Snow Melting in a Silver Bowl: A Book of Active Meditations
144
Snow Melting in a Silver Bowl: A Book of Active Meditations
144eBook
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Overview
Active meditation is the solution for those who don't have the time or patience to sit still and wait for enlightenment and peace. Snow Melting In A Silver Bowl is a collection of activities designed to focus the mind--if only for a moment--to see the spiritual in the physical world.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781609253172 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Red Wheel/Weiser |
| Publication date: | 08/01/2004 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| File size: | 6 MB |
About the Author
Nancy Brady Cunningham is an accomplished poet, author of A Book of Women's Altars, and workshop leader in yoga, meditation and ritual for more than 30 years.
Denise Geddes is a professional photographer, whose work is featured in A Book of Women's Altars. She teaches photography in Massachusetts.
Read an Excerpt
Snow Melting in a SILVER BOWL
A Book of Active Meditations
By Nancy Brady Cunningham
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
Copyright © 2004 Nancy Brady CunninghamAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60925-317-2
CHAPTER 1
COMMUNING WITH THE DEEPER SELF:
Why create an active meditation?
ritual
prayers painted
on scented water
overflow the altar bowl
where half-drenched letters
rise up in blurry alphabets—
mouth the dazzle
Active meditations may be viewed as rituals of intention. Why not simply keep your intentions alive in your mind and heart? In essence, this is the first step in creating a simple ceremony—deciding on a heartfelt reason to perform the active meditation. Ritual then moves beyond the abstract into the physical realm, due to the awareness that the deep mind reveals itself in the language of symbols.
Much time and money are spent in consulting psychologists concerning the interpretations of dreams, nightmares, visions, body language, artwork, children's play therapy, and Jungian sand-tray therapy. There seems to be widespread agreement in psychology that the deeper mind (the other 95 percent of the iceberg) sends messages to the conscious mind by means of symbols. In active meditation, symbolic language is used to communicate our intentions to the deep mind, thus making a conversation out of what was once a monologue.
Sophy Burnham, in her book about angels, offers the reader a way to pray effectively. One step is to visualize your prayer request as a fait accompli. This envisioning speaks to the deep mind in a way that words alone do not; in addition, seeing the intention as a "done deal" brings it into reality more quickly. In active meditation, even this visualization process is taken a step further—you enact your intention. This enactment requires two things: a symbol of one of the four elements and the involvement of one of your five senses. The deep mind is profoundly connected with the natural world, so your senses and the elements speak to that interconnectedness. Each person is a microcosm composed of nature's elements: Air (breath), Fire (energy), Water (blood), and Earth (body). Another link is the appeal to at least one of the senses because sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and touch bring us into the present moment; in the deep mind, time and space do not exist—there is only the eternal now.
In active meditation, you open the conversation by centering on an intention, continue by choosing a prop (or more than one) that represents an element, then intensify the communication through an appeal to one of your five senses. With these three steps, your intention becomes tangible, and you have enlivened your intent with a universal energy that brings about a change in consciousness, a shift in perception, an altered state.
The ceremonies run the gamut of human experience; for example, any intention for which you might offer prayers could become an active meditation that is, in essence, a dramatized prayer. A bedtime petition for protection through the night could evolve into an incense blessing for your bedroom.
Light a stick of incense. Slowly walk around your room, slipping the smoke over all your favorite things: books, crystals, plants, photos, and clothing. Turn out the light and walk once around your bed, the glow from the tip creating a circle of light and protection for you as you sleep. Place the incense stick in a holder. Reverently set it before a picture or statue of the divine, such as Buddha, Blessed Mary, an angel, a goddess, or the earth mother. Drift off to dreamland knowing that the smoke continues to send protection prayers to the powers that be. When you awaken the next morning, the lingering scent will call you to morning meditation.
A thanksgiving day celebration can be enhanced through an unusual toast. Give each person a goblet of water and ask everyone, in turn, to raise their glass in honor of one person they are grateful to, and to share the reason they feel thankful for this person's presence in their life. When all have had their say, rather than taking a sip, ask folks to pour the water into a punch bowl, one person at a time. Silence should prevail so that all can hear each person's splash of thanksgiving. The hostess then stirs the contents saying, "We mingle our thanks as we gather here today, joining our spirits as one." Then she ladles out a glass of thankfulness to each person; everyone clinks glasses and sips, completing the toast.
A naming ceremony for a newborn could begin with guests forming a circle of love around parents and baby. While the mother distributes a flower to each guest, the father shares the meaning of the child's name and their reasons for choosing that name for their child. The baby is then handed around the circle, and each guest offers a blessing for the baby, while stroking the newborn's cheek with the flower. The mother ends with, "Our newborn will be called ________ from this day forward. May our circle of blessings follow him (her) all the days of his (her) life." The mother gathers up the flowers and places them in a vase beside the bassinet or crib; the baby will sleep amid a shower of fragrant blessings.
On a day when you feel scattered, this ritual can help you collect the pieces. Sound is arresting—it pulls your awareness to the present. Percussive sounds, in their purity and intensity, rapidly transport you to that focused center behind all the worry, aggravation, and stress of your day.
Bring the mind (Air) into clarity by ringing a crystal wineglass or bowl. Retrieve your physical energy (Fire) by erasing fatigue with a heartbeat rhythm played on a small drum. Calm your emotions (Water) with the metallic sound of a bell or gong, rung with the slow, stately grace of a church bell. Clack two pieces of wood or stone (Earth) together; feel the vibrations traveling up your arms, revitalizing your entire body. End by chanting the syllable Om (rhymes with home), the primordial sound, the alpha and omega of all sound in the universe. Chant until you feel quiet inside.
The phrase "letting go" tends to create mild apprehension in many people because it suggests loss. Consider that there are some things in your life that you could lose and not miss them one iota. Dwell on the ways in which such a letting go would free you. Contemplate the space you would create by ridding yourself of a dead-end job, an avocation that no longer interests you, a membership in a club you've outgrown.
Write what you are willing to sacrifice on a piece of looseleaf paper. Crumple it. Place it in a fireproof container and light it, while saying aloud, "I am letting go of _____. Now I have more time for activities that nourish me." Let your full attention center on the flames as you watch the paper shrink to a few ashes. Scatter the ashes to the four winds, knowing that you have created an open space where a new blessing may enter your life.
Since the language of the deeper mind is symbols, it is, for all intents, deaf to verbiage. Much like the hearing-impaired person who never learned to read lips, the deep mind yearns for the clear, precise, economical gestures of the sign language that is called ritual.
CHAPTER 2
HARMONIC RESONANCE:
Entwining classic meditation techniques with active meditation
communion
throated lilies
open to
threads of silver rain
perfuming
the holy
Through the addition of an activity that calls to the elements and your senses, any classic meditation technique can be transformed into an active meditation. Also, classic meditation can be used to begin an active meditation; conversely, a ritual ceremony can be used to settle your mind before a quiet-sitting meditation.
There are some differences, however, between the two types of meditation. Meditation, in its purest form, seeks to transcend the world, the body, and day-to-day existence. Active meditation sees the spiritual within the physical realm, considering all of existence to be holy, sacred, divine. Also, meditation intends to bring the practitioner to a state of pure awareness, an "at-one-ment" with a higher consciousness, a state of bliss arrived at through an inward focus. Active meditation, with its focus on the external, begins with a specific intention: a healing, a celebration of the seasons, a rite of passage. Meditation, in its purest form, seeks enlightenment. Active meditation seeks the spirit in all creation. Both, however, have as their goal connecting the practitioner with a universal energy source; thus, the two can be intertwined in enlightening ways.
Meditation focuses on the breath. Create an active meditation by gathering together a lit candle and a small glass bowl of water. Turn down the lights and with each exhalation breathe out through the mouth, lightly ruffling the water. Candlelight creates a soothing atmosphere. Watching the breath ripple the water's surface allows the invisible to become manifest. Count to five for the inhalation, and then again for the exhalation. Let the busy mind float over the water until it quiets, until there is only the breath. This ritual becomes a literal "watching the breath" meditation.
Another classic meditation focuses on the screen of the mind: visualizing light, a visual symbol (for example, the rose), or a realized being. The idea of visualizing a flower can become more tangible through the active meditation of becoming the flower.
Crouch down on the floor or outdoors on the grass. Imagine that you are a seed. Close your eyes and see the seed breaking open; watch green shoots appear. Begin to move. What type of flower are you destined to be? Feel the sun-warmed earth around you, encouraging your growth. You are kneeling now. Lift your arms (shoots) to poke through the topsoil. Warm rains and spring sunlight alternately bless you. Rise up to a standing position. Open your arms wide; reach for the sky. As you unfold your bud, what colors grace your petals and center? Feel the breeze gently fluffing your petals. Let your scent perfume the landscape.
Open your eyes as you slowly bring your arms to your sides. Experience yourself as a fresh new bloom. Carry that awareness into your day.
Using a mantra is another traditional meditation technique. Although classically the mantra is given by a guru, you need not adhere to this formality. A mantra can be any words that seem spiritually uplifting to you: a line of poetry, a verse from scripture, a phrase from a prayer, lyrics from a song—whatever you find inspirational.
For active meditation you might combine the words with a gesture: "I warm my heart at heaven's fire" will take on a ritualistic flavor if you light a candle, warm your hands at the flame, bring them to your heart. The repetition of the movement along with the words enlarges the mantra by bringing it into the physical realm.
Another mantra activity is written mantra. While saying the words, write them in a journal, allowing them to penetrate deeply into your being.
Candlegazing is both an inner and outer meditation. This technique consists of looking at the flame, then closing your eyes and trying to see the flame in your mind's eye. The concentration needed to envision the flame quiets the chatter of your surface mind. To give candlegazing a physical dimension, look at the flame until you see the halo around the flame. Then, light a stick of incense and move the smoke over your body's halo or aura. End by gazing at the flame while trying to feel the glow of your personal energy as it extends beyond your body, creating a halo. You and the flame become one! All living things possess auras, for the universal life force cannot be contained within contours; rather, it spills beyond the shape of things, forming the interconnectedness of all life.
Once you've chosen your intention, as well as the element and the sense you will use to bring your intention "into the flesh," you are ready to begin. Ritual is a form of consecrated action that focuses the spirit, bestowing a blessing on your dreams and desires. Any classic meditation can be braided in with the ritual elements to create a blended pattern that honors both.
CHAPTER 3
BEGINNINGS:
The inner life and outer world flow into each other
cabin
rain drips
through the roofplanks
into my
oatmeal
Active meditation centers on simple ceremonies to honor the spiritual energy inherent in all life. This form of meditation becomes the link between your interior and exterior lives, allowing a balance to exist between the two. By channeling meditative attention onto an external object or being or experience, you are able to erase the boundaries that keep the inner and outer selves separate. In our culture, one tends to identify the "spiritual" as the "invisible." Active meditation permits the discovery of the radiant soul in all things—plants, people, animals, earth, the elements. Even the apparently inanimate possesses a hidden-within-reach splendor.
All meditation requires a shift in consciousness; however, many traditional forms center on a quiet-sitting type of meditation, in which the practitioner focuses inward on the breath, the heartbeat, a visualization, or a mantra. Active meditation involves an active "doing," for example walking, gesturing, candle lighting, smudging, chanting, or performing a simple chore. Any of these activities, coupled with an inner focusing, can bring about expanded awareness. For example, if you were preparing lunch for a friend who is ill, you could pull the meal together with all the "feeling" of a short-order cook at the local diner during the noon rush. Or you could transform your cooking into an act of prayer by slowing your gestures and meditatively selecting ingredients, then chopping, stirring, slicing, and spreading them with thoughts of mixing light or blessings or healing into the food. Keep your heart open, pouring love into the mix. In the same manner, a quietly attentive mind set can transform any activity into an act of meditation.
Another kitchen contemplation involves a transfiguration that begins with the flip of a switch. One evening when you are alone, turn off all the kitchen lights and illuminate the room with candles. Look with "new" eyes at its shapes, hues, and textures—view your kitchen as you would a piece of found art. The soft flicker of flames allows you to see the hidden beauty as the room metamorphoses into a haven of calm and serenity. Gone is the oven screaming to be scoured, the floor whining to be washed, the piles of clutter begging to be shelved. Candlelight is forgiving! Grease spots on the stove magically vanish, dust on windowsills disappears, curtains (no longer white) take on a lovely cream color in the soft light. The untidy kitchen has become a space for meditation.
Choose one candle, and holding it, walk around the kitchen silently blessing all who gather there for meals. You are encircling the kitchen with the light of love. As you create this circle of light, note that your breathing deepens, the constant chatter of the mind quiets, and you are drawn inward to the stillness place. In this way, active meditation creates a mental state where inner and outer worlds interface. A lit candle in a messy kitchen can reveal how the spirit world lies encircled by the physical realm.
Making the shift away from the workaday mind into a more contemplative state can be enhanced by performing a rite of cleansing. The word "cleansing" does not imply that you are unworthy, unclean, or tainted. Instead, the word applies to the conscious mind—the "monkey mind" that swings unceasingly from one subject to the next, chattering gibberish all the while. The purification acts as a signal to the deep mind that it is time to surface, and to the surface mind that it is time to quiet. A purification suggests, "I am shedding my everyday state of consciousness. I am washing away the linear view of my world so that I might see the immeasurable spirituality all around me." The cleansing is a washing clean of your state of mind so that the mundane may morph into the profound in the fresh light of meditation. Through a purification you create a psychic (soul) space in which to enact the meditation.
Just as the singer practices scales, the musician tunes his instrument, the dancer stretches her body, so too you can prepare the mind-body for the performance of an active meditation:
• Drink a glass of cool spring water. Witness the sensation of the liquid in your mouth, and moving down your throat.
• Wash your hands and face with an aromatic soap, letting the scent calm you.
• Inhale the fragrance of a bundle of fresh herbs; the herbs are eye pleasing and aromatically potent.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Snow Melting in a SILVER BOWL by Nancy Brady Cunningham. Copyright © 2004 Nancy Brady Cunningham. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction VISIONS TAKING FORM: What is active meditation?
1 COMMUNING WITH THE DEEPER SELF: Why create an active meditation?
2 HARMONIC RESONANCE: Entwining classic meditation techniques with active
meditation practice
3 BEGINNINGS: The inner life and outer world flow into each other
4 SIMPLE CEREMONIES: A path into the realm of the spirit
5 THE SENSES: Open wide the doors to the temple
6 SOUL TIME: The thresholds of the day
7 A CIRCLE OF SEASONS: How the ever-changing seasons affect your
contemplative spirit
8 THE SPIRIT LIFE OF ART: Meditations to inspire
9 ENCHANTMENTS: Using mythic figures to enhance your meditations
10 ECHOES: Consecrating everyday actions
11 Create your own active meditations
Notes
Bibliography
Resources
About The Author And The Photographer