Smaranam - rememberance and meditation upon Krsna’s names, forms, qualities, and pastimes. Smaranam should be done in connection with nama-sankirtana. There are five stages in the process of smarana known as smarana, dharana, dhyana, dhruvanusmrti, and samadhi:

(1) a little investigation or examination of Sri Hari’s names, forms, and so on is called smarana;

(2) to withdraw the mind from all external objects and fix it in a general way upon the name, form, etc. of Sri Hari is called dharana;

(3) to contemplate the Lord’s names, forms, etc. in a concentrated manner is called dhyana;

(4) when that rememberance proceeds in an uninterrupted manner like a continuous flow of nectar, it is called dhruvanusmrti, and

(5) that meditation in which the object of one’s contemplation is the only thing manifest in the heart is called samadhi. Smaranam is one of the nine primary angas of bhakti.

(See also: Smaranam, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Three Pure Land Sutras

Pure Land Buddhism is based on three basic sutras:

a)    Amitabha Sutra (or Shorter Amitabha Sutra, or Smaller Sukhavati-Vyuha, or the Sutra of Amida);

b)    Longer Amitabha Sutra (or Longer Sukhavati-Vyuha, or the Teaching of Infinite Life);

c)    Meditation Sutra (or the Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life, or the Amitayus Dhyana Sutra). Sometimes the last chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra ("The Practices and Vows of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra") is considered the fourth basic sutra of the Pure Land tradition. Note: in Pure Land, the Longer Amitabha Sutra is considered a shorter form of the Lotus Sutra.

 (See also: Three Pure Land Sutras, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

samadhi: (Sanskrit) "Enstasy," which means "standing within one's Self." "Sameness; contemplation; union, wholeness; completion, accomplishment."

Samadhi is the state of true yoga, in which the meditator and the object of meditation are one. Samadhi is of two levels. The first is savikalpa samadhi ("enstasy with form or seed"), identification or oneness with the essence of an object.

Its highest form is the realization of the primal substratum or pure consciousness, Satchidananda. The second is nirvikalpa samadhi ("enstasy without form or seed"), identification with the Self, in which all modes of consciousness are transcended and Absolute Reality, Parasiva, beyond time, form and space, is experienced. This brings in its aftermath a complete transformation of consciousness. In Classical Yoga, nirvikalpa samadhi is known as asamprajnata samadhi, "supraconscious enstasy" - samadhi, or beingness, without thought or cognition, prajna. Savikalpa samadhi is also called samprajnata samadhi, "conscious enstasy."

(Note that samadhi differs from samyama - the continuous meditation on a single subject or mystic key [such as a chakra] to gain revelation on a particular subject or area of consciousness. As explained by Patanjali, samyama consists of dharana, dhyana and samadhi.)

See: enstasy, kundalini, Parasiva, raja yoga, samarasa, Satchidananda, Self Realization, trance, enlightenment.

(See also: Samadhi, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

RESONANT KINESIOLOGY

Resonant kinesiology is a meditative form of educational bodywork. A resonant kinesiologist teaches experientially, as well as cognitively, using sound, movement, and touch to create active lessons for the body.

A fundamental principle of resonant kinesiology is that human bodies inherently have all the resources needed to be healthy, though these resources may not be consistently available to conscious awareness. Healing is viewed as a form of learning.

(See also: RESONANT KINESIOLOGY, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

Mantra

A Sanskrit word, literally meaning "Mind Protection". Mantras protect the mind from ordinary appearances and conceptions.

In Buddhism there are four types of mantra:

1. Mind mantras
2. Inner wind mantras
3. Sound mantras
4. Form mantras

There are three main ways to recite mantras: verablly, mentally and by vajra recitation (the highest form of Tantric meditation)

(See also: Mantra, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Meditation The attempt to raise the self-conscious mind to the level of its spiritual counterpart, to unite manas with a ray from buddhi. It is a positive attitude of mind, a state of consciousness rather than a system or a time period of intensive thinking.

It corresponds in its more perfect form to the ecstasy of Plotinus, which he defines as "the liberation of the mind from its finite consciousness, becoming one and identified with the Infinite."

It is silent prayer in one real sense, for the heart aspires upwards to become freed from all desire for personal benefit, and the mind frames no specific object, but both unite in the aspiration; not my will, but thine, be done. When engaged in at the outset of the day, or on retiring to sleep, it often takes the form of reflecting profoundly and impersonally on spiritual teachings, as well as self-examination, attuning of the mind and heart to calm and unselfish thought and feelings, as well as the endeavor to realize in consciousness one's highest ideals of duty, purity, and truth, and inducing thereby a general harmonizing and one-pointed adjustment of the whole nature.

"Meditate all the time -- nothing is so easy and so helpful. Far better is this for most students than to have a set period: quiet, unremitting thought on the questions you have, continuing even when the hands are busy with the tasks of the day, and the mind itself quite absorbed by other duties. In the back of the consciousness there can still be this steady undercurrent of thought. It is likewise a protecting shield in all one's affairs, for it surrounds the body with an aura drawn forth from the deeper recesses of the auric egg . . ." (FSO 39).

(See also: Meditation, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

MEDITATION - n. or adj.

1. art and science of contemplation and concentration spanning Paleolithic hunting rituals. Neolithic mysteries and historic religious traditions East and West, especially Zen, Yoga, Sufism and Coptic, Carmelite, Trappist and Quaker Christianity.

2. contemplation reflection, intuition, doing nothing; in duration from a movement to a kalpa, through most frequently for periods of 10 minutes to several hours or days; performed anytime, anywhere or in any position or activity, through often setting on the Earth, floor, a chair, rock or pennacle standing straight or holding a posture, walling, dancing, jogging, making love; sometimes accompanied by chanting silently or aloud alone or with a group; focusing on the breath, the chakras, the mind, parts of the body, light, sound, God, a tutelary deity, symbols, archetypes, a candle or another internal, external or transcendental object.

3. practice leading to cosmic consciousness, enlightenment truth-consciousness-bless, developing body consciousness, rooting in the here and now perfecting harmony and balance with the Earth.

5. discipline of mind awareness and control of thoughts, emotions and states of consciousness.

6. return to the source or emptiness to erase delusions, refresh ourselves day to day and begin a new. (Michio Kushi).

7. exercise or practice of just being experiencing ourselves at whatever we are, without any extra thing added. (Gary Snyder)

8. going into the mind to see wisdom for yourself-over and over again until it becomes the mind you live in. (Gary Snyder)

9. space to work or fears, hopes, neurotic games, self-deception. (Trungpa)

10. self-analysis, self-cultivation, self-enlightenment.

11. thought-form building, bring down to the concrete levels of the mental plane abstract ideas and intuitions and shattering of forms, establishing of a direct channel between the nomad and the purified personality and between the seven centers in the human etheric vehicle; freedom to work on any path (Bailey)

12. the Tao of cats n. mediator, meditativeness, adj. meditative. v. meditate (from meditari, Latin). (NAD)

(See also: MEDITATION, Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Bhagavad Gita

Dated between the 5th and the 2nd centuries B.C., the Gita, which comprises 18 chapters, is a part of the Mahabharata. In the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna, the divine incarnation, and his friend and disciple Arjuna, it teaches how to achieve union with the supreme Reality through the paths of knowledge, devotion, selfless work, and meditation.

(See also: Bhagavad Gita, Hinduism, Vedic Scriptures, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Gayatri:

Gayatri: [see also Srimad Bhagavatam] Ancient Vedic prayer to awaken the intelligence and lead to enlightenment: "Aum Bhur Bhuva Svaha; Tat Savitur Varenyam; Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi; Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat": The original form of the body, the lifeforce and the supreme abode; that source of life most excellent, that divine luster we meditate - may this light illumine our intellect. (RRV-6b)

(See also: Gayatri, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yoga: meaning Union, A broad range of disciplined forms of meditation, which share the goal of freeing the mind from attachment, and distraction and opening the way for an experience of oneness with everything.  Recent discovery of 5000 year old medals illustrating classic yoga poses, have confirmed the ancient origins of Yoga. Yoga is also an integral part of Buddhism, Jainism and other offshoots of Hinduism.

(See also: Yoga, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Visualization

The practice of

1)    Forming clear mental images often used in magick to focus and direct energy to a visualized goal.

2)    Imagining a scene, a person, or an object with intense clarity. This is often done through a meditation with a written "visualization journey" which allows the practitioner to enter an imagined place to make personal discoveries. Also known as "guided imagery," It involves the attempt to bring about change in the material realm by the power of the mind.

(See also: Visualization, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

SkyDancing Tantra: Westernized form of Tantra developed by Margo Anand, author of The Art of Sexual Ecstasy and the bestseller The Art of Sexual Magic. SkyDancing Tantra is an approach to sexual ecstasy that borrows from bioenergetics, NLP, shamanism, and transpersonal psychology. It awakens vitality and hidden powers of the brain. The Fall 1997 New York Open Center catalog described the expression SkyDancing as an ancient metaphor for the ability to reach ecstatic states when love is experienced as a joyful meditation.

(See also: SkyDancing Tantra, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

process psychology (Dreambody approach, Dreambody Work, process oriented psychology, Process-Oriented Psychotherapy, Process Work): Spiritual form of psychotherapy developed by American psychotherapist and author Arnold Mindell, Ph.D., at the Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland. Process psychology involves bodywork, dreamwork, and meditation. Its theory posits a dreambody, and its design is to heal the source of illness as it manifests in the unconscious.

(See also: Process psychology, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Pure Land: Form of Buddhism that survived the persecution of Buddhism in the ninth century C.E. in China. This school emphasizes meditation to see the Pure Land (the land we go to when we die, a western paradise, purity revealed in enlightenment) and Amitabha Buddha. Founded by Hui-yuan ca. 402 C.E. Oldest and least philosophical school of Mahayana Buddhism in China. Also called: White Lotus sect by Hui Yuan, Ching T'u (in China), and Jodoshu (in Japan).

 (See also: Pure Land, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Newman's poem tells the story of a soul's journey through death, and provides a meditation on the unseen world of Roman Catholic theology. Gerontius (a name derived from the Greek word geron, "old man") is a devout Everyman. Elgar's setting uses most of the text of the first part of the poem, which takes place on Earth, but omits many of the more meditative sections of the much longer, othe ...

See also:

The Dream of Gerontius, The Dream of Gerontius - Synopsis, The Dream of Gerontius - Music, The Dream of Gerontius - Forces, The Dream of Gerontius - Form, The Dream of Gerontius - History, The Dream of Gerontius - Commission composition and performance, The Dream of Gerontius - Dedication and superscription, The Dream of Gerontius - Legacy, The Dream of Gerontius - Additional notes

Read more here: » The Dream of Gerontius: Encyclopedia II - The Dream of Gerontius - Synopsis