WONDERFUL MEDITATIONS

I was looking through my blogs and realised that I had written more than 100 of them since early 2013. I never intended to write so much, but I realised that I had experienced so many wonderful, as well as painful experiences that it was a form of meditation to write about them. Therefore, I would like to share with you my "Wonderful Meditations".

I have written about the music, the concerts and the many artists I was privileged to work with that filled me with joy over the years - However, I also began writing about the things that I felt were of major importance - not only to me personally but to every one of us - Subjects like Meditation, Compassion, Violence in the World, Abuse of Women and a whole range of subjects, which so many of you have kindly read and commented upon.

The older I get and maybe the more reflective I become, I realise the importance of living and experiencing every moment of our lives - This is so precious and is undoubtedly the true path to HAPPINESS.

We waste our lives don't we? Every day we occupy our day with hundreds of tasks without thinking about them - we wake up, have a shower, brush our teeth, make tea or coffee, have breakfast if there's time, get the kids to school, rush off to work and so on. We get back later that day tired, have dinner, slump in front of the television, watch mindless rubbish on the screen - some of you will go to the gym, some of you may run - and after a day packed with things to occupy your mind and body you get to bed. Your mind fires thousands of thoughts that worry you, excite you, drive you on and can cause everything from depression to ecstasy - but how many of you can honestly say that you control you own MIND?

In a famous quote about meditation - when asked "What have you gained from meditation? - The answer was "nothing" but let me tell you what I have lost : Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Insecurity, Fear of Old Age and Death" - not bad eh? Wouldn't you like to lose some of these - if not all of them?

There is a way of bringing peace and happiness to your troubled lives - By Meditation, which is about bringing peace and happiness to your Mind - instead of your Mind controlling you! It is about bringing calmness to your overworked Mind - giving it a rest - give you a rest! Learn to bring peace and calmness to your life, but not in a sleepy way, where you nod off to sleep - but in a way that makes you very much alive and aware of each precious minute of your life. Pretty important stuff

We all waste our lives by wanting more and more - more money, bigger homes, better cars, maybe fame, notoriety, power, accumulating things like some hoarding Squirrel - the thrill of the chase - wanting a sexy man or girl even when already in a marriage or relationship - bored with the old one!! Always wanting new experiences, needing to feed to the desire machine - feed the ego - build the pride - all things that cause us ultimate unhappiness.

People never stop to think that PRIDE, EGO, DESIRE, IGNORANCE, HATRED, ANGER all bring SUFFERING and that LOVE, KINDNESS, COMPASSION, PEACE all bring Happiness

How many times do you hear someone say "I hate that", "I hate this", "I hate so and so" , "I hate him or her" or even "I hate myself"? How can you hate yourself? You can if you're obsessed with the way you look or obsessed by your passion to succeed or whatever drives you and you feel unsuccessful or unwanted or lonely. So many billions of people in some form or other are unhappy - not satisfied with their lives - maybe suffering illnesses, maybe stressed about money and a million things to worry about.

Perfectly lovely, healthy, normal young girls or young boys saying "I hate my body" or "I am too fat or too thin" - "Nobody will love me"  or whatever makes them unhappy instead of living every minute and finding great joy and happiness in the wonder of nature, being with animals, being comfortable in their own skins, enjoying being with people - to stop being so self obsessed - looking in the mirror every five minutes and begin the joy of relishing every second of their lives. BUT HOW TO ACHIEVE THIS?

MEDITATION is the path of bringing peace and happiness to your life and you should begin NOW

Let me begin by saying that Meditation is NOT a religious pursuit

It doesn't matter what spiritual beliefs you have as long as they harm nobody including YOU. We must learn to develop our COMPASSION. We all suffer, no matter who we are - whether you are rich, poor, president, king or Janitor - we are all one and all the same - we all feel pain; we all experience joy and pain; we all get sick at some time in our lives and we will old get older and eventually die. You can't escape it no matter how much we would like to. So why not change your life and begin to REALLY LIVE IT TO THE FULL in peace and happiness.

We have to learn that none of us are better than anyone else - or for that matter any living creature. When I hear of these ISIS murderers saying we are going to kill all unbelievers - I feel enormous compassion for them and of course their victims that suffer unbelievable pain and death. Why do I feel compassion for these killers - because they are creating the worse kind of Karma for themselves and they are going to suffer the worst kind of hell for eternity - do they really believe that by killing people they will be welcomed in heaven or paradise? It so the saddest thing imaginable - we must never kill or harm any living person or creature - "we reap what we sow" - The Karmic Effect on each and everyone of us can have a devastating effect on the rest of our lives and if you believe in a life after death or reincarnation then - think about it - the future will be the worst kind of hell as you pay back for the misery, pain and suffering you have caused. CAUSE AND EFFECT - give happiness and love and you will experience happiness and love - cause pain and suffering and you will suffer - you can't avoid it!

There are many types of meditation - I personally follow the loving path of Tibetan Buddhist Meditation, but there is Transcendental Meditation and many variants available to you - any of the Buddhist meditations are wonderful - you just need to experiment a bit until you find a path that makes you HAPPY - but let me take you through a very basic breathing meditation:

I have written about this before, but this will help you to learn how to meditate and how to being peace and happiness to your busy lives.

How to meditate: There are so many ways to meditate but let us begin with the basic and most simple way. Sit in a chair - if you're supple enough you can sit on a cushion on the floor in the Lotus or semi-Lotus position or you can do this as you lie in bed. 




It may help to begin by closing your eyes - your eyes don't have to be closed - you can keep them open and look at an object or maybe a candle flame  - just sit or lie peacefully and comfortably whatever works for you.




To begin with let’s concentrate on your breathing - its the most important thing you have - if you stop breathing you die!!! Think of your breathing - the essence of life itself - in your mind think or even whisper - "I breathe in - I breathe out" You will find your mind becomes quiet - yes of course thoughts will arise - but most important of all - do not follow them - always come back to the breathing - I breathe in - I breathe out - give your poor old mind a rest - no thoughts just the breathing - again thoughts will come and go but don't follow them - always come back to the breath. 




Your breathing will become quieter and more gentle - your mind will slowly become at peace and you will realise how important this process is. 




Its not as easy as it sounds. Try this for three minutes each morning or at night when you go to bed and then make it a bit longer to five minutes and then to ten. You will begin to look forward to your meditation sessions because it will bring you great peace and happiness. A mind that is becoming peaceful is just the beginning.




You will learn to wake up each morning and say to yourself "I pray that all people and creatures in the world today will find HAPPINESS and that they may find and enjoy the root of happiness - love, caring, consideration and compassion. And that all people will be free from SUFFERING and free from the root of suffering - hatred, greed, ignorance, jealousy, anger, fear and overt desire.




In this positive state of mind each day you will bring happiness to everyone around you - even if you are feeling under the weather yourself. Your every thought will begin to reflect the compassion and care you feel not just about those of your family and friends but everyone you meet. Yes, you'll still want to shout at an inconsiderate or dangerous driver or get angry at the client who is snappy with you, but you will also understand that everyone suffers - everyone at some time in their life has pain and illness, they lose parents, friends and children - everyone SUFFERS - and when you realise this your compassion will grow and grow. We are all the same - we all suffer and we all want to be happy - is this so difficult to understand? We should never hurt anyone or any living creature - I don't care what religion or belief you have - but surely above all else you can see that we must not and cannot hurt anyone or anything - its the same as hurting ourself.




Mindful Meditation is realising that everything is impermanent - every thought has a beginning, a middle and and end - this means that every moment of your life is precious - you must learn to cherish each minute and to use every moment to think positive, compassionate thoughts - believe me you will learn to sleep peacefully and easily.




Try meditating tonight when you lie down to sleep - bring your mind some peace that it badly craves for - say to yourself "I am doing this to bring love and happiness to my family, my friends, myself and this wonderful world we live in" - I breathe in - I breathe out - let all your thoughts drift away - don't follow them - your mind will gradually become peaceful and you will realise how important each moment of your life is even as you go to sleep in peace and love.

AND IT ALL BEGINS IN THE MIND - THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!

Here are some loving meditations to look at, think about and bring joy to your life - thanks for reading - please see below: