Meditation: Early Stages

While my early mystical experiences seemed to come directly from God “out of the blue,” so to speak, meditation deepened my faith, my prayer discipline, and from time to time brought the fruits of the Holy Spirit or spiritual gifts.  

In fact, I view meditation itself as a gift. Meditation is the process of reflection that implies a certain initial action but whose object is a state or sensation of “being.” This state of “being” is an intense focus or becoming absorbed in the “now” of the object.  

For example, meditative reflection, especially in the early stages, maybe centered on objects such as symbols, images, events in scripture, an image of God, or even nothingness. 

This latter is a sort of cosmic universe described in many Eastern forms of meditation and even some Western mystics.  Initially in the process of meditation, these objects are separate or external from self.  However, as the process continues and deepens the “self” tends to become absorbed in the object.  

Meditation because it is a reflection, is a process of “turning within” oneself to fully experience the object.  In its focus, meditation attempts to eliminate all distractions to arrive at a state of relaxation without extraneous or wandering thought.  Thus, a quiet place or sacred space without noise or traffic or interruption is usually sought.  A mantra or repetitive word, or breathing exercise may be helpful to set a mood or ward off distraction. 

These aids or techniques of meditation are well documented even by those who would describe themselves as non-religious.  Many have experienced the stress-relieving and concentration benefits of meditation.  However, it is the daily encounter with “self” that is perhaps most beneficial.  

We are free to choose the objects of our meditation and I have always chosen God (and at times Christ or the Holy Spirit) as the object of my meditation.  In this choice, meditation became a daily form of prayer for me since the age of twenty-three.