Every thought is a prayer. Every word is a blessing. Every action is a meditation. When daily meditation and conscious activity work together in our lives, the line that separates them disappears. Our life becomes our meditation ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
(from Living for the Sake of the Soul ~ Ellen Grace O'Brian)
Our daily practice extends out from our meditation chair to everything that we do, say and think. This is the goal of meditation. Meditation and conscious living are key components to our well-being. Our interactions with others—our way of being then comes from that place of peace and love at the core of our being. Our life is our meditation. It is all One.
Pay attention to the quality of mind you are nurturing in this moment. That quality is the messenger of your life. Now is the time to nurture happiness and well-being. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
The thoughts that we cultivate are the seeds we plant in our consciousness. When we have thoughts that are negative or angry, we are nurturing that for our future. When we are able to pause and notice what is happening in our mind and then turn those thoughts around to something positive, that is what we are nurturing for our future. Turning our thoughts around can be as simple as when we notice negativity coming up, consciously offer gratitude for something simple in our life. For example, if we are late for an appointment and are stuck in the grocery line we can get anxious and maybe irritated with the person in front of us who is holding up the line or we can notice the negativity and cultivate the opposite by looking forward to enjoying the food in our basket or chuckle at the funny article on the magazine in the checkout line. Pay attention—nurture happiness.
Non-attachment to results brings freedom from worry. This non-attachment is the opposite of not caring. It is based on caring deeply for what truly matters — the peace of mind that accompanies divine remembrance. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
A steady practice of meditation and attention to the results of actions in our own life can lead us to mastery of non-attachment. Not to be confused with lack of concern, this practice helps us separate our intentions from the outcome of our actions. If we carry out a task to the best of our ability and highest intention and the results are as expected we easily see the benefit. However, if the results are not as we wished, life has presented us with an opportunity to learn. Over time we come to realize that we are not in control of outcomes but that our pure intentions are often rewarded. This path leads to freedom.
Attend to the inspirations that arise within you. Pay attention to your intuition. Notice.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
We all experience intuition, but often we don't pay attention or think "Oh, that can't be." Often we think that we want something different than what our intuition is telling us so we ignore it. Intuition is our inner guidance system speaking to us. We can tell that it is right, because we can take our time with it. It doesn't change or go away. When we follow it we feel a peace within. Pay attention to that inner voice. Question it and see what answers you get. Give yourself time. Awareness of our inner knowing is one of the great gifts of our meditation practice. It is a quiet voice. The bible calls it the "..still small voice." Your life will be so much more fulfilling when you pay attention to it.
Paramahansa Yogananda emphasized one’s daily spiritual practice of meditation. He always said that surely if people will ground themselves in daily meditation they will experience inner unfoldment that will keep them stable, then they are not likely to get off the track. If they attend to that first, that’s the important thing.
~Roy Eugene Davis
We can all experience the many benefits of meditation, but first we have to meditate for at least twenty minutes every day. The benefits can start appearing after as little as eight to ten weeks of daily meditation. So what can we do to ensure we meditate each day? Planning begins the night before. If we go to bed at least twenty minutes earlier than before meditation practice, we can be fully rested the next morning and be ready to begin the day with our practice. For most of us, it is easier to meditate soon after waking because we are not yet fully occupied with the competing pulls of daily life. And yes, if we find ourselves dozing off during meditation, this merely means that we need to sleep more.
Using our vision power for good, keeps the mind out of the ditch of despair. The universe responds to the creative activity of mind. That is why it is important to use that faculty consciously to envision the highest good.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
It seems like lately, with all that we hear in the news, we can easily slip into a ditch of despair. We can feel hopeless. It is up to each one of us, to envision our own highest good and the good of our community and the entire world. Each one of us has a role in holding up this vision. Recently, a minister that we serve with likened each one of us to a puzzle piece. Every piece looks a little different, but they are all made with the same substance and where each piece fits is important to the success of the whole. Allowing ourselves to stay in the ditch of despair doesn't support the whole. Every one of us has our role to play in in our families, our communities and the world. Our meditation practice only brings positive energy and positive change. Like attracts like. The positive energy will allow us to rise above our daily struggles and despairs. Use this powerful tool to envision your highest good. As each one of us does this, our energies join together to bring good to the world
The most illuminating answer to the question, “what is the best meditation practice?” is “steady practice
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
A steady meditation practice does more than give us expertise in monitoring and controlling the thoughts in our minds. It changes and expands the neural networks which are the brain itself and it releases neurotransmitters that control virtually all of the body’s functions, from hormones to digestion to feeling happy, sad, or stressed. Deep meditation leads to a basic state of bliss, which is our true nature. When active in the world, we can use a conscious breath to return to this bliss and over time we become attuned to the intuition that can guide us to harmonious interaction with all those around us. Meditate every day. The benefits are limitless.
Cultivating even-mindedness is like planting a garden— it takes time, patience, and dedication. If we allow ourselves to be overcome with anger, it is like pulling out the tender shoots by the root. Stand guard at the door of your mind. do not allow negative thoughts to take root and grow.
~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
In this day and age, anger and frustration can rear their ugly heads just by reading the news or when we get into political discussions with others. While we want to stay informed it is not useful to be angry. Negative thoughts and emotions just breed more angry thoughts and possibly angry words and actions. How can we change our thoughts to more useful, more positive thoughts? All we have to do is cultivate the opposite when we notice negative thoughts. It takes conscious effort. Our meditation practice trains us to notice our thoughts, to notice when we get off track and to bring ourselves back to where we want to be. We want to be peaceful, calm, and happy— even-minded. When we are that, we can speak and act in ways that our more useful to ourselves, our immediate circle of friends and family and to the world. Cultivate even-mindedness today.
One of the great benefits of deep meditation is that after awhile you become more discerning and your intellect becomes more refined, and while you can still enjoy relationships and enjoy experience, you are not obsessive or compulsive about it; you don't have these needs that must be satisfied. You are not caught up or frantic in relationships.
~Roy Eugene Davis
This description of the freedom bestowed by deep meditation can remind us to focus on how we spend time and energy each day. We all need to ask: Is this time spent watching television leading me to freedom or just a way of killing time? Am I eating or drinking something to nurture my body or to provide a pleasant stimulus to my mind? Am I saying something to defend a bruised ego or to support the person I am with? Our meditation practice enables us to make the right choices and can lead us to freedom.
The depth of realization attained in meditation is measured by the acts of love and compassion it inspires. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
For those of us who have a regular meditation practice, how are we to judge its effectiveness? The first level answer is not by what happens during meditation. Even on those days when the mind seems as restless as the wind, our constant returning to a point of focus brings many benefits: an improved ability to concentrate, increased awareness of what is occurring in the mind, and an ability to be present as we go about our daily activities. Often others notice the real benefits of our meditation practice before we do: an abiding calm peacefulness and a pleasant disposition despite outer circumstances. However the greatest blessing of meditation is that natural compassionfor all those we come in contact with because we realize that we are not really separate at all.
Pay attention to the quality of mind you are nurturing in this moment. That quality is the messenger of your life. Now is the time to nurture happiness and well-being. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Paying attention, moment by moment, to our moods, to our thoughts will then be realized in our speech and in our actions. Notice what brings you down. And notice what nurtures your happiness. Spending time in nature or with your pets? Having an uplifting conversation, or reading something uplifting? When we are present to our quality of mind, we can "course-correct" when we notice that we are unhappy, sad or angry. When we nurture our happiness our relationships improve, people want to be around us and we feel good. We feel right with the world. Our meditation practice teaches us to pay attention to the quality of our mind. Now is the time.
Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them.
~Paramahansa Yogananda
A daily meditation practice can be disturbing at first because we become aware of the multitude of thoughts flooding through our mind. As we get accustomed to using techniques like focus on the breath or mantra to loosen the hold of these thoughts, we can let them subside and become absorbed in the peacefulness that is our true nature. With practice, we can discard thoughts of fear or anger when they first arise and before they become empowered. It is liberating to discover that we can fully control our thoughts, our speech and our actions in the world and that this determines in turn how the world reacts to us.
The focus and resolve needed to dive deep in meditation is cultivated in the hundreds of ways throughout our day that we resist and transmute self-will. Every time we do what we know is right for us, we strengthen our ability to go deeper in meditation. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
When we begin a meditation practice, we become aware of the myriad disorganized thoughts that come into our mind. Over time using a technique like focusing on the breath, we learn to let the thoughts fall away and bring the mind to a single point of focus. Next we become aware of a new way of making decisions. We learn to differentiate between the selfish promptings of ego and the enlightened intuition unleashed by our meditation practice. Making the ego a useful helpmate instead of our boss deepens our meditation day by day. We have embraced the virtuous cycle where right living strengthens meditation and meditation returns the favor.
Developing one-pointed attention is valuable on the meditation cushion and off. When the mind is calm, not flitting from one thought to the next, energy is conserved and vital force is available for the task at hand. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Our practice of meditation is important in many ways. When we are able to quiet our thoughts we are able to decrease stress and benefit physically, mentally and emotionally. Quieting our thoughts also breaks down the barriers to hearing our inner wisdom. Developing our ability to concentrate by focusing on one point, be that the breath or mantra or with other concentration techniques, allows us to manage our time and our energy more efficiently. In this way we can eliminate the stress of that feeling of not having enough time. Having a regular, daily meditation practice is a key tool for our health and well being and allows us to live from the place of inner peace that is the core of who we are.
Notice the way attention moves from thought to thought and sometimes, in-between thoughts, comes to rest in the heart. Look there. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Scripture reassures us saying we are not alone in noticing that the mind is as restless as the wind. When we use the technique of focusing on the breath to quiet the mind, it can help to watch for the space between breaths. As we enter the time between the inhalation and exhalation, there is the peacefulness of no thought, just deep stillness. As we continue this practice, this space lengthens and we can drop into the heart space of peacefulness itself let the technique fall away. This is our natural state of meditative awareness free of thought. Later if it is interrupted by thoughts, sound or sensations, we can always pick up the technique again.
The key to the peace, security, and happiness we yearn for is within our own consciousness. The resources needed to make a difference in the world are hidden in our own hearts. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Many of us are disturbed by the upheaval in the world right now. If we focus on the violence and unhappiness that we hear about in the news we can start to feel hopeless. Looking outside of ourselves for someone else to solve these problems doesn't bring the satisfaction and the feeling of hope that we are looking for. When we become more centered in our self, centered in our own consciousness we can find that peace and security that we are looking for. When we become more centered, we can then act in the world from that place of peace. We then contribute to compassion, peace and security in our families, our communities and our world. As more and more of us become centered in our own peace, we create a network that can change the world.
The mind becomes steady through meditation and dispassion—remaining even-minded or nonreactive to changing conditions, supremely free from any form of attraction or aversion.. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
All of us who meditate for a while begin to enjoy the freedom that comes with controlling the contents of our mind during and after meditation. The next benefit comes as we learn that it is unrealistic to expect we can control the outcomes of our actions. Dispassion teaches us that we carry out each task to the best of our ability, then let it go. If things turn out as we expect, fine. If not, then the universe is merely giving us helpful feedback. Both meditation and dispassion lead to freedom.
When we meditate and our attention wanders away from our focus and is then recollected, we have a choice. We can bemoan our distracted state of mind, or be curious about what calls us back. The former leads to a flurry of dissatisfaction, the latter leads to deeper insight. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Often, when we begin a meditation practice we get frustrated because our mind wanders so often and it feels difficult to keep our attention on our technique, or point of focus. That frustration may cause some to quit their practice because they say that they cannot stop their thoughts, so why try. But when this happens, we can choose to celebrate that we have just experienced that, at the core of our being, we are the observer. At the core of our being we are the one that observes our meditation practice, observes our thoughts. When we realize this we can choose to celebrate that we have just experienced our True Nature, that part of us that never changes, that part of us that supports us in controlling our thoughts and actions during our meditation practice and even when we are not sitting on the cushion. Make that choice. Be curious. Choose this benefit of meditation.
Concentration acts as a purifying agent for the mind and the heart and prepares the way for meditation. ~Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Our ongoing practice of meditation is founded in ethical living. Next we adjust our posture so that it is stable, upright and comfortable. Then we modulate our breath to enhance and channel our vital force. After that we close our eyes and turn all our energies inward. From here, concentration on a single point of focus like the breath creates the conditions that can enable meditation to. We cannot force or produce meditation by any act of will but single pointed concentration is the vital step that enables meditation to occur. When meditation comes it brings many gifts: an abiding peacefulness, enhanced intuition and a gentler perspective on life itself.
