Making Time for Spiritual Meditation
During my coaching sessions one topic that frequently comes up is mediation and how to find time for.
Mediation has become a generic word that encompasses many aspects of “silencing the mind.”
In this post I’m going to give a high level view of “spiritual meditation”, that is, a meditation with a spiritual intention.
Today’s world is a busy one where time and space have been redefined by technology. Many business centers work with time zones as a major factor in operations. With communication systems becoming more advanced than ever, no one is more than a phone call away.
With all of these developments, life has become full of pressure and there is an ever-pressing need to find a way to remember that there is more to one’s being than meeting a deadline or beating traffic or paying bills. Consequently, there is an ever-greater need for spiritual meditation that centers inwardly.
A Working Definition of Spiritual Meditation
Almost all religions have their own version of Spiritual Meditation. During Lent, for example, Catholics have several rites and ceremonies that include meditating on the sufferings of Christ. Evangelical churches also commonly take time out for periods of reflection on verses and messages from the Bible as well as their life application to believers.
There is also the secular practice of meditation which focuses on enlightenment as its goal. Because it is supposed to bring about spiritual benefits, all meditation has a strongly spiritual aspect to it even if it seeks to bring about some other result such as healing.
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Some Types of Meditation Centering On Spirituality
There are records to indicate that meditation was practiced as early as the 15th century BCE. Later, around the 5th century, China and India also became the birthplace of other forms of meditation. As early as the 9th century, followers of Islam performed meditation and in the Old Testament of the Bible there is also Hebrew text indicating that meditation was being practiced.
It is safe to say that if all meditation per se is rooted in religiosity this meditation is even more so. Contemporary forms include the classic mode, which is directed towards spiritual awakening. For the beginner, this is embodied in seeking the answers to questions on who the practitioner really is and what he or she is really searching for. For others, the purpose of this type of meditation is simply to communicate with God.
A practice that is gaining popularity today is meditating to be in touch with a spirit guide, usually a guardian angel. This angel guide is perceived by some as a being who has completely evolved and has taken on the task of providing guidance to a specific person. The guide does not always have the appearance of an angel. It may in fact manifest as light or some other object.
Guided meditation is a well-used technique in this type of meditation. Tools used in guided meditation include music and script, but a foremost assumption is that there is a spirit guide providing assistance whether the practitioner knows it or not.
Making Time for Spiritual Meditation
If you wish to find a haven of quiet strength amidst the restless tempo of life in this millennium then find time to do spiritual meditation. You need not worry about setting aside large chunks of your time for this exercise, but do make sure that you build in a twenty-minute period into your daily schedule to sit quietly and just do it.
It is a simple enough process beginning with sitting quietly while breathing deeply in a relaxed way. When you achieve a state of balance, you can begin to visualize a scene or an object that helps move you towards the goal of your meditation. You may want to practice it for healing, strengthening, or enlightenment.
Alternatively, like a majority of those who do this for spiritual reasons, you can imagine letting go of all your concerns and unburdening them as you communicate with God. If you make the effort, you can find the results well worth it. After a few days’ practice, you may notice that the few minutes it takes to go through the exercise allows you to be more in tune with your God, more aware of the inner workings of your mind and better able to deal with the outside world.
