| Group Meditation as a Spiritual
Path by Gayle Clayton Many people meditate for health benefits such as relieving stress and tension, to find clarity and peace of mind, and to allow spiritual insights. In good meditations, there is an achievement of a clear, non-thinking space that is achieved after many practices and sittings. While this is an admirable end goal, for the serious meditator who pursues meditation as a spiritual path there is more. My work with a former Buddhist monk introduced me to states of meditation of which very little was written -- the dhyanas. In his presence, I discovered a high clear space where I could hear everything, feel everything and sense everything. This mystical awareness led me to work within a mystery school organization where progressive meditations helped others achieve this same highly conscious state. Through the mystery school, I learned the dynamics of working with groups, the use of magic to create higher identities, and a progression of meditation exercises to lead groups into defined realms of consciousness. The juxtaposition of meditation styles of the mystery school and my Buddhist practices led me to combine Eastern and Western philosophy in teaching meditation as a personal and universal transformative process. So how does meditation become a spiritual journey? First, meditation becomes an individual journey of mindfulness. I had to create the discipline to find time for the practice. Then, I carefully practiced techniques to develop an inner focus. By using my body position and concentration on breath, I learned to sit quietly. Then, by working with a teacher, I learned to converse about my process about where I found difficulties. Sometimes my back hurt too much or I kept thinking of what I needed to be doing instead of meditating. Through perseverance, I learned to achieve a clear mind, but it wasn't until I started working with groups that I fully integrated the higher levels of meditation. Alice Bailey wrote in the early 20th century that the future spiritual works depended on the creation of working groups. Through these groups, a collective identity can be formed that allows the wholeness of the membership to overcome the limitations of the individual members. Frequently participation with others in meditation enables a deeper personal meditation as well. Within this clarity, I examined my personal ego issues, physical disabilities and mental processes. By using the spiritual energies, I was able to transform myself into a clearer, happier being. However, it is not enough to work alone. We do not live on an island, isolated and alone, but are part of much larger systems -- communal, cultural and planetary. So while much of youth is spent developing an ego that creates life separate from that of our parents, there is later work to purify, heal, and eventually create a whole ego -- one free from personal neediness, coping mechanisms or neuroses. Working meditation groups provide a place to resolve ego issues into a higher more conscious way of being. Part of the work of transformative meditation is learning to blend into a group in a harmonious manner without losing personal identity. Group dynamics are difficult and often reveal issues and boundaries that we hold unconsciously. To retain membership, these issues must be overcome to a greater goal -- that of a conscious group that holds a much larger identity that is healthier and more capable than any of the individuals. For example, I sometimes ask an individual to name, in order, the cards of the Tarot's Major Arcana. Most can't do that. But when I ask the group, the collective wisdom informs, supports and corrects each other and the list is made in quick order. Meditation in a group requires the transcendence of personal goals for a loftier viewpoint. We are not separate, but coexist. As our perspective ascends the hierarchal ladder, there is advancement in awareness. Entering a working group brings the emotional issues of the astral realm to light such as: Do they like me? Why didn't he hug me? Is this where I belong? The astral realm, made from emotions and the level most achieve in sleep, offers much for the meditator. While many groups use this realm for magic, it can be used to process issues arising in dreams. While I was attempting to break my addiction to sweets, I dreamed of candy bars, carrot cake and banana cream pies almost every night. Finally, in one dream, I informed the dessert tray server that I didn't need sugar. Not only did the craving disappear upon waking, but also the dreams about desserts. In transformative meditation, there is a steady progression from everyday awareness to the higher realms of archetypal, essence, void and the absolute. When my working group moved into the archetypal realm, a vision of the Buddha appeared before me. Others had visions of other teachers such as Jesus and Kuan Yin. When the emotional level is healthy enough to transcend the astral, the archetypal provides universal qualities to advance on the spiritual path. In Reiki, for example, the use of symbols connects an individual to a higher archetypal energy. When I informed my teacher of my teachings from the Buddha, he replied, "If you meet the Buddha on the path, kill him." While I was shocked, I soon learned that there are higher levels to explore if you're willing to give up your comfort zone. Drawing from the Cabbalistic Tree of Life ritual, I found myself standing in the position of Daat, which corresponds to the void realm in the spectrum of consciousness. When energy flowed through the pathways, I was confronted with all of my beliefs. Stripped of all illusions, I was exhausted, but very clear about the illusions of reality. The next morning's meditation revealed the absolute, an identity that exists in everything, across all time and space. My experiences in using group meditation as a spiritual path brought awareness of the connectivity of all life conscious in not only the individual, but also in the collective. We are spirit present in all matter; and all matter is the expression of spirit within form. By experiencing successive states of meditation, I developed many gifts -- clairvoyance, healing abilities, shamanistic walks between worlds, contact with the dying, and the ability to see future possibilities. BUT those are not the goals of the wisdom tradition from which I descend. Our goals are to assist in the evolution of consciousness. By utilizing transformative meditation, we can collectively clear karma, establish harmony and teach paths for human beings to claim their own divinity. To paraphrase Margaret Mead, do not underestimate what a small group of conscious committed individuals may achieve. Gayle Clayton is the author of Transformative Meditation and the founder and teacher in an esoteric school, The Amarjah Center. (www.amarjah.org) She teaches meditation and mysticism workshops nationwide and served as meditation instructor at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. She lives in Rutherfordton, N.C., and is available for personal consultations at (828) 286-7996. Copyright © 2004 Gayle Clayton |
||
|
Aug 2004 |
|
