All Gurus will tell you that you first must learn how to meditate. This means that you have to sit quietly with your back straight, in an upright chair or, if you can, in the lotus position. In the beginning do this for twenty minutes in the morning and evening. Unless you do this, no real progress is possible. The body, you will discover, attempts continually to change the good intentions of the will. I discovered, as a restless westerner, that the only way I could force myself to sit quietly for an hour was to set an alarm clock, and absolutely refuse to move my position until the clock went off. This proved to be one of the most difficult things I had ever undertaken, ridiculous as it may sound to somebody who is more passive. First, when you sit quietly, take ten very deep breaths slowly. Hold the breath in for a few seconds and then slowly release it. This has the effect of calming the body down, making it easier to sit quietly, and slowly but surely bringing it under control. If you take twenty deep breaths, it is even better.
It is better to attempt this before you eat, because eating requires a great deal of energy and it is more difficult to sit in meditation when the body's energy is using itself digesting and moving the waste material out of the stomach through the body. Loss of energy is one of our greatest problems. We use up energy every time we speak and most of our speaking is unnecessary. However, the body enjoys talking just as it enjoys eating and I have always believed that the success of Wrigley's Gum and Bell Telephone are due to the fact that the jaws like to be in constant motion. If you doubt that it is difficult spending a day in silence, try it. In fact, try spending an hour in silence. Talking uses up energy and you need the energy to raise your consciousness. The Guru or Indian holy man seldom does any physical actions. He sits quietly in meditation for hours at a time, he does not indulge in sex, which in turn builds up a tremendous amount of energy, nor does he even think of sex, which in turn uses energy. It is this accumulation of energy which the Guru radiates and which in itself unconsciously draws many women disciples to him. The Guru uses the energy to enhance meditation and to experience new states of consciousness which simply cannot be achieved by those who lack energy and lack the secrets of accumulating it.

Recently the word 'Kundalini' has started to appear more and more often in the west. There are now Kundalini institutes and lectures on the Kundalini taking place throughout the western world. The Kundalini, or in eastern terms, the coiled serpent, rests at the bottom of our spinal chord. This is the energy source in all mysticism and Yoga and is filled with ways of realizing this energy. The Indians always meditate in the lotus position with the legs bent under the body. One is actually sitting on the left heel, which is slightly behind the genital organ, thereby closing off the anal opening and cutting of unnecessary energy to the lower part of the body. In the course of time, by increasing the purity of our thoughts, and meditating on a single word or sentence, additional energy is moved up through the spinal chord into the brain, creating higher quality energy which expands the mind and increases consciousness. Such is the road to enlightenment.

To Be Continued...

Thanks grey, I wasw hoping another installment was on the way! I'm really enjoying your insights and your thoughtful style of presenting them.

BTW, is this a finite series, or a open-ended discourse? I'm just asking because I know there are things I'd like to discuss with you about some of the ideas you post, but I'm reluctant to break the chain of your narrative! Just curious. Thanks again.

Love,
Greg

Hi Gregory.
Would you believe me if I said this is a finite series of open-ended discourses?

In all seriousness though, I really have no idea where this treatise is going. I guess there must be an end to it somewhere because, after all, I am not omniscient. I have simply reached a point in my personal evolution where I feel the necessity of sharing what I have learned on my journey.
Please feel free to ask any questions or offer opinions or argue with anything I have posted at any time.There may be a delay in my answering because my computer time is severely limited, but I will get to them sooner or later.

Peace

Thanks grey, I'll keep reading and following. I think some concrete discussion about meditation in particular is a good thing, because that's something that a lot of folks are curious about and there is a lot of misinformation around. But meditation is one of the most practical concrete steps toward spiritual development, as you say ... in one form or another, really an essential, since spiritual growth is about the internal realms and we have largely been so disconnected from those realms that without an active discipline of some kind it's hard to begin the process of reconnecting with the higher s-Elf and spiritual energies.

Love,
Greg

Just want to get these interesting posts by Grey, all together....I am finding them fascinating...

Luv,
Rainbow~