This is Lesson One of the Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga meditation.  The
lesson includes developing an understanding about positive thinking
and about 'soul' consciousness.  The lesson includes how to tap into
our innate and eternal qualities that give lasting peace, happiness
and love.

I hope the lesson is enjoyed by everyone.

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MEDITATION - LESSON ONE

Soul

The form of meditation I practise is known as Raja Yoga, taught by the
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU), whose headquarters
is in Mt Abu, Rajasthan, in North West India.  (see file bkwsu.txt in
Library - this will give you a basic idea of the BKWSU's role).

Simply put, Raja Yoga is a meditation technique that enables the
practitioner to become the king (Raja means 'king') over her/him self.
You see, when we get to such a stage that nothing and no-one can
influence us in any negative sense and when we have absolutely no
expectations of anyone or anything (like the elements, my own senses,
etc.) then we can regard ourselves as being the self sovereign.  And I
guess that when you rule all your responses (via the senses, thoughts,
words, actions) in a natural and easy way, then you could easily say
that you rule the world....because after all, even though we all live
in this one physical world, yet in fact there are 5.5 billion worlds.
Eg. my world is different to yours and in fact the world of each of
the people I live with (5 in my case) is completely different to mine.

So when I firstly respect the eternal similarities between us all,
then I will automatically have respect for the differences that are
eternal, and with that there is natural and easy equilibrium in my
mind, in my relationships, in my world......

....When we change, the world changes.

What is eternal?  Soul, Supreme Soul and Drama.  In this lesson we
will look at the Soul.  The eternal form of the soul (which we 'are'
and not 'have') is that of a point of light energy, a non-physical
energy.  In meditation I meditate initially on this concept of a point
of white light that's so tiny, the physical eye cannot see it.  Only
the mind's eye, the third eye of knowledge, can see.  This point of
light, which is 'I', is situated in the centre of the forehead (hence
in India the dot on the forehead symbolises this) behind the eyes.
"I" the soul am therefore very much like the driver of a car.  If the
driver of a motor car has limited skills the result is that the
vehicle may be driven in a haphazard sort of way, there may be
accidents, there may also be aggressive behaviour on the road which
then makes it dangerous for others.  In the same way as the driver of
this vehicle, the body, if my skills - my thoughts, words, actions,
personality, character, attitude, etc. - are poor, if they are
negative, if there is limited wisdom, maturity, discrimination power
etc. then there will be many problems in my life.  There may be
problems in my relationships with the people I live with, work with, I
may easily get annoyed, upset, arrogant, but most importantly I would
have the greatest difficulty in getting along with myself.  Not many
people enjoy their own company.  Fact is, not people actually know
themselves.  So firstly I have to get to know myself as I truly am.
When I say truly, I mean the part of each of us that is in fact our
real beauty, the part that I especially, but also everyone else, will
have enormous respect for.

Who am I....truly?

Think for a moment.  Better yet, feel.......  What are some of the
feelings we especially yearn for?  It's such things as peace,
happiness, love, a clean feeling mind, joy.  Of course there are more,
but these probably cover most, generally speaking.  When I have the
picture (in a visual or even feeling form) in my mind of this pure
point of white light sitting there gently behind my eyes in the centre
of my forehead, I can then begin to create these feelings that are my
true, original and eternal qualities.....of peace, happiness, love,
freedom and joy....in the unlimited sense.  When we go on
holidays/vacation we get a sense of peace don't we?  And yet when we
return to our home, to our work or school environments we soon get
back to feeling the way we did before we went on our vacation.  That
peace is not real actually, well it is in a way of course, and yet
it's temporary.  It'd be wonderful if we could stay away forever, but
in reality that doesn't happen much, and even then, if we did,
eventually one kind or another pressure comes along and challenges us.
Hence, ultimately, meditation is about creating peace in our personal
worlds, even though we may be surrounded by everything but peace.  And
interestingly enough, when I experience peace internally, that peace
begins to radiate from me, into the atmosphere, transforming it quite
naturally.  There's no force in that change.  That's what I especially
love about this form of meditation....that I need not force anything,
nor anyone.  I gently, yet firmly begin to instil thoughts which are
filled with an eternal kind of power that's going to influence me
positively and permanently.  Of course it does take time, but
generally the effect of the meditation, the change, begins to take
place almost immediately.  The same is for happiness, love etc.  We
tend to look for happiness often through material gains - movies,
possessions, the way we look.  And love we try to find by 'falling' in
love with others or possessing them.  Loving another human being is
fine as long as I don't become dependent on that person.  Anyway
there's lots of psychology books on that topic, more expert than I in
explanation.  Anyway you can get a pretty good idea of what I mean.

Imagine this tiny point of light, that's very much like a CD in a way,
or a computer chip, and on this unimaginably tiny chip-like point of
light energy, is the recording of all that has taken place in this
life.  And since I'm a firm believer - through personal experience
based on understanding - of reincarnation, then the impressions of all
those previous births are also imprinted on the soul.  And if that's
the case, then my very first original personality, the cleanest part
of me is also imprinted on the soul.  That original personality is
very much like a seed that's latent.  Ever had the experience of
hearing, seeing, or tasting something that takes you back to years
ago, maybe even in childhood, where the experience of today re-emerges
the experience of that long long ago time?  And the more we think
about it, re-live that time, the more it becomes real for us.... Same
also goes for those bad experiences i.e. a fight with someone, a
misunderstanding that we keep alive by remembering it.  Well it's the
same in this case too.  In meditation we begin by thinking, re-
creating the thoughts that make up the feelings of the original peace,
happiness etc. that we felt at the very beginning.  Imagine thinking
backwards, to that original time, skipping the in-between chunks that
weren't quite as good, and creating a future that I can depend on
because it is based on the firm foundation of real peace.  The seed of
thought is planted by the mind, nurtured regularly with the light of
understanding and then rain of clean thoughts is gently and again
regularly poured into the mind.

In Raja Yoga, meditation is done with the eyes open.  Why?  Because it
then becomes practical, accessible at any time.  Imagine if there's
conflict taking place with someone at work or home, or if there's some
traffic problem.  Impossible at that time to ask the person to wait or
get the traffic to stop at that time and then to close the eyes, sit
in a quiet spot, and become peaceful.  Not really a good idea, nor
will success be achieved at that time.  Hence we practise meditating
with the eyes open.  Can do it anywhere, anytime.

Let me give you a practical example.

The day begins....whatever time.  Sit for 10 minutes with your eyes
focused on a candle or even a picture (that you can draw very simply
or maybe someone has something like this on their computer which they
can upload...I'll see if I can find something) which has an image of
this point of white light on it.  And from that point of light draw
rays of light which spread outwards, kind of like the sun's rays would
spread outwards.  Focus your eyes gently and in a relaxed way on the
point or the flame.  Then begin in your mind with simple thoughts to
take away your consciousness from the body - which as we know is not
permanent - we receive it as an infant and leave it at the end of this
life - this much is certain.  So give a few minutes of inner attention
to the body, using thoughts similar to the following.....

....I begin by sitting comfortably....relaxed.....my body
erect....legs and arms uncrossed.....  With my eyes open, I focus
inwards and imagine in my mind that the energy in my body is like
light, and beginning with my feet this light is moving
upwards....gently...  I experience this energy passing through my
knees.....then my thighs and hips..... My feet....legs....hips are
still and relaxed.....  The light from both my legs meets at the base
of my stomach.....  I then focus on my hands and again, imagine in my
mind the energy travelling....gently and warmly upwards....past the
elbows....up to the shoulders....where the light meets easily at the
base of the throat.   My hands, arms, shoulders.....
still.......relaxed.  The energy at the stomach begins to move
upward...see it....feel it...it reaches the chest and then....meets
the energy waiting at the throat....and merges.  The light gently
moves upward....easily past my mouth....relaxed....upwards....passing
my nose....I feel the energy moving away from my ears.....the skin
surrounding my head relaxes...is free.... The energy ....the
light....from my entire body moves in harmony until it meets.....at a
point.....at the centre of my forehead....just behind my eyes....and I
feel restful.....easy......at peace....and now my attention is truly
focussed on my real self....the soul.......

At the time of this meditation, and because the eyes are open, you
might find the eyes begin to wander, the thoughts may also go to
something that's taken place during the day, or something petty that
happened last year...... At such a time, see those thoughts, observe
your eyes wandering here and there..... Acknowledge this
activity...... be gentle on yourself, like a parent with a child.....
and yet...... be firm.  Firmly bring your awareness back to the
meditation.  Tell yourself that "I'm aware that all this is happening,
yet now is not the time for a wandering mind.  Now is the time to
create a strong and directed mind."  Watch your thoughts, catch them,
change them.

This is the first stage of meditation, that of being detached from the
consciousness of the body.  It is the first and most important stage
which we call being in the bodiless state or in soul-consciousness.
Once we can experience this state the rest is actually quite easy.  So
we need to practise this regularly, daily, several times throughout
the day would be ideal.  I especially recommend first thing in the
morning and then last thing at night - not in bed.  Bed usually means
sleep.  It's best to find a special spot or room which you can
dedicate to this practise and then automatically the mind is turned
towards meditating.

Another term for this first stage is that of being the observer.  When
I am the observer then I can watch my thoughts, my feelings, my
reactions and responses, my activity, in a detached way.  As the
observer I am uninvolved and uninterfering.  I will instead direct,
guide with care and with firmness.  When I have this attitude then I
can begin to put the right thoughts into my mind.  So for example I
might be impatient with someone, which of course never achieves
anything.  I can watch this reactionary thought taking place,
unemotionally....."Mmmmm look at that Yaja, you're getting impatient
again.... So, what are you going to do about it? ......OK, look at
yourself, your stomach's in a knot and you're ready to pounce onto
this person..... Mmmm, not very clever...... Not only is it not going
to achieve anything because you're not thinking and acting
objectively, but it's affecting your whole day and anyway.....why
blame this person..... they didn't mean it.... Actually, they don't
even know they're doing wrong.  Wrong by whose standard?  Theirs or
yours?  Hmmmm?....  OK, instead I'll become stable in peace, look at
the person with acceptance and then give them what they need.....
maybe it's encouragement, maybe they need support, or a good listening
ear....."  This kind of watching, conversing begins to take the
pressure off the situation.  And soon we can be light and respond with
care, with peace, with love and definitely with respect for ourselves
and certainly with respect for the other person.

Peace is the foundation for all unlimited qualities.  All we need to
do is accumulate it and automatically we accumulate all other
qualities, all virtues that are real and true to the soul.  Then I
acquire my true personality, not the one that I took from others, not
the one that I've depended on via all those wondrous filters that I
considered was me, like my religion, culture, the country I was born
in, of being a male or female, young/old, rich or poor, of being a
parent, child, spouse, a boss, or a subordinate - none of these make
me.  Usually these filters are more destructive because we can never
live up to the expectations which are placed on us as a result of
'doing' them.  And of course the aim is to be a human 'being' and not
a human 'doing'.  The filters make up the roles for the actor, the
soul.  When I recognise the filters I begin to play the role
accurately, without attachment, I play the role with enjoyment, coming
and going, moving from one role to the next, easily.

Practise peace intentionally whilst sitting in meditation.  Practise
it during your activities so you can begin to experience the benefits.
After all, meditation is simply thinking..... thinking with thoughts
that give benefit to me, to others, to my surroundings, to the world
in general.  Wars have never changed anything (ultimately) for the
better, talking rarely changes anything, but our thoughts can and do
make a difference.

....When we change, the world changes.


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The second lesson in the Raja Yoga meditation course, Supreme Soul,
will be uploaded into the Library as meditat2.txt in the near future.
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If you have enquiries or feedback about the Raja Yoga meditation, as
taught by the Brahma Kumaris please e-mail Yaja Nowakowski on
100355,1276.  All course, classes and programs presented at any of the
Brahma Kumaris centres are provided as a FREE community service.

OR

contact your nearest regional office......

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