SOUL MEDITATION
SOUL Research Institute
2663 Cinnabar Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80921, USA
719-488-0548, 719-685-6294
191 University Blvd
Denver, CO 80206, USA
303-495-5023, 303-482-2286
Toll Free (866)-397-6939
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What is SOUL Meditation
What is Meditation
What is Meditation?
The word “meditation” is used very loosely in today’s common language. It means different things to different people. Due to its esoteric nature, the word “meditation” has developed various mystical connotations and nearly lost its essence.
Basically, meditation can be simply defined as “the phenomena of mental development.” It is essentially the procedure by which we experience mental development because it is a procedure as well as an experience.
Meditating does not mean simply sitting with closed or open eyes and concentrating on an object. That is a very limited practice of meditation. Whenever the word meditation comes to mind and you think of a person sitting cross-legged with closed or open eyes, immediately get rid of that image. Otherwise, you will never fully understand the essence of meditation.
SOUL Meditation
SOUL Meditation is an advanced formed of meditation. It is practiced for developing INTELLIGENCE and for awakening the SOUL. It is not for those who are simply interested in experiencing calm or relaxation or a ‘feel good effect.’ There is a 99% chance that you will not find such a thorough and profound form of meditation anywhere in today’s spiritual circles which is more interested in spiritual entertainment than enlightenment.
SOUL Meditation is a unique form of meditation because it is specifically designed for developing the INTELLIGENCE by way of purifying, sharpening, and perfecting the mind. It is a form of meditation which develops not only IQ but also EQ and SQ, all at the same time.
Based on his practice of many years and the self-proclaimed enlightenment, Master SAM came to realize that, in order to develop INTELLIGENCE, what is absolutely necessary is some degree of Mindfulness, Non-reaction, Wise-attention, and Concentration. These four pillars of meditation not only develop the Intelligence, but also support and establish it in the form of wisdom. The stronger the pillars, the better and faster is the development of wisdom. Therefore, Master SAM developed the practice of SOUL Meditation using the four pillars:
Thus, SOUL Meditation is not just the practice of mindfulness or concentration (as other commonly-practiced forms of meditation are), but a lot more than that. Figuratively speaking, SOUL meditation is like a vehicle (for developing Intelligence) having the four wheels of Mindfulness, Non-reaction, Wise-attention, and Concentration.
In SOUL Meditation, the practice of mindfulness develops present-moment-awareness and serves as a foundation for mental development; the practice of non-reaction leads to the removal of root impurities such as greed, hatred, delusion, and the arousal of equanimity; and the practice of giving wise-attention leads to the culturing of consciousness with wisdom or understanding. When these three aspects of mental development (Mindfulness, Equanimity, and Wisdom) are combined with the practice of concentration, the Intelligence is purified, sharpened and perfected, which ultimately leads to the awakening of SOUL. Because it awakens the SOUL, it is called SOUL Meditation.
SOUL meditation is not only a passive (or non-dynamic) practice but also a dynamic and an active one. Any non-action as well as action that involve the four pillars: Mindfulness, Non-reaction, Concentration, and Wise-attention can be termed as a SOUL meditation. Any meditative practice which leads to wholesome mental development can also be considered a SOUL meditation.
If you were to contemplate on any human problem, any human imperfection, any form of human suffering, you will realize that it is the direct manifestation of the lack of Mindfulness and/or lack of Equanimity and/or lack of understanding and/or lack of concentration. In SOUL meditation, because the four pillars are always present, it is a sure way to attain freedom from all human imperfections and suffering.
FAQs
It sounds like a very interesting kind of meditation. But, I don’t quite understand it. Can you explain it in simple words?
Real understanding of meditation comes only through actual practice. It is just not possible to understand meditation by simply hearing, thinking or reading about it. We have to meditate and experience the phenomena of mindfulness, non-reaction, wise-attention and concentration in order to know what meditation really is. It is like jumping in the water and actually swimming to truly understand what swimming is. Nevertheless, let me try to explain it with an example.
Let us say, on one cool winter day, you are walking along the beach and then suddenly, for some reason, you decide to deliberately become aware of each step as you walk. You deliberately try to become aware of the coolness of sand as it touches your feet, the bodily sensations that arise from it, and the overall pleasant feelings that come to pass. In addition, let us say, you deliberately try to remain conscious of any desires (such as the desire for continuity of pleasant experience) that may arise out of those pleasant feelings and then you deliberately try to understand the cause-effect relationships behind everything that is happening to you as you are walking. If you try to do one or more or all of the above, then, you can say that you are doing a SOUL Meditation at some level. Note that you are not sitting with close eyes, but walking.
Now, let us say, you are walking along the same beach, but, now it is a hot summer day. In this case also, say, you decide to deliberately become aware of each step as you walk. You deliberately try to become aware of the hotness of sand as it touches your feet, the bodily sensations that arise from it, and the overall unpleasant feelings that come to pass. In addition, let us say, you deliberately try to remain conscious of any desires (such as the desire for cessation of unpleasantness and longing for coolness) that may arise out of those unpleasant feelings and then you deliberately try to understand the cause-effect relationships behind everything that is happening to you as you are walking. If you try to do one or more or all of the above, then, you can say that you are doing SOUL Meditation at some level.
In these two scenarios, being mindful means being aware of your steps, the touch of the sand, the feeling of coolness or hotness, the mood of liking or disliking, and the cause-effect relations. Being mindful of cause-effect relations means knowing that the pleasant or unpleasant feelings resulted from the touch of the body, and, the coolness or hotness resulted from various environmental conditions present at the time. When you become mindful in this way, your mind is neither in the past nor in the future, meaning you simply do not think about any past events neither plan future events. This is how the mindfulness aspect of SOUL Meditation results in present-moment-awareness.
Once mindfulness becomes a habit, then, soon, you begin to realize that the liking for pleasant feeling and the disliking for unpleasant feeling was the result of your reaction to the feelings and not to external environmental factors. Once you realize that, you then practice to simply remain aware and not react to those feelings, which means, you practice to neither develop liking for pleasant feeling (which arises due to coolness) nor disliking for unpleasant feeling (which arises due to heat). When you remaining mindful and non-reactive in this way, you purify the consciousness, because, you remove the greed (liking) and hatred (disliking) by not reacting. This is how the non-reaction aspect of meditation results in equanimity and purification.
Once the mindfulness and non-reaction become a habit, then, through sustained practice, you soon begin to experientially realize that all feelings are momentary. You begin to realize that they are just feelings of coolness and hotness which came into existence due to environmental conditions. You begin to witness that feelings simply come and go. You also realize that, when you do not react to them, meaning, when you do not develop liking or disliking for them, the feelings remain as mere feelings and do not last forever because they lose their strength. You also begin to understand that when you react to those feelings, you develop a desire for pleasant cool feelings by wanting those feelings to last forever. You also begin to understand that you develop a desire to end the unpleasant feelings of hotness, because, you do not like them. It is this wise-attention which eventually brings about the wisdom – the understanding of impermanence and non-self. Sooner or later, you realize that there was really no “you” throughout all the experiences. You begin to understand that the “you” was created every time there was a reaction; the “you” was created every time there was identification with a feeling; the “you” was created every time there was perception of separation from the environment. With further practice, you also realize that the experience of coolness and hotness, pleasantness and unpleasantness, liking and disliking, etc, are all simply the phenomena of body-mind-consciousness. You then understand, beyond doubt, that there is no “experiencer,” no “you” in any of it. This is how the aspect of wise-attention results in the culturing of consciousness with wisdom.
Soon, with ardent and consistent practice, due to increasing mindfulness, non-reaction (equanimity) and wise attention (wisdom), the consciousness and mind begin to work evenly, harmoniously, unscatteredly, undistractedly, and unwaveringly on a single object. They become increasingly one-pointed and, thereby, attain stillness. This is the concentration aspect of meditation which ultimately leads to sharpening and perfection of the Intelligence.
In summary, SOUL meditation is any practice or experience that has mindfulness, non-reaction, wise attention, and concentration as its fundamental constituents. These constituents are always present together in a SOUL meditation, although, not with the same intensity. But, there is always a trace of all of them.
In the advanced stages of SOUL meditation, it becomes clear that these four constituents are ultimately one and the same. It becomes clear that they are all the phenomena of wholesome mental development. One may question, ‘why then the four constituents have been separated?’ The answer is, “unless they are separated in this way, it is hopelessly impossible to understand, at the intellectual level, the intricacies of SOUL Meditation (henceforth referred as simply meditation wherever necessary).” (At this stage, if you are interested in learning more about Mindfulness, Non-reaction, Wise Attention, and Concentration, please refer to page no.….Specifically, I suggest you refer to page nos…to understand subtle differences between Mindfulness and Concentration.)
As part of my spiritual practice, I do physical and breathing exercises. My spiritual teacher has told me that doing physical exercises or just chanting can be a meditation. So, is it really necessary to meditate as you are suggesting?
If physical exercise (or any other activity) is performed with some degree of
mindfulness, non-reaction, wise-attention and concentration, then it becomes a SOUL Meditation. For example, while you are doing your physical or breathing workout, if you try to become mindful of physical sensations of stretch and strain in you back, calves, thighs, stomach, shoulders, and hands; if you do not react to those sensations; if you give wise-attention to their interconnectedness, their arising and cessation; and if you concentrate on the movement of breath while doing the activity, then, your physical activity becomes a meditation at some level. In fact, we are going to discuss several such meditations in Part III of the book.
If you want to develop Intelligence, simply perform all physical, verbal, sensual, and mental activities with mindfulness, non-reaction, wise-attention, and concentration. In other words, do everything as a meditation. If you were to do that, you will not only develop physical power but also the mental power. After all, what is mental power? It is essentially the ability to remain mindful, non-reactive, wisely-attentive, and focused in all situations and circumstances.
FAQs
List of 50
SOUL Meditations
Meditations for
Developing
SOULful Attitides
1
Non-Violence
2
Truthfulness
3
Non-Stealing
4
Non-Indulgence
5
Sexual-Piety
Meditations for
Developing
SOULful Lifestyles
6
Physical-Purity
7
Contentment
8
Austerity
9
Self-Study
10
Surrender
Meditations for
Developing
SOULful Body
11
Awareness of
Body
12
Awareness of
Material-Elements
13
Awareness of
Bodily-Feelings
14
Cleansing
Subtle-Body
15
Volition and Vigor
Meditations for
Developing
SOULful Breath
16
Awareness of
Breath
17
Awareness of
Prana (Life-Force)
Meditations for
Developing
SOULful Senses
18
Entrainment thru
Hearing
19
Enchantment thru
Vision
20
Sanctity thru
Smell
21
Healing thru
Touch
22
Nourishment thru
Taste
Meditations for
Developing a
SOULful Intellect
23
Understanding
Creation/Causation
24
Understanding
SOUL
25
Understanding
"I," Ego, Self
26
Understanding
Phenomena of
Action (Karma)
27
Understanding
Phenomena of
Choice
28
Understanding
Phenomena of
Desire
29
Undeerstanding
Phenomena of
Destiny
30
Understanding
Phenomena of
Death
31
Understanding
Phenomena of
Re-Birth
32
Understanding
Heaven/Hell/Gods
33
Undersanding
Space and Silence
Meditations for
Developing a
SOULful Mind
23
Accessing the Realm
of Concentration
24
Absorbing the Mind in
Concentration (I)
25
Absorbing the Mind in
Concentration (II)
26
Absorbing the Mind in
Concentration (III)
27
Absorbing the Mind in
Concentration (IV)
28
Perfecting the Mind
(Samadhi)
Meditations for
Developing a
SOULful Consciousness
29
Infinity of Space
(Supra-Samadhi I)
30
Infinity of
Consciousness
(Supra-Samadhi II)
31
Infinity of
Nothingness
(Supra-Samadhi II)
32
Neither-Perception
Nor-Non-Perception
(Supra-Samadhi III)
33
Cessation of Feeling
and Perception
(Supra-Samadhi-IV)
Meditations for
Developing LOVE
46
Loving-Kindness
47
Compassion
48
Gladness
49
Equanimity
50
Perfect LOVE
