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Author:
Richard Pettinger

Through meditation we can bring about greater peace of mind and powers of concentration. The length of time we meditate is not as important as the focus we give during our meditation. If we can meditate with a silent mind for 5 minutes we can bring to the fore our own divine qualities of inner peace and inner happiness. This is an inner joy independent of any outer success or outer prosperity.

When offering meditation classes for the Sri Chinmoy Centre I offer these 7 tips which will help us to meditate more successfully.

1. Quiten The Mind

The Goal of meditation is to go beyond the mind. Meditation cannot be done by thinking. All the different paths of meditation share this common feature of cultivating a silent mind. When our mind is silent we can start to enter a new consciousness, a consciousness not limited by the intellectual mind.

2. Concentration

In whatever we do,we will be more succesful if we can concentrate fully on the task in hand. This means being single pointed. When we meditate we need to switch off from everything else and put all our attention onto the meditation.

3. Place to Meditate

It is very helpful to find a Quiet Place to meditate every day. I have a small corner of my room specially set aside for meditation. You can use a picture of a saint or Teacher who inspires you. Or just use flowers and a candle. If you meditate in the same place every day it builds up a meditative atmosphere.

4. Aspiration

Aspiration to meditate. If we are hungry then we are eat. It is the same with meditation if we are not satisfied with what we have and would like to discover the inner peace within ourselves then we will be motivated to meditate every day. This aspiration or inner cry is perhaps more important than learning many techniques.

5. Perseverance and Patience

In the beginning we cannot expect results overnight, each time we meditate we are adding to our capacity's even if we don't have great experiences then we need to persevere. If we practise sincerely we will progress.

6. Use the Qualities of the Spiritual Heart

The heart is the location of the soul. If we focus on the heart, immediately our thoughts have less power. By concentrating on our heart we can enter into the vastness of meditation.

7. Cultivate Happiness

It is important to bear in mind the goal of meditation is to uplift our consciousness and have a more positive outlook about life and about ourselves. When we meditate well we will have a positive outlook on life.

By: Richard Pettinger

| Article Keywords: Meditation

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Meditation... Learn The Ancient Art Of Healing Though Meditation - Part Two In this segment, we’ll be looking at helpful ways to encourage that medative state of mind, ready for when we start work on different meditation techniques, which will be covered in subsequent lessons. Meditation is a discipline that coaches relaxation in the body and calms the mind which I believe, leads to discovering our divine, true self that has no beginning and no end. When we first start on the path of meditation we can encounter many difficulties. Finding the right time or *fitting it into our daily routines* is typically the first difficulty. The second, is how to relax the body and calming the mind is the third most common difficulty. This is by far the most common difficulty people encounter. This is a tricky technique to accomplish because when we first try and relax the mind, we are attacked by thoughts on every day subjects and worries. Pantanjali, a wise eastern sage likens the mind to a pond into which is thrown a continuous stream of stones, causing ripples upon the ponds surface. The pond represents the mind, the stones, thoughts and the ripples, the disturbances that these thoughts cause. Unless we stop throwing stones, allowing the ripples to become still, we will never see the bottom. In other words, if we are unable to quieten the mind and free it from thoughts we will never see our own true self. Establishing time It is important to set aside the same time each day to meditate. This then becomes a discipline, as it’s so easy to have the intentions to meditate every single day, but if a fixed time is not organised, the day then becomes night and then we just simply *can't be bothered*.Therefore we should ideally set aside fifteen minutes daily for stilling the mind and attaining inner peace. You might find...