Copyright (c) Mary Terhune 2007 & 2010
There are 4 parts to meditation:

1.  Posture
2.  Breath
3.  Mantra
4.  Self

According to Webster's dictionary, the word meditate means to focus one's thoughts on something; reflect on or ponder over
so as to understand it deeply.  We actually meditate every day when we try to solve a problem, be it a math problem or a
new recipe.  Meditation is part of our innate ability.

Although many people meditate to just relax or reduce one's stress levels, the highest purpose of meditation is to
experience one's own innate, divine, blissful nature.  This divine nature is often referred to as the Self.  It is called many
things by different cultures and religions:  God, Holy Spirit, Chi, Buddha, Shiva, to name a few.   Even though it is called by
many names, there is only one divine nature and it exists in everyone, everywhere and in all creation.  I will use the familiar
term of God, but one can substitute it with another according to one's preferences.

The sages say the purpose of life is to experience our innate divinity.  They call this experience, Self-realization.  
Self-Realization is the experience that God lives in us as us. The main feeling associated with Self-Realization is bliss.  Some
might describe it as profound feelings of peace, contentment, joy, love, or fulfillment.

Bliss they say is our innate nature and our true destiny.   Meditation is the inner path which leads us to our innate nature.  It
lead us back to the experience of God within.  

So why mediate?  The answer is to relieve us from suffering.  Suffering the sages say comes from wrong identification; from
thinking that we are a particular man, woman, or position in life, in other words living in ego/personality. They say these are
wrong identifications because these things are temporary, while our divine nature is eternal bliss.  They say we come into
this world to rediscover or remember our divinity and to live from that centerpoint while living in the world.  

So how does one begin to meditate?  Here are the 4 parts to meditation explained:

POSTURE: First, find a quiet, clean place.  Sit either on a chair with your feet flat on the floor with your hands in your lap or
on your thighs or sit on the floor in a meditation posture like the image at the top of this page.  Be comfortable.

BREATH: Close your eyes. Begin to focus your mind on your breath.  Notice that your breath has 4 cycles to it:  the inbreath,
a pause, the outbreath, a pause and so on.  Just notice the 4 cycles for a while.  Let your whole body breathe, not just your
lungs.  The breath is throughout your body, in every cell.  If your mind begins to wander and make lists, gently bring it back
to your breath.  If thoughts appear just let them flow by like a river and bring your mind back to your breath.

MANTRA: You can repeat a mantra to yourself such as Om to help focus your mind on something other than your thoughts
while following your breath or you can just follow your breath.  The sages say that all of creation is really a vibration of
molecules of blissful eternal light created and maintained by the primordial sound of God: OM.  Om is often referred to as the
unstruck sound that is always present.  Some people hear it during meditation.  The sound is like a struck Tamboura (Indian
stringed instrument) or the humming of bees.   Om is also spelled as AUM.  A stands for the creative aspect of God, U for the
preservative aspect and M for the destructive aspect.  So in every moment everything is being created, preserved,
destroyed.  Everything is in a constant state of newness or change.  

SELF: Remember the Self, your true, divine, blissful nature.

You can meditate for a few minutes every day at an appointed time and see how this effects the rest of your day.  
Remember, your true nature is divine so expect the highest!
MEDITATION
Our Natural Destiny
The Wisdom Within
"As far as God and the Self are concerned, the
Soul can be nothing but"
         - Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)  
And God spoke: "Here is your Divinity,
the Divinity that awaits all Mankind"