Meditation in Stillness, Meditation in Movement - The Moment

By Stephen Cheney

Previous Chapter: Flow & Control

THE MOMENT

Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here. - Laozi (Lao Tzu)

Humor requires perspective. Perspective requires focus. Focus requires balance. Balance requires attention to the present moment. In the 'now' one is freed from labels. Success and failure, good luck and bad—they're all constructs of your mind. - Tom Bergeron, Transcendental Meditation practitioner

In all sports the ultimate experience is when one comes into what is called “The Zone”. It is the moment when all comes together into perfect harmony and coordination, of mind, perception, control and movement. It is a form of enlightenment. An experience of beauty, art and perfection. It is not always achieved, but when it is it is never forgotten.

The Zone = form of enlightenment; the moment when all comes together into perfect harmony and coordination, of mind, perception, control and movement. 

When in ‘The Zone’ what is outside and what is inside become neither, they become One. All merges as does comprehension and understanding. Big and small unite, as does distance and closeness and as does the future and past into the now. When one practices their art’s forms a lot and knows them well, the mind releases itself from thinking of what is supposed to come next and just automatically flows into the next action and moment. So, all becomes one movement and not a series of stepped movements.

Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment. - Grandmaster Morihei Ueshiba

Exercises in the Moment

The secret of staying in the Moment is to practice, practice, practice whatever is your art; until you are released from all outside or inside distractions and you just BE and glory in it.


IN MEDITATION: BREATH

The breath is the inflow and outflow of molecules necessary to energize living cells and to disperse unwanted wastes. The control of it is a key element in the many arts of meditation.

The deity of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, Ptah, “The Opener”, is the name for the creator god, the creator of all things, who used his mind to imagine other gods, then breathed life into them. A small green-skinned god who came from the sky in a large boat, his symbols are the Pillar (stability, stillness), and the Bull (life force, movement).

When meditating in stillness, you can quietly count in slow breathes, hold a few numbers to hold it in; then count numbers to slowly exhale the breath out. Repeat and repeat. The internal chemistry or turmoil of the body cannot be easily consciously controlled, but you do have control over inhaling and exhaling. When you control deliberately the major breathing mechanism, you are taking command of your body which so depends upon it. If the breathing is slow and un-erratic, then why should the rest of the body not follow suit? The body is a conglomerate coordinated whole, what affects one part affects the rest.

O Anubis, the Opener of Ways, give your breath unto them that fear. - Ancient Egyptian.

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. - Bob Dylan


IN MEDITATION: SOUND

Sound is emitted vibrations, selected music from the soul. The control of it is a key element in the many arts of meditation. Thus mantra chants are common to the practice of meditation. In the ancient Egyptian account, the Egyptian god Ptah used his voice, sound, to impart his breathe and life into gods that, up till then, had no living force. He was before all things, as is said: “In the beginning was the word (Logos)”.

When meditating in stillness, mantras, selected words or sounds, are often emitted and repeated continuously to focus the ever restless mind on the internal vibrations and not on the outer world. Such vibrations chime the instrument, which is the body, and charm the mind which is its audience. The sound is not for others, it is for the self.

In Movement, the meditating mind can also use sound. The Kiai shout in martial arts is well known and that transforms your body, inspires your mind and also serves to shock temporarily the mind and actions of your attacker. So sound is used as a mind control.

Meditation however requires something more lasting and the same stomach muscle compression and then tension release can also be done with the sudden breathing outward, but in silence without the rushing air being voiced. Sometimes noise making is not an advantage, as in the necessities of NinJutsu, the stealth art, where silence is golden and attacks are made unseen and unheard. The Sound of Silence. All electromagnetic radiation, which is an emitted vibration in the Space-time field, is silent vibration, unless absorbed energy meets gas, liquid or solid and causes atoms to move and their force fields collide. There is no knowledge of anything unless there is a meeting, of objects, of minds, of information.

SUMMARY:

Some of the main elements needed to Coordinate the wayward mind into One, in meditation are:

• Maintaining a relaxed but balanced Posture
• Keeping the head upright
• A focus of the mind on the Tanden (centre of the body’s mass)
• Breathing in a controlled manner, in through the nostrils and out through the mouth, moving the abdomen when both emptying and filling the large base of the lungs; you contract and release. As in drawing the bow and releasing the arrow (as in Kyudo archery).
• A wanting to self-improve and rise into the light of pure Being.

These all have a match in the moving arts: such as dance or martial arts.

The End

(Image: The Moment[Ed] - Tardis, Fandom)

[The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dissecting Society™ . © 2007-2019 Author(s) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]