g e

Personal fitness of mind is enhanced by regular reading

and study. Any area of interest whether related to your

profession or just an area of interest will be a good

place to start.

Meditation can help increase the effectiveness and

enjoyment you get out of reading or studying any area

of interest. We will talk about that in book four in more

detail, but the important part is to decide that yourmind is worth exercising.

Research is showing that just the simple act of

meditation increases neural activity in ways that are

not duplicated by any other process.

There are new neural pathways formed frommeditation that are permanent and persist after the

meditation session is over. This research shows that

those who meditate show more brain activity and

stronger connections in the areas of cognition, memory,

abstract reasoning, empathy, patience and

understanding and a number of other important

cognitive and emotional brain functions.

Personal fitness of your heart and spirit are personal

matters that are at the same time both private and

public. They may feel totally personal but they have a

direct bearing on our successes as individuals in the



53 | P a g e

professional world and personal relationship arenas. In

volume five of this series we will explore the role

meditation has in finding your own spirituality.

For now I will just emphasize that these are critical

areas of development and no personal fitness process is

complete without exploring and knowing internally

what principles are real and true both in your own

passions and motivations and in the larger context of universal spiritual truths.

Taking time to meditate every day is the fastest way to

get to know yourself and what you hold to be true and

valuable. Being alone with yourself is a wonderful gift

that you give yourself to shut out the noise of the world

around you and touch your true self and the greater

forces around us.

Meditation in Behavior and Personal Habits

Habits can be tremendous friends and they can be

terrible masters. Habits can help us rise up or drag us

down. It is our choice. A recurring theme in all of the

applications of meditation in this book and every book is



54 | P a g e

the theme of choice. We are all given the opportunity to

choose what we do.

The capacity to think things over, reason a decision, to

look at a longer term objective, to make a decision or

series of decisions designed to further a larger purpose

and to carry out a set of decisions or plans is perhaps

the greatest power and gift that we have as human

beings.

Our natures are such that when we repeat certain

patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions over and over

again in a similar way or under similar circumstances,

they become familiar or natural to us. They become a

ritual or natural reaction to a given circumstance. We

call these rituals habits.

Habits may be good or bad or harmless. Good habits

are those that help us to get to our positive or upward

reaching objectives, bad habits are those that get in the

way of our personal development or damage the efforts

of others and neutral habits may not matter either way.

The standard by which they are judged may be social

norms, business ethics, intrinsic truths that are part of

the human condition or simply the obvious outcome of

the habit.



55 | P a g e

A very short list of some bad habits and risks might

include:

a. If we routinely take a high risk jay-walk

across a busy intersection to get to work, we

jeopardize our safety, and the nerves and

sanity of drivers who may react to our

impulsive dash.

b. If we routinely let our blood pressureskyrocket and say impulsive things when

someone disagrees with us, we put

hormones in our blood that shorten our lives

and damage our organs as well as make our

relationships difficult.

c.

If we routinely tell stories we have heard of others and perhaps embellish a little or

speculate in harmful ways we lose our own

self-respect and have a poor reputation

among our peers.

d. If we routinely interrupt others in social or

business settings we damage relationships,

are considered rude and deprive ourselves of

valuable learning opportunities.

e. If we overeat regularly, drink too much, use

harmful substances or have a poor diet, we

jeopardize our health and risk shortening our



56 | P a g e

lives, limiting our experiences and curtailing

our benefit to the world around us.

f. If we routinely take ethical shortcuts in our

business or personal dealings, we lose our

internal self-respect, and the trust of others

and no amount of self story-telling will

change the fact that we know what we have

done and the level of our own

trustworthiness.

g. If we regularly do not give our best effort at

work or at home, and dont choose

excellence as our lifestyle when we know we

can do better, we learn to accept mediocrity,

we tend to assume that every else is just as

complacent and we get lost in the swamp of stagnation, the wilderness of would-have-

beens and wish-it-wass. We then find

ourselves both envious of and complaining

about those who seem to move on past us.

We then blame the world for being unfair

and the cycle starts again.

If, on the other hand, we make a conscious choice to

take responsibility to become friends with ourselves and

find our own unique talents and internal voice, then we

are moving down the road of self-development, self-



57 | P a g e

mastery and meaningful contribution to our own

development and the lives and development of others.

Meditation is a powerful aid to accomplishing what we

want in life. It helps us clarify what we really want, helps

us see things as they really are and assists in prioritizing

of efforts and time.

When we see clearly and know which direction we

really want to go, setting the structure to get there

becomes a present reality and making progress a

regular enjoyment.

Any personal habit that we want to change can be

changed. Any personal habit we want to establish can

be established. There is simply no limit to what thebody/mind/spirit combination can do. The only limits

we have are those we set ourselves and agree to.

By using the processes outlined in the visualization

section, we can begin today and establish any new

habit that we choose and start the journey to change

habits that we find problematic to our overall

happiness.



58 | P a g e

Meditation in Social/Emotional IQ and Relationships

Our ability to gather, process, analyze and react to

information is a very important function of the brain.

This intellectual ability is often referred to as the

Intelligence Quotient or IQ.

If you choose to establish and maintain a regular

meditation practice you will find that it will improve

your level of cognition, your ability to learn and

remember and your overall ability to analyze and use

information. More details on meditation and the

learning and creative process are contained in book four

of this series.

This application section seals with another essential skillthat we need in ever increasing quantity to be effective

in our current information knowledge based work

world. In recent years several books have been written

about emotional intelligence and the important role

that it plays in our interpersonal relationships and

success.

Classes in management curricula have been established

and tests and workshops have been developed to help

develop this type of skill. I have grouped social and

emotional IQ together because the comments are about



59 | P a g e

the same for both skills even though they are different

skill sets.

Meditation involves slowing down our mind chatter

and the pace at which we experience life. This doesnt

mean that life around us slows down, but when we

meditate, we create the ability to process inputs

differently and more effectively. This creates time

because we are able to process important cues andleave aside secondary items f or later.

Emotional intelligence involves learning to work with

people in different emotional contexts. They may have

different communication styles than you do, different

reactions to stressful situations than you do and other

significant emotional/social personality and character

traits that make interactions with them unique.

One reaction to emotional differences is to be defensive

and assume negative motivations for the differences.

You can assume someone is not listening to you

because they are taking time to process your

statements and do not react immediately to your idea.

Learning to understand this difference is critical to

successful emotional and social interaction, in both

work and personal settings.



60 | P a g e

The purpose of this course is not to teach all the skills

and ideas for learning to understand and be fluent in

emotional intelligence or social IQ skills. What is

important here is that if you decide that you need to

add those skills to your skill set that meditation can help

you in two ways.

First of all, when you regularly meditate, you are far

more in touch with your own self and are comf ortablein your skin and circumstance. You are better friends

with yourself, your stress level is lower and you are

more confident and able.

You are less likely to be nervous, overly concerned with

appearances and other significant but less important

detail. You will be better prepared in work situations

and better able to remember facts and other particulars

that you need.

In addition to that, research has shown that you will be

far more sensitive and cognizant of body language cues

and subtle vocal and facial signals that are clues to

unspoken and perhaps even not fully understood

reactions in your colleagues, clients and competitors.

This skill is obviously helpful in both business and

personal settings. Simply put, meditation improves your

other-centered awareness.



61 | P a g e

These two major differences will be helpful whether you

are working for a good meeting to land a client, trying to

smooth out s misunderstanding with a co-worker or

working to improve your visibility and opportunities for

advancement.

In the areas of personal relationships and family

relationships, if you are calm and centered because you

regularly meditate, you are far more able to focus onthe issues at hand with your significant other or child or

sibling.

If you are able to control your own emotional

temperature because you regularly meditate, you will

be far less susceptible to emotional outbursts or

manipulation techniques that someone may be trying to

use in a particular interaction.

Meditation in Enjoying Life to the Fullest

Everyone wants to enjoy life. Everyone wants to feel

they are worthwhile. Everyone wants to feel loved.

Everyone wants to feel needed. Everyone wants to feel

connected to the whole of life around them.



62 | P a g e

Where do these feelings come from? Where do we get

the assurance that we are enjoying life, or

worthwhile, or any of those feelings? Is the measure

internal or external? Is it both? How do we recognize it?

While the answer to those questions is different for

each individual, and I could not hope to give a complete

answer to such far-reaching questions in a short

summary, there are some important and consistentthemes that are appropriate to note in the context of a

discussion about meditation.

Meditation is a tool. It is a tool to help us have less

stress, center our lives and get clear in our minds what

is important to us. It is a tool to clear out the clutter and

let our inner voice speak often enough so we can hear it

and become familiar with its sound and sayings.

Meditation is also a process and not only an event.

While each meditation session is an event, it is the

process of regular meditation that lets us learn to hear

our inner voice and understand what it says and get to

be better friends with ourselves.

Meditation is also about learning to live each moment

to the fullest. At any given moment, we are where we

are, we are doing what we are doing, we are feeling



63 | P a g e

what we are feeling and we are seeing, and hearing

what we are seeing and hearing. Participate in it!

One of the casualties of modern life is that we

sometimes live each moment in anticipation of the next

thing that is coming. We seem to be only passing

through the now, just anxiously waiting for that which

is coming.

If we live this way, it is a sad situation. If we are

constantly somewhere else mentally as our life unfolds,

we are missing both the experiences of life and the

opportunity to understand the fabric of which our lives

are made.

If a moment is difficult and painful, meditation can helpus understand that the moment is not forever, and the

pain is a feeling but it is not our essence. Meditation can

help us place each difficult thing in context and become

less overwhelmed.

If a moment is glorious, meditation can help us

understand and experience it to the fullest with all its

attendant sensations and realities.

We only have the present moment. What is past is

passed. We can only act in the future. If that past is



64 | P a g e

unpleasant, only future acts can mitigate that fact. If the

past is pleasant, only future acts can maintain the joy.

Determine today that you will live each moment as your

heart and spirit teach you that you should. You are

unique and wonderful.

You have unlimited potential. Only you can find and

unlock it. Determine today to use all your skills with

the wonderful tool of meditation to be your best self

and bring to your life all the wonderful things you

should have.

Meditation with Reading and Comprehension

Meditation calms your mind and your body. It also

increases the neural activity and strengthens neural

connections in the frontal lobes which are the part of

the brain that controls learning and understanding. Itstands to reason then meditation will help significantly

with reading and comprehension.

Meditation helps in three ways in these important

areas. This section is particularly important to those

who are in school, returning to school or must read



65 | P a g e

large quantities of material for their work or to keep up

in their professions.

First of all, relax before you read. Meditation calms your

mind and body as mentioned above. This turns the

volume down or removes the mental chatter that is

often distracting and often causes you to think what

was that I just read after reading for five minutes and

realizing that you dont remember a thing.

If you want to increase your reading effectiveness and

also your reading enjoyment, do the following. Before

you start to read, take a two minute mini meditation

break and relax your body quickly in a mini body scan,

and then close your eyes and breathe fully focused

meditation breaths where you think of nothing but your

breath for one minute.

Repeatedly give yourself a relaxation instruction and let

the tension and cares drain away from your body.

Anything that is on your mind, simply agree with

yourself to put on a shelf and return to it later.

Remember you have decided to take this time to read

and you cant do anything else at the same time. So

make this your reading time and make it useful and

powerful.



66 | P a g e

Second, have a specific target or goal. It can be very

simple like I will read intensively for ten minutes, or I

will read three work related articles in my ongoing

education effort.

I am assuming that you have already some idea of what

you want to read. Perhaps you have a stack on your

desk of work stuff you just never get to, or you need to

finish a chapter that you have been putting off in a bookfrom your class that you are taking. If it is leisure

reading, then I assume you have picked the book.

In any case, reading things that you perceive to be

difficult, boring, or technical can be a chore without

the right preparation. So decide how much you will read

or how many pages or articles and then fully relax and

give yourself to the effort. If possible, make sure you

wont be interrupted for the minutes you have set

aside.

If you are interrupted, even if the interruption is

complicated, upsetting, lengthy or unpleasant, when

you return to your reading, treat it like the mindfulness

exercise. Give the remaining emotion a name, detach

from it, and let it float off the stage of your mind and

give yourself back to the task at hand.



67 | P a g e

The third way meditation helps your reading is by using

meditation to completely change the way you read.

There are a number of speed-reading courses that are

excellent, and actually work.

I have taken several and by combining meditation with

the techniques I have learned I can read several

thousand words a minute with complete

comprehension. All of these courses have several thingsin common.

They all teach skills that use some of the meditation

techniques that we have taught, and some students

that I have had who have taken speed reading courses

comment on how similar the feelings are with speed

reading concentration techniques to the beginnings of

meditation in the concentration style.

I will not attempt to teach speed reading in this small

section but I will encourage you to immediately get one

of those books, and use it. They work, and you do not

need an expensive course to teach you the ability. You

can learn it from a simple book and you can apply it

without an instructor.

If you have the ability and time to take a course, by all

means do so, but do not let the lack of a course or time

or money get in your way. Reading is a critical skill and



68 | P a g e

the faster and better you read, the more fun life is and

the more you can get ahead, if that is your objective.

What I will do is give you some ideas about how this

process works. In this few paragraphs and in the next

section on learning I will explain some principles that

will work for you and work particularly well if you use

meditation when you apply them.

Think about looking at a beautiful landscape scene. You

are driving through some mountains and you see a sign

scenic view. You decide to stop and look at the

beautiful vista. You do not look at the scene from left to

right and top to bottom a little at a time.

Your eye and your mind take in the entire vista at onceand you can see and remember amazing detail in that

fashion.

Your eye and your mind work the same when reading.

The rapid reading courses simply train you mind to look

at entire pages at once and capture all the important

details in a group.

Your mind is fully capable of sorting out the details that

it captures and putting them in the right order. When

you look at the landscape you dont later in your mind

see the lake up in the sky and the clouds below your



69 | P a g e

feet. You are able to reconstruct the picture as it should

be. You can do the same with the written material on

the page.

We have agreed to write left to right (except those

languages that are right to left,) and top to bottom so

that the words are organized, but you do not have to

read them that way. It is far, far too slow. You can see

and assimilate words, ideas and information 100 timesthat fast.

When we are children we learn to read in this linear

way and often use our fingers to point to words to help

our attention. Many of us never learn to use our mind

and wonderful visual capture technology in our eyes

and brains to do things faster. We are stuck forever in

the way we first learn to read.

The rapid reading techniques are a way to overcome

our indoctrination that we must read in such a clumsy

linear fashion. You will find that you can increase your

reading speed 10 times without too much practice, and

if you use meditation and eff ort you will be able to

increase your reading speed 100 times.



70 | P a g e

Meditation with Learning

Meditation and learning has much in common with the

previous section on reading. However, learning

encompasses a much broader set of skills than reading.

It also provides a much deeper and more pervasive

potential use and benefit from the practice of

meditation.

Continuous learning is the natural condition of the

human mind. We may elect to ignore that fact - and not

stretch our intellect - with our choices of leisure,

recreation and entertainment, but our bodies and

minds were designed to stay healthy only as long as

they stay active.

It is easy to see that in the physical realm. If we never

exercise, we atrophy, get out of shape, perhaps gain a

bit of weight and out bones, muscles and tendons so

not perform so well. Ageing takes its own toll, but if we

regularly keep our bodies in use and activity, we will

generally stay much healthier for a much longer time.

Our minds are the same. If we quit learning when we

get out of school, we get duller and duller and our

intellect gets weaker. On the other hand, if we keep

ourselves active and learning, we retain an edge and are



71 | P a g e

able to keep up with the rapid increase in information in

our changing world.

The body/mind mechanism is amazing. If we have

gotten ourselves out of shape, and we are careful, we

can usually change some things, start new habits, pick

up the pace and get back in shape and get our heath

back. Our minds are the same. They are even more

amazing.

Research shows that within two weeks of beginning to

meditate, new neural pathways begin to f orm and new

and more powerful connections are made in the brain.

This is good news if we havent been learning for

awhile. We can get back into the habit and get thebenefits of learning in a very short time. Meditation is

an ideal aid for both creating the new habits and for

enhancing the learning process and experience.

We start our learning from the instant we are born. We

take in huge amounts of data and sensory input from all

sides. We process and learn very quickly how to hold

our heads up, roll over, make noise, eat, get attention,

smile and dozens of very difficult cognitive and motor

activities.



72 | P a g e

Young children have a much higher incidence of alpha

waves in their natural day to day activities. This help

with the learning of so much in such a short time. It is

not inevitable that we lose this capability. We just quit

practicing it and some of it is institutionalized out of our

habits.

Be all that as it may, the purpose here is to understand

that we have a choice about remaining in a learningslowdown state, or returning to our learning high

gear state. The main difference is the effort that we put

into it. Not just the effort into learning, but into HOW

we learn.

The first way that meditation helps in the learning

processes is the same as for reading. It helps us clear

out the clutter, focus the mind and calm down the body.

When we are in high beta state, it is difficult to learn

new things and very difficult to remember them.

You have all experienced trying to do something when

you are in a hurry, either mentally or physically. It

always takes longer and is more difficult. We even have

jokes about it. At and office where I consulted I saw a

sign the cooperation of the office machinery is

inversely proportional to the need of the person using

it.



73 | P a g e

I have heard this expressed in many different ways in

professional and casual settings. The machinery doesnt

know or care how we feel. Our own body and mind

respond to the beta state with increased inefficiency,

more mistakes, less concentration and overall worse

performance.

When we are relaxed and in a good space, everything

that we try to do just seems to flow more smoothly. So with regular meditation, you will be far more able to

learn and remember whatever it is you are trying to

master.

Depending on what it is, you might want to combine the

visualization skills from book #3 with an awareness

meditation when learning a new skill, particularly if it

involves a physical activity. That way you can visualize

yourself actually doing the activity with a high level of

accuracy and skill.

A second important way that meditation will help you in

learning is in the area of confidence. Sometimes you

may be unsure of your ability to learn something. You

may feel you cant do something or that you lack the

background or motor skills or some other critical aspect.



74 | P a g e

Meditation is a great way to build or reassert your

confidence and know that you are a genius and

capable of anything you want to do.

Nothing gets things going better than a clear headed

calmly focused, confident attitude when you start a

subject or project.

Meditation can also help you organize and prioritize

your learning process. If you are taking a class on a new

subject, then that organization is done in the lesson

planning of the instructor. If you are trying to learn

something new for yourself, that focus and organization

is critical.

For example, some time ago I needed to learn how touse some complex software programs which involved

learning HTML and several standalone applications.

With a self-structured meditation approach I was able

to do it in a few days with only the software, and the

self-help manuals and produce first rate professional

results.

This is obviously only a small and recent example that I

share to illustrate the point. The principles are

applicable in anything from complex technical material

to new approaches to tracking and managing

productions targets at the office.



75 | P a g e

If you choose to adopt a learning approach to life, you

will find meditation a great help in both understanding

new concepts, ideas and technology and in

remembering and correctly applying what you have

learned. Current research is clear that a regular regime

of meditation improves learning, retention and long-

term application of new knowledge.

Meditation with Art and Music

Art and music are two of the many creative arts that we

enjoy as humans. I am a professional musician and apainter in acrylics and I enjoy both these forms of

artistic expression. Because they are a part of my life I

am very familiar with the benefits that mediation

provides in bringing artistic expression to life in these

mediums.

There is considerable research that shows the benefits

that music provides the brain. There is a significant

improvement in cognitive processing, abstract thinking

and emotional competence that accompanies the study

of music. Music activates neural pathways in the brain

that are unique and activated by no other activity.



76 | P a g e

Nearly everyone enjoys listening to music of one type or

another. Music is a universal language that can express

emotion on a level not achievable with words alone.

Music can elevate our moods or comfort us when we

feel badly. It also can stir up deep emotions of anger or

resentment. The power of music is well understood by

those who create and distribute this medium.

Art is also a powerful medium of expression which

deeply moves the soul. The saying a picture is worth a

thousand words is a true statement and accurately

reflects the power of art in moving us to emotion or

action.

Meditation can be useful in two ways in the areas of art and music. First of all, it can be an aid to the

enjoyment of art or music. If you choose to enter the

alpha state bef ore listening to music or enjoying some

art, it will impact you more deeply and reach further

into your subconscious and emotional mind.

If you study art works of sculpture or painting or other

media while in a contemplative or meditate state, you

will likely see them in a different way and observe

details and connections that were invisible to you in the

beta state.



77 | P a g e

You should exercise some degree of caution in this area.

If you choose to listen to music or view art that contains

negative images or emotions while you are meditating,

they will likely have a more powerful impact on your

feelings when you are in alpha state than when you are

in a beta state.

I would therefore recommend that you are selective

about the music or art that you experience whilemeditating so that you have the outcomes that you

intend.

Second, If you are an artist or musician or are aspiring

to be one - and create or want to create your own art

or music, then meditation is a fantastic way to access

ideas and expressions that will not be readily

accessible or available to you in any other way.

If you adopt a practice of regularly meditating before

you compose music or write songs you will find that

your creative access is increased and the ideas flow

more quickly and completely.

This is particularly true when you already have some

idea of what you want to the music to be about and

then you meditate on the ideas or themes. You will find

creative bursts that come to you in alpha state both in

the form of lyrical ideas and musical motifs. I would



78 | P a g e

recommend keeping pan and paper hands when you

meditate in this way so you are sure to capture the

ideas that flow from this process.

If you meditate about your artwork, whether it is

painting, sculpture or other expression medium you will

find similar bursts of ideas and creativity. Research into

brainwave activity show alpha waves strongly present

during creative periods or sessions of nearly all subjectstested.

I am acquainted with many artists who meditate often

enough to be able to maintain a relaxed alertness or

alpha state while doing normal activities. They regularly

make it a practice to work while in alpha state and

report that there creative output is enhanced when

they do this. They report improved idea flow, improved

expression, higher ability to get it right the first time

and similar heightened performance and manifestation

attributes.

Meditation and Creative Energy

While the previous section dealt with two particular

forms of artistic expression, in this section I would like



79 | P a g e

to discuss the relationship of meditation to creative

energy in general. The brain functions differently in the

creative process than it does in the logical processing

mode.

All brainwave research shows that the creative portion

of the brain works better and more productively when

you are in the meditative or alpha state. Advanced

research shows an addition increase in empathy, socialawareness and emotional processing as well that is

associated with meditation.

The notion of creative energy can be defined a number

of ways, but here I am using it to denote that effort that

we all make to express our humanness in some way that

is other than the concrete, logical boundaries that

define so much of our existence.

We all live in the real world of clocks, bills, work,

demands on our time, the sort of linear and physical

constraints that we know so well. At the same time, we

all feel and yearn for greater expression in emotion,

relationships, desires and feelings that are far more

difficult to define and express in neat little ways.

We may want to express our feelings for someone in a

unique and different way. We may be struggling for a

great idea for a new product presentation. We may



80 | P a g e

want to write something powerful for personal or

professional reasons and dont know how.

We might feel the need to stimulate our minds with

new learning but dont know how to start. We might be

struggling to find the inner voice that says what we are

and why we are here but we cant hear it well enough

ourselves.

This is a little difficult to articulate but if you are honest

with yourself and think deeply you already know what I

am saying. We have all felt the need to reach somehow

deeper into our minds and feelings and express

something in some medium better, stronger, clearer or

more powerfully or tenderly than we know how.

Meditation is a wonderful way to help with this kind of

feeling. It can help you in two ways. First of all it can

help you get in touch with what you are feeling. In the

awareness meditation style, you allow the feelings of

your body, the emotions of your heart and the

contents of your mind to move in and out of

consciousness without engaging in debate or dialogue.

This means that while meditating - you sit gently relaxed

and comfortable and are aware of your body and its

parts and sensations, your own feelings and experiences

that may come in from outside, such as sounds and



81 | P a g e

externally inputs, your own emotions and feelings and

your thoughts that may be of any nature.

You will find that you can understand your own feelings

better and indifferent ways when you meditate. This is

because your mind is in alpha state which is different

than the more analytical and sometimes more hectic

beta state. You will be able to put form and words

around the vague feelings that you have.

Second, if you know what you are feeling are trying to

do but have been struggling to find the creative

expressions that I talked about earlier, you will find

that during the meditation that you have ideas and

sensations that sometimes flow easily in your mind

and sometimes flash in with sudden brilliance.

During the meditation, you note these just as you do all

the other sensations, but when you are finished

meditating you mote them again, on paper for use later

in your creative needs.

You will find that as you regularly meditate you brilliant

and powerful mind will help you find the things that you

are seeking and will provide you with ample creative

and beneficial ways to express your ideas and feeling.



82 | P a g e

In addition, if you meditate mindfully before sleeping at

night, and then think about the area or concern in

question, your alpha and theta mind states while

meditating and your delta mind state while sleeping will

often present you with ideas and solutions in the

morning.

Meditation and Memory

As our bodies age, our brains also show signs of wear

and tear. Neurons wear out, dendrites fail and brain

functions erode over time.

Some research suggests that this gradual erosion of

processing power starts at about age 30 unless we take

steps to strengthen our neural muscles. As funny as that

may sound, there are specific things that we can do to

improve the performance of our brains.

In this section, I would like to talk about memory as one

of the specific processes of our brains that can be

improved with attention to it.



83 | P a g e

Meditation can play a significant role in the

development of our ability to remember things both in

the long and short term.

There are some specific ways that we can exercise our

brains. This exercise will increase the neural activity and

cause new dendrites to grow which will in turn improve

our mental capacity and functioning. Some ways are

obvious and some may surprise you, but they work.

Several studies have shown increases in mental

capacity, improvement in memory and an increase in

empathy and social awareness from the practice of

meditation. In addition, regular and wide ranging

reading stimulates new and enhanced neural activity.

Stimulating and intellectual debate and dialogue

increase our neural functioning. If you are interested in

the other activities that increase your brain capacity

please refer to the suggested reading list in volume one

of this series.

Our focus here is on meditation and so we will explore

how that will help your brain functioning and specifically

improve your memory. There are several books and

courses that have been developed that give tips and

techniques to improve memory skills.



84 | P a g e

Visual and auditory association methods, mnemonic

lists and triggers and physical and experiential

connections are among the tools that you can learn to

improve your memory.

Meditation plays a role in two ways. First, if you

regularly meditate that fact alone will increase your

memory capability f or both short term and long term

memory.

This is because it improves neural functions exercises

the neural pathways in your brain and creates new

dendrites and renews the chemicals associated with

memory functions.

The second way that meditation will help is byincreasing the effectiveness of any of the methods that

you may choose to use to enhance your memory skills.

Meditation has been proven to help you learn new skills

better, faster and more completely. This means that if

you mediate while exploring memory enhancement

tools and learning these methods they will penetrate

deeper in your consciousness and be more effective at

helping you improve your recall and use of memory.





86 | P a g e

I have found that meditation is far more successful and

meaningful on the spiritual side when contemplating

the multiple layers and meanings of simple and

profound thoughts rather than trying to unravel

complicated threads whose direction is unclear.

This is not to say that you should not meditate on

complicated or difficult topics, but if the goal is finding

your own spirituality, then simple yet profound ideaswill be a more productive place to start your search.

Third, does the idea or passage suggest or motivate

some good action or behavior? Does it make you want

to be better, kinder, more evenhanded, more tolerant

or think or behave in a way that is closer to your ideal?

If the answer to these three questions is yes, then what

you have chosen is likely something worth devoting

some time to. Obviously, if you meditate on a phrase or

idea and the outcome leaves you flat and unmotivated

or unenlightened, you may wish to reevaluate your

choice of focus.

On the other hand, personal improvement and

spirituality are very sensitive to your moods and

experiences. If you are distraught, or heavily distracted,

then it may not be possible to reach the plane of feeling



87 | P a g e

normally associated with spiritual feelings and

experiences.

This does not mean that you should not try anyway. The

night is darkest just before dawn, and sustained or

repeated effort may pay off handsomely in insight and

increased understanding and spiritual awareness.

Only you can decide what you feel good about and

whether or not a particular piece of writing is good for

your soul.

I find that meditation on spiritual writings is helpful in

two ways. First, the normal benefits of meditation,

those of clearing out the clutter and calming the

storms of my mind are always a welcome respite fromthe pace of daily life.

Second, by practicing the gentle concentration style

of meditation, the meaning and power of some writing

may unf old in my mind as I meditate. This unf olding

may be either gentle or powerful or both, but it is

always very rewarding to have some new thought or

insight into some special words or ideas after

meditation.



88 | P a g e

Meditation on a Spiritual Attribute

There are universal truths and principles. Some would

argue that everything is relative and subject to societal

norms and current values. This is not actually the case.

When we examine the physical world around us we see

and experience physical laws that do not change.

Laws like the behavior of matter and the operation of

gravity are not subject to interpretation and opinion.

Sometimes we would like to believe that moral

imperatives are different. If we survey cultures across

the world and if we are truthful in our own hearts we

know that there are universal principles that are

constant.

Meditation on the meaning of a worthy attribute and

thinking about how to acquire it, or how to make it a

part of your life is a very worthwhile application of

meditation in the area of finding your own spirituality.

An example might be helpful. Suppose that you feel that

kindness is an attribute that you equate with spirituality

or an attribute that you want to develop more fully in

your daily walk of life. How would that translate into a

meditation?



89 | P a g e

Some suggestions of a possible approach follow. First of

all, if you meditate on the definition of kindness you

might confront some of the following questions.

What does it mean to be kind? Under what

circumstances do I apply these definitions? Who should

I be kind to? What about people who are unkind to me?

What about strangers? Is there something wrong with

indifference?

There are dozens of other questions that you might ask

yourself in a quest of understanding the meaning of that

simple word and the implications for you in your daily

life. Such a meditation might give you insight into what

you want in yourself as a person.

The second possible application would be to meditate

on ways that you want to apply this attribute in your

own life.

This might consist of reviewing in a gentle way

situations or circumstances where you find that this

idea of trait might be applicable.

This may be times that have already passed, or

circumstances that you believe might come up in your

life. However you choose to describe it, having a

dialogue with your inner self in a calm and relaxed



90 | P a g e

meditation is a good way to begin to integrate spiritual

attributes into your life that you wish to cultivate.

Meditation for Personal Spiritual Renewal

Life is sometimes a difficult journey. We all have thingsthat happen that are hard. Sometimes they are thrust

upon us by circumstance and sometimes they are the

willful acts of others. Sometimes they are the

consequences of our own choices.

No matter who you are and no matter what your

circumstance, there will be times of doubt, of

discouragement and times that you wonder if it is all

worthwhile, or if there is any point to the seemingly

endless struggle that might be engulfing you at that

time.

If you are spiritually inclined, you might view such timesas a challenge to your faith or your view of God or the

unseen world. You might feel abandoned or unfairly

treated in the scheme of things. Sometimes you might

wonder why me?



91 | P a g e

It is often of times of greatest struggle and difficulty

that meditation can play the largest role. I will offer

three suggestions that may be beneficial in such

circumstances to make order out of chaos or to give you

a different perspective.

First, life is not a day trip, but a long voyage.

Sometimes when things are difficult, we cannot see past

the short terms hills that are blocking our view.

Regular meditation on a spiritual theme or one of the

themes in volume one suggested for concentration

meditation will be helpful in getting a larger perspective

that can help put things into context.

Second, no matter what we see in the distance, even if the future looks somehow a bit better, we still have to

deal with the struggles of the present. The daily things

press in and sometimes are too heavy to carry.

Meditation on life, its purposes, and on God can help

you with courage and strength to get through today,

and keep f ocused on the further horizon that looks

more promising. It may also offer some hope and

courage to gracefully move through the present.

I am personally very spiritually inclined, and I believe I

have received great strength from heavenly sources to





93 | P a g e

Sometimes, perhaps worst of all, it is a calculated and

malevolent blow by one we trust or love.

Carrying hurt and anger around with us for the acts of

others is a harmful thing. Wariness after having been

harmed in some way is normal and healthy, but

prolonged bitterness and cancerous anger will eat away

at your soul and eventually damage you more than the

initial acts themselves.

Forgiveness is tied to many aspects of spirituality, and

many religious systems teach that forgiveness is an

important part of our growth and development as

human beings. We likely did not choose to be harmed. If

we are harmed, we should remove ourselves from the

harmful situation and seek refuge elsewhere.

A child may run from a bully, a person may leave an

argument, someone may need to get out of an abusive

situation. After we are safe from the danger, we can

also choose to end the harmful effects of the situation

by removing the power of the person or persons that

harmed us.

It does not matter whether or not a person seeks

forgiveness or is sorry for the act or acts that they

committed or things they failed to do. For us to



94 | P a g e

continue to carry the burden of their failure is to extend

the consequence of the error.

This does not mean that there should not be

consequences or that bad acts should go without

punishment. It means that regardless of how that all

plays out, forgiveness in our hearts of whoever and

whatever may have happened is a way for us to erase

the power of the misdeed or misfortune over ourhearts.

The longer and more powerfully we carry resentment,

anger, bitterness, hunger for revenge or any similar

feelings, the smaller and more stagnant our souls

become. Such feelings reduce our potential, stunt our

growth and get in the way of our own beauty.

Meditation is a powerful tool to help with this healing

process. Depending on the circumstance and the wrong,

counseling or other professional help might be helpful,

or a good friend might be a needed support. All of those

things are good and sometimes essential. But the

biggest key is the content of our own hearts.

Only we can decide whether and when we will

completely wash out the poison of past thorns be

removed from our wounds so that they can truly heal.



95 | P a g e

Meditation on spiritual feelings, texts, your own

goodness and your relationship with the larger

universe, whether it is God, or simply the grand design

around us will truly be a tool that can heal your heart

of difficult wounds as you learn to f orgive past wrongs

and move on to your own unique beauty and the good

you can do f or others in your sphere of influence.

Meditation and Finding Your Compass

In the time of explorers on land and sailing ships on the

seas, the starts overhead and a compass were essentialfor not getting lost finding your way faithfully to a

destination. While we have now mapped much of the

earth so there is little danger of getting lost for most of

us, and sophisticated GPS systems tell us where we are

within a few feet, we still need a compass more than

ever.

I am not speaking of an instrument that sits in your

hand and points to the magnetic north of the earth. I

speak rather of an instrument that sits in your heart and

points to the true north of an honorable life.



96 | P a g e

Every person must decide for themselves where they

stand and what they believe in. I do not write this

section to describe any particular code of ethics or to

promote any particular system. I have observed

however, that it is easy today to excuse a little cheating

and a bit of dishonesty because it seems that no one

really sees it.

It may seem also that everyone is a bit loose and fastwith the truth because it is easier or more convenient

to stretch it. It may also seem that it is best to fudge a

bit now, and try to fix it later when it wont be so messy

or so visible.

It doesnt matter how many laws we pass or how much

enforcement that we have. We cannot legislate or

enforce goodness or truth. Each of us must decide for

ourselves what we know to be important, and what we

know to be true and real.

Meditation, particularly in the realm of spirituality and

personal values is a great aid to sorting out the noise

of the outside and setting your own course with your

own compass.

If you cannot hear the true north beacon in your heart,

then it will be really difficult to tell if you are ever off

course or headed in the wrong direction.



97 | P a g e

Fortunately, we have the opportunity to use meditation

to help us in this way. If we spend quiet time with

ourselves on a regular basis, and get to know ourselves

through this wonderful and revealing process, we will

be able to hear the beacon sounding in our hearts.

Every society and culture in our world, even in the

turbulent times we now live in, has universal and

unchanging ideals that are much the same. Ideas likefairness, honesty, kindness, integrity and trust are the

foundation stone of civilization itself.

As you struggle to establish yourself in the world around

you, if you sacrifice integrity, friendship, truth, honor,

fairness, trust and similar powerful anchors, it wont

matter what you ultimately accomplish. It will feel

hollow.

Meditation is a powerful and wonderful way to keep

yourself grounded in what you believe is important

and real.

It can keep you in touch with those things that are really

important in your life and in the lives of those who

know and care for you.

In the current times of turmoil, the need to have things

and be important and powerful can seem to



98 | P a g e

overshadow everything else. But when the lights go out

and the people go home, we are still left alone with

ourselves.

An acquaintance of mine once said, you can never have

enough of what you dont need, because what you

dont need wont satisfy you. Meditation and finding

your own spirituality is a great way to keep track of

what we all really need.

There are hundreds of applications that we could

discuss in this report. We have only presented a brief survey to give you an inkling of the variety and breadth

of the potential applications.

The number of ways that meditation can help our lives

will be as numerous as the number of people that there

are. Everyone has their own needs, and everyone is

unique in their desires to improve their own lives and

circumstances.

I have not tried to cover even a tiny part of the full

number of potential applications. Instead I have covered

different types of applications so that you can see the



different areas that meditation can help you improve

your life.

In the five books in this series, I will cover the different

styles of meditation in depth, and I will give specific

examples and suggestions about how you can use each

style to benefit the areas in your life that are best suited

to that style.

If the applications described in this report have

awakened you to a sense of your own infinite and

unlimited possibility, then by all means, immediately

download the full course: Meditation The Amazing

Journey Within and start on your own amazing

journey.

Documents

Special Report on Applications of Meditation