A. INTRODUCTION TO MEDITATION
As mentioned earlier, the Practical and Religious Qabalah generally demand rigorous adherence to prescribed routines of practices and behavior. The Mystical Qabalah, on the other hand, allows each individual to select mantra, visualizations, and practices that appeal to their minds and hearts. This flexibility does have defining limits. This chapter addresses those practices which have proven to work well with a low rate of problems. Regardless of which mantra and practices are selected, the reader is cautioned to start small and progress slowly and steadily. Generally speaking, a Mystical Qabalist may choose to engage in a very simple routine of practices, perhaps only involving the repetition of one particular root mantra with its attendant visualization. Or, he/she may choose to engage in a more elaborate routine, performing a combination of primary and auxiliary practices that evolve over time. The only guidelines are:
* sincerity of purpose,
* purity of intention,
* renunciation of the fruits of one’s efforts,
* whole-hearted surrender to the reality and will of one’s higher Self,
* discrimination between the Real and the Unreal,
* vigilant remembrance of the Divine within oneself, and in all beings.
By anchoring a stable, unified worldview in the substratum of the Ayn,
we “use One thorn (Small Face) to remove another (dualistic delusion).”
Therefore, do not be rigid about your chosen system of belief, or fall
prey to pride if you get some results. In truth, we do little to bring
about the condition of spiritual awakening, and all depends upon the grace
of Small Face in whose dream we are creatures. By engaging in the various
practices, we try our best to make our hearts and minds fertile soil for
the Divine Gardener to plant and nourish the seeds of our spiritual unfoldment.
Once a person becomes a Tree of Perfection and no longer maintains a dualistic
mindset, he/she sees that all worldviews are superimpositions upon the
Ayn, and that ultimately, “Nothing (Ayn) alone exists.”
This does not mean that such a soul cannot ascribe to different mindsets
when stationed in different planes of existence. Hence, when in the waking
state, such a one may maintain the attitude of a simple devotee regarding
all as the riches of the King. When in ananda samadhi, he/she sees
that Small Face has become all. When merged in the supernal effulgence,
there is the singular modification that “I AM the Truth.” In
fana il fana (Ar. extinction of extinction), even the “I AM”
disappears.
Meditation Practices
Before you meditate, prepare both your external and internal environments.
The external environment is the setting in which the meditator practices,
and the internal environment is the mind. The practices that each aspirant
employs is a matter of individual choice. It is important to develop “inner
listening” skills to connect with and “hear” the Divine
guidance that issues from within, or sometimes, through surprising external
sources. As a mystic on the Path, your individual life is your current
yogic teaching story by which the Divine leads you through karmic lessons
and the process of spiritual growth. So, be vigilant throughout the course
of your days and in your dream state for those moments when God is communicating
with you. Once on the path, there are no coincidences, no accidents. Try
to make your meditation a routine part of your life. It is best if you
can do it at approximately the same times each day, and it is important
to be regular and not to allow laziness to excuse yourself from practice
even when you are tired or busy. A little bit of concentrated, high quality
practice is better than a lot of low-quality, unfocused practice.
It is also important to use common sense in the process of maintaining
a routine of spiritual practices. For example, if you take food late at
night, especially if it is rich or spicy, there is a good chance that
your mind will be agitated or sluggish while meditating before going to
sleep. Taking such food late at night may also impact your dream state,
and your mental condition during your meditation the following morning.
Some people feel that psychotropic drugs enhance spiritual practices or
even facilitate spiritual progress. However, many high level yogic masters
from all mystical traditions have warned that this is not the case. Immoderate
use of such substances can, in fact, dull the mental instrument, diminish
the quality of meditation, obstruct conscious dreaming, and destabilize
the nervous system.
The pages in this section of the Web site discuss how to prepare the external
and internal environments for meditation, and present a simple and a more
elborate routine of Small Face-centered meditation practices involving
a root mantra and complimentary visualization. This material will be followed
by a Vast Face-centered routine of meditation. Some additional visualizations
and ancillary practices also have pages. Customize your own routine according
to what appeals to you, and experiment with some of the auxiliary practices.
The External Environment
Create a dedicated place where you will engage in your practice on a regular
basis. By having a dedicated place that is quiet and peaceful, you can
build up over time an increasing spiritual power there, which can enhance
your practice in that site. If space permits, it is ideal to dedicate
an entire separate room, where one maintains a shrine and in which one
engages only in spiritual activities, thoughts, and speech. If space does
not permit the spiritual dedication of an entire room, then at the very
least try to have a comfortable, quiet place in your home where you can
regularly meditate without interruption. The ringing of a phone or other
loud noises can be quite a shock to the nervous system when it has been
highly sensitized in meditation, so try to insulate yourself from such
noises and interruptions. Since many places are unavoidably noisy, one
may find it useful to use earplugs to baffle extraneous noise. Since the
room is to be completely dedicated to the Lord YHVH, it would be appropriate
to attach a mezuzah (small encased scroll) on the right doorpost.
Jews have placed mezuzahs on their doorposts since ancient times to distinguish
their households as Jewish, as a talisman to ward off evil, and as a device
to trigger remembrance of the Divine when entering and leaving a house.
The central element in the mezuzah scroll is the "Affirmation
of Unity," the Shema.
A shrine should be installed, if possible, on the eastern wall of the
room. It is said that shrines are spiritually alive and “build themselves.”
A shrine within the context of the Mystical Qabalah is an utterly personal
construct. It is not an altar as it is construed within the context of
the Practical Qabalah, but a place where you go to honor and commune with
the Mysterious Unknown at the Roots of All Things, however you envision
or think of Him and Her or It. If your shrine centers upon Small Face,
such as the Lord YHVH, then you may choose, as many do, to have a place
to put flower and incense offerings. It is also propitious to light a
candle and keep it burning during your meditation and devotional activities.
And, of course, your mother taught you to be careful with fire. One may
also choose to keep a small bowl of water on the altar, as well as, any
other articles that you feel are appropriate. Even if you commonly wear
shoes in the rest of your home, you should remove them before entering
your shrine room, which you can think of as “God’s room.”
Try to leave the world outside before entering it. You may want to make
ablution before entering God’s room. It is quite sufficient to wash
your hands and face. In many traditions, people also wash their feet and
wipe a little water on their heads.
If you are focusing on the Lord YHVH as your Small Face Chosen Ideal,
then you might want to place an image on the wall that displays the Name.
In a previous page, we described
the visualization of the Sinatic
Hebrew Name or Ezra
Hebrew Name as dancing letters of fire (of various colors according
to one’s choice) against a solid circular background. One can use
either the horizontal or Yosher
form of the Name YHVH. Place the solid black circle of the Tzimtzum
against a solid light blue background, which represents the negatively
existent Light of the Endless. Constructing the letters and the light
blue background of the Tzimtzum from “day-glo” colored
material, which glows when a black light is shined upon it, is an interesting
enhancement. If you elect to do it this way, remember that it is unhealthy
to expose your eyes directly into the blacklight. With the black light
on, the Tzimtzum becomes very three-dimensional. The Name YHVH
seems to come off the wall, and the Tzimtzum appears to be floating
in a soft blue charged light. Even without the black light, the day glo
letters are quite vibrant.
Create a soft, comfortable place to sit on. It is helpful to elevate your
buttocks by sitting on an extra pillow, small piece of foam, or zafu
(raised pillow used by Zen meditators). You may or may not choose to support
your back against a wall. If you do let the wall support your back, you
may want to put something soft between your back and the wall, and you
may wish to augment support to your lumbar spinal region. Try to maintain
good posture while you are meditating. Keep your spine and your head upright
but not rigid. It is good to cross your legs, but it is not necessary
to maintain the severity of a “lotus position.” The operative
words here are “upright but comfortable,” so that you can engage
in extended meditation without being distracted by your body. (If you
are unable to sit with legs crossed on a flat surface, you may elect to
sit in a chair.) Place your hands comfortably on your knees, palms down
or up. You can alternately place them in your lap, with either the fingers
of the two hands entwined or with the back of your right hand resting
in the palm of your left. If you choose to use prayer beads, then play
them with your right hand and place your left hand on your left knee or
in your lap. Many people keep a special shawl or wrap at their meditation
seat to wear during their meditation. Jews may elect to wrap themselves
in their tallit gadol (large prayer shawl).
The Internal Environment
Preparing your internal environment for meditation is even more essential
than preparing your physical environment. Whether you have a dedicated
place, or just sit upright on your bed or in a comfortable chair, and
even if you are employing the most bare-bones routine of practices, proper
mental focus is critical. When a person first sits to meditate, they often
bring some measure of mental agitation to the session. Perhaps they had
a stressful day, or experienced some emotional upset within the context
of their personal or professional relationships. Maybe they awoke from
a disturbing dream or had a night of restless sleep. It is therefore very
important to take the time, before you start to engage in your chosen
meditation practice, to calm the mind and truly relax. Recalling the words
of the Beatles song “Tomorrow Never Knows,”
“Turn off your mind, relax, and float down stream.”"Tomorrow Never Knows," Revolver. Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
The most common way to calm the mind and invoke a relaxation response
is to employ a breathing practice for a brief period of time. When a person
is agitated, their breathing becomes shallower and less oxygen gets to
the brain. Hence, it is very helpful to preface one’s meditation
session with a breathing practice. One such practice in the Mystical Qabalah
is to silently use the two syllables “Yah Hu” in coordination
with the breath. Yah is the B’riyatic pronunciation of the
first two letters of the Name YHVH. Hu commonly means “He,”
and is associated with the throat center. Inhale gently and slowly through
your mouth. Quietly draw the breath in with the syllable “yah,”
and allow the air to fill down into your abdomen. Feel the inhaled syllable
draw divine light in through the forehead center. Let that YH-Light continue
downward to the throat center. When you come to the end of the inhale,
let it turn seamlessly into the exhalation, and breath out with the syllable
“hoo.” As you exhale, feel the Hu breath descend out
from the throat center and move down to fan the flames of the letters
of the Name YHVH in the heart center. Continue to inhale and exhale gently
while intoning the respective syllables for a minute or two. You may find
it useful to connect the breath intonations with the mental sensation
of ocean waves gently breaking on the shore and then pulling back out,
or with a wind rhythmically sweeping through a valley.
After you are done breathing the syllables audibly through your mouth,
you can continue to do so silently while breathing through your nostrils.
Breathing in and out through your nostrils, you will find that you instinctively
press your tongue gently up against the hard palate. Furthermore, breathing
in and out through your nostrils in this manner is appropriate for meditation
practices. This is also the healthiest way to breathe. If you do not already
breathe through your nostrils down into and out from the lower abdominal
area as a matter of habit, practicing it while meditating will help you
to do so. Perform the breathing practices in a comfortable manner, without
strain. Don’t overfill your lungs on the inhalations, or exhale until
every last bit of air is pushed out. You might also find it desirable
to slowly chant for a while before you engage in a breathing practice.
You could use “Yah Hu,” or any other Divine Names that
appeal to you. Place the tip of your tongue gently against the hard palate
behind your upper teeth. Take a breath in through your nose. Let the tongue
drop down and intone the syllables.
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