Guided Meditations and The Inner Teacher How to use guided meditations to support your daily practice
I once attended a seminar where the presenter began by saying: Everyone talks to themselves. We all have voices in our heads. Some audience members nodded as he spoke. Others shook their heads in disagreement. Some of you, the speaker continued, are saying to yourself I know what he means. Others of you are saying to yourself I don t do that. It s true we all have voices in our heads. And even if you re not consciously listening, the voices are guiding you. The inner voices are shaping your perceptions, your reactions, and your life. If the voices that guide you are wise, you will live with wisdom. But most of the voices that are running through the mind are... less than wise. Have you noticed? Many of the voices are simply replaying outdated messages of the past. They are repeating ideas, truisms, injunctions and judgments that no longer serve you. As the dharma doodle on the cover of this report suggests, they re babbling. Guided meditations reduce the babbling. When you listen to a guided meditation, you withdraw your attention from the babbling and attune to wisdom. The wisdom that you re attuning to isn t in the person who is speaking the guided meditation. The wisdom is in you. The peacefulness isn t in the person who is speaking the guided meditation. It s in you.
Guided meditations return you to your own deepest experience. It s not like listening to speaker, a teacher, or even a performer. Those draw your attention outward. Guided meditations turn you inward toward the silent voice of wisdom, peace and blessing within. The voice on the MP3 is there to point you back to that which is deep within you. It s your re-connection to that inner presence that is primary. As you listen, you develop your capacity for self-guidance. By listening daily to the guided practices, you will gradually memorize the practice. You ll know what I m going to say before I say it. You ll know what comes next and you ll start guiding your mind/body into the next phase of practice before my voice gives the instruction. You ll anticipate the next instruction and start selfguiding the practice. This is the beginning of internalizing the guiding function. You re internalizing the instructions. This internalizing process creates a subtle shift from relying on the MP3 to using the MP3 as a reminder. You may still put on the headphones and listen but your attention shifts from being primarily focused on my voice to focusing on your inner experience. You know what the MP3 voice is going to say, so you can let it fade a bit into the background. Over time your confidence in self-guiding grows. The Meditation Habit is designed to nurture this confidence by progressively reducing the amount of talking and guidance in the guided meditations. In the early days of the program, the guided meditations are wordy and full of guiding instructions. As the days unfold, the instructions become simpler and the silent space between instructions becomes longer.
In the silence, you learn to guide your practice. You develop your capacity for self-guiding the mind and body into the meditative experience. This is key to sustaining and deepening your practice. Because to sustain and deepen your practice you need to listen to something other than the MP3s. You need to listen to the inner teacher. What is the inner teacher? The inner teacher is the Wisdom Heart. It is that state of being that both calls you to the practice, guides you into the practice, and supports you in making the practice part of your life. The guided meditations that come with this program are designed to heighten your attunement to the inner teacher the Wisdom Heart within. The following pages contain transcripts of the guided meditations for the Meditation Habit program. Some students have found reading these transcripts useful for strengthening their capacity for selfguidance and for attuning to the presence of the inner teacher. Love & Shanti Eric
TRANSCRIPT: Core Practice 1 Find your meditative seat and feel the sit bones pressing down and the spine lengthening, the shoulders released, the eyes closed and fixed at the root of the nose. Open the chest and breathe. As the breath breathes naturally, be aware of your motivation for developing the meditation habit. Remember and reconnect to the energy of that motivation as the breath breathes naturally. Affirm, Yes, the value of this motivation and the importance to you in your life of developing the meditation habit. Breathe and feel the energy of that motivation supporting you. And recognize that by sitting here right now you are enacting that motivation, you are developing the meditation habit. Begin to move your body from side to side with the eyes closed, feeling, as you move from right to left, and as you move from left to right, in a comfortable rhythm, that you pass through the Center of Gravity. Attend to the movement towards and into the Center of Gravity and the movement away from and back to it again. Focus on the Center of Gravity and reduce the physical movements, reduce them, until all obvious movements are gone. Then you can feel inwardly a subtle shifting as you settle more and more deeply into the Center of Gravity. Allow your body to become aligned along that Center of Gravity. Now turn your attention to the breath. Be aware of the Center of Gravity but shift your attention to the breath, and feel now the breath deepening and extending consciously, breathing fuller and more deeply into the body.
Feel the smooth expansion of the breath as it flows into your body and feel the abdominals engage as you breathe out. Smoothly, steadily, in a comfortable rhythm, expand with the inbreath and release with the out-breath. Take three to seven more breaths following your own rhythm, deeply expanding, consciously releasing. Then with your next breath, your next deep breath, allow your breathing rhythm to return to its own natural pace and depth. Don t control the breath, simply let it breathe. As you feel the natural breath, bring your awareness to the Center of Gravity again. If it helps, gently shift, very, very subtly, inwardly. It may not be visible to the outside observer; just you can feel an inner movement that brings you into contact with the Center of Gravity and the natural rhythm of the breath. If attention wanders use a subtle inner movement to bring you back to the feeling of the Center of Gravity and the natural breath. Return to the Center of Gravity. And now open yourself to the feeling of stillness, the pleasurable feeling of deep, deep stillness that is within you and around you. Let that stillness spread through your body. Let it touch and bathe your mind. The stillness is not something you create, it is a blessing that is ever-present and you can attune to. Feel it. Now bring the palms together at the heart as a gesture to indicate the conclusion of this meditation session. And now send out that blessing of stillness, that feeling of stillness.
Send it out inwardly to some person that you know who could benefit from that quality, and then send it out to touch your whole life, all those you know, those you shall encounter and even those unknown who indeed participate with you in this wondrous life. Feel the stillness touching you and all beings. And before you open your eyes to greet the rest of your day acknowledge: Yes, I am building the meditation habit. And feel a wave of positive affirmation moving through your body, appreciating the effort, appreciating the progress, and appreciating the action that is supporting you in creating this habit. Then open your eyes to bring that meditation and the feeling of that meditation into the rest of your day.
TRANSCRIPT: Core Practice 2 Find your meditative seat and feel the sit bones pressing down, feel the spine lengthening, the shoulders released, the eyes closed and fixed at the root of the nose. Open the chest and breathe. Be aware of your motivation for developing the meditation habit. Remember and reconnect to the energy of that motivation. As the breath breathes naturally, breathe and feel the energy of that motivation supporting you. And recognize that by sitting here right now you are enacting that motivation, you are developing the meditation habit. Begin to move your body from side to side. With the eyes closed, feeling, as you move from right to left, and as you move from left to right, in a comfortable rhythm, that you pass through the Center of Gravity. And reduce the physical movements, reduce them until all obvious movements are gone and you can feel inwardly a subtle shifting as you settle more and more deeply into the Center of Gravity. Allow your body to become aligned along that Center of Gravity. Now turn your attention to the breath. Be aware of the Center of Gravity but shift your attention to the breath. And feel now the breath deepening and extending, consciously breathing fuller and more deeply into the body. Feel the smooth expansion of the breath as it flows into your body and feel the abdominals engage as you breathe out. Expand with the in-breath, and release with the outbreath. Take three to seven more breaths, following your own rhythm. With your next deep breath allow the breathing rhythm to return to its own natural pace and depth. Don t control the breath, simply let it breathe.
As you feel the natural breath, bring your awareness to the Center of Gravity again and be aware of the natural breath as it moves and pulses through the Center of Gravity. Feel the pulse of the breath breathing through you. With the in-breath, feel the movement of that breath through the Center of Gravity like a wave. With the out-breath, feel the relaxation all the way through the core of your being. The natural rhythm of the in-breath fills the lungs and lifts and expands the feeling of buoyancy and energy. You don t need to do anything to create this, just feel it. The out-breath has the natural pleasure of release, of settling. This energizing and settling pulse, like a wave, through the Center of Gravity. Feel the movement of the natural breath through the center of your being. And now simply be still and let it all breathe you. Let the stillness, the presence, the awareness itself, breathe you. Receive this as a natural blessing. Open to it. Now bring the palms together at the heart as a gesture to indicate the conclusion of this meditation session. And with the palms at the heart, send out the feeling of that blessing, the feeling of meditation, the feeling of stillness, of presence. Send it out to touch all beings, known and unknown, those who have been part of your past or are in your present, and those who will be met in the future. And before you open your eyes to move into the rest of your day, thank your body, thank your mind for engaging in this practice. Appreciate yourself, and recognize you are, indeed, building the meditation habit. And when you re ready, open your eyes, and very, very gently let them rest on some familiar object. See it with fresh awareness, see it through the perspective of stillness, and carry that feeling into the rest of your day.
TRANSCRIPT: Core Practice 3 In this practice you will be working with the principles of concentration and relaxation. Find a meditative seat, feel your sit bones grounded and your spine long, shoulders release, and the chest opens as the breath breathes. Remember your motivation, the reason for practicing, and connect to the energy of that motivation. Feel it supporting you now. And recognize that by sitting here in this moment, with this very breath, you are developing and building the meditation habit. Gently move your body from side to side, in the way that works for you, in order to align your posture with the Center of Gravity. Reduce the movements and allow the body to align and be still. Now consciously breathe fully, extending and expanding the inhaling breath in a way that brings energy and life, nourishment and peace, into the cells of your body. The inhaling breath is full, expansive. The exhaling breath is intentional, releasing all of the air. Without strain, without stress, simply fully expanding and releasing the breath for three to seven more breaths. And let the breath find its own natural rhythm. Let it breathe on its own as you are resting in the Center of Gravity. Follow the rhythm of the breath with your full mind. This is the concentration element to intentionally put your full mind on the object of meditation which is now the natural breath. If the mind wanders, bring it back. It takes a certain effort to concentrate, but not too much effort. To become fully absorbed you also must engage the factor of relaxation.
The body is relaxed. Then you receive the breath, you just open to it. A concentration is intentionally putting your full mind onto the object of concentration, the natural breath. To follow it, to feel it. The relaxation is to receive the full cycle of breath, open. Integrate concentration and relaxation. Put your whole mind on the breath as you receive it completely. And now gently release the object of meditation and shift your awareness to the quality of stillness. Put your whole mind on that quality of stillness. Concentrate upon it and also relax and receive the stillness completely. As you concentrate and relax, feel the stillness, feel it touching every cell of your body. Feel it bathing every petal of your mind. And in your own way send out that feeling of stillness to touch those beings who might benefit from such a blessing. And bringing your palms together at the heart as a gesture that symbolizes the completion of this meditation session be still and inwardly acknowledge, celebrate, affirm, Yes, I am building the meditation habit. Yes, yes you are. And when you are ready open your eyes and carry that practice, that awareness, into the rest of your day.
TRANSCRIPT: Core Practice 4 Core Practice 4. The Object of Beauty. So find a meditative seat, feel your sit bones grounded and your spine long. Shoulders release and chest opens as the breath breathes. Remember your motivation, your reason for practicing, and connect to the energy of that motivation. Feel it supporting you now. And recognize, that by sitting here, in this moment, with this very breath, you are developing and building the meditation habit. Gently move your body, from side to side, in the way that works for you in order to align your posture with the Center of Gravity. Reduce the movements and allow the body to align and be still. Now consciously breathe fully, extending and expanding the inhaling breath in a way that brings energy and life, nourishment and peace, into the cells of your body. The inhaling breath is full, expansive. The exhaling breath is intentional, releasing all of the air, but without strain, without stress, simply fully expanding and releasing the breath, for three to seven more breaths. And let the breath find it s own natural rhythm. Let it breathe on its own as you are resting in the Center of Gravity. And with your awareness now at the root of the nose between the eyebrows, open your mind to an object of meditation, a symbol, a form, that for your inner being is truly the embodiment of beauty. It may be something from nature, maybe something simple like a flower, a sunset, a pebble. Whatever it is for you, a holy being, a dolphin, a sage or a saint, a dewdrop, let it be what is meaningful to you. As your body rests in the Center of Gravity, be aware of that image at the root of the nose between the eyebrows. Sense it. Imagine, feel, be aware of it. It is the very form of beauty for you.
And as the breath breathes, the rhythm of the breath opens you more fully to that feeling of beauty contained in the Object of Beauty. As the breath breathes in, it s as though it were breathing in through the Object of Beauty, entering through that point between the eyebrows, and bathing your mind in that feeling of beauty. And as the breath breathes out, your awareness more and more fully, more and more easily, becomes absorbed in the Object of Beauty. With the in-breath, you bathe your mind as you breathe in the feeling of beauty, you bathe your body. And as you breathe out, more and more fully, the mind is concentrated and absorbed into that Object of Beauty. Now in your mind s eye become aware of the radiance of the Object of Beauty and allow the inner light, the inner radiance within that object to intensify. It gets brighter and as it brightens, the feeling of beauty that is emanating from that object and bathing your mind and body intensifies, it brightens. And the feeling of beauty intensifies. It continues now to brighten. It brightens until the very form of the Object dissolves into a field of radiance. A field of radiance that is beauty itself. And that beauty, and that radiance surround and interpenetrate your mind at every level. Feel the beauty, the radiance, breathing you. Allow your whole mind to be suffused with that radiance and that beauty, and feel it breathing you. Let it breathe you. And now, simply rest in the pulse of that beauty. As you enter the blessing phase of your practice, let that beauty touch every cell of your body, every petal of your mind, effortlessly. And in your own way now, inwardly, send out that feeling of beauty to any being known to you who might benefit from such a blessing. Effortlessly, sense the radiance extending out to those known and unknown who would benefit from the feeling of beauty.
And bringing your palms together at the heart, as a gesture that symbolizes the completion of this meditation session, be still. And inwardly acknowledge, celebrate, affirm: Yes, I am building the meditation habit! Yes, yes you are. And when you re ready, open your eyes, to carry that practice, that awareness, into the rest of your day.
TRANSCRIPT: Core Practice 5 Mantra meditation Find a meditative seat, feel your sit bones grounded and your spine long, shoulders release, and the chest opens as the breath breathes. Remember your motivation, your reason for practicing, and connect to the energy of that motivation. Feel it supporting you now. And recognize that by sitting here in this moment, with this very breath, you are developing and building the meditation habit. Gently move your body from side to side, in the way that works for you, in order to align your posture with the Center of Gravity. Reduce the movements and allow the body to align and be still. Feel the natural rhythm of your breath, and deepen and expand the breath in a way that allows you to soothe and smooth out your nervous system. Take three to seven deep and comfortable expansive breaths. Do this in a way that brings your body and being into the meditative state. And now allow the breath to return to its own natural rhythm, to just breathe. We will now engage in mantra meditation, experiencing the auditory object of meditation. Stay aware of the Center of Gravity, aware of the natural breath. This mantra has two words, two sounds: Aham Prema. Aham (pronounced A-hum) as you breathe in, Prema (Prem-ma) as you breathe out. Aham as you breathe in, Prema as you breathe out. Allow the breath to find its own natural rhythm, feel the natural rhythm of the breath.
And now we will begin the mantra meditation. The first sound of the mantra is Aham. Link that with your breath. Breathing in A, breathing out ham. And the second word of the mantra is Prema. Breathing in Prem, breathing out ma. Aham Prema. Follow the natural rhythm of your breath, synchronize the mantra to the breath. Don t control the breath, let it breathe. Synchronize the mantra to the breath. And now to help you go deeper here is a short clip of the Aham Prema mantra from the Mantrawave program. Love. Let your mind dwell on the sounds, let them bring the mantra more deeply into your consciousness. Aham Prema. Aham Prema. Aham Prema. Aham Prema... Let the inner resonance of the mantra continue within, mentally chanting and synchronize the inner chant to the rhythm of the breath. If the mind wanders bring it back to the Center of Gravity, to the breath, to the mantra. Let your whole mind focus completely on each sound. And now go deeper, feel the mantra chanting through you. As the breath breathes, rest in the mantra. Feel it surrounding and penetrating your mind and body at every level. Aham Prema. The mantra wave of love itself has a pure feeling state. Open to it, gently listen and receive the mantra with the breath. Let it breathe you. And in your own way now send out the feeling state of Aham Prema to those beings known to you who would benefit from attuning to this awareness of the indwelling love. Use the mantra as a carrier wave to touch their heart.
And then send it out to all beings who would benefit from the revelation of Aham Prema. And bringing your palms together at the heart in a gesture that symbolizes the completion of this meditation session. Be still and inwardly acknowledge, celebrate, affirm, Yes, I am building the meditation habit. Yes, yes you are. And when you are ready open your eyes and carry that practice, that awareness, into the rest of your day.
TRANSCRIPT: Core Practice 6 Core Practice 6. The Central Channel. So find a meditative seat. Feel your sit bones grounded, and your spine long. Shoulders release and chest opens as the breath breathes. Remember your motivation, your reason for practicing, and connect to the energy of that motivation. Feel it supporting you now. And recognize that by sitting here, in this moment, with this very breath, you are developing and building the meditation habit. Gently move your body from side to side in the way that works for you in order to align your posture with the Center of Gravity. And allow the body to align and be still. Feel the natural rhythm of your breath and deepen and expand the breath in a way that allows you to soothe and smooth out your nervous system. Take three to seven comfortable, deep and expansive breaths. Do this in a way that brings your body and being into the meditative state. And now allow your breath to return to its own natural rhythm. Feel the natural breath. Be aware of the Center of Gravity. As the breath breathes in, draw the energy, as it were, from your limbs into the trunk of your body. As the breath breathes in draw the energy from your limbs into the trunk of your body. And as your breath breathes in again, take all that energy that s now in the trunk of your body and bring it in to the spine, to the Center of Gravity. All the energy of the body is coalesced along the Central Channel. Feel the movement of the breath as a wave that moves through that Central Channel. They rhythm of the breath is like a river of energy that pulses through the Central Channel of your being. All of the awareness, all of the energy of the body/mind is coalesced through that Central Channel and it pulses, it responds, to the natural rhythm of your breath.
Focus on the sensations through the Central Channel. Allow the rise and fall of the natural breath to bring your awareness more and more completely to those sensations that rise and fall through the Central Channel of your being. If the mind wanders, come back to the sensations through the Central Channel, to the rhythm of the breath. There s a current of life that flows through the Central Channel of your being. Feel into the sensations through that Central Channel. Rest in the pulse of the natural breath and the aliveness moving through the core of your being. And now, go deeper, into the blessing that is breathing you. Open. Rest your awareness in this present moment. Feel the energy of life, the presence of life, breathing you, breathing through you, as you. In your own way now, from the very Central Channel of your being, allow that energy to spread through your body, again through the trunk of your body, through the limbs, filling your body, every cell of your body with the pulse of that life energy. Bathing every petal of your mind in that presence. Feel the energy alive through every cell of the body, every petal of the mind, and then send it forth to beings you know who would benefit from this blessing. Send it forth to beings unknown, to all beings who would benefit from this aliveness. And now bringing your palms together at the heart, in a gesture that symbolizes the end of this meditation s session, be aware, celebrate, affirm. Hooray! I am building the meditation habit. Because you are. And when you re ready, open your eyes. Receive the world, and bring that energy to the rest of your day.
TRANSCRIPT: Core Practice 7 Circulation of Light Find a meditative seat, feel your sit bones grounded and your spine long, shoulders release, and the chest opens as the breath breathes. Remember your motivation, your reason for practicing, and connect to the energy of that motivation. Feel it supporting you now. And recognize that by sitting here in this moment, with this very breath, you are developing and building the meditation habit. Gently move your body from side to side, in the way that works for you, in order to align your posture with the Center of Gravity. And allow the body to align and be still. Feel the natural rhythm of your breath, and deepen and expand the breath in a way that allows you to soothe and smooth out your nervous system. Take three to seven comfortable, deep and expansive breaths. Do this in a way that brings your body and being into the meditative state. And now allow the breath to return to its own natural rhythm, and feel that natural breath. Feel the Center of Gravity. Next time the breath breathes in, draw the energy from your limbs into the trunk of your body. Feel the energy in the trunk of your body now. With the next in breath draw the energy into the spine, into the central channel, very deeply. And then, with an in-breath, draw the energy up through the spine, up through the central channel, to the point between the eye brows that is called, in some traditions, the Single Eye, the Eye of Shiva, the Anointed Place, the Eternal Light, the Holy Altar. It goes by many names.
At that point between the eye brows I would like you to visualize a radiant sphere of golden light. In your own way be aware of a golden sphere of radiance that is infused with sacred qualities. And as the breath breathes in, it is as though you are breathing through that radiant light, and you breathe in and it bathes your mind in those healing qualities. And as you breath out your awareness is more and more absorbed in that light, in that sphere of golden radiance. And now we will practice the circulation of the light. As the breath breathes out, let that light travel from that point between the eyebrows down the back of the spine, down the central channel, down to the base. And as the breath breathes in, that radiant light travels up through the central channel and back to the point between the eye brows. In your own way, follow the light down the spine with the exhaling breath, up through the center of the central channel with the inhaling breath, back to the point between the eyebrows. The point between the eyebrows is the jewel, as it were, on the ring. The rotation, the cycle, is like a band of golden energy. Down and up, and the point between the eyebrows is that jewel of radiant light. As the energy moves down the spine you follow the radiance, you feel it. As the breath breathes you sense the energy and the radiance moving up the spine to that point of communion at the root of the nose between the eyebrows. With your inner awareness circulate the light with the rhythm of the breath.
If the mind wanders bring it back, bring it back to the point between the eyebrows to that sphere of radiance, that sun of sacred energy. Blend the visualization with the feeling, with the energy of the sensations of that movement. Down the spine with the exhale, ascending the light to the point between the eyebrows with the inhale. Relax into the rhythm of the breath, into the feeling of the light circulating through the central channel of your being, touching that point between the eyebrows at the top of each in breath. Releasing down the back with each out breath. And now, with the in breath, return to that point between the eyebrows, to that sacred point of communion, to the radiant light. As you breath in allow it to suffuse your mind, bathing every petal of your mind. As you breath out become more and more absorbed in the radiance, and let that radiance expand and deepen, and pour through and fill every cell of your body. You are surrounded now; your body is surrounded and interpenetrated with that radiance. That radiance is breathing you. It pulses through the very core of your being, at the Center of Gravity, and at the point between the eyebrows. Receive that blessing. And now, extend that blessing out, that blessing of radiance extended out to touch beings known and unknown, who will be nourished, healed and balanced through communion with that radiance. Send it to those who are no longer in the body. Send it to all beings. Feel it touching life as life touches you. Now, with this very breath. And bringing your palms together at the heart in a gesture that represents the conclusion of this meditation session be still
and appreciate the practice and your development. Appreciate the teachings and your communion with those teachings. And when you are ready open your eyes and return carrying this radiance into the rest of your day.