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Lesson 1: Beginning Meditation

Meditation is the foundation of all metaphysical training. It is the key to finding your spiritual path and developing your innate divine powers. Why do we study meditation? To gain control over the mind. The mind is your thoughts, feelings and experiences. The mind becomes whatever is "programed" into it. In fact, the mind will manifest whatever is programed in it, if only in that persons perceptions. To successfully practice any magickal or spiritual discipline you must be in control of your mind.

The untrained mind behaves much like a spoiled child, doing what it wants when it wants. When you first begin to practice the mind will rebel and disrupt your concentration with pointless, endless chatter and pictures. The more you practice the more your mind comes under control. Eventually you will gain such control that you will be able to focus your attention on the single conscious point of light that is your innate divinity.

Diligent, daily practice will yield several important results. You will become "stress free". This means that you will be able to deal with stress in a calm, efficient and productive manner, rather than  ineffectively stressing out in a way that drains your vital life force. You will become relaxed which will give benefits to both your physical and spiritual self. It increases the ease of your energy flow. You will gain a calm and peaceful outlook. Your ability to use your mental facilities will become more efficient because your mind will not be bogged down with worries and such. You will eventually find that you are better able to express your self.

A lot of people throw around the word meditation these days but do not know what it really means. People often think it is just sitting in a corner contemplating enlightenment or inflicting agony on your self. The truth is that meditation is a direct conversation with the Creator/Divinity/Godhead.

True meditation is done from a trance state. This can stop the sensations of your body making you feel light, heavy, full, empty, hot, cool, large, small or any number of experiences. You may even feel that your body no longer exists. These are indications of the successful process of meditation and do not mean anything in them selves. They simply allow you to turn your attention to the Divinity within and without you.

There are two basic types of meditation. At the advanced stages they become the same but for now we will differentiate them. Inward meditation trains the mind to bring it under your control. It allows your to truly learn about your self, and see the Divinity within. Outward meditation focuses on exploring other realms, such as astral or dimensional travel. It covers communicating with spirits and with the creative force outside your self. It has been said "Be still and know that I am God". This means to still the mind and body so that you can attune with the Creator. This in turn can place you in a position to receive direct inspiration form the original source. These prophetic inspirations are personal, so be careful who you share them with. Most religions started by one person receiving prophetic inspiration and thinking that it was meant for the whole world! WE are all created differently, so there can be no "one right way"! There are truly many paths up the mountain, we must each find our own way.

Through the diligent practice of meditation your will become one with your mind. This leads to you becoming one with the power. When you master both inward and outward meditation you will know that you and Divinity are one. All this comes about by learning to focus the scattered rays of your mind. Please head this warning; this training is very powerful so you must use it only in a positive way. Remember what you send out returns to you. What you send out by magick returns threefold! Be positive in all you do and only good will return. This law works because your actions begin as vibrations within you. These vibrations attract similar vibrations. That is how magick works. I hope you see where this is going! Sadly, most must learn this lesson the hard way.

Practicing Meditation: There are two basic postures used for beginners in meditation. First is seated in a chair. You want a chair with a straight back, level legs, all wood if possible. Sit with your feet flat on the floor, spine straight, hands palms up or down in your lap depending on what you are doing. Try to sit as if suspended by a string on the crown of your head. Breath deeply from the abdomen.

The second is sitting on the floor. The easy position is what most of us learn in school as "Indian sitting". You may want to sit on a pillow. Cross your legs, keep your spine straight again as if your head is suspended by a string, hands on your knees this time. You may want to press your back into a wall until you become accustomed to the position. A variation of this also popular with beginners is what is called the easy lotus. Sit as in the easy pose, but instead of crossing your legs, place one on top of the other.

When you sit down begin by stretching your hands up above your head. This helps to relax you and open your energy channels.

As far as location goes when you begin you will want to have ideal conditions. Any quiet space works. Turn of the t.v., silence your phones, etc. You may want to play some meditation music, or ambient nature sounds, but listen to them first as some can have distracting or even disrupting noises at the most inopportune times. If you can not achieve a quiet area try ear plugs. Eventually you will be able to block out all distractions even pain with just your mind, but in the beginning any little thing can interrupt your practice. You will also want a timer of some sort. An egg timer works, just put it in a spot where you can't hear the ticking. You may want to put a pillow on plastic container on it. Digital timers are available but most people just use there cell phones. Just make sure that the sound alerting you that your time is up is not too disruptive so it won't startle you. Also try to practice your meditation training at the same time each day. Just after waking up or before going to bed work for most. Put on some comfortable clothing like a white tee shirt, cotton is best. Be sure you do not eat or get in any arguments or other stressful events for about twenty or thirty minutes before meditation. Both of these can disturb your energy flow.

Finally, try to memorise the procedures you will be using before you begin as having to stop to read the directions will interrupt your flow as well. Light a white candle and some soft incense if you have these, you may want to turn down or even turn off the lights. Begin with a protective ritual to block out all negativity.

Cross of Power and Protection: Stand up. Face east for this and all basic meditation exercises to align with the Earths energy flow. Take a few deep breaths and relax. Take the first and second fingers of your right hand and touch your forehead and chant eeeeeeee (sounds like he). Sweep your hand down to your genitalia and chant ooooooo (sounds like oh). Sweep your hand up to your left shoulder and chant ahhhhhh (sounds like haw). Touch your heart area and chant vooooo (sounds like hoe). Bring your hand to your right shoulder and chant iiiiieeeee (sounds like eye). Finish by forcefully saying "I am now completely protected from all forces. As I will so must it be!" This practice is accumulative, becoming more powerful with every repetition.

Basic Relaxation: Set up your candle about three feet in front of where you will be siting for the meditation. You want it where you can easily gaze at it without strain. Only trail and error will show you exactly where to put it. Set your timer for  twenty to thirty minutes. This gives you about ten minutes for relaxation and ten to twenty minutes to meditate. Lay down on your back as flat as possible. After a week or so you will be able to do this sitting or even standing but for now lay down. Focus on your left foot, tense it for about seven seconds then relax it as you breath out. It should feel like it is melting into the floor, becoming very heavy. Now work your way up your left leg tensing and relaxing. Do the right leg. Then your buttock, stomach, back, chest, shoulders, arms, hands and finger, neck, face and head. If you still have places of tension, repeat the tense and relax on them. Remember to exhale when you relax.

You are now relaxed and in a slightly altered state of awareness. One of the secrets that the Order teaches is that when you are relaxed you can lower your "mind shield". This is the barrier we all have up around our minds to protect them from intrusion. The down side is that it decreases your minds power to effect the world around you and to receive psychic information. This shield is naturally lowered during sleep, when unconscious and during trance or altered states. Knowing and using this knowledge will lead to a more productive practice. Also, tension blocks energy flow. Later I will teach you how to use tension to build energy, but to get energy to flow you must relax.

So, now you have protected your self, relaxed, lowered your mind shield and are now ready to begin meditation, ritual work or divination.

First Basic Meditation: Sit in your chair or against the wall in your meditation position as still as you can. Close your eyes and center your attention on the center of your head. Softly chant the mantra ooommmmmmm over and over as you breath out. Chant it in your mind as you inhale. Focus on seeing the blackness before your closed eyes. As thoughts arise, simply let them arise and bring your attention gently back to the task at hand. Acknowledge there presence but pay them no attention. With time they will pass and become less frequent eventually disappearing all together. This practice is the foundation of all the other exercises taught by the Order.

When the timer sounds slowly open your eyes and end the meditation. You may either put out the candle and be done or continue on to the next step.

Candle Meditation Number 1: This will increase your psychic sight and powers of visualisation. With your eyes open, gaze at the candle flame for up to two minutes. Try to look more at the wick than the flame itself. If your mind starts to chatter just start chanting ooommmm. After a few weeks begin to try to chant this silently in your head. After some time has passed, close your eyes and in your minds eye picture the candle flame. Hold this as long as you can. A full second is a long time to hold an image in an untrained mind, so any amount of time past that is a good accomplishment. Keep up the practice and you will slowly build your time up. When the image is lost you are done with this practice. It should not take more that thirty minutes to complete the whole routine, and this is enough in the beginning.

Candle Meditation Number 2: When you have seen progress with number one you can try this one for some variety. Begin as in number 1. When you close your eyes try to feel the light of the candle shining on your third eye, in between your eyebrows. Open your eyes again and gaze at the flame. Close them and visualise the flame burning in your third eye. This has the same effects as number 1.

Candle Meditation Number 3: This is a little more advanced. Begin as before, but you will begin with five minute sessions and can build up to thirty. Do not move during this meditation, not even to blink if you can! Clear your mind and gaze at the wick of the candle. Lock your eyes on it! Don't take your gaze off it for the preset time. Breath deeply and try not to think. Don't even chant. Just sit and gaze and breath deeply. Your eyes will water at first making it seem an impossible task, but soon you will adjust and the time that passes which seemed excruciating torture will seem to be over very quickly. This exercise will bring the mind and body under your control and endow you with the famed "sorcerers gaze". This can be used to cast spells, control unruly spirits or gain psychic information. It is very difficult to master the full thirty minutes required for this one however, any time spent on it will give benefits in sheer will power.

Mental Magick: This is the easiest, but least powerful way to work magick for a beginner. Sometimes called projection of the mental powers, It is the true origin from which positive thinking and creative visualisation are watered down from. Ironically, it is also the foundation of which the most advanced magick is built. It can be done totally in the mind but it is best to do at least the preliminary steps physically.

Begin with the Cross of Power and Protection. Do your relaxation exercise. perform the power chants (you will learn these in lesson four). At first you will do this from a meditative position, but after a while it can be done any where even just standing still seeming to others to be doing nothing. Now strongly picture the desired outcome in your mind. Visualise only the desired outcome!!! Do not picture the whole process, just the results. Let your self get emotional. Feel the appropriate emotion to the results desired. If your mind wanders, chant ooommm. As an example, if you wanted a car, see your self driving it and enjoying it. Get exited about the car. Keep this up for five to fifteen minutes. You can use your timer as time can be difficult to gauge in an altered state of mind. Your brain will devise tricks to keep you from doing this hard work and can make you think five minutes has passed when only one has gone by. The more you practice these things the easier they get. This method is simple, yes, but very powerful in the hands of someone with a trained mind, so keep up your training at least four times a week. Daily is best for the maximum results.

As a side note, if you find stillness too difficult, or are getting frustrated with trying to clear your mind try hard physical exercise. This can leave the mind to tired to fight you, but still awake enough to focus. Any activity that occupies your attention can become a meditation. If your mind is too unruly for you to get anywhere, prepare for your meditation as always, however bring a pen and paper. As thoughts arise, write them down. When done you will see the irrelevance of your chatter. Only do this once, don't let your meditation sessions become senseless writing. Many people find that if they begin by just letting there mind throw it's tantrum, they can proceed to the meditation with less and less interruptions. Also with each session the minds tantrums become less and less, until they are gone.

End Lesson #1