Kevin
West
The KEY to Communication
Question: What do Spiritualists mean by meditation?
To reflect deeply on spiritual matters. It is also the key to communication.
Question:What is the difference between passive and active meditation?
Passive means that whilst you are meditating you may not necessarily be controlling what is happening
to you or what you are receiving. You are, in a sense, sitting and listening; a kind of observer to what is going on.
Active meditation on the other hand can mean that you are meditating on/reflecting on a specific thing
such as the aura, spirit, healing, a spiritual matter, development and so on.
Question:How do I open up?
Very easily. It simply requires from you, imagination and visualisation to actively open up.
Question:What do I imagine? What do I visualise?
There is no hard and fast rule to this, you simply visualise and imagine whatever you feel comfortable
with...after all, it's your meditation, your development - your opening up!
First of all, make your meditation a regular thing. This can mean once a day, once every other day, once a week,
once every two weeks or once a month. Your meditation should never be longer than one hour.
Often just ten minutes a day is sufficient. To open up with...
….a few examples follow;
BASIC EXERCISE:
*The petals on a beautiful or favourite flower opening up
*A beautiful deep sun slowly coming up over the horizon
*A door or gateway of light slowly opening before you
*A speck of light slowly growing in strength, vibrancy and colour
*The Lord's Prayer or your own opening prayer
Take relaxed, controlled breaths. Remember, the less physical distractions the better. Make sure you arecomfortable and are sitting comfortably so you will not fidget for the time allotted to your session. You may
visualise colours that are harmonic to your development. (see Colours) You may like to work with chakras
~ if they work for you, but control and responsibility are well advised by-words where these seven sacred points
are concerned.
If you wish to reflect on a particular subject then you should send out special thoughts throughout the particular
day or prior to the particular time of your meditation. The Spirit will not work with an undisciplined person!
At the start of your meditation you may find that you are too pre-occupied with the events of the day...earthly
things such as your mortgage, your work, family problems, things on your mind that are unique to you and so forth.
Don't worry...this is perfectly normal. Just let these things come into your mind. Let them flood in...and bother you.
After a while these things will cessate. These thoughts soon give way to the the higher-self - the purer thought
vibration from within the self. Remember too, our elder brothers and sisters are there with you, right by our side,
every step of the way praying that you will do better.
Before we begin any kind of development, we ask for only the highest and the best (of and from) the other side of life.
Always make sure you ask for divine protection and that all your meditations are done in the love and the light.
After opening up with a visual, and energising your spirit aura - ask your doorkeeper to step into it. Feel their
presence ~ get to know them ~ feel the special power and love that they bring. They will never desert you and will
always protect you. It doesn't matter that you may not know there identity; what their gender is, etc. The important
thing at this stage is to simply feel their presence and know that they are there!
If you have trouble focusing after this point then continue on by visualising one or more of the following.
A loved one and the special memories you have shared
A guide/helper or doorkeeper see A to Z Glossary
Going into a beautiful spiritual garden and wandering around
In this garden there is a lovely cottage or temple...and so on
Go in and explore...Who's there? What's there?
A walk along a beautiful coastline
People often say to me in church, 'I can't visualise', and I always reply, 'If I ask you now to imagine your front door
at home, every feature, every blemish then you would have no difficulty. It would be a perfectly natural thing to do,
would it not? Even if I asked you to do this with your eyes open, you would still achieve success. With the Spirit it is
the same...As above, so below'. End of story.
Always enjoy your meditations, they are walks with Spirit. When you are ready to finish you must always close down
in reverse of the way in which you opened up, otherwise you will remain 'open'. This will be detrimental to your
mental and emotional state and will show a lack of discipline on your part.
"Heightened sensitivity" is something ALL novices must be aware of.
Failure to close down properly will make you susceptible to this condition. Its symptoms are many and varied and
none of them good. Inability to sleep, sensitive to noise and conversation, easily irritated, you feel groggy and unable
to relax. You pick up on a lot of ambient negativity in people, situations and places.
So if you used any of the previous suggested items to open up with then now simply close with one of the following;
*Close the petals on a beautiful or favourite flower
*A beautiful deep sun slowly sets beneath the horizon
*A door or gateway of light slowly closes after you
*A speck of light slowly diminishes in strength, vibrancy and
colour
*The Lord's Prayer or your own closing prayerRemember always to THANK our spirit friends for their power, guidance and love, but first and foremost, always
give thanks to GOD. After all, when you pass over to the other side, they will be the first to say, 'Why did you pray
to and thank me? It's by God's grace that we do what we do!'
Reverting back to 'heightened sensitivity', it is a problem that requires you to understand it thoroughly in order to
develop your special gift(s) to higher and further stages of spiritual awareness and application.
Remember, as with any new skill, it requires dedication, patience and practice! There are a whole plethora of books
on the subject, some good, some not so good. See the
Spiritualists National Union web site for a book list regarding recommended reading for the serious student.
MEDITATION IS THE KEY TO COMMUNICATION
No worker for the Spirit ever developed their awareness without some degree of meditative contemplation or
practice. It is only through meditation that we can still the conscious mind and let go the inner being.
The late Norma Meagher (a medium who served our church wonderfully for many years) writes; 'Visions are what we meet on the meditation
road and should not be lightly undertaken. It is very important to learn in the early stages, control of mind. That is why in the very first stages
of approach to meditation, it is necessary to apply the mind sincerely to the lessons, for the deeper one goes into meditation, the more essential
it becomes to have full control of the mind. This can only come about by applying concentration to each lesson. It will bring its own rewards
when meditation is mastered. There are several planes of meditation, each one being deeper than the previous and each one bringing more
knowledge. Control of the mind is necessary. Each plane inter-laps the other and the etheric becomes more flexible as each plane is reached.
It is because of this flexibility that it is vital to have complete control of the mind. If we cannot control our mind, then we cannot control our
wanderings. If we are to commune with knowledgeable beings, then we must learn how to allow the mind to take in knowledge correctly,
lesson by lesson on each journey that it takes during meditation. Retention of knowledge is one of the things that has to be learned.
It is true to say that each meditation brings its own reward that grows with each lesson to final fulfillment...'
APPLICATIONS
S h e c o n t i n u e s ;
'...Meditation brings a calmness of mind, a serenity, a tranquility that enables one to cope with everyday stresses and strains. Anger andfrustration will lessen, whilst an inner glow will prevail. The ability to see clearer clairvoyantly will deepen gradually as will perception sharpen
to a clearer sense of clarity. It will be very easy to put the mind to a higher plane, even during waking hours. Especially so when anger or
anxiety is present. Let me say here that meditation also develops the Healing gift to further stages. Meditation has the power to bring about
Healing and Mediumship almost the instant it is needed. This is because, while meditation is deepening with every lesson you are also learning
to contact and be at one with the higher spheres. True Mediumship is the one that can reach out and transport itself into the spheres of light.
It is here where you meet these intelligences and recognise them when they come to you. You will know them for sure, not only by their faces
but by the Grace that surrounds them and the power they bring. It is all too easy to either sense or see something at your side and believe what
they say, for they can take on many guises. Once you have walked and talked with them in their own sphere, you can never be fooled by false
or lesser entities who profess to be what they are not!'