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    Meditation and Imagination
    Meditation and Imagination
    Meditation and Imagination
    Ebook191 pages1 hour

    Meditation and Imagination

    By Elleke van Kraalingen

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    About this ebook

    This is a clear and practical book for everyone who practices meditation –or who wants to do so. In a brief introduction the original meaning of meditation is explained according to the classical Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali. After this introduction the book consists purely of exercises, soberly and almost poetically described, to practice directly by oneself, or together with others. This book takes you from simple relaxation and concentration exercises, which everyone can start with, gradually building up to more advanced exercises leading to higher meditation. Different techniques are explained along the way to come to awareness of the transpersonal Self, the universal core in every human being. The last part of the book comprises a series of playful imagination exercises, which can be applied to shape your daily life creatively. Meditation is more than a discipline, meditation is a way to live life to the full!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Hunt Publishing
    Release dateFeb 24, 2012
    ISBN9781846949715
    Meditation and Imagination

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      Book preview

      Meditation and Imagination - Elleke van Kraalingen

      distribution.

      Word of Thanks

      I’m grateful to my inner teachers who have taught me meditation, as well as to Jo and Ajita, who taught me yoga and raja yoga. I am grateful to all teachers over the world whose messages have reached and inspired me in other ways, like the Buddha, Christ, Kahlil Gibran, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Michael and Treenie Roads and many others.

      In addition, I have learned a lot from all students in my yoga and meditation courses, who have given me feedback by sharing their experiences and asking questions.

      Di - without your enthusiasm to edit the manuscript and spend so much time and effort to turn my writing into acceptable English, where would I be? Thank you so much!

      Yoram, Tara, Imre and Vivian - you have taught me patience, dedication and flexibility, all of which are necessary to express meditation in daily life. I hope, one day, you’ll enjoy this book.

      Pieter, my partner in all, my mirror - your support, feedback and resistance is always bringing me further!

      Thanks to you all!

      Elleke

      Preface

      A lot of books on meditation have been written before. I know quite a few of them myself. Why, then, another book?

      I have often been asked during my courses in meditation, or in my practice as a psychologist, whether I knew of a small, handy-sized book with meditation exercises, which left out the overloading theory: not a book about meditation, but a book with meditations. I did not. And, thus I decided to write one myself.

      Meditation is something to do, to experience and, finally, it is a way of being. It is an experience which cannot to be transferred, except by showing someone the way to come to his or her own experience. This book is a practical guide to undertake an explorative journey.

      I wish you a lot of joy, insight and inner peace!

      With love and respect,

      Elleke

      Introduction

      Around the age of fourteen I encountered spontaneous experiences of altered states of consciousness, accompanied by deep insights. I had not been educated in a religious context and, at the time, I had never heard of the word ‘meditation’. But these experiences touched something inside, like memories bubbling up of what I had always known, but could not know.

      I received inner teachings and guidance.

      To allow these experiences to come more consciously, I sat down, closed my eyes, relaxed, focussed my attention and opened up for whatever would come. And what happened went beyond my imagination. It was a fascinating and exciting process of discovery and growing awareness. Gradually, this focussed relaxation became a daily activity, which brought me a lot of joy, peace, strength and insight, and still does. Soon, I found out that I was better able to relax and concentrate and that my mind was clearer when I did some physical exercises in advance, which I knew from gymnastics. In this way, my yoga developed as a preparation for meditation.

      After a year or two, I started to share my experiences with some trusted friends. I got books handed to me and started to read about consciousness, meditation, philosophy and, later, psychology. I went to yoga class to work on a structured base and, a few years later, I started at a teacher training course in yoga and meditation. Out of enthusiasm about the possibilities of the human mind, I started to teach. I have done ever since. Besides teaching, I keep on learning, meditating and playing on a path which is infinite. And that is the idea I want to pass on with this little book: Meditation is not a technique; it is a way of life.

      How to Use This Book

      It has been said that meditation cannot be learned from a book, but has to be passed on by teacher to student. However, it will be clear from the previous story that I have learned to meditate by myself, without either an external teacher or a book. Later, I started to read about it and went to a course and started to structure and deepen my meditations under the supervision of a teacher. My viewpoint is that meditation is a natural state of being, which isn’t acquired by a student; it is remembered. It is not something mysterious, but an intrinsic part of our natural potential. That we can use help in the process of remembering seems obvious and meaningful. A book alone is not sufficient, but it can be a means of support. I would recommend that anyone who really wants to go deeply into meditation take lessons at some stage. The enrichment of professional supervision and feedback cannot be substituted.

      Everybody can learn to meditate. But meditation will not have the same meaning for everyone. It is like maths; everybody can learn to calculate (taking into account particular mental handicaps, which also apply to meditation), but not everyone will become a mathematician. Meditation is not suitable for everyone in terms of ‘sitting down for it’. Some people spontaneously get into a meditative state; for example, during sports, or when they are creative in arts, or intimately together with a partner or a child, or in nature.

      In this book, different methods of meditation are described, and examples are offered ‘in action’. A brief description of the classical meaning of meditation, and different states of consciousness that can be experienced, is followed by suggestions for practice and an explanation of how to structure a meditation.

      There are meditations with different themes and for different levels of experience. Each meditation is an infinite path; you may go further and further. In fact, I recommend that you practice the same meditation for a long period of time. A guideline could be: as long as you feel comfortable or as long as you feel you are getting something out of it. However, there is a pitfall! No development goes in a smooth straight line upwards; there will be peaks and dales and times that you make less progress; or - to your own perception - no progress at all. It will be tempting to try another method or technique, but perseverance and patience is needed here. Therefore, a second guideline could be: try every technique - if it appeals to you

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