Meditation, the Most Beneficial Action
Topics:
“Meditation, the Most Beneficial Action”
“Focal Points”
“Functions of the Brain and the Mind”
“Prayer Meditations”
“Inner Landscape”
Sunday, November 17, 2024 (Private/Phone)
Participants: Mary (Michael) and Julie (Fontine)
ELIAS: Good morning!
JULIE: Good morning, Elias.
ELIAS: And how shall we begin, my dear friend?
JULIE: Okay, so… Well, I’ll just briefly say that the meditation retreat in Greece was wonderful. A lot of things were wonderful about it, but just having a little vacation out of my normal setting and being by the sea and just that place, and then of course the meditation and the support around now was very, very wonderful. And I meditated there every day and… I don’t know. I’m not quite sure how to talk about this, but I guess I’ll just kind of start talking.
I don’t know. It feels like there’s this part of me that… like I get going and then I stop. Like I feel, I don’t know, like I’m not making progress, if that… Maybe that’s not the right word, but I can’t keep up my motivation or I stop. I lose whatever it was that was keeping me going. And I know that… like when I meditate, everything starts happening beautifully in life. Things work out. Situations around me work out. Interconnectedness, everything just flows. But why can’t I keep myself motivated to meditate? And why did I even stop so long ago when things were actually going beautifully?
ELIAS: First of all, stop asking why did you stop.
JULIE: Okay.
ELIAS: That’s pointless and very unproductive, and it reinforces not doing it. Then I would say, what’s happening in your life?
JULIE: Right now?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Um…
ELIAS: What’s happening with your partner? What’s happening with your family? What’s happening with your father?
JULIE: Okay. [Personal section excluded]
ELIAS: I would say that that also is in play. All of this is very understandable, why you’re having difficulty focusing and why you’re having difficulty getting back into your meditations and perhaps even increasing them. Because you’re there in Greece and you’re in a setting that is centered around meditation, that is most of your focus. Obviously, you’re going to have time in which you’re doing something else, but for the most part your focus is on the meditation. And in that, it’s structured in a capacity that it encourages you to be focused in that one direction. Do you understand?
JULIE: You mean meditation?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Yeah. I know.
ELIAS: Yes. That is your focus.
Now; in relation to that, I‘d say that because that’s so structured in that direction and it’s structured for you – it’s not simply structured, it’s structured for you – and in that, what I’d say is that when you come home, then then your brain and your senses and your attention is then overwhelmed with everything else. Everything around you or what you think of as life, although your experience with meditation is life also, but you’re not thinking about it in the same capacity.
Now; in that, then that overrides that other structure and it becomes something that is taking over your attention and that can be challenging to move out of. It can be challenging to move yourself back into that meditation practice and structure, and therefore it can actually require some additional discipline, in a manner of speaking, to move you in a direction in which you’re paying attention to that intentionally, and that you are moving in the direction of when you become restless or distracted, that you don’t necessarily stop. You simply redirect yourself and you keep redirecting yourself.
The challenge is, for most people, that when you are losing focus, that you move in a direction of simply giving up. Do you understand?
JULIE: Yes.
ELIAS: And that’s where the element of discipline comes in temporarily. You won’t have to do that for long, but temporarily it is something that will be important for you to do intentionally, to move in a direction of simply continuing to redirect and redirect and redirect, until you move to the point in which you’re back in your flow with it and you don’t have to do that, or you don’t have to do it as often.
JULIE: Okay. All right. Would you agree that this is beneficial? Like I feel, I believe that meditation is probably the most beneficial thing I’ve ever done in my life for myself.
ELIAS: I would say I would agree with you, and this is the reason that I advocate it so strongly. Because I would say to you that meditation is the most beneficial action that people can engage in their lives, because it actually centers your energy and yourself. It gives you more focus. It allows you to be more balanced. And I would say it helps you to become more and more self-aware. Therefore it is, I would say, as a single action the most important action that people can engage to their benefit.
JULIE: Yeah. I believe that, and then there’s some nasty little voice that comes in and says, “Don’t do it.” (Laughs)
ELIAS: Ah.
JULIE: And I listen sometimes. I get distracted.
ELIAS: And I would say that little voice is expressing in that manner because it is that part of your attention that is distracted by everything around you. But that is the old familiar that’s distracting you in directions that are encouraging more extremes, encouraging more dramatics, encouraging you to not put yourself first. And therefore I’d say to you that this is very important, that you are not listening to that voice. (Pause) (Laughs)
JULIE: Okay. So I want to talk about my… some of my focal points during meditation. Would you say that it matters? Are there some that are more effective for some people and some for others? I mean, to me that seems obviously yes.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: So like mine is… One that has been very beneficial in the past, but I’m not sure what I’m doing exactly, so I kind of want to talk about it. So being aware of that element that, you might say part or element of myself, that wakes up in the morning. I was asleep, my attention was turned inward and now it turns outward. And I’m thinking is that…? It’s like… Is that the subjective self? I mean...
ELIAS: When you’re—
JULIE: The part of me that wakes up in the morning.
ELIAS: The part of you that wakes up in the morning is partially objective and partially subjective. It’s both.
JULIE: Mm-hm. And that’s my focus. I like that focus, but then I started thinking that it’s non-physical, that I’m doing something wrong with focusing on that. And maybe that’s not true.
ELIAS: I would definitely say that’s not true.
JULIE: Okay. All right. Well, then I’m going to go ahead and stick with that one for myself.
ELIAS: Very well.
JULIE: Yeah. But would you recommend that? Would you agree?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Okay. As far as… Like if I were to teach meditation with other people or suggest meditation to other people, because sometimes they ask me and I always say well, there are a lot of different focal points and you have to find one that works for you, so experiment. And for some people it’s breathing, focusing on breathing in and out. For some people it might be a candle flame or some… Or like the thing that I’m focusing on. You know, that might be an option too for some people, that they may like. But do you have another suggestion? Or does that sound about right?
ELIAS: There are countless directions. I would say that the first piece is to, if you were to be speaking to someone about meditation, to ask them what is natural and what is soothing to them. That’s an important question because what is soothing to them is something that can be used as a method in the meditation. Therefore I would say that the first piece is to ask questions about themself, and that will give you information about what will be successful for them in a meditation.
Now; I would say that meditation is not as – as you know – as rigid and strict as people think it is. Therefore it isn’t only a method of being blank. And in that, some people respond better to sounds. Some people are more visual, and that doesn’t mean that they have to be engaging an open-eyes meditation. They can be engaging a closed-eyes meditation and be visualizing. I would say that some people require doing something that will keep their thought mechanism occupied, but in a limited capacity. Some people can simply move in a direction of expressing almost nothing. It very much depends on the individual.
And some people simply don’t think much, and those people can move into a meditation and they can actually express that blank state. But that’s not common for western individuals because you’ve been taught to actually be paying attention to thinking all the time and therefore it’s more challenging for you to be moving in that direction, in which you’re not thinking at all.
But I would say that it doesn’t matter because you’re accomplishing the action of meditation regardless, in whatever method you use. And that can be tremendously beneficial, and it’s simply a matter of noticing and paying attention: what is important to you.
JULIE: So would you consider self-inquiry exercises to be kind of a limited form of meditation that uses the thinking apparatus a little bit? No, it actually doesn’t use that, it uses… But it does use the mind. It kind of stops thoughts by asking a question. Like who… Like one of my favorite ones used to be “Who is choosing this, this moment right now? Who is choosing?” And I would look for that chooser and stop my mind, stopped my mind right there, and then if my mind started going again I would just say, “Who is choosing this?” and look for the chooser.
ELIAS: That’s excellent.
JULIE: Okay.
ELIAS: That’s, that’s an excellent method and I would say that yes, that is something that also, as I expressed earlier, helps you to be more self-aware.
JULIE: Okay. And then another one that I really like sometimes… Would you consider this? Like sitting by a stream and just watching, watching one little wave and like the water’s continuously flowing. It has this appearance. (Chuckles) There’s an apparent wave there because there’s a stone underneath or something, and just watching that. Is that…? That’s a meditation too, I assume? That’s very soothing for me.
ELIAS: Yes. Most definitely. I would say that is also excellent because that moves you in a direction of calm AND it also moves you in a direction of flow. You are instructing your physical brain to move in a direction of flow. Because your brain moves in certain directions automatically, as a machine and in that, if you want to express differently, you have to instruct your physical brain to do something different. And it won’t always entirely move in the direction that you are instructing it, or precisely in the direction that you are instructing it, because it is, in a manner of speaking, what you model your computers after. And therefore it’s…. It is very much similar to a machine and it is designed to move in a certain direction, just as a vehicle, a car. You don’t expect a car to fly because that’s not how it was designed. It is designed to function in a particular manner and that’s what you use it for.
Your physical brain is designed to function in a particular manner. The problem with that is that that’s NOT what you use it for. That you don’t take into consideration what its design is and therefore what it is meant to be doing or how it is meant to function, and then using it accordingly, which would be much better. But in relation to something such as sitting by a stream or a brook and watching the water flow and the little waves and the ripples, that is sending a message to your brain to flow.
Now; it’s not going to flow in the manner that you think of flow, because it’s still going to function in the capacity that it’s designed for. Do you understand this far?
JULIE: Mm-hm. I think so.
ELIAS: Good. Therefore what you’re doing in that action is you are moving with it and encouraging it to flow in its capacity, in its function, rather than attempting to force it to do something different. (Pause)
JULIE: So what I’d like to do is create more of a flowing whole. I kind of… That’s what the brain is, could do, right?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Yeah. Like it can integrate all of the systems of the body and all the areas of my life or all the actions that I take in different directions, it can kind of integrate them into one big flow.
ELIAS: It can and it can’t.
Now; let me clarify that. Your mind, which is you and your thought mechanism, that is the part of you that actually integrates everything. Your brain is your command center for your neurological system with your body. And your neurological system is involved with parts of your body that are not only physical functions but that are integrated with physical functions, such as memory. And your neurological system is responsible for feelings. And in that, your brain is what is directing all of that, but your mind, which is you, is directing the command center, the brain. And in that, you’re also going beyond the physical brain and you’re manipulating energy. The brain doesn’t do that. The brain is limited to the functions that the body is responsible for.
Therefore, therefore – and this is an important piece – things such as your energy centers are not directed by your brain. They’re directed by your mind, which is you. Therefore there are parts that are associated with the body that are not necessarily a physical part of the body, that are not directed by your physical brain. And that’s important to know, especially in relation to meditation.
Because in that, your meditations would be different, depending upon what your intention is or what your focus is, your focal point and in that, what you want to accomplish. Such as an example: if you were generating a meditation and let’s say your meditation was focused on (pause) some type of healing in relation to something in your world, let us say hunger. That would not be something that you would engage a meditation that would be involving your physical brain. That would be something else.
Whereas if you are focusing on something that has to do with your physical body, then you would be engaging your physical brain. Or even something not as lofty as world hunger, but let us say you were engaging meditation in relation to a family member, which you can do. And in that, that also, you wouldn’t be engaging your physical brain for that. You would be engaging a different type of meditation which would involve your mind.
JULIE: Okay. Well, could you give me or can we discuss some examples of these three things that you brought up? Because they’re all important to me. And I’ll just tell you, in the past what I’ve done, like say there’s an issue with a family member, I will do a meditation of just opening. This is almost like probably my brightest, most expansive meditation that I can do, is opening to as far out as I can go into interconnectedness and light and open this complete opening to the self and source. Source. Because it’s not, it’s not my body. It’s like an interconnectedness.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: And so that’s what I’ve done with family members. I haven’t felt like I can have a big effect on things in the world, like something like hunger, although I would so much like to see that changing, you know. So can you comment about that?
ELIAS: First of all what I would say, in relation to that direction, is that you might not see a dramatic change. That doesn’t mean you’re not having an effect. I would express that these directions of meditation or what people consider prayer, which is another form of meditation, they are very effective. You don’t necessarily see it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not being successful.
Now; what I would say in relation to that is that if you want to have more of an objective awareness of how you are affecting in relation to something such as hunger or poverty or anything that you are concerned about in your world, and you want to be affecting through meditation, I would suggest that you choose something not so general, something more specific such as a specific location or a specific group of people or something that you know of that’s already in existence that is targeting that subject, such as something in your community that is helping to target that situation, such as a food bank. And in that, what you can then assess and you can give yourself information about is the success of that organization and you will see differences. You will be able to see, just as you see with yourself different results and different expressions that are accomplishing in relation to your meditation, and you see those results very quickly. You can also, if you follow any of these organizations, see how they are changing and how there is an impact in perhaps people donating more, perhaps more help, perhaps more people being fed, but you will see differences.
JULIE: And that would be basically the same meditation as I would do, I do for my family members and friends, when I actually do sit and specifically intend, open to actually being helpful?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: In that specific way. Yeah. Which is kind of like prayer, because I have no control over it but I do, like it’s a prayer.
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Yeah.
ELIAS: Prayers are meditations.
JULIE: Yeah. Or without words. It’s just an open… It’s like asking, open to having… Okay, so physical body, physical brain. I do have… Mary and I were talking about the spinal chord issues and how I have some numbness going down where my sciatic nerve is and it changes. It’s changeable. It’s not like a steady, static thing and I know that’s to do with my energy. How would that meditation be different?
ELIAS: Now; that would be in relation to your physical brain. Therefore that would be something that you would want to include your physical brain in that meditation. And that could be… You could accomplish that in whatever direction you choose, whatever is comfortable for you and whatever is allowing you to focus in that capacity. But you want to be including your physical brain and your neurological system because—
JULIE: In my prayer, in my meditation that I’m doing, that’s what you mean? Like set that intention?
ELIAS: Yes. To include your brain and your neurological system.
JULIE: Okay. And then, the same way I do when I’m doing other meditation, like for say a family member, I’m just kind of observing changes in my brain, neurological system, as I continue?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: With that intention in meditation.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: And my meditation just being to open up to source energy?
ELIAS: I would say and to channel that through your brain and your neurological system.
Now; what I would say in that – this is another significant point, and it also speaks to what I was expressing to you earlier about not attempting to change the natural function of the brain, because just as you won’t make a car fly, you’re not going to make your brain change its function. In this, one of the things that your brain does, it’s part of its function, is it anticipates, and it anticipates in many, many, many directions. Therefore what it’s doing is figuratively speaking, it’s scanning everything possible around you and in you, and it’s anticipating what the next move is, what the next expression is, what the next action is. And therefore this is the piece that you’re not changing what its function is, but you can relax it. Therefore your brain is engaging with your neurological system and it’s anticipating that nerve expressing in a particular manner, and it’s anticipating the result of that action and therefore how your leg is being affected or how your glute muscles are being affected or how your back is being affected. Because it’s already moving ahead of you and it’s already directing those nerves to express in a certain manner.
Therefore, with your meditation, if you are not moving in opposition to your brain, not trying to change its function, but relaxing it and therefore that gives your mind, you, the opportunity to change the result. Do you understand?
JULIE: Yeah.
ELIAS: Therefore you’re moving in cooperation with the function of your physical brain. It’s going to anticipate. That’s something you can’t change because that’s the function of that organ, just as you can’t change the beating of your heart and stop it and continue to survive. That’s its function. In this, you can relax the function in your brain to allow you then to change the outcome of the command.
JULIE: Okay. So I’m just meditating and asking my brain to relax. And then I could later make some suggestions of being open to having my nervous system regenerate or correct or… You know, there are different areas of my body that habitually tighten. So I’m just basically making suggestions from my mind. Is that correct?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Yeah. (Pause) All right. That’s good to know about the brain anticipating. I hadn’t… I didn’t know that. It’s almost like it expects, it expects to keep functioning the same way it has been.
ELIAS: Yes. It does.
JULIE: And it’s doing that service for me, so I don’t have to think about it.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: So if I don’t want that service anymore of that specific action, I can encourage my brain to relax and change directions.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: Gradually, not… not immediate or forceful or…
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: The kundalini meditation, I’ve just being doing maybe ten or fifteen minutes of breathing exercises, and when I was combining that with meditation I was having a lot of interesting experiences, including like new thoughts and new appreciations, for like even my mother or like I was feeling a glow and a warmth kind of around my body. That felt just wonderful. And it wasn’t constant, but it was like these different things were happening that I really enjoyed. Nothing, there was nothing too dramatic except – even this could have been a lot more traumatic – but I would wake up in the morning and I was having guidance from my inner voice very regularly or remembering a dream that would give me guidance. Or this one time I dreamed of a… I think it was another focus that was very… a trauma, but I didn’t experience the feelings of it, I just experienced the scene, the picture, the movie without the feeling, the whole feeling of it. Would you encourage this kind of meditation or is it, could it be too dramatic or too…?
ELIAS: Oh no, I would definitely encourage it.
JULIE: You do? Okay.
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Because I know that some people can get really out of balance with it, and maybe that… Maybe that’s my thing about I’ve got to keep meditating also, like the longer meditation periods—
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: — with, combined with the breathing, which would be shorter.
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Because I don’t want to get out of balance, because I can see how… I mean, I’ve gone in that direction before of feeling like I was a little crazy or paranoid or whatever, just because too much material was coming in all at once.
ELIAS: I very much understand. And I would say that yes, it’s definitely important that you balance with the meditation.
JULIE: Okay. All right. Well, then I will continue with that because it’s fun. (Elias laughs) It seems like it’s waking up different areas of experience. I guess that’s the energy centers of the mind more so than the brain.
ELIAS: I would agree.
JULIE: Okay. But for healing, as far as healing the neurological system, that, would that be included in that? It’s kind of included, isn’t it?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Mm-hm. Okay.
ELIAS: And as you know, the wonder of meditation is that you don’t have to have only one subject. You don’t have to have only one intention. You can have more than one intention with one meditation. It’s not the same as the inner landscape, in which in that you generally speaking should only have one intention. But with meditation, you can move in several directions at the same time which can be very beneficial.
JULIE: You mean like several intentions?
ELIAS: Yes. Yes.
JULIE: And then what’s the intention for the inner landscape? That’s connecting with the subjective?
ELIAS: The inner landscape IS the subjective. The subjective is trading places with the objective in the inner landscape. That’s the reason that I have expressed you choose objectively a picture as a photograph, and that’s all you do objectively. Because then the subjective trades places with the objective and it creates the movie.
JULIE: Okay. (Pause) Are you there?
ELIAS: Yes.
JULIE: Oh, okay. All right. So you, you mentioned in Nuno’s session about… in the, like three hundred years in the future, people connecting with their subjective in a more ritualized or a daily manner, similar to meditation but not meditation. Is this inner landscape something similar to that?
ELIAS: Similar. Not quite the same but yes, it is similar. It’s more advanced, because at that point, they have also learned how to engage and manipulate the subjective awareness in a very similar manner that you do with your objective, how to use it and how to direct it.
JULIE: Okay. And I would think a precursor to that or like the beginning steps is just directing meditation or directing our attention in meditation?
ELIAS: Yes. Most definitely.
JULIE: Because there are all these different actions that we can accomplish with meditation, a lot of different topics to be engaged.
ELIAS: I agree. Yes.
JULIE: Objectively through this meditation. Okay. Hm. Okay.
ELIAS: I would say these are excellent questions that you are engaging about meditation, my friend.
JULIE: Thank you. I’ve actually considered… When I was with the sanctuary church and I… the timing wasn’t working out well but they were asking me to lead meditations, like lead a five-minute meditation. And so I was doing that once a month and getting really good feedback and enjoying it, and I ‘ve considered having a meditation here at the house, but… I could invite people over to do it, and either guiding or not, just giving a little bit of, you know, discussion about it. But I haven’t gotten that far yet, but what…
ELIAS: Ah. Perhaps you will.
JULIE: I’ve thought about it. (Laughs) Yeah, maybe I will. Yeah. But I do think about it a lot because it’s really, it’s been the most beneficial thing in my life like I said, and…
ELIAS: I would say that when individuals actually do it, they would likely say the same, that it is such a tremendously beneficial change in their life, one of the most beneficial actions that they can engage.
JULIE: Yeah, it’s… It does change everything and that’s why I (laughs) was mad at myself and down on myself for getting so distracted away from it. But as you said, when I think about that I’m reinforcing that.
ELIAS: Correct. And I would say that it is something that is non-productive. All it does is discount you and move you farther in the direction of not doing what you want to do.
JULIE: Which is meditating.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: Okay. Yeah. Okay, you said in someone’s session that it can’t… there’s no amount of… like… Now I can’t even remember the words, but hours and hours would be great if you can do that much during a day. You can’t meditate too much.
ELIAS: Correct.
JULIE: Right. Okay. It’s just a matter of how much you want to do it.
ELIAS: Correct. That is absolutely correct.
JULIE: Okay.
ELIAS: And I would say that there is no limit to how much you can do it. It is simply a matter of what your preference is and what you want to do, what you want to accomplish.
[The timer for the end of the session rings]
Sometimes what you want to accomplish may require more time than other things that you want to accomplish.
JULIE: Right. Okay. Well I think this has been very helpful, Elias. I’ll report back next time I talk to you about it.
ELIAS: Excellent. (Julie laughs) I will be tremendously looking forward to that and I will be constantly offering my energy to you to be helpful in encouragement for you to be moving back into your meditations with ease.
JULIE: Thank you.
ELIAS: You are very welcome. In dear friendship and in tremendous love and affection to you as always, my dear friend, au revoir.
JULIE: Thank you, Elias.
(Elias departs after 58 minutes)
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