PRINCIPLES

Our Practice consists of Principles, Meditation and Scripture. Each edition of the Newsletter will address each of those components of Practice. Each of the components supports each other and causes a synergistic effect. Our Practice is experiential in nature and not informational. Obviously we need to provide some information, but information alone will not be effective. Transformation can only occur when we access Who and What we are. Nothing else will work.

Therefore, our Practice is designed to enable us to access or engage what is referred to as the Unconditioned. The Unconditioned is Who and What we actually are. Different names can and have been used to refer to the Unconditioned. The True Self, The Absolute, Truth Itself, Reality, The Unborn and many others. It is important to not get caught up in language. Language is a wonderful and useful tool, but it does have limitations when it comes to describing Truth Itself. It is important to remember that the word is not the thing itself. If the word "Fire" would be on a piece of paper and you placed your hand on that word would you be burned? You not being burned is because the word is not the thing itself. The words that are used are to be understood as pointers therefore, look at what is being pointed to instead of becoming entangled in the words.

As human beings we are predisposed to separation and separation is the cause of everything that we would call a problem. Therefore, if we were to address separation directly, we could eliminate our problems. Elimination of all problems may or may not occur, but this is not the focus of our Practice. Our focus is on eliminating separation simply because it isn't true. Then we learn to Trust and Rest in the Unfolding of Truth Itself.

This sense of a separate self begins at birth. We begin receiving information through the five senses and then we categorize them by thought. Depending on what we see, hear, taste, touch and smell we determine what we like and what we dislike. As we age our preferences of like and dislike become quite sophisticated, intricate and downright complicated. The life of the average human being is spent in this quest to accumulate what we like and to remove or keep away what we do not like.

When the life of the human being comes to an end then any unresolved likes or dislikes comes back into form and once again the five senses and thoughts begin their work.

We also have a lot of help in this belief in separation from family, friends and society in general. This whole process is referred to as Conditioning. Conditioning can only exist within separation. The Unconditioned is not separate and therefore not conditioned.

Conditioning begins with an idea that is not true. We believe this idea and then by way of habit, we have a Condition. The stronger the belief and the more frequent the habit the stronger the Condition.

As long as we are in a Condition, we are trapped thinking that there is nothing else available to us. The good news is that there is much more to us than any Condition or any combination of Conditions could ever describe.

All Conditioning has a beginning, a life span and then comes to an end. All Conditioning collapses in on itself whether they are good or bad Conditions.

The Unconditioned is without beginning and without an ending. This is difficult to understand, but it is something that can be realized. The Unconditioned is always Unfolding therefore it is easy to know the difference between the Unconditioned and the Conditioned.

Many Spiritual Practices have us try and get rid of our Conditions. We then begin a long and arduous task of trying to improve these Conditions. Most often this endeavor ends up being an effort to replace what we consider to be unfavorable Conditions with favorable Conditions. The sad result is that even if we succeed in this all we have done is exchanged one Condition for another. Even the good Conditions are still Conditions and will therefore come to an end leaving us unfulfilled.

As we apply the Principles, Meditation and Scripture in our everyday living then we begin to stop identifying our sense of self on our Conditions and begin to identify with the Unconditioned which is WHO we really are.

Since each person is different it's important to offer several different approaches so that anyone can select that which works best for them. The heart of our Meditation Practice is to bring Unconditional Love, Unconditional Joy, and Unconditional Peace into our Awareness and then learn how to apply them in our life. That Practice will be discussed in the next Newsletter. In this edition we want to provide guidelines to those that have never tried meditation at all.

Getting started is always the first challenge in any new endeavor and starting a Meditation Practice is no different. There will be lots of questions and wondering if it's being done correctly and so on.

It would be unlikely that anyone receiving this Newsletter has never meditated before, but it is always possible that this may be the case. A search on Google will reveal an abundance of information about Meditation in general.

The first step after deciding to give Meditation a try is to have a place to Meditate. It seems to be helpful to have a designated spot because that somehow gives a sense of momentum, but if that is not possible please begin practicing any way.

It's important to have the body aligned so that it is balanced. If we lean forwards, backwards or side to side the body will become uncomfortable and that is something that should be avoided. It is for that reason a couch or soft chair is not recommended for Meditation. Attempting to meditate in bed usually isn't beneficial for the same reason. Using a sturdy chair that allows you to place your feet flat on the floor is better. Of course there are the traditional cross-legged and kneeling positions, but for the sake of safety these positions will not be discussed in a newsletter. These positions can be taught in person and if this is of interest to you please let us know and we'll see what arrangements can be made.

Once you have your chair and a place then try to meditate for 15 minutes to begin with. Depending on how that length of time is for you it can be shortened or lengthened for the next session.

The easiest practice to begin with is by using the breath. The breath has been used in Meditation for thousands of years. There is no belief system to be concerned about. This is just you and your breathing.

In your chair you are sitting up straight with the body balanced and consciously relaxing both mind and body with your hands resting on your knees. Most people keep their eyes closed, but there are practices such as Zen that has people facing a wall with eyes open. Try both and use the one that works best for you. Now begin breathing through the nostrils and allow the abdomen to expand as you inhale. This is called diaphragmatic breathing. This allows you to breathe deeply and also helps to keep you focused.

As you inhale you can count one and as you exhale count two, inhale three, and so on until you reach ten and then return to one and start over. If you lose your count simply return to one and begin again. The benefit of this method is that it gives the mind something to do because in the beginning you will discover how busy your mind is and it really helps to give it something to do. While you are counting your breaths you will discover that the mind will continue thinking. When you become aware that thoughts have entered in gently bring your awareness back to counting your breaths. Practicing in this way you are learning how to focus your mind on one thing and at the same time learning how to consciously rest. Consciously resting is a great benefit to you both physically and psychologically.