What if I didn’t happen to write down that meditation? Would I have still recognized the name? I may have, but I don’t have the best memory so I probably would not of remembered the name. The very act of writing it down however solidified, or at least made a marker in my mind for that particular name. The importance for journaling comes when you go back and review what has transpired in the past week, month, and year. It gives a rather surprising overview of where you have been and allows you to make striking links to where you currently are. I can not count on one hand how many times I’ve gone back and reviewed a meditation only to have a duh moment where I realize the answer to a problem that I had been having was right there in an old meditation. It’s quite frustrating sometimes.

At any rate, that brings us to how to actually keep a meditation journal. One of the easiest and cheapest ways is to use a notebook and pen, just like a dairy. Other means are to use a voice recorder or cell phone to record your commentary, though that is much more suited to dreams and channeling than anything else. I find that an electronic journal is the best as it allows you to arrange your journal how you want and gives you the ability and flexibility to do a search to bring up multiple entries on a particular search term such as looking for all entries with the term “donuts” in them. Also, electronic journals allow you to sort entries based on date, which is very useful in and of itself. I use the software package called The Journal produced by DavidRM. It costs $39.95 US dollars (at the time of this writing) for the basic edition all the way up to $109.95 US dollars (at the time of this writing) for the complete edition which includes some snazzy templates. You can also buy the templates as a separate package. He also provides a try before you buy download (that’s what hooked me) if you want to try it out.

I didn’t need all the bells and whistles so I went with the basic edition and have created my own templates. There are other programs like Microsoft OneNote that is part of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite, or you could even use Google Documents as your electronic journal. Either way you go, I do find that a good idea is to make sure that you print out the entries so you have a hard copy on hand. That way if you have a computer problem, you’ll know that your journal is safe and sound.

Now, I organize my journal based on a categorical and chronological system. In The Journal you can make tabs so I have a tab that is called meditation. Here the entries are broken down and organized by year, month and day. As I mentioned above I have my own template that I use to make it easier to remind me of what information I want to record. It goes without saying that you can simply write this out on your notebook in advance rather than use a template. Some good information to record would be:

• A title
• The phase of the moon
• The place you meditated
• The time of day
• The description of the meditation
• Any commentary, notes, or observations you made

The title is often overlooked but is a good way to make the meditation stick in your memory as well as to make it easier to figure out what the meditation was all about. For example, in my meditation log I have a meditation called The Library of Alexandria. It should come as no shock to anyone that the meditation was about the lost library of Alexandria and not a chicken named Sam. The phase of the moon is also important as it will allow you to see when you have strong meditations or weak ones and will allow you to pick out patterns after a few months of charting. Not to mention that esoteric things, like meditation, are often affected by the phase the moon is in. The place you meditated is also a good thing to record as it allows you to see how different locations influence the strength of a meditation. It is quite interesting to note however, that you can meditate while walking or even while in the shower. You don’t have to be sitting down and going “ohm” to have a good meditation.

The time of day is also important as this will allow you to figure out what time is ideal for you to meditate at and when you are at your best. If you are just starting out with meditation though, it is best to pick a time when you will not be disturbed and stick to it. For me this happens to be at night after I take my shower but you should choose what works best for you. The description is self explanatory. This is the bulk of the meditation. The ‘what you did’ and ‘what happened to you’ part and the reason for keeping the journal in the first place. And finely, you want to add a space that you can add any thoughts on the meditation when you go back and review it at another time. Any revelations and such would be recorded there as well.

So that, as they say, is that. Is there anything else that you like to keep in your journal that I didn’t mention? Have a nifty trick to journaling that you want to share? Go ahead and leave a comment below, inquiring minds want to know!

)O(

ShareThis

• None Found

It is incalculably important that we connect with our higher selves, which is both easy and almost always hard as the higher self is just as unique and different as everyone else out there and they can, and usually do, come to you when you least expect it. One thing is sure however, that is that when they do finally come to you, you’ll be ready for them, and certainly not even looking for them at that point. In the below meditation, my purpose was not to seek out my higher self, but just to go with the flow and relax. I’ll add some spares commentary within parentheses for added information. So without further ado, here you go.

Tonight was an evening just like any other. I got home, got out of my work clothes and went to wash the dishes. Nothing much out of the ordinary. Once done with the dishes, I headed upstairs and to my computer and am about to turn it on, when I realize that my roommate is on the phone. Our wireless router does not play nice with our cordless phone, so no Internet for me. I sat there for a moment or two, trying to come up with something more interesting than playing mmorpgs or tinkering with my blog, and then decided to go and meditate. (which is unusual as I don’t, or at least I didn’t at that time, meditate on a regular schedule)

Setting the mood and lighting tea lights in the meditation room, I sat down and relaxed. I began to breathe deeply and within a minute or two was standing before a beach, the quarter moon on the horizon. I watched the waves lap at the shore before I noticed that there was a path that ascended to the sky and into space.

This Path was unusual in that it was both shiny black, almost like polished black marble, but also transparent to a certain degree. As I ascended it felt less and less like I was walking and more like I was being propelled by a force of momentum other than my own two feet. Suddenly the path went vertical and I with it. Up and up in to space. I hurtled far out, past the galaxy and came back under my own momentum in an area where the stars were very sparse and it was rather dark.

I walked as the path flowered out and became a large rectangular shaped floor, the size of a great hall. Then from out of the darkness came a quite giggle. It seemed to echo about, bouncing off of hidden and unseen walls. Then a point of light appeared, and began to move around as if beckoning me to follow it. So I did. As I ran after it, the giggles continued, even after I fell down a dark hole in the odd floor.

As I fell, the darkness seemed to enfold upon me until my descent slowed and stopped. Again I head the giggles as the point of light sped away and disappeared. I walked forward, towards the last direction in which I had seen the light and had heard the giggles come from. As I did so, I heard the giggle again, from all around me. It was child like, almost fascinated with me, and very feminine sounding.

“What are you” I wondered aloud, for up until that point I had not had this kind of thing happen to me in meditation before. I wasn’t at all surprised when I got an answer. “You already know” the voice spoke. I remained silent for a moment thinking and heard her giggle again. “You always were so silly” she said and then I could see her eyes. She was right in front of me, not five inches away from my face. She began to appear, though she stayed mostly transparent. She smiled at me coyly and said “I am you”. (Here is where my light bulb went off… ding, higher self! Duh!)

I asked her if she was my higher self and she smiled at me and gave me a knowing look as she blinked an nodded at me. We spoke for a few moments, of what I can not remember at this point. (Damn my bad memory!) While we were talking, I felt as if the darkness was hugging me, almost as if it was a part of her. She smiled at me and got closer as she reached out with her hands and grasped the sides of my face with them. Her touch, if it can indeed be called that, was an odd one. Rife with what felt like gentle electric currents gliding gently across my face.

She asked me “Will you fully accept me within you once again? Will you allow me into your heart, mind and soul?” I nodded and said yes, that I would. She smiled and said, “Then promise me that you will listen for me when you hear my voice. It may be faint to you now, but the more you listen for it, the more you let me flow, the louder and more distinct it will become. For I love you as I love myself.” As she was saying this the darkness seemed to warp and wrap itself around and about me.

I heard her whisper “Allow me within you for I am you.” and as she said that a shiver went down my spine as I realized that it was not the darkness that was hugging me nor was it warping or wrapping, it was her in a transparent form surrounding me and entering my body. We became one at that moment. Whole once more. (A distinct feeling that is both unforgettable and indescribable! Even as I read this over to comment on, I feel that same shiver run down my spine!)

Suddenly, the darkness left and I knew that I was within a pyramid made out of a glowing crystalline material. As I felt about, with my senses, I realized that it was not a pyramid, but really a merkabah, and in the center most was a chair that was made out of the same material. She told me to take a seat and as I did a point of light shot down and up as well, entering both my crown and root chakra. The energy and light seemed to be assisting me in raising my vibratory rate, in what would seem like an attempt to help me connect with my higher self.

The light then engulfed me and at its brightest I became aware of many beings to my left and right, all standing in line heading towards the horizon. Then, appearing before me, was a series of stairs that led up to a pedestal. As I approached it, what was behind me simply melted away in to the light and all that was before me was the pedestal and the ornate, posh box that laid upon it. The pedestal and the the box faded away as I opened it, revealing a diadem within it.

A pair of translucent hands reached out and took the diadem and as they held it I heard my higher self whisper “This is a gift for you, learn what it is an how to use it.” as she placed it on my head. I felt it’s energy and light wrap around my head and then the light faded away and it became dark one more. “Remember your promise to me and to you” she said as a doorway appeared, with the beach where I began, not too distant from it. “Remember and return.” she said as I walked through the portal. “Remember and return…”

)O(

ShareThis

• None Found