Update in Red: 12.26.24

AN OVERVIEW OF CHRIST MEDITATION

The Tree of Life symbolizing our life experiences in this world is always represented as being upside-down with its roots in heaven and human activity at the bottom, i.e., the top of the tree immersed in the elemental realms of the Earth. Thus, the stages of transformational/transcendent meditation explained on this site are a “bottom up” process which begins by developing an awareness of the creaturely body we humans inhabit as well as understanding its instinctual energies, primal urges, impulses, and compelling appetites.

In the early developmental stages of life, these primal drives we experience in our nature-body initiate a variety of actions in our life-experience, both “good and bad,” which affect us emotionally. The emotional responses to these actions cause reactions; thus, begins the self-perpetuating cycles of life. This “roller-coaster” cycle of life gets volatile and unpredictable when we reach adolescence and it stabilizes somewhat in adulthood as the ego-personality establishes its habits and routines a.k.a. the path-of-life. This so called “stable path” is often referred to as the “rut” of life, where most people chose to live, enduring the challenges of the material world and then they die. Ben Franklin said, "Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75."

 

It is the purpose of this website to help people awaken to the God-given potentials we ALL have within. Humans are like snowflakes; we are all the same, but different which means each of us has unique qualities and capabilities our Creator wants us to discover because we are a vital part of God’s “Grand Plan.” However, for those who are willing to awaken, there are important things to know and certain guidelines to follow.

 

Guidelines to follow: 1-Learn focused-connected breathing; practice it until one’s breathing is smooth and relaxed and the chattering-mind is quiet; be patient, this will take time. 2-Follow the meditation instructions exactly; in the beginning stages, the disciple is preparing the “wine-skin” (the nature-body) to receive the “new wine” (the Christ Light) (Matthew 9:17). 3. Spiritual progression is like climbing a ladder, as one rises up the rungs, new levels of consciousness naturally awaken.

 

The things to know: 1-If one is not baptized, find a priest or minister and get baptized. In Baptism, one receives the Grace of the Holy Spirit which “pushes” the past aside and clears a new path ahead for the disciple to follow. 2-It is not appropriate to pray to God: to bring enlightenment or spiritual advancement; to show one signs; or to be impatient while subduing and transforming the lower nature. Opening oneself to “spirits or spiritual influences” before purifying the primal drives of the nature-body and the shadow-self can lead one astray.

 

Transforming and overcoming the lower nature is the “test” one must pass in order to succeed in the next stage. 3-It is up to the disciple to exercise common sense, good judgment and consistent motivation (“hunger to know God”) during this purification process. 4-Consciousness will naturally awaken when the transformation and purification of the lower nature is completed and not before.

 

“Do you not know… that the Spirit of God dwells within you?” (1Corinthians 3:16-7) We cannot know what our spiritual potential is unless we learn to “sit quietly” and listen to the guidance God gives us from within. In order to properly listen to our purified “Sacred Heart,” we need to control the primal drives, impulses, desires and appetites of the nature-body, learn how to silence the chattering-mind, recognize and heal our errors and make the personal unconsciousness conscious; this is the beginning of the “bottom-up” process of spiritual development.

“Father, help me to be the grandest version of the
 greatest vision You have created me to be.”

 

The primal forces, energies, and desires of the body influence critical decisions we make every day, like: what we ingest, what we avoid, what we like and dislike, and what habits we develop, etc. Many people never experience the inner peace and confidence of meditation because they are “battered about” by the illusions of the physical world and have pre-determined that sitting quietly and breathing is boring. Nevertheless, this is the process for silencing the chattering-mind! In the circular technique of focused, connected breathing, we learn to keep our attention focused until we can sit quietly and being still.

The purpose of writing a simplified overview of the stages of meditation is to clarify how the technique of focused, connected breathing is used in all the stages of meditation. The singular difference in each stage is where one’s attention is focused. Connected breathing is explained in detail in Just Breathe and Stage 1 Meditation. Before beginning the transformative work in Stage 1 Meditation, one needs to have a relaxed proficiency in this breathing technique as inner peace and smooth breathing are the keys to success for each stage.

This is a very simple circular breathing cycle that energizes, pacifies and revitalizes the body. The idea is to gradually slow the breathing and relax the body until breathing is smooth and easy. However, those who are new to breathing and meditation will quickly find out that their chattering-mind will not shut up and their body wants to move, scratch an itch, or fall asleep. Let me assure you, this happens to everyone; if you get this far, you are making good progress!

What we discover in this first effort to breathe and meditate is the animal nature of the body tries to dominate and overrule our intention to sit quietly. It will interfere with any effort we make to do something that does not include pleasing and pacifying it; it resists all efforts through itching, sleepiness, wiggling, boredom and impatience. This begins the tug-of-war as to who ultimately rules in this life – you, as a self-conscious being or your body-body-mind!

What is being encountered in this confrontation with the body could be considered as an energetic layer of the “wild animal” nature of the body we are training to be domesticated and peaceful. The technique of focused, connected breathing is the means of keeping the animal nature on a short leash while we tame and subdue these instinctual impulses of the body. Consistent breathing and meditation practice will strengthen your will to the point that the primal energies of the physical body will gradually submit. When this is accomplished, you, as an individual self, have risen above the influences of the “animal impulses” of the world, literally.  

We accomplish this in Stage 1 Meditation by breathing and focusing on the vital-life energy center of the body which is behind and a little below the navel. This is the embryonic breathing center where embryos in the womb receive nourishment from their mothers. This is also the vital-life center of our animal nature which we draw into the light of our attention to perceive it for what it is, subdue it, and rise above it so we are free of its adversarial influences. These bodily influences include the sexual drive, self-preservation, self-gratification, and the drive to have power over others.

In psychology, these various drives are referred to as the auto-erotic drives; they are felt in the body as urges, impulses, pain, hunger, compulsion, anxiety as well as vital energy. These drives are vital energy which has been “contaminated” by the body’s animal desires. Meditation is a process for cleansing the vital energies of these dark, sensual, self-centered energies, and “recycling” these subdued, purified, and revitalized energies back into the body.

Everyone’s experience is different; everyone has different degrees of intensity in their impulses, urges, and appetites; everyone has a different history and different fears, but the same animal instincts. All of these earthly or physical energies are powerful enough to adversely affect the psychic “waters” which is our psycho-cognitive awareness of who we think we are and how we feel about ourselves, others and life; the psychic nature is dealt with in Stage 2. 

Stage 1 meditation engages the coarser aspects of our physical nature, so our task on this level is to purge and purify the body’s vital energies and the corporeal soul. (See diagram below; one soul imprinted by four states of being) This stage of meditation is simply a process of cleansing the vital energies and the soul of these detrimental animal influences, which in turn, brings health, vital life, stability, calmness to the body or clarity to the mind.

Stage 2 Meditation

The work in Stage 1 must be fully completed before beginning Stage 2 transformation or the chattering-mind and the restlessness of the body will disturb one’s concentration. The same connected breathing technique described above is used in Stage 2 Meditation, that is, breathing begins in the area behind the navel, but now the focus of one’s attention changes to the solar plexus area.

The solar plexus is where the animal nature interacts with the psycho-cognitive nature which produces emotions, feelings, desires, likes/dislikes, wants/don’t wants, etc. in the self-image we all know as the ego-personality. The three lower centers of the body produce the dark and negative aspects of the lower psychic nature; this area is the domain of the shadow-self. (See diagram below)

SpiritualChristian.com

The negative characteristics above can cause us to get stuck in the lower psychic. In order
 to advance into the higher psychic, identify and transform those that resonate with you.

For those who are not aware of this, the solar plexus is the open portal through which we receive energetic input from the surrounding world. We recognize this reality as a knot in our stomach when we are suddenly confronted with a frightening or embarrassing situation or under pressure; in more peaceful circumstances, it often receives practical, life-oriented intuitive input like knowing there is a parking spot in the next aisle. However, most people are too busy looking at their phones to recognize intuitive prompting.

In this system of meditation, the solar plexus, the lower psycho-cognitive consciousness of the ego-personality, and the etheric/physical bodies are referred to as the body-mind or the ego-mind. The body-mind is where we experience the turbulence of life as human beings with its ups and downs, plus the sensual enticements, urges, impulses and influences from the animal nature of our body.

In the first part of Stage 2 Meditation, focused, connected breathing continues, but the transformative work focuses on the weaknesses of the self-concept. The personal self with all its insecurities, opinions, likes/dislikes, prejudices, prideful conceit, arrogance and selfishness is primarily what comprises the negative aspects of the ego-personality in today’s world.

For the majority of people, the personal self is so confused, conflicted, and insecure people find it necessary to wear a social mask in public so no one can see who they truly are or what they are really feeling or thinking. Ironically, this mask has so many faces that people become confused as to which of the faces is truly their own.

There are so many changing faces, feelings, thoughts, impressions, fears, moods, and opinions about self, life and our relationships with others they do not really know who they are. This whirling, changing, shifting perspective of life and self is comprised of the ego-personality and the body-mind; it is who most people think they are.

The work of Stage 2 Meditation is to focus on one’s self-concept/self-image and unravel the confusion by clearly determining and eliminating all that isn’t you. In the stillness and illumination of meditation these illusions of life can be brought forth, recognized, evaluated and the energy of them eliminated in meditation by holding them in the light of attention and mentally, speaking the word of power, telling them “to be transformed” or “be gone” and knowing it is so.

Through this transformative work, one cleanses and purifies the self-concept/self-image as well as the psychic soul/being; this work is preparation for truly being born again within. When there is some degree of clarity and confidence in the self-concept, the next step is to focus on exposing the shadow.

The shadow self, that is, the dark personality traits which produce negative behaviors, the 7 deadly sins, and the fragments of one’s personality from traumatic life experiences which have been repressed because of unresolved issues resides in one’s personal unconscious. These unconscious fragments are part of our ego-persona and one’s life experiences and need to be brought into the light and known; this is the only way a person can achieve self-confidence, clarity, and peace within. This paper explainsthe shadow.

This transformative work takes place in the waters of the lower psychic and can be summarized as purifying the emotionally-contaminated psychic waters with fire (focused attention), which transforms these waters into vapors (air) that will help us to rise to a new center of awareness above the diaphragm (the higher psychic), which is the location of the Sacred Heart center.

In the diagram above, the Human Self is comprised of feeling (female) and desire (male); these are the passive and active energies of the psychic nature. Feeling is the passive aspect of the psychic nature which is present above and below the diaphragm; below the diaphragm, it manifests as emotion. When properly transformed, emotions become feelings above the diaphragm; these purified feelings are clear, loving, perceptive and receptive to intuition. Simply stated, feeling below the diaphragm is comprised of many varieties of emotion, and above the diaphragm is enlightened feeling.

Desire is the active aspect of the psychic nature which is present above and below the diaphragm. When it is present below the diaphragm, it manifests as lower desires, appetites, and sexual impulses of the body. Desire also stimulates feeling and often leads it astray; it is the cause of misdeeds, anger, greed, lust, violence, insensitivity, and compulsive behaviors.

As a result of these errant behaviors, desire is often the cause for transgressions which are hidden in the unconscious shadow. When properly transformed, desire above the diaphragm inspires and motivates us toward the divine nature. Men are primarily desire and secondarily feeling, whereas, women are primarily feeling and secondarily desire.

In the ego-persona, feeling is passive until stirred by desire; when aroused, feeling in turn, stimulates desire and the interaction between the two constantly creates waves which agitate the waters of the psychic nature. The ego, shadow, and elemental energies of the body are the source of waves and mind-chatter which is the voice of the shadow and ego. Connected breathing can eliminate mind-chatter and meditation calms the waves. The shadow of the ego-persona keeps one’s attention constantly focused on the external disturbances, illusions of the world, inner turmoil, and unsatisfied desires which are felt in the body and solar plexus.

The work on this level focuses on transforming these energies, allowing for your real, unblemished self to emerge. Meditation work below the diaphragm is about purifying and transforming the dual-perspective of ego-reality (like-dislike, want-don’t want, etc.), the lower emotions, the instinctual impulses, the psychic nature, the shadow, and the behaviors which result from this inferior experience of life. And the work above the diaphragm, Stage 3 meditation, is about recognizing: your true Self, selfless love, virtue, goodness, gratitude, and unifying the psychic energies of feeling and desire.

Stage 3 Meditation

In Stage 3 Meditation, the higher psychic nature above the diaphragm is considered as non-dual or integral consciousness, so the work in the Sacred Heart center does not begin until duality and corruption have been transcended through the purification and transformation of the psychic energies around the solar plexus. When one has severed attachments from worldly influences and internalized personal power, then one will be free from the experiences of dark and depressing emotions and lower desires. One then experiences non-dual reality (union) and virtuous feelings of gratitude and love in the heart center as the Sacred Heart begins to awaken.

That is, the work in the heart center begins to purify, synthesize and unite the energies of feeling and desire turning duality into non-dual perception and fear into love. This is an alchemical marriage in which the masculine/feminine become one or androgynous. Spiritual androgyny (genderless) is where purified humanity’s destiny lies. In the future, our non-physical, spiritual bodies will conform to this new spiritual reality blending both genders into one genderless state similar to the angels.

Stage 3 meditation requires the same focused, connected breathing as well as maintaining a focused, still, selfless state in the heart center for a prolonged period of time. In order to begin this stage, it is necessary that the dark energies, psychological issues, and the dual-perspective of the lower psychic have been resolved and neutralized so nothing from that level disturbs the meditation.

The final step in this meditation process is to be clear and selfless enough for the dual energies of feeling and desire to immerse themselves into one another like a divine marriage; this union means being contained, complete, virtuous and serene in one’s consciousness as well as in the activities of life.

There is a point in this level of meditation when the reconciliation of the opposites (the union of feeling/desire, male/female) is fulfilled and one experiences an involuntary, spontaneous union of the psychic nature. The closest description of this experience is that it is a knowing/feeling of the wholeness of Self – not a personal intellectual understanding, but a higher knowing which comes from above and within.

This is the experience of wholeness, and Wholeness of Being is the goal of Stage 3 meditation. Wholeness of Being is Self-realization. When this state of consciousness is established, continue with focused-connected breathing, but now breathe in and out from the heart center. In this meditation, let go of the body, mind, self, and time; just BE in the Sacred Heart and feel the presence of the Christ Light and Holy Spirit in the atmosphere surrounding the body.

Breathing in and out from the heart center will have profound effects on the body, but most especially, it will create a harmonious resonance, coherence and synchronicity on brain activity preparing one for Stage 4 meditation. There is a sacred spot in the heart which emits the first impulse of life in the fetus and it is in this spot that the final light of life dies out. However, in life, from this spot emanates the aura of the heart or the “flame of life” which contains potential mind, life, energy, and will.

The aura of the heart is a miniature expression of the greater aura surrounding the body and is a reflection of one’s spiritual existence. According to ancient teachings, there are seven brains in the heart and seven hearts in the brain. Breathing deep, smooth breaths from the heart center will put the mind into a peaceful, serene trance-like reverie making it receptive to higher states of divine consciousness.

This meditation overview is meant for those who are evaluating the stages of meditation. There is sufficient content to consider in these stages of meditation; certainly enough to recognize the journey of personal transformation. The best way to “test the water” and get a taste of the meditation experience is to practice breathing. See the link below.

FREQUENCY IN MEDITATION

 

Next: Just Breathe

 

SpiritualChristian.com

 

*
* *