Meditation Essentials 02 Consciousness

Meditation is a state of consciousness, thus to reach it one must recognize what consciousness is, what qualities and powers it has, how it works, and then put it into motion.

Topics include:

Consciousness as:

1. The state of being conscious; knowledge of one’s own existence, condition, sensations, mental operations, acts, etc.
2. Immediate knowledge or perception of the presence of any object, state, or sensation.
3. An alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation.

Basic Powers of Consciousness:

• Awareness: Broad spatial perception
• Attention: Focused specific perception
• Mindfulness: Recognized continuity
• Visualization: Non-physical imagery

Degrees of Consciousness:

• Awake vs. Asleep
• Conditioned vs. Unconditioned

States of Consciousness:

1. Nous: Perfect

2. Dianoia: Regenerating

3. Pistis: Common

4. Eikasia: Degenerated

Suffering (Dukha):

1. Suffering of suffering: pain, birth, illness, growing old, and dying
2. Suffering of change: the anxiety or stress of trying to hold on to things that are constantly changing
3. Suffering of conditioned existence: unsatisfactoriness, caused by mistaken perception of “self”

Exercises

1. Every day, develop your Self-observation from moment to moment. At the end of each day, reflect on how you did.

2. Every day, do this preliminary meditation exercise. Adopt a relaxed, upright posture. Carefully relax all three brains (body, heart, intellect). Then visualize a brilliant sun in the center of your brain. No matter what distracts you, return to concentrating on the visualization of the brilliant sun. Do this for 30-60 minutes every day.