In this post, you will learn what meditation is, and how to meditate spiritually. You’ll discover several meditation techniques and how to approach them. Following are the contents of this blog post. Make sure to quickly skim through the meaning of meditation because it will build the right foundation. Most importantly you will also develop the right mindset that you should have before going into any meditation practice.
What is Spiritual Meditation?
There are a variety of meditations when you look into the eastern ways of doing it. Some of them are used for manifesting your desires into reality, some require chanting to concentrate the mind, some directly push you toward the light that you are, and some involve introspection.
Spiritual meditation is the type where you bridge yourself with your own divine nature, the universe or god by surrendering your all to it. The meditation is not something you do. In other words, you’ll not experience that divine touch called meditation just by closing your eyes because that experience is not the cause, it’s a consequence. Divinity is a consequence of surrendering.
When you say, you’re trying to meditate, it is pretty similar to saying that you’ll light a lamp when the darkness ceases. Sounds funny but that’s what beginners (and even many advanced practitioners) do. You have to light the lamp first and you don’t have to worry about darkness. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re a criminal or a saint, when you surrender yourself to the ultimate consciousness, it accepts you with equal grace.
So, How Do We Experience This Divine Meditativeness?
The true meaning of meditation is observation. Observation never comes from an intent to observe. The ability to observe is innate, which means you don’t have to do anything to observe something.
Meditation is a state of awareness. It always comes from relaxation without tiredness. True relaxation comes not from tiredness but restfulness. If you try to wake yourself up when you’re sitting relaxed and about to drift off, you’ll pass into a wakeful state of void. This is a form of meditation which is replenish your energy and refresh your mind.
He has the power to create his destiny [Click To Learn How].
On the other hand, a person who is not aware of his/her true nature is not far from being asleep.
What is Meditativeness?
When you withdraw your attention from all the activities and mental dialogue and put it on your breath, you become meditative.
Meditativeness is the opposite of mood.
Not when you want to stop all the hustle and sit quietly—But when you don’t want to sit quietly and you sit quietly anyway—In that very moment, the real you have taken control over your body.
Different States of Meditation
There are several names given to the states of meditation. These includes:
- Shoonya or absolute nothingness. (Offered as a Guided Meditation by Sadhguru: Here)
- Samadhi or a state of dissolution with god/universe (Popularly known as enlightenment)
- Maha-Samadhi (Many enlightened beings have consciously left their body through meditation)
These meditative states are in chronological order, which means one comes after the other.
Types Of Spiritual Meditation
There are many types of spiritual meditations. Some are easily accessible to common people, some more sacred that need guidance from Yogis and Gurus. Every meditation technique is focused on one thing. That is to understand and realize who we are (or Who I am, as one universal being). Some of the techniques include:
- Japa (Mantra meditation)
- Mindful meditation
- Watching the mind (Self-Observation)
- Concentration (Focusing your mind on a single imagined point of light)
- Surrender: Surrending yourself to a deity or the universe
- Devotion
- Introspection: Asking yourself deep questions like “Who am I?”
How to Meditate Spiritually?
Spiritual meditation means meditating upon your true nature. When you withdraw your awareness away from everything (without going asleep), something remains.
It is pure awareness. Pure awareness happens without judgment. Become one with the soil and the planet.
There are many ancient techniques that can help you dive deep into the state of concentration and meditation.
Method 1: Self-Observation
The less you become, the closer you get to becoming yourself (Pure Witness). Let’s discuss a step-by-step approach to tap into meditativeness, god, pure awareness, or collective consciousness. The steps are as follows.
1. BECOME STILL
Stop all activities, relax, and sit still. You must feel comfortable while seated. The more relaxed and still you become the closer you get towards a meditative state.
2. BREATHE
Close your eyes and begin to watch your breath. Breathe in and out from your lower belly and not from your chest. This will naturally make you feel more comfortable and relaxed.
3. JUST WATCH YOURSELF
Once you feel totally relaxed and silent, watch yourself. Watching the self is an art that takes time to master. You might begin to judge yourself and get lost in your thoughts. It’s completely fine when that happens, just get back and be persistent.
4. DON’T CREATE A GOAL
Judgment and goal-setting take you away from the universe. The universe doesn’t bother whether you think positively or negatively, it accepts all your choices. Watch your thoughts like they are not yours. You are just a witness.
The universe treats all your decisions and thoughts equally. For it, everything is acceptable. You must become just like that.
Why Does This Work?
When you forcefully bring your attention towards your breath, you are transcending your Ego (because you are not doing it for its/your benefit)–You are just doing it for meditation’s sake (for the spiritual growth of your soul).
When you choose to put your attention on your breath (indefinitely!) you have chosen your soul over your mind. You have chosen light over darkness. This technique was used by Gautama Buddha to attain enlightenment.
Putting your attention on your breath is the key to freedom, which will release you from the shackles of compulsions and fear.
The closer you get to your true self, the more meditative you become.
Method 2: Concentration
Concentration is to keep your attention at a single point for a long duration of time. It is the key ingredient in the law of attraction practices or to bring something to your attention. It is also used by saints to manifest the soul (their true nature) as a bright white light, which is synonymous with awareness.
1. BECOME STILL
This is a common step in all meditative practices. Stop all activities, relax, and sit still. You must feel comfortable while seated. The more relaxed and still you become the closer you get towards a meditative state.
2. VISUALIZE A WHITE LIGHT
Visualize a white dot of light at the center of your forehead. Initially, the light will not remain still. The calmer and more content you get, the calmer the light will get. A point will come when the light will halt completely, with that halt, you’ll tap into Samadhi, where the time will stop flowing for you.
Method 3: Surrender
Surrendering is a powerful and quickest way to make a change in life. When you give your attention to releasing everything you believe you are, you drop your beliefs. You stop fighting your situations because they are so small. You seek to know who you really are–And that is the greatest and the most difficult thing for any human to conquer.
Stop fighting small (everything in life) because those things don’t deserve your attention.
1. BECOME STILL BY SURRENDERING
Relax your body and take deep breaths. Now imagine giving yourself up to the universe when you breathe out. Make sure that you are breathing out like you are giving yourself up totally.
2. JUST LEAVE YOUR BODY
Leave your body like it’s not yours. Feel your body, mind, and even the soul (your belief of what it is), and totally release control over it. Watch them like they don’t belong to you.
This will release all the mental patterns and beliefs you hold pretty quickly. You’ll totally become someone else. This is really useful when you want to reprogram your mind. Devotion is a similar way to invoke surrender in you. When you are so devoted to something or someone, you begin to lose yourself.
So these were the 3 techniques you can use to meditate spiritually.
Spiritual Awakening
There are many claims about spiritual awakening through meditation, introspection, devotion, or psychoactive substances. I’ve never tried psycho-active substances, so I can’t say anything about them.
Devotion and surrender are the fastest ways to get closer to knowing your true nature. Keeping spiritual awakening as the sole purpose of meditation will never take anyone closer to having one. This is because the one wanting to experience it can never have it!
Benefits Of Spiritual Meditation
Honestly, the biggest benefit you receive from this post is not getting to know the benefits. The moment you begin to seek benefits from something, you’ve lost touch with the real you–Because you’ve already chosen to serve the smaller you.
If I say, you’ll be able to manifest things into existence, control minds, attract happiness, or anything in general, you’ll begin to seek pleasure and pain in worthless things.
And you solely do it for the benefits (even subconsciously), you’ll not even be able to tap into a meditative state. The sole purpose of spiritual meditation should be to release yourself from all the unnecessary luggage you collected since childhood. To meditate spiritually is analogous to being like an empty shell or cup.
The less you become, the greater you become.
Know that nothing in this world is worth more than your soul. Not even to meditate spiritually!
There is no work, activity, or job in this universe that’s more valuable than knowing who you are. You are the soul, the activities come afterward. If you settle this in your mind and move by it, you’ll begin to notice a real change. You’ll naturally become more meditative and silent.
Benefits
Regardless, some minor benefits are:
- You’ll become peaceful and silent.
- Old habits and patterns will drop one by one (even without trying)
- You’ll develop focus and control.
- Your soul will grow at a rapid pace.
The silence will become so loud that you’ll experience explosions and waves of bliss in your head.
If you remember this, all the unnecessary luggage will drop and you’ll begin to experience the true joy of meditation.
Conclusion: Meditate Spiritually For Rapid Growth
These techniques will help you to meditate spiritually and ascend to higher awareness quickly.
After continuous practice for a few days (if you did it vigilantly), you’ll notice that many of your fears will naturally begin to fade, you’ll feel lighter and start to gain more control over your body.
All the unnecessary luggage from the past will naturally drop (No matter what they are! believe me when I say that).
When you really accept the thoughts you fear or loath, they don’t hide when you see them.
Judgment never releases us from negative thinking, it just hides negativity in the back of our minds. They will inevitably spawn in the future.
It can and will change your life.
Meditation is the turning point of your life. It is the moment when you realize that you are something far greater than your mind (& desires). Comment below your spiritual experiences or meditation ideas. Thank you for reading the post on How to meditate spiritually. Here are some more posts that you’ll like to read:
How to Visualize Anything? [The Best Follow-Along Guide]
How to Use Autosuggestion to Change Your Life
Welcome to Shuflash. I’m Shubhanshu Rawat, a yoga practitioner with 2500+ hrs of time spent in meditation & 250,000+ words of published content on Shuflash. I have no plans to stop. What’s stopping you?