The Swiss Army Knife Of Self Improvement?
Few of the tools available to us that are designed to help us bring about needed changes in our personality or even our basic spiritual makeup are as powerful and versatile as meditation. It could be said that this is the master key that can potentially open all the doors to all the mysteries that have eluded a species that have chosen to exclusively pursue the material reality rather than the spiritual reality. But what is it about meditation that seems to hold such promise?
Throughout time all those who deal with power have eventually found themselves looking at meditation. All the worlds great organized religions have used this tool as a means of exploring the spiritual world, and today more and more ordinary people are considering meditation simply for its practical uses, for example; reducing and controlling everyday stress and even recurring and general anxiety. But even in the professional world where competition has reached new definitions of ridiculousness which in turn is demanding that we perform on absurd level of productivity, that we turn to this almost magical tool to help us develop the capacity for attention and concentration that are the components of the ability to contemplate which in turn allow us to reach ever deeper levels of understanding.
So, here is a tool that seems to be equally useful across realities. It is handy in the spiritual world as well as the material world. Of course there are not many standing in line to use it to explore the spiritual reality, which does not reflect well on our species. But on the other hand the line waiting to use it as a practical tool is growing exponentially, which is a very hopeful sign.
The Accidental Gods
Regardless of what you intend to use this tool for, there are some caveats that may produce strange side effects. The first reality is that any tool this versatile and powerful will not be mastered easily, although it can, depending on the original condition of the person attempting to master it. But for most of us, learning how to use this tool is a difficult challenge, and what is worse, it takes time, and in an instant gratification world, patience hasn't reached epidemic proportions and isn't likely to any time soon.
Also, in order to master this particular tool, the student will be traveling in very unusual territory, that is, you will be achieving levels of consciousness and awareness that have the potential for accidentally revealing to us some mind expanding realizations, some of which are life changing. You could be working on developing your abiltiy to concentrate and suddenly find that you are not a physical being who has a spirit, but a spiritual being that is temporarily taking physical form. You may realize that you don't have a god, but that you are god. These kinds of revelations tend to change our perceptions of reality. They scare the crap out of most people, who in order to protect themselves from what they fear and don't understand, will go into denial and manipulate their own perception of things, which ironically is done through the misuse of a form of our own infinite power.
Power And The Success Formula
Throughout history many of the most successful individuals have spoken of the success formula which is usually a variation of 'desire, commitment, willingness to work, determination, patience and faith'. It could not be accidental that this is also a very close description of the characteristics that define the Human life form's potential for infinite power, because these are also the characteristics that make up our ability to develop the self discipline necessary to control the thoughts that our own mind produces, which determine virtually everything we experience in our lives
There is little doubt that meditation is one of the most valuable tools we have available to us in our pursuit of any objective we choose. The objectives we choose will ultimatley depend on the level of courage we can attain, and while you are out there, you may want to explore the unknown territory of what it is to be a spiritual life form.
A good introduction to meditation techniques is found here
Robert Darby is a self change and personal development specialist who writes for many organizations including The Agenda Of Life Foundation He focuses on developing personal power
since that is usually the cause of all Human problems. Robert takes a practical approach in that he looks at the various
tools and techniques out there that are designed to help us achieve our mental, spiritual and emotional goals.