Every person wants to be happy, successful and prosperous. But happiness cannot be achieved without certain inner qualities. Awareness is what? According to the famous Russian occultist, spiritual teacher, writer, composer Georgy Gurdjieff, exercises for the development of awareness help a person to realize himself in life, live the time allotted to him happily, richly and productively.
In his opinion, our troubles come from the fact that we do not live, but exist, performing our functions, like machines, not staying here and now. A person either lives in the past, remembering happy moments, or rushes his thoughts into the future, endlessly hoping for the best. And happiness is not hidden in the past and not in the future, it is right here and now and aimlessly passes while a person’s thoughts are far away. Mindfulness is the key to happiness.
As Gurdjieff was convinced, the exercises for developing awareness conceal a simple and very important thought: “Whatever you do, remember yourself. It's difficult." Mindfulness - how to acquire?
The author of the methodology gives specific sound advice on how to regain a sober view of the world, how not to miss important moments, how not to get lost on the path of life.
Gurdjieff Mindfulness Exercises #1 "Confuse Yourself"
Technique will help you to throw off the state of autopilot, thoughtlessness, absence in the actual moment. The development of awareness occurs through training, the willingness to reject everything superfluous that prevents you from enjoying life and living it productively:
- When you eat, take a fork or a spoon in your other hand - this, it would seem, the simplest way will already reconfigure your thoughts, help you make changes to your usual, established way of life.
- Take a different route to work. Do not do the same action for the hundredth time! You can even get to your usual work not by transport, but, for example, walk through the park, and then take a minibus. You can make a detour, walk slowly, admiring the beauty of nature.
- Do any action you are used to in a different way! Solemnly, slowly, as if the fate of mankind depends on it! Funny? Effective! The technique is very useful for returning yourself to reality, for turning off the hateful autopilot and fully understanding the beauty of the current moment.
Exercises according to the Gurdjieff method for the development of awareness No. 2 "Control over speech"
- One day without "no" and "not!" Do not argue, do not deny anything! After all, there are many other speech forms, get by with them!
- No "me" or "me" for a whole week!
- “I am” - say it with feeling, slowly, imbue this phrase. Its meaning is deeper than most people think.
- “I can” is the second very important mantra. Repeat it every day, trying to realize its full depth. After all, how often do we give up, give up our plans just because we do not believe in our strength. Mindfulness is the key to living in harmony.
Exercises according to the Gurdjieff method for the development of awareness No. 3 "Conscious reading"
Take any text - preferably, meaningful, important to you. And read it three times!
- At first, as if reading the text to yourself, and not for the audience
- For the second time, read what was written for another person, trying to convey to him as fully as possible the thoughts and feelings that are contained in the text.
- For the third time, read as if the text contains a message encrypted for you, something that can solve all your problems.
As Gurdjieff believed: exercises for the development of awareness allow a person to better understand himself and his place in this world, not to be a machine, mechanism, cog in the system, but to represent himself as a developed mature personality.
As Gurdjieff said: exercises for the development of awareness help a person achieve the desired harmony, not live life in vain, in meaningless anxieties and incorporeal attempts to acquire happiness.
What are the problems associated with lack of awareness?
- The inability to choose the right path in life, in accordance with your ideals and principles, and not with those settings that are imposed on you from the outside.
- Bad relationships with others - shallow, formal or full of conflicts. After all, without awareness it is difficult to understand not only a loved one, but also oneself.
- Living a joyless, meaningless life. Without realizing himself and the world around him in the current moment, a person cannot fill his life with meaning.
- The inability to realize your dreams in the creative field. After all, creativity is spontaneity, as well as self-actualization, the disclosure of one's talents. There is no need for a formal approach, dogmas and rules. Creativity is fraught with the individuality of its creator. Without awareness, achieving success in the light of creativity is almost impossible.
What does a person who lives unconsciously and meaninglessly look like? Here he gets out of bed because he has to go to work, here he mechanically dresses, half-awakely pours himself breakfast, formally says goodbye to the household and goes to work - to sit out for hours waiting for a long-awaited smoke break or lunch break. Then this man, full of fatigue, goes home - to the disgusting home routine. There can be no talk of any creativity in his life! Everything for such an unfortunate person is automatic, everything is subordinated to the usual route - home - work - home.
And how does a person who has reached a high level of awareness live? His daily routine may be ordinary at first glance. He also has a job, a family, he also performs the usual set of actions: preparing food, making the bed. But everything he does is filled with meaning, brings joy to him and those around him. He is able to break patterns, follow the aspirations of his heart, live when necessary - risky, when he wants - calmly and measuredly. But everything he does has its own meaning, its own purpose. This is not a stupid and chaotic set of activities. Achieve awareness, make your life productive! The excellent literature will help you with this.
Danny Penman and Mark Williams wrote a best-selling book that captivated the minds of readers: Mindfulness. How to find harmony in our crazy world.
As Penman argued, mindfulness is achieved through meditative practices. Just twenty minutes a day of mindful meditation will give you the following benefits:
- the level of stress will decrease and the manifestations of depression will decrease;
- improve memory and self-control;
- blood pressure will decrease;
- mental state is normalized;
- awareness of Mark Williams implies a good orientation in one's emotions, living in the current moment, managing one's own thoughts. How often do we get stuck in the past, scroll through the mental chewing gum: nothing can be changed, I am no longer capable of anything, I have suffered irreparable damage. Stop!
Try to understand yourself better first. Ask yourself the following questions:
- When I felt pain.
- When I was filled with joy.
- When I was overwhelmed with anxiety.
- When I felt relaxed.
Analyze your feelings to a particular situation, to different people. You can even start a diary. And during the day, write down what emotions and thoughts you had, how you reacted to certain circumstances. After a week, all records should be analyzed and thought about how you can improve the quality of your life.
Form a good attitude towards yourself, respect for your personality. Consider:
- How often do you criticize yourself for wrong thoughts and actions
- Are you trying to direct your feelings
- Do I think my thoughts are bad
- Do you judge yourself by your beliefs
- Do you blame yourself for your disembodied fantasies? For foolish dreams.
Consider how often you become your own harshest critic. And if the critical remarks of others can be avoided, then you cannot run away from yourself. Try to forgive yourself for mistakes, for not being able to achieve something.
The psychologist also sees salvation from life's troubles in meditation, which will help you better understand yourself, learn how to put your thoughts in order. Scientists have long proven that meditation helps to improve the physical and psychological state. The meditative state is also achieved with the help of prayer - conscious and thoughtful. There have been studies that have shown that believers live longer. And scientists found an explanation precisely in the practice of prayers, which gave people rest, calmed the mind and relaxed the body.
The practice of mindfulness is very helpful! It helps not to get lost on the path of life, to clearly see your goal, to live happily and productively. You can do the exercises every day, it is not necessary to wait for the right moment. In the morning, afternoon, evening, try to perform every action meaningfully, do not waste time on trifles that annoy you and do not allow you to live happily. According to the great philosopher Osho, awareness is the key to understanding oneself and harmony with the world.
The Eastern sage is sure that you need to live in the current moment, performing each action thoughtfully, enjoying the moment. He also calls to focus not on the external, but on the internal. Don't be a puppet! If you're angry, you don't have to yell and make a fuss. Change the phrase: I'm not angry, but I'm angry. And if it's about you, then only you decide whether to be angry or not, how to react, how to respond. Osho is sure that you need to live in a state of relaxation. Only a calm view of the world can give you an answer to many life questions.
Awareness is what:There are following levels of Awareness
1) Victim.
Such a person is always inclined to blame others for his problems - he often has a deterioration in health and well-being. He does not struggle with difficulties, but simply gives up
2) Wrestler.
He also blames others, but unlike the previous type, he fights with others - actively and assertively. Prone to heart attacks and nervous exhaustion
3) Seeker.
He is looking for a solution to the problem, suffers less from diseases, it is important for him to find a clue, to understand what is the reason for the failure.
4) Player.
Quickly analyzes the situation and instantly finds a way out? Differs in activity and purposefulness
5) Creators.
They create the surrounding space around them confidently, consciously, do not fight with the world, but cooperate with it. Such people are more likely to build their lives correctly.
Imagine a few people. The first man is a woman who cannot marry. She is convinced that all the men around her are boring and boring or dangerous, capable of using her people. Therefore, for a long time the woman is alone and is not even looking for new acquaintances.
What level of awareness has she reached? This woman is a victim. How can she change? To understand that the reason is not in the people around her, in their depravity and unwillingness to bring her joy, but in herself. As soon as she realizes that it is she who is clamped, distrustful, does not know how to arouse their interest, and so on, she will have a chance to change. She will come to the conclusion that you should start changing the situation with yourself. And, having gone a long and difficult way, she will be able to reach the level of the creator - to approach life playfully, look for positive moments, change the situation, first of all, changing herself.
Next situation. The man lost his job, there is nothing to feed his family.
A male victim would decide that the boss was to blame for everything, and out of grief could become addicted to drinking. A man - a fighter, also blaming the authorities, and even the state, would roll up his sleeves and begin to climb the career ladder in another field. Such a man could achieve considerable success, but, due to his nature, he would have health problems in the end.
A seeker would treat the problem philosophically - such is life. Probably, over time, he would have easily found another job, but not the fact that it would have been better than the previous one. The player probably had good connections - among acquaintances and colleagues, and would easily and effortlessly find another job. The Creator would have been even more successful.
He would have been able to use all the advantages of the situation and would have considered failure with work not as a collapse, but as an impetus to development, to new unknown distances.
Due to what does the one who has achieved success realize his talents and overcome obstacles so well?
So awareness. Keys:
- Meditation
- Taking responsibility for your destiny
- Being in the situation, focusing on the present moment
- Meaningfulness of every action.
Let us all be responsible and wise creators of our lives. Let's not put off until tomorrow what can be done right here and now.
Remember that your destiny is in your hands. We wish you good luck.
October 28th, 2015
From the book "MAN IS A MULTILATERAL BEING":
A person's sleep is nothing but a break in the connection between centers. The centers of man never sleep. Because associations establish their life, their movement, they never stop, they never stop. Stopping associations means death. The movement of associations does not stop for a moment, in any center. They work even in the deepest sleep. If in a waking state a person sees, hears, thinks, then in a half-asleep state he also sees, hears, thinks and calls this state a dream. Even in a state where he believes that he has completely ceased to see or hear, he also calls this state a dream, the associations continue.
The only difference is the strength of the connection between one and the other centers.
Memory, attention, observation are nothing but the exploration of one center by another, or listening to one center by another. Thus the centers, as such, need neither stopping nor sleeping. Sleep brings them neither good nor evil. Sleep, as it is called, is not an object that brings rest to the centers. As I have already said, deep sleep occurs when the connections between the centers are severed. In fact, a deep sleep, a complete rest of the machine, is established one day when all connections, all relationships cease to function.
Addition:
Contrary to many modern teachings that as 3rd density humans we may not be as special, chosen and glorious as many of the world's religions and their offshoots have suggested to us. Gurdjieff throws his reasoning in the face of typical New Age dogma, which mostly says that we are "special creatures" and even if we make mistakes, there is nothing wrong with that. Time will pass and we will be fine. If we think about good things, we can create a good reality, because what we focus on is what we "create", so we should forget about all the bad and negative, because "love is all that we need to". La la la la la!
However, Gurdjieff says that we are in PRISON and we have no hope of escaping without certain knowledge; the first thing we need to learn is that we ARE in prison. Furthermore, we cannot escape without the help and effort of the group, and this help cannot even be received or asked for without a certain "crystallization" or effort. He also says that our notions that our "souls" are united and aligned may be somewhat selfish, and may not be true at all!
Sounds pretty intimidating!
Remember what don Juan said to Carlos Castaneda in the Abduction episode?
We have a predator that has come out of the depths of space and seized power over our lives. People are his prisoners. The predator is our lord and master. He has made us submissive and helpless. If we rebel, he suppresses our rebellion. If we try to act independently, he orders us not to do so... You, through your own efforts, have achieved what the shamans of ancient Mexico called the question of questions. I led you in a roundabout way to the idea that something is holding us captive. Of course we are prisoners! For the sorcerers of ancient Mexico, this was an energetic fact.
Why did this predator seize power, as you say, don Juan? I asked. “There must be a logical explanation for this.”
“There is an explanation for this,” don Juan replied, “and the simplest. They have taken over because we are food for them, and they ruthlessly suppress us to maintain their existence. Well, like how we raise chickens in a hen house, they raise people in human pens. So they always have food."
I felt my head dangle from side to side. I could not express my displeasure and chagrin, but the trembling of my body betrayed them. I was shaking from head to toe without any effort on my part.
"Why? don Juan asked calmly. - Why? Because it infuriates you?"
“Yeah, it drives me crazy,” I snapped. - It's horrible!" [...]
"I want to appeal to your analytical mind," don Juan said. - Think for a moment and say how you can explain the contradiction between the education of an engineer and the stupidity of his beliefs and the inconsistency of his behavior. Sorcerers believe that predators gave us our belief system, our ideas of good and evil, the mores of our society. It is they who gave rise to our hopes, expectations and dreams about success and failure. To them we owe our greed and cowardice. Predators have made us complacent, rigid and self-centered.”
“But how did they do it, don Juan? I asked, somewhat irritated by his words. “Did they whisper all this to us in a dream?”
“No, of course not, what nonsense! don Juan said with a smile. “They were much more efficient and organized. To keep us meek and submissive, they resorted to an amazing maneuver - amazing from the point of view of a warrior-strategist, of course. From the point of view of the one against whom it is directed, this maneuver is terrible. They gave us their mind! Do you hear? Predators gave us their mind, which became our mind. The mind of a predator is sophisticated, contradictory, closed and filled with fear that at any moment it can be discovered.
Don Juan continues:
“I know that even though you have never gone hungry, you are worried about your daily bread. This is nothing but the fear of a predator, who is afraid that his trick at any moment may be discovered and the food may disappear. Through the medium of the mind, which, ultimately, is their mind, they bring into human life what is convenient for predators. And in this way they provide some measure of their security and assuage their fears.” [Castaneda, 1998 pp. 213-220]
Pay particular attention to these words of don Juan:
Our belief system, our ideas of good and evil, the mores of our society, were given to us by predators. It is they who gave rise to our hopes, expectations and dreams about success and failure. To them we owe our greed and cowardice. It was predators that made us smugly inert and self-centered
In essence, it says that "nothing is, and has NEVER been, what it seems"! We can hardly trust anything about our reality if we try to view it through the lens of our "belief system, our ideas of good and evil, the mores of our society."
THEMATIC SECTIONS:
In the early 20th century, the mysticism movement aimed to bridge the gap between Western and Eastern philosophies with theosophy, esotericism, and a growing interest in the occult. This spiritual time inspired George Gurdjieff to create the Fourth Way - the practice of sets of exercises for the harmonious development of a person. All these tools can be used in everyday life to get rid of the state of hypnotic sleep.
Careful spiritual practices often focus on either detachment from the physical or strict mastery of it. George Gurdjieff did not consider such practical methods of accepting one's higher self, believing that enlightenment could be achieved without asceticism.
Born in 1866 in Alexandropol, Armenia, Gurdjieff was inspired by the theosophical movement and decided to travel to Central Asia and the Middle East in search of esoteric spiritual leaders and seekers of truth. Upon his return, he wrote a series of books that would become the foundation of his spiritual practice, The Fourth Way. The second book in the series, Encounters with Remarkable People, detailed the encounters with spiritual leaders on his journey, who were rather fictitious characters symbolizing the three previous "paths".
The paths of the fakir, the monk, the yogi and the fourth path
During his travels, he was inspired by the spiritual paths of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi, although he believed that their methods were an order of magnitude less successful than the more practical methods of their practices, lost in antiquity. At the same time, he believed that the consequences of modern technology and modern society are causing everyone to fall into a hypnotic sleep.
The fakir, who lives solely on alms, gives his life dominion over the physical body, demanding endurance and pain, the monk focuses on the emotions through faith, religious zeal and sacrifice, while the yogi gives his life to the mind, developing his inner being at the cost of neglecting his body and emotions. Gurdjieff considered these three methods to be overly extreme paths to enlightenment and that there should be a more alternative fourth path that could be followed without sacrificing some aspect of life.
Gurdjieff noticed that most paths to enlightenment require some degree of asceticism, but he did not want to accept asceticism as the only way, and his life was a testament to this, although sometimes paradoxical.
Despite his commitment to spiritual development, he was known to be a bit of a hedonist, fond of Armagnac and opium. His philosophy was strict, despite its rejection of religious rigidity. He professed an ethereal worldview based on pragmatism and human desires. But this seems to be only a small part of the Fourth Path, an intermediate point in a constant search, always questioning any path based on reality, but trying to connect with the otherworldly.
Features of the concept of human development in Gurdjieff
So what is Gurdjieff's method for reconciling humanity with spirituality? All of this refers to the exercises of the Fourth Way, known as "Work." Essentially, it is a method of constant objective introspection to erase the social constructs and attributes that have infiltrated the individual. Gurdjieff gave two basic exercises in addition to some fundamental laws and concepts.
Introspection
- Through a daily ritual of self-observation, one should strive to observe one's own behaviors and habits, especially those that are negatively perceived by others, but do so without judgment or analysis.
- This internal observation is carried out simultaneously with awareness of the external environment of your stay.
- Self-observation should be taken without criticism and should be regarded as follows: you are not who you think you are.
- What you are seeing is a façade of false personality, a product of modern society.
Self-remembering
- Self-remembering is a slightly abstract concept of remembering oneself in the past, and not just remembering the past.
- Much of our past is lost due to our inefficient memory. We can feel something absolute and swear that we will never forget it, but after a few years it fades from memory. If a person actively and regularly engages in self-remembering, he can make wise discoveries.
- Self-remembering leads to a state of wise mind, free from all negativity.
Before self-remembering one should know self-observation.
These processes of self-observation and self-remembering are designed to destroy the many selves or fragmentation of the psyche through personal desires that separate us from others. Gurdjieff said that we have two parts: essence and personality. Our essence is a natural part with which we are born, and personality is everything that has been artificially transferred from society. Our essence also consists of three centers: intellectual, emotional and physical, and we should "work" to achieve higher intellectual and higher emotional development.
There are two conceptual teachings of Gurdjieff that sum up his Fourth Way philosophy: the Law of Three and the Law of Seven. The Law of Seven, also known as the Law of Octaves, is a fundamental cosmic law that states that nothing in nature moves in a straight line all the time, everything eventually deflects. This all-encompassing law hints at his belief in an intrinsic connection between music and nature, the idea that more energy is required between certain musical intervals to maintain the original purpose. This also applies to the unpredictability of human nature, its goals and attempts, which also require additional energy to continue on their original course.
The Law of Three is another fundamental cosmic law that states that every phenomenon has three components: active, passive and neutral. It can be seen as a law of transformation that always requires affirmation, negation and reconciliation. This triad of action creates an ascending or descending octave and symbolizes every structure and action in the universe and man.
These laws are depicted in Gurdjieff's most recognizable Fourth Way symbol, the enneagram, a 9-pointed figure in a circle.
This link between music and philosophy was repeated throughout Gurdjieff's philosophy as he became known as a musician. He spoke of music as some kind of objective force that could be felt in the same way that a snake reacts to the music of a snake charmer.
Gurdjieff's ideas did not become widely popular in the New Age and self-help realm, although they are often classified there. The fourth way is a concept that is not addressed to the masses. Honest self-observation can be painful and anxiety-inducing for those who are not ready for it. Removing your personality mask and counteracting negative personality traits takes hard work and can leave you feeling lost or confused.
That is why it is necessary not only to resist the urge to judge what you see, but also to simply see things as they are. Eventually, this spiritual practice will give you wisdom and redemption, perhaps even lead to a higher state of consciousness.
Video recordings about the life and path of G. Gurdjieff, his followers, practical aspects of the Fourth Way, heritage - the Institute of Harmonic Development.
Books and publications
- Eight meetings in Paris
- Anything and Everything Stories
- Anything and everything. Beelzebub's stories to his grandson (original version)
- Views from the real world
- Questions and answers
- Meeting wonderful people
- Life is only real when I am
- Last hour of life
- Man is a complex being."
You can download the books of George Gurdjieff for free by clicking on the link
Gurdjieff - De Hartmann Piano Music
George Gurdjieff on the spiritual development of man
Content
Regulatory part
Buddhist meditation as a method of spiritual development
Meditation Practices in Taoism and Zen Buddhism
Meditative practices in Christianity
Osho Rajneesh as a thinker and creator of meditation techniques
Meditation techniques in clinical practice and self-healing systems
Meditation techniques in the teachings of Gurdjieff
Regulatory part
Section 1. Meditation: a variety of definitions and practices.
The Role of Meditation Practices in the Eurocentric Culture of the 20th Century
Stressful situations, premature aging, psychosomatic illnesses, information overload, the fast pace of life and environmental problems - we owe this to the era of the scientific and technological revolution. The technocratic nature of modern civilization gives rise to backwardness in the development of the spiritual component of man. Modern man finds it difficult to find answers to his questions in science, literature or philosophy, and solutions to the problems of spiritual development remain in their infancy.
As Sri Aurobindo wrote, “spirituality is not intellectuality, not idealism, not turning the mind towards ethics, towards pure morality or asceticism; it is not religiosity or a passionate emotional uplift of the spirit... Spirituality in its essence is the awakening of the inner reality of our being, our soul...” 1
The arrival of meditation in the West was marked by speed and scope. Therefore, the growth of interest in meditative practices is understandable and justified, which actively began in Western society in the era of hippies, “flower children”, when the New Age movement and all kinds of institutions for developing human abilities such as Esalen and Big Sur were born.
Main features of most meditation practices
What features of meditation practices can be identified as characteristic?
The beginning of any meditation is concentration, concentration of the mind, detachment from everything extraneous that is not connected with the object of concentration, from all internal, secondary experiences. Starting from focusing the mind on the object and passing through the stage of penetration into the object, the practitioner completely dissolves in it, merges with it - the object fills the space of consciousness. As a rule, the nature of the object in a certain way limits the depth of concentration achieved. As soon as attention is withdrawn from the object of concentration, the meditator must, by an arbitrary effort of the will, return it to the object. Gradually, as you train, the interference distracts your attention less and less, and the object remains the center of concentration. At this stage, feelings of enthusiasm, satisfaction dominate, sometimes there are luminous images, unusual bodily sensations. As the concentration deepens, a person may have visions, mental processes in the form of images are enlivened with a decrease in focus. With the subsequent advance, a moment arises when ordinary consciousness disappears, sensations and extraneous thoughts completely dissipate. Deeper levels of concentration are associated with turning the mind towards feelings of rapture and bliss; there is equanimity, the consciousness of the infinite.
In my opinion, this dissipation of sensations and extraneous thoughts in the process of meditation exists in all systems of meditation, only it is called by different names: “stopping the internal dialogue” by Castaneda, mechanical “unnecessary conversation” by Gurdjieff, and so on.
Regardless of the ideological background, meditation practitioners learn to control and manage the mind, which leads to improved memory, attention; acquire a sense of deep calmness, mental relaxation, improve mental functioning, which in turn leads to an improvement in the somatic state. These side effects are not the sole purpose of meditation. One of the common features of meditation practices is the idea that meditation should become a way of life for the practitioner.
With all types of meditation, a stage is reached that is described as insight, ecstasy, enlightenment, a breakthrough beyond ordinary consciousness, a state of mind, a “jump” into the unconscious, to the deepest layers of one’s being, being in the sphere of consciousness as opposed to the sphere of reason, mind.
The outlined common features can be found both in the most ancient forms of meditative practices (Zen, yoga) and in modern techniques (auto-training, transcendental meditation).
Section 2. Historical directions of meditation practice.
Meditative Practices in Hinduism, Yoga, Tantrism
The vast majority of the Indian population is Hindu. As a religion, Hinduism was formed by the middle of the 1st millennium BC. based on the Vedic religion and Brahmanism. The Hindu system is based on the Vedas. The central place in the system of Vedic ideas is occupied by the concept of Brahman - the highest objective reality, an impersonal spiritual principle, from which the world arises with everything in it. The practice of yoga is necessary to restore human unity. The main practice of Vedic yoga is ascetic practice and renunciation of worldly goods. One of the main methods of early yoga is the gradual disconnection of the mind from the senses and from the objects of the external world. Concentration on Brahman was considered the best means for this.
The system of Indian yoga is distinguished by its multidimensionality: the physical and mental properties of a person receive their harmonious development in it. All aspects of the functioning of the physical body, mind and psyche in yoga are coordinated in detail. Meditative practice within its framework has a strictly defined position in the general system of exercises.
The treatise Yoga Sutra by Patanjali had a great influence on the development of the theoretical and philosophical foundation of yoga. Patanjali defines the essence of yoga in the cessation of the activity of the mind, in the steady preservation of the purity of the mind. This can be achieved with the help of exercises, mental and spiritual efforts achieved by concentration and meditation. According to Patanjali, in order to reveal the spiritual component of a person, it is necessary to mentally abandon the perception of visual, auditory and sensory images.
The great merit of Patanjali lies in the fact that he formulated the concept of the “eightfold path”, reflecting the sequence of steps of practice, which allows those involved in full accordance with natural principles to reach the highest levels of physical and spiritual development.
There are several ways and levels of meditation practice. Traditionally, they are divided into 2 large groups: “meditation with form” and “meditation without form”. In the first case, the meditator directs his consciousness to work with an object that has a certain shape (a flower, a candle flame, etc.), in the second case, objects without a form (concepts, ideas, etc., for example, the concept of Brahman) become the object of meditation ).
Mantra yoga is defined as the art of achieving spiritual progress by controlling the sound vibrations of special forms - mantras. Modification of the mental-psychic state of a person through mantras can lead to excitement or calm, to the emergence of a prayerful mood, etc. A mantra can consist of several sounds or several words. Continuous recitation of mantras in yoga is practiced in japa meditation. The origins of Mantra Yoga are rooted in the ancient concept of universal vibrations. In yantra yoga, special images become objects of meditation. In Nada Yoga, the objects of meditation are inner sounds. In kundalini yoga, the effect of immersion in a trance state is due to the appropriate methods of controlling the hidden energy of the body.
Tantrism is a religious and philosophical movement that combines the principles of Vedic yoga with the provisions of Buddhism. By the 7th-8th centuries, the doctrine was divided into two branches: Left-hand Tantrism and Right-hand Tantrism. The triad "thought - word - action" was recognized as inseparable facets of the all-encompassing unity of the Universe. All the main provisions in Tantrism are subordinated to the idea of the closest connection between macro- and microcosmos. According to the ideas of Tantrism, the sound of mantras causes vibrational vibrations in the body, causing certain states of mind and consciousness. The true meaning of each mantra is known in the process of meditation on it; thus establishing a close unity of thought and word. In the practice of Tantrism, as in other teachings, much attention is paid to the highest human abilities (“siddhis”).
Buddhist meditation as a method of spiritual development
Right concentration has four steps. In the first stage, the mind focuses on understanding and interpreting truths; at the second stage, excessive reasoning and anxiety are discarded; at the third stage, there is liberation from the joy of dispelling doubts and from the sensation of corporality; finally, the fourth stage is the achievement of complete equanimity, indifference and detachment.
The process of contemplation (dhyana) can also be divided into four stages:
calm and free from sensuality study of the subject chosen for contemplation;
thought remains focused on the subject of contemplation, but the mind is freed from reasoning;
the mind is completely freed from all passions and individualism;
purity and indifference of the mind to all influences.
The contemplation of moving waters, the undulating surface of mountains was somewhat similar to the action of music, dance, the rhythm of chanting mantras - it pulled a person out of the power of reality, plunging him into a state of trance. The perception of the world in medieval China was meditative, coexisting alongside contemplative exercises and shaped under their influence.
In Buddhism, meditation is not just an exercise that takes place in a room and is not connected with life. From a Buddhist point of view, this is something that helps make life better.
In the process of meditation, three things are obligatory done: studying what the practitioner is doing; then thinking it over until he understands; then cultivating the beneficial habit of meditating. In this process, meditation is integrated and becomes part of the practitioner. Buddhism does not suggest doing something out of blind faith alone. Only after understanding the teaching and making sure that the practitioner wants to apply it, he begins to meditate. Thus, meditation means cultivating a certain beneficial habit, making it a part of ourselves.
The process of Buddhist meditation itself consists of two parts:
“analytical” meditation;
"stabilizing" meditation 2 .
When practicing meditation, it is important to learn how to concentrate, get rid of interference, and in order to maintain concentration, you need to correct your attention when it is distracted. This is done differently in different Buddhist traditions. It is recommended not to be tied to a single practice.
In Buddhist practice, there are different types of objects that one can focus on in the process of meditation: for example, a specific object, or even the mind itself, the process of thinking. In Mahayana practices, it is proposed to focus on mental phenomena. In tantra, visualization of oneself in the form of the Buddha is used for concentration.
Meditation Practices in Zen Buddhism
The roots of Zen were laid in China by Bodhidharma, who came to China from India in the 6th century. Subsequently, in the 12th century, the teachings of Zen penetrated into Japan. Zen has been described as "a special teaching without sacred texts, beyond words and letters, which teaches the essence of the human mind, penetrating directly into its nature, and leads to enlightenment."
The Zen custom of self-knowledge through meditation to realize the true nature of man, with its disregard for formalism, with its demand for self-discipline and simplicity of life, eventually won the support of the nobility and ruling circles of Japan and the deep respect of all sections of the philosophical life of the East.
The spirit of Zen has come to mean not only an understanding of the world, but also devotion to art and work, richness of content, openness of intuition, expression of innate beauty, elusive charm of imperfection. Zen has many meanings, but none of them is fully defined.
Zen Buddhism has had a significant impact on the development of Chinese and Japanese culture. This current arose as an esoteric sect. The word “Zen” (dhyana) means “contemplation, self-absorption”. It is on a sudden insight as a result of an intuitive impulse that Zen Buddhism focuses its attention, declaring Buddhist rituals, cults and temples a waste of time.
One of the tenets of Zen Buddhism is that Truth and Buddha are always with us, we just need to be able to find, recognize, and understand them. The truth is in the insight that comes suddenly, like an inner intuitive impulse that cannot be expressed in words. The irrationality of the Zen approach lies in the fact that a person needs to wait in the wings, and after thinking in an effort to comprehend the incomprehensible, something suddenly dawns on him, an instant insight visits, and he comprehends the Truth. The meaning of this is to expand the boundaries of thinking, to go beyond the limits of sensory empirical experience.
Zen meditation practice contains many techniques for restructuring the intellectual, spiritual and bodily structure of a person: topics for reflection (koans), dialogues with a mentor, stimulating actions, unexpected influences (sharp shouts, sudden blows, etc.). To stimulate the intense work of the brain, the development of mental search, the practice of riddles was used, which meant meditation on special formulas or couplets. The practitioner had to find the inner meaning of the riddle. Another part of the preparation is the intuitive dialogues between the student and the master (mondo), in which a huge amount of information was transmitted to the student in seconds. The purpose of the mondo is to evoke a resonance in the mind of the student with the mind of the master, to evoke enlightenment in the beginner or prepare him for insight.
The process of meditation was carried out in special sitting postures (za-zen). The spine should be straight, being in line with the head. One of the schools of Zen (soto) uses the method of meditation sitting facing the wall, when the meditator seeks to forget all his own experiences, to separate from himself. First, the practitioner focuses on muscle relaxation, then on the rhythm of breathing, watching him. Gradually, attention is shifted to mental activity. In the course of time, mental activity loses logical consistency and associativity. After systematic training, the ability to induce a state in which the mind of the practitioner is freed from extraneous thoughts is achieved, while inner peace and confidence are felt. Based on this state, the practitioner can carry out a conscious mental process with a great depth of concentration on real or abstract objects.
Meditative practices in Christianity
With the establishment and general victory of Christianity in Europe, the main focus of meditative practice shifted towards lengthy prayers and scholastic reasoning. Prayers sometimes lasted for several hours, which was a form of meditation. More complex meditative practices existed in closed spiritual orders (Dominicans, Templars, Hospitallers).
The conclusion about the presence of special exercises can be made based on some statements (for example: “Seek treasure in your heart” among the Templars, which is fully consistent with many Eastern teachings), the existence of “Logos-meditation”, the Orthodox “Jesus Prayer”, Jesuit “exercise” . There are significant overlaps between the basic elements of these exercises and the practice of yogic meditation. The same can be said about the long prayers of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The "Jesus Prayer" was repeated by him many times, similar to the practice of uninterrupted recitation of mantras in japa meditation.
Many Christian thinkers have gone beyond the narrow limits of doctrine, such as Meister Eckhart. According to Eckhart, a person is able to know God due to the fact that in the person himself there is a “spark” that is consubstantial with God. Renouncing its own “I”, uniting with the Divine “nothing”, the human soul is a means of generating itself by God.
Unfortunately, to this day there are “militant” or too limited understanding of the letter of the Teaching – such a feeling I had when reading the book “Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future” by Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (1934-1982). In this work, Seraphim Rose criticized not only meditation, but also most of the practices of personal development, many religions and confessions (ecumenism, Pentecostals, etc.).
Meditative Practices in Islam: Sufism
Like many creeds, in Islam one can single out an external side, designed for the masses of believers, and an internal, esoteric side - Sufism. The first Sufi communities appeared at the beginning of the 8th century in Iraq. The word "suf" meant coarse fabric, since ascetic practice was an attribute of Sufism. The theoretical foundations of Sufism were laid in the 9th century.
The main tenets of Sufism boil down to the following. Absolute Reality has superiority over the world of sensations. The main task is to find God in oneself, develop love for him, turn everything personal and social into an instrument of Allah. The only way to Allah is meditation, intuitive searches, ascetic practice, etc. In the spiritual development of a person, several steps are distinguished (from 3 to 12). The first stage of initiation (Sharia) aimed to study the norms of Islam. The second step (Tariqat) meant that the student embarked on the right path and became a murid. At the third stage (marifat), the Sufi knew how to merge with Allah in an ecstatic trance. The fourth, highest step (haqiqat) meant comprehension of the truth and merging with God, which became accessible to a few. The path of the Sufi was usually realized in Sufi monasteries, each of which gave its own distinctive features; therefore Sufism is not a unified system of practice.
In the teachings of Sufism, meditation techniques occupy a special role. The religious and philosophical doctrine of light and mystical illumination (ishraq) was considered in Sufism as the true path and salvation and goes back to Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism. Ishraq is intuitive thinking, achieved through asceticism and meditation, which gives complete and true knowledge.
Music is called by the Sufis “food of the soul”. Sufis have always looked to music as the most favored means to achieve spiritual development. Gatherings with music and dance are called "sema". The Sufi, in a state of spiritual ecstasy, focuses the attention of his heart on the self-denying remembrance of God.
Sufism had a significant impact on the ethics, literature and art of the Middle East and Central Asia.
Section 3. Modern directions of meditation practice.
Aurobindo Integral Yoga and Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation
One of the non-classical yogas that emerged in the 20th century is the Integral Yoga developed by Sri Aurobindo Ghose. Its Indian synonym is Purna yoga (complete, perfect). The initial aspect in it is self-deepening and focusing on Silence, and the main theoretical prerequisites are ideas about different levels of consciousness, the task of fully revealing the human “I” in the process of actively transforming the inner and outer world.
Transcendental Meditation was developed by an Indian yogi (more precisely, a former physicist) Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was originally distributed by him in his native India, but was not commercially successful. Therefore, Maharishi decided to try his luck in the state of California, USA, orienting himself in the situation of fascination with oriental teachings. From the mid-60s to the mid-70s, there was a period of greatest interest in TM, when not only ordinary Americans, but also artists and musicians (for example, The Beatles, Rolling Stones) were fond of it. After almost a decade of boom, interest in TM began to decline.
Transcendental Meditation is a modified mantra meditation adapted to Western culture. Its theoretical basis is the teaching of Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta, which at one time revived Hinduism in India under the then dominant Buddhism. The goal of the one who professes it and has entered this path is to unite the mind with the infinite consciousness; at the initial stage - liberation from the duality of consciousness, which is considered the main cause of human suffering. The technique of transcendental meditation is a technique of concentration of attention, i.e. practice of dhyana (dhyana). The TM technique is distinguished by its simplicity and relative ease of implementation. For a beginner, the most important thing is not to touch the intellectual field, not to think. The primary course of TM does not require mastery of special postures and is carried out while sitting on a chair or lying down. After the introductory classes, those who wish to study further go through the rite of “initiation” (in fact, the worship of the Hindu gods and the deification of the guru). Subsequently, TM is carried out regularly twice a day for 20 minutes. The disciple meditates by continuously repeating his personal mantra, giving the mind complete freedom. When conducting TM, it is recommended to avoid large efforts in concentration. With consistent training, the student reaches a special level of consciousness, which is described in TM as a state of complete satisfaction, bliss, absolute awareness of existence. Subsequently, the goal is to use TM as a means of controlling the senses and mind while maintaining an active lifestyle.
In psychotherapy, TM is used as one of the methods of mental self-regulation to relieve anxiety and tension.
Aspects of meditation practice in the writings of Ivanhov and Krishnamurti
The French philosopher and spiritual teacher Omraam Mikael Aivanhov (1900–1986) was born in Bulgaria and has lived in France since 1937. In all his works, the variety of points of view from which he considers a single problem is striking: man and his improvement. The topics that he touches on are invariably interpreted from the standpoint of the benefits that a person can derive for self-knowledge, self-improvement and better organization of his life.
The existence of evil in God's ideally created universe is a mystery to which philosophies and religions have never stopped bowing in search of explanations. Taking the Jewish-Christian tradition as a basis, Teacher Omraam Mikael Aivanhov insists, first of all, that the true answers to the questions of the problem of evil must be sought not in attempts to explain the essence of evil, but in methods of working with evil. Whatever its origin, evil is an internal and external reality that we face daily and must learn to work on.
O.M. Ivankhov believed that everyday reality should serve as a space for spiritual work:
“...Make meditation your habit, it's very important. (...) My advice is: keep making money, hang out with the friends you want, do whatever you want, but leave enough time to acquire the quintessence of life. Because even if you own the whole world, without the quintessence you will say, "What do I need it for? It's too much," and you will be miserable. (...) If you do not have the quintessence, the possession of the whole world will not give you anything. Only by thought can you acquire the quintessence.” 3
In continuation of the thought, Ivanhov notes that meditation and contemplation are needed to raise oneself to a higher level, and then go back, bringing various better forms, criteria and dimensions into real life. This is the meaning and purpose of true meditation:
“Real meditation, real contemplation means to rise to a higher plane, to a world that transcends us, fill yourself with its wonders, and then reflect that wonder. If after meditation you remain cold and dull, if you are not inspired, you can be sure that your meditation has been fruitless. Meditation or prayer should cause transformation, change your look, smile, gestures, gait, add at least a small particle of something new, something vibrating in time with the whole divine world. This is the criterion for judging whether a person has meditated or not.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1896-1986) is an outstanding spiritual teacher of our day. In childhood, he was discovered by the Theosophist Leadbeater in India, then the Theosophical Society, headed by A. Besant, proclaimed him as the new Messiah (Martreya). In 1929, Krishnamurti withdrew from the Theosophical Society and abandoned the role of the Messiah as a result of a life-changing spiritual experience. He began to preach his own doctrine, not related to orthodox religion or sectarianism. The main goal of his teaching was the release of humanity from the shackles that separate people from each other - such as race, religion, nationality, class, in order to transform the human psyche.
In Krishnamurti's view, the fundamental truth is that the mind, longing for ever wider and deeper experiences, always lives in its memories. He is dependent on experiences, challenges that keep us awake. In fact, this dependence on experiences only dulls the mind. Krishnamurti asks the question, is it possible to maintain a state of full wakefulness, to be fully awake without any challenges and experiences? The answer is that it requires a great deal of physical and mental receptivity. This means that a person should be free from all needs, because at the moment when he feels a need, a desire arises to experience an experience. To be free from needs and their satisfaction, it is necessary to explore in oneself and understand the whole nature of the need and its integrity.
“Meditation is an understanding of life in its entirety, an understanding in which all forms of fragmentation have ceased. Meditation is not thought control (...) Meditation should be an awareness of every thought, every feeling, in which one should never say that it is right or wrong. You just need to observe them and move with them. With such observation, you begin to understand the whole movement of thought and feeling. And out of that awareness arises silence... that silence is a meditation in which the meditator is completely absent, because the mind has liberated, emptied itself of the past. (...) Meditation is a state of mind that looks at everything with full attention, holistically, and not highlighting any parts” 4 .
It is important to Krishnamurti that meditation has no technique. They are offered meditation as an observation of consciousness without a conscious, contemplation without a contemplator: “If you study yourself, observe yourself, how you eat, how you talk, how you chat, hate, jealous, if you are aware of all this in yourself, without choice, that is part of meditation” 5 .
Krishnamurti compares meditation to love because love is not the product of a system of habits, not the result of following a method. Love can come when there is total silence, a silence in which the meditator is completely absent; and the mind can be silent only when it understands its own movement - thoughts and feelings. In order to understand this movement of thought and feeling, there must be no judgment while observing it.
Osho (Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh) as a thinker and creator of meditation techniques
Osho (Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh) was born in 1931 in India. From early childhood, he showed an independent spirit, insisting on personal experiences of truth, which he placed much higher than the knowledge and beliefs borrowed from others. He read a lot - everything that could expand his understanding of the belief system and psychology of modern man. He received an academic education and taught philosophy at the university, traveled extensively in India, lectured, challenged orthodox religious leaders in public debate, questioned traditional beliefs, and met people from all walks of life. In the late sixties, Osho began to develop his unique dynamic meditation techniques. In the early seventies, the first people from the West began to come to Osho, and in 1974 a commune (ashram) was founded.
In the process of his work, Osho touched on virtually all aspects of the development of human consciousness. He singled out the main, important for the spiritual search of modern man, based on the experience of his own existence. He did not belong to any tradition. He said:
"My message is not a doctrine, not a philosophy. My message is a kind of alchemy, the science of transformation, so only one who can die as he is and be reborn so renewed that he cannot even imagine it now ... only those few daredevils will be willing to hear, for to hear is to take a risk. By listening, you are taking the first step towards a new birth. So it is not a philosophy that can be used as a safe haven or boasted to others. It is not a doctrine, giving comforting answers to disturbing questions... No, my message is not a kind of verbal communication at all. It is much more dangerous. It is nothing more, nothing less than death and rebirth" 6 .
According to Osho, meditation is a state of "no-mind", it is a state of pure consciousness without content:
“When there is no crowding, and thinking has stopped, not a single thought moves, not a single desire is held back, you are completely silent - such silence is meditation.” 7
Osho believed that the mind is an unnatural state, unlike meditation, which is it and which we have lost, as a result of which a person has become an effective mechanism. (I see here a peculiar interpretation of the ideas of G.I. Gurdjieff, as well as in other provisions of Osho's teachings and meditation techniques).
The daily morning meditation at the Osho Ashram was the so-called dynamic meditation, which lasted one hour and was done at sunrise, preferably in a group. Dynamic meditation has five stages. It is aimed at changing the awareness of corporality.
Osho paid great attention to how to make meditation a lifestyle, noting that if ordinary life is not used as a method of meditation, then meditation becomes a kind of escape from reality. Generally speaking, he created and described many meditation techniques of various directions; A good example is The Orange Book. Meditation Techniques.
Carlos Castaneda and the revival of shamanic psychotechniques of magical action and meditation
The vision of the world of don Juan Matus is rooted in the depths of centuries, it is based on the ideas of many peoples of Mesoamerica. The idea of a reality consisting of energy fields (“eagle emanations”) has been intuitively comprehended by mankind for centuries and described through the phenomena of religious visions, in the Eastern philosophies of yoga and Hinduism, in modern theories of physics and philosophy. That which determines which particular emanations at a given moment of perception will be selected is called the assemblage point; it can be viewed as a property of awareness to select the appropriate emanations to ensure the simultaneous perception of all the elements that make up the currently perceived world. According to Castaneda, the ultimate goal of this system of knowledge is to develop the ability to consciously move the assemblage point in order to go beyond the narrow limits of ordinary perception. Don Juan's whole teaching is guided by this.
Internal dialogue is a mental conversation that we constantly have with ourselves, and is a direct expression of the reality perceived by each of us. Its main task is to protect the description of reality, feeding it with its own content (thoughts) and facilitating the commission of actions that strengthen it. (This idea is consonant with the ideas of Gurdjieff). Don Juan speaks of stopping the internal dialogue as the key that opens the doors between the worlds.
Don Juan's vision of the world is dual: his conception of reality is expressed in terms of "tonal" and "nagual". The tonal includes everything a person is, everything he thinks about and does. The nagual cannot be understood or expressed in words, however, it can be perceived by a person and become part of his experience. This is one of the main purposes of the magician.
One of the central themes of Castaneda's books is the path to personal Strength (the path of the warrior). A warrior is in constant struggle with his own weakness and limitations, fighting against forces that hinder the growth of his knowledge and Power, and these forces are generated by our personal history and circumstances. Among the fundamental components that a warrior has access to, one can single out the will as that Force that is an emanation of one’s own “I”, necessary to touch the world and feel it, and sometimes actively influence it.
According to don Juan's view of reality, there is another, separate reality parallel to our ordinary reality. A separate reality invites the warrior to find freedom. Don Juan points out two paths leading to the shifting of the assemblage point: the art of dreaming and the art of stalking. The art of stalking is applied in everyday reality; it consists in the extremely careful and competent handling of ordinary reality, while the ultimate goal of the art of stalking is to penetrate into a separate reality. Stalker is an unsurpassed practitioner, he turns the everyday world into a battlefield, where his every act, every interaction with other people becomes part of the strategy. Stalking is the strategic management of our own behavior. Its scope is the interaction that takes place between human beings (be they warriors or ordinary people). Therefore, the stalker does not avoid social life, he plunges into it and uses it to educate the spirit, gain energy and go beyond the limits of personal history. The stalker method is the most effective way to interact with people in everyday communication. The stalker's actions are based on observation, and not on what he thinks, his perception of reality expands as the assemblage point shifts.
Not-doing is the main strategy that the magician uses to enter a separate reality. Under the name of this strategy, various techniques are combined, including stalking and dreaming. Not doing one's own self forms a special area in the totality of stalking techniques, for example, erasing personal history.
Giving up the feeling of self-importance is one of the most important tasks of a warrior, since this feeling absorbs most of his energy. Because of our sense of self-importance, we learn to perceive the world in such a way that we are faced with the constant need to protect our personality (ego).
Walking and running techniques are also an important tool in achieving inner silence and stopping the internal dialogue. Main ideas: concentration of attention on the process of walking and on concentration of attention, movement in complete silence, refusal to try to stop the flow of thoughts, even pace of walking, streamlining the rhythm of breathing and concentrating on it, attention to one's own feelings and to what is happening around. (The author of the abstract here sees direct parallels with the “walking meditation” of the Vietnamese author Thit Nhat Khan and the “lungompa” method of Indian yogis).
As I mentioned in the abstract above, one of the two main strands in the practice of a warrior is controlled dreaming (“dreaming is the best way to gain Power”). Achieving a controlled sleep state requires control, that is, careful preparation or preliminary meditation.
Section 4. Applied aspects of meditation practice.
Meditative techniques in clinical practice and self-healing systems.
In psychotherapy, meditative techniques are usually used to solve more limited problems when compared with spiritual systems, for example, relieving neuropsychic stress, facilitating awareness of neuropsychological problems. The process of meditation can be a very effective therapeutic approach for excessive stress.
Meditation allows you to distance yourself from the actual problem, to detach yourself and your behavior in a difficult situation, in some cases to understand the reasons for the emergence and development of this situation, emotionally respond to it, change your attitude towards it and find new ways to solve it.
As an integral part, meditation is included in autogenic training in its various modifications, in the technique of complex autogenic training, is used in self-hypnosis and some other methods of mental self-regulation.
For psychotherapeutic purposes, relatively simple technical techniques of meditation are used: concentration on breathing, on one's own body, on a pose, on an object. When mastering them, they are guided by the following rules:
meditation is carried out in a quiet and warm room;
meditation is carried out on an empty stomach or not earlier than one and a half hours after eating;
classes should be regular, about 3-4 times a week for 15-45 minutes; daily short classes are preferable to rare and long ones;
meditation should be carried out with the installation of passive acceptance of everything that happens (let events take their course, exclude criticism and analysis).
It is difficult to determine the specific forms of meditation that are best suited for certain individuals. Therefore, a greater effect is achieved by offering the patient several meditative techniques. It is the psychotherapist who must evaluate the appropriateness of using meditation, depending on the individual characteristics of the patient.
Meditation as a means of self-regulation of mental states and the level of performance
There are numerous publications that study the psychological and physiological impact of meditation, how it can help a person in increasing the level of performance, in regulating their mental states. Different meditation techniques, in some way coinciding with each other, can give different effects.
The range of experiences that arise during meditation is wide: they can be pleasant or not, there can be an alternation of strong emotions such as love or anger with a state of peace and balance. With practice, meditative states begin to gravitate towards greater peace, positive emotions, greater sensitivity in perception and introspection, further reaching such as deep peace, concentration, positive emotions of joy, love and compassion, deep penetration into the nature of the mind, and even various transcendent states.
Improving the ability to perceive makes it possible to consider one's own habits and psychological processes. The meditator finds that the ordinary state of mind is uncontrolled, unconscious and filled with fantasies, ideas.
Meditation has a positive effect on creativity (creativity), increases the sensitivity of perception, empathy, a sense of self-control. Meditation can also accelerate the achievement of maturity, which is confirmed by measurements on the scales of ego development, moral and cognitive development, mental abilities, academic achievement, self-actualization and states of consciousness.
An example is the results of a psychological testing of perception conducted among practitioners of Buddhist meditation. The subjects worked with the Rorschach test, and the beginners showed ordinary reactions (images of animals, people, etc.), while the subjects with a high degree of concentration saw only light and dark patterns on the Rorschach cards. Thus, their minds were less inclined to transform these structures into organized images, which means that concentration during meditation focuses the mind and reduces the number of associations.
People who practice meditation gradually decrease the tendency to psychological defenses, they are less likely to enter into conflicts. In other words, they accepted their neuroses quite calmly. By the way, the cardiovascular system is affected by meditation; during meditation, the normal heart rate slows down, and regular practice leads to a decrease in blood pressure.
Many of the effects of meditation seem to be beneficial and researchers believe that it can treat a variety of psychological and psychosomatic disorders. These include psychological disorders such as anxiety, phobias, post-traumatic stress, muscle tension, insomnia and mild depression.
Thus, meditation can have a variety of effects on people, in particular, its effect is reflected in the overall improvement of mental and physical health and self-regulation. Compared to other methods, the practice of meditation is more meaningful, brings more joy, is easier to maintain, and promotes an interest in self-knowledge. Of course, meditators, like all ordinary people, can experience psychological difficulties at various stages. "Advanced" practices may also experience difficulties, although more subtle ones involving existential or spiritual issues.
In summary, people who practice meditation successfully for a long time share some common traits: increased interest in inner experience, openness to unusual experiences, self-control, ability to concentrate, reduced tendency to neuroses, and greater openness to accepting unfavorable characteristics. personality.
creative part
“Meditation techniques in the teachings of G. Gurdjieff”
Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff (Gurdjieff) (1877-1949) - philosopher-occultist of Greek-Armenian origin. He dreamed of opening the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, which he managed to do first in Tiflis (1919), then in Fontainebleau near Paris (1922). The teachings of Gurdjieff were strongly influenced by the ideas of Sufism, which have already been mentioned in the abstract. Being a follower of one of the Sufi orders, he founded the doctrine of the synthetic path of self-improvement and world knowledge - the "Fourth Way". He believed that the first three paths (fakir, monk and yoga) are one-sided. The “Fourth Way” was based on the idea of the unity of the macrocosm and microcosm and the harmonic hierarchy of the laws of the Universe. Also among the influences on the teachings of Gurdjieff are Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism) and esoteric Christianity.
The fourth path of spiritual development is practical and realistic. In any case, a person must act guided by knowledge and experience. In order for a person to develop, he must know not only the structure of his body and its functioning at many levels, but also the real state of the “human machine”. In this case, it is clear what kind of failures the machine gives and how to fix such problems. The preliminary stages of training include: complete neutralization of blocks of negative emotions, stable self-remembering, neutralization of false personality, overcoming selfishness, a high degree of concentration.
According to Gurdjieff, the difference between what a person thinks about himself and what he really is, is most clearly manifested in a person's ideas about his personality, responsibility for his actions and free will. Every person thinks that he is the same permanent person, except for hysterical personality splits. In fact, the psychological structure and function of a person is better explained by looking at his behavior in terms of many 'I's than as one 'I'. That is, a person does not choose which “I” to be or what he is inclined to: the situation chooses for him. His behavior and what happens to him happens entirely due to external influences and "accidental" associations of his conditioned history. In the words of Gurdjieff, man is a machine, albeit a very complex and intricate one.
An important element in Gurdjieff's teachings are three centers, three separate levels of human functioning. The top floor is the intellectual center, the middle floor is the emotional center, and the bottom floor is the seat of control over the three functions; in the lower floor there is a moving center and a sexual center. In addition to these five centers active in every normal person, there are two other centers which, although fully formed and active all the time, have no connection with the others. It is the highest intellectual center on the top floor and the highest emotional center on the middle floor. In the ordinary man the five centers function on their own and do not harmonize with each other, and the higher centers are not used. The study of the incorrect functioning of the centers is one of the keys to understanding the mechanics of human psychology. An obstacle to higher levels of consciousness is abundance in everyday life and identification, in which a person "does not remember himself."
According to Gurdjieff, the impetus or impulse to work on self-consciousness can only arise when the illusion of abilities we have, which we really do not possess, disappears. Another characteristic of the ordinary waking state is mechanical, unnecessary talk, which causes a useless drain of energy and is an obstacle to the development of higher states of consciousness. It is associated with another disease - unnecessary physical movements and tensions in the body: twitches, fussy movements, tapping fingers, stamping feet, grimacing, etc., which serve to deplete the daily portion of energy that could be used if only man knows how, to increase the level of beneficial attention.
The relationship between essence and personality is another key point. According to Gurdjieff, the ordinary person experiences the world in such a way that he is satisfied with his position, receives a certain amount of pleasure and enjoyment, and finds life tolerable without movement and self-realization. That is, an ordinary person loses the ability to use personality to fulfill the desires of his essence. For most people, the personality is active, and the essence is passive: the personality determines their assessments and faith, profession, religion and philosophy of life. Essence is that which is actually a person. Personality is that which is not his own, which can be changed by changing conditions. Personality and essence are both necessary for self-development, since without personality there will be no desire to achieve higher states of consciousness, there will be no dissatisfaction with everyday existence, and without essence there will be no basis for development.
As for the direct meditation in Gurdjieff's system. Work on oneself proceeds most favorably in conditions that are everyday for a person. The fourth path requires one to be "in the world, but not of the world," as the Sufi proverb goes. The first line of work is a long attempt to follow the ancient adage "know thyself" (self-observation, self-remembering). “Friction” is created, an internal struggle between consciousness and automatic behavior - for example, in the form of performing habitual actions in an unusual way. The second line of work creates special conditions and support in the effort to become aware of the ways of one's attitude towards other people and makes it possible to practice a new attitude towards others. In the third line of work, which is work for the ideas of the work itself, initiative is allowed and even encouraged, and personal growth or achievement is not the main goal of the effort.
The effort to remember oneself during the day is maintained through connection with the state achieved in quiet, passive meditation every morning before the start of the day's activities. At first, this period of sitting meditation will only consist of concluding physical relaxation and increasing general awareness of the physical condition of the body while focusing attention on physical sensations. As progress is made and certain that a solid foundation has been established in the sensation of the body, further techniques are introduced into the practice of the "Fourth Way". Sometimes techniques are used to achieve an "empty mind" (of thoughts) while sitting quietly; the so-called "Atma vachara" (meditation on the true "I"), which consists in meditative reflection on the question "Who am I?", can be used.
Progress in inner development in the application of various meditation practices follows a general course. At first the mind is in great activity, and its chatter defies all attempts to move towards inner silence and mere attention to the physical body. Over time and gradually, a close acquaintance with the inner process allows for some release from identification with its whims, and here moments of clear consciousness appear. As passive meditation deepens, moments of self-remembering during an active life can be associated with that meditative state, whereby they become stronger and more authentic.
Rhythmic gymnastic movements and dances taken by Gurdjieff from various traditions of the East are used as an aid in the first line of work. They are a certain form of meditation - meditation in action (can be compared with the dynamic meditation of Rajneesh), at the same time they are related to art and language. In the practice of these movements, attention must be divided between the movements performed and self-remembering; the head, arms and legs must follow certain, often very complex rhythms, and without a great effort of attention it is absolutely impossible to carry out these movements. For their implementation, the correct work of the centers and the consistent awareness of each movement are necessary. Movements are made to music that engages the emotional center connected to the intellectual center and the motor-instinct level of functioning, which must go against personal and idiosyncratic deviation, and he makes the movements exactly as indicated.
List of used literature:
Y. Kapten. "Fundamentals of Meditation". Samara, 1992
"Psychotherapeutic Encyclopedia". St. Petersburg, 1998
J.S. Everly, R. Rosenfeld. "Meditation".
"Ways Beyond the Ego". M, 1996.
A. Berzin. "General Review of Buddhist Practices", 1993 (Chapter "Meditation").
Osho. "What is Meditation"
Osho. "The Orange Book. Dimensions of the Unknown". 1991
Osho. "Empty Boat"
Kalu Rinpoche. "The Foundation of Buddhist Meditation".
Thich Nhat Hanh. Walking Meditation Guide. St. Petersburg, 1994
Swami Dayanand Saraswati. "Two Discourses on Japa Meditation".
D. Suzuki. "Fundamentals of Zen Buddhism" // "Zen Buddhism". Bishkek, 1993
Ram Dass. "Grain to the Mill" (chapters on meditation)
Inayat Khan. "Sufi message about the freedom of the spirit". St. Petersburg, 1991
O.M. Ivankhov. "The Master Key to Solving the Problems of Existence".
O.M. Ivankhov. "Cosmic Laws of Morality".
R. Lefort. "Master Gurdjieff".
K. Riordan. "Gurdjieff".
J. Krishnamurti. "Freedom from the Known"
J. Krishnamurti. "First and last freedom. Towards life." Kharkov, 1994
M. Lutyens. "The Life and Death of Krishnamurti". M, 1993
D. Williams. "Crossing the Border: A Psychological Image of Carlos Castaneda's Path of Knowledge". Voronezh, 1994
V. Sanchez. "The Teachings of Don Carlos: The Practical Use of the Techniques of Carlos Castaneda". M, 1996
K. Castaneda. Collected works (1-12 books). Kyiv, 1992-1998.
S. Gawain. "Creative Visualization"
S. Grof. "Journey in search of yourself." M, 1994
J. Rainwater. "It's in Your Power: How to Become Your Own Therapist." M, 1992
