The Ultimate Meditation Course

Welcome to Week 1 of your meditation course VIDEO

Introduction

An introduction to meditation and how to get the most out of this course and your meditation practice. It is the first chapter of the book 'Transform yourself through Meditation' by Rose Tol

Time: 15 minutes

How to approach meditation

Contemplating the way you approach meditation can reveal many things about yourself and what it is you want from your practice. It can help you remove concepts and beliefs that could prevent you from getting everything you can from your meditations.

Time: 15 minutes

Meditation #1

If focusing your mind is difficult for you this meditation will help you to start learning to harness this focusing capacity of your mind.

20 minutes

A Lesson in Meditation

Practice makes Master

Many might say, is this all? Yes, it is a meditation-exercise to start your meditation journey with. But this simple exercise has many benefits. The main thing is you cultivate and nurture your ability to pause and stop at will and focus your attention on what YOU want to focus on. When you master this, you are able to use this ability with the big triggers and challenges in life. And it will make all the difference with breaking free from false habits and beliefs or suffering from them many times over.
Take some time to train yourself to hold your attention and focus. Your mind will be driven to want to know what the next lesson is. To be on the path of mastering meditation and specifically this ability, we suggest you take a couple of days or a week, or however long it takes for you to have a feeling like: Yes, I can do this, I can pause and stop at will and focus my attention on the object I choose to focus on, reasonably. And then when you feel ready, move on to the next lesson.

Meditation #2

In this meditation we take our focus and direct it within. A way will be shown on how to slow down the 'monkey mind'.

20 min

A Lesson in Meditation

Some obstacles to be aware of.

You might run up against resistance or feel yourself bored or being distracted. Good, you can see it! Your mind does not like to be told what to do, or how to do it. It likes to bring your focus back to what it knows. In order for us to change we have to embrace unfamiliar ways of being and doing things.
Learning to master meditation happens one tiny step at the time. It is about mastering many individual skills and abilities. Once mastered and then put together, you will succeed gaining ground in each and everyone of your meditations.

Meditation #3

A meditation with Ian using our breath to focus. A great meditation to start your day with a reminder that your breath can be your best friend to help you focus.

29 min

Creating a sustainable meditation practice

If you want to succeed in meditating and desire to create a practice that sustains you every day, committing to your practice is your priority. This meditation tool with help you with that.

Time: 15 minutes

Introduction

Over the past three decades of guiding people in meditation, one of the most frequently asked questions I have been asked is:
"What is the best meditation technique?"
So, over many years of practicing and teaching meditation, I have explored this question extensively. Before answering this, I want to say that whenever I respond to a question, I want to bring increased understanding and illumination to that area, to facilitate freeing up of the mind, not further binding it with more misconceptions.

Practicing meditation over many years around the world, under guidance of various teachers and masters, I have explored and learned so many different ways of going within. This has enabled me to teach these principles to people wanting to learn more about meditation. Also sharing these teachings with meditation instructors and people wanting to guide meditations.
I have come to realize something important:

Meditation techniques and exercises can be very helpful in learning how to meditate,

and at the same time they can be a hindrance towards going deeper in meditation!

When you go within, be open and receptive to how you are being guided. There are as many ways and techniques as there are people. If we are not receptive to what to use when, then we can too easily be practicing a meditation technique that gets us “stuck in a rut”. Thus we could be missing out on so much. Being open and receptive has you get much more from your meditations.
Many meditation techniques, stem from a spiritual belief system or instructions that have everyone doing the same thing in each meditation. For example; witnessing, focusing on a mantra, removing all thoughts, breathing, chanting, being still, and so on. Each of these methods come with their own benefits, however if a technique is mostly what is being practiced, then it can soon becomes a “blanket process”. This can be said to be like giving the same prescription for everyone all of the time, and this practice cannot stay effective over time.

The thing is that at any one time, a person may need something very different from what another person needs. Of course people can make progress by practicing a “blanket process”, but as time passes their practice will most likely loose its effectiveness. At some point these people are likely to become somewhat lost about their meditations because they do not get what they could be getting, or perhaps they just become stuck in the process itself. Becoming discouraged, they might give up their meditation practice at some point, or they simply become unaware that their practice is no longer helping them to move forward very effectively.
Often people commit to doing the same spiritual practice or technique over and over in their quest to find truth or become self-realised. What is problematic with this is that by becoming attached to the process itself, one might not be open to other avenues that might be more fruitful. At different points on one’s path, different practices will be more helpful.

When meditation is practiced in ways that are more open to what is needed in each meditation,

would this not reveal to the seeker more understanding about the very nature of going within?

Would it not show how the time honored practice is meant to go beyond

any blanket process or belief of what meditation “should” be?

So rather than teaching you a technique from a particular belief system or set of teachings, in this course we will focus on:

• Learning effective methods, principles and mechanics of going within
• Explore the abilities and skills that bring us to succeed in meditation
• Look at how to deal with challenges that restrict us from having a more effective meditation practice

You see, in one sense, it really does not matter how you do it… just as long as you do it!

In this course we will cover the essence of the most pertinent and powerful teachings that have assisted me on my own journey within, and continue to help me year after year on my own ever-deepening personal path.
Meditation helps me to apply the skills needed, to master the art of living from my spiritual connection, and from that connection, to continue finding more clarity of my purpose and priorities each day of my life. Meditation empowers me to live in the focus, experience and feeling of my bottom line value; to live for unconditional love, God’s personal love for me and for others.

This brings us to another misconception that I would like to address. Some people have come to me and said something like:
“ I don’t need to sit down to meditate. I meditate while I run or walk my dogs”
Of course being mindfully present, having a prayerful focus, or releasing stress while doing an activity are important aspects of dealing with life, and is a valuable way of bringing spiritual life into daily activities. Personally I would not call going for a run or walking the dogs a meditation. This is more practicing being present or releasing pent-up energy, which are great things to do to further one’s self. Anything one does with the addition of mindful awareness of any kind contributes towards moving forward spiritually.
For the purposes of learning and furthering one’s meditation practice as covered in this course, when I refer to meditation, it means that one consciously sets time and space aside to focus SOLELY on the practice of going within. You close your eyes and take a journey within yourself.

How to get the most out of this course and your meditation practice

For about eight years on my own journey, I did not like to hear, and I preferred not to use the word 'God'. One day this changed for me when I broke out of one of my own rigid beliefs. I understand that for many people the word God brings up different feelings, concepts and blockages. Please try to understand that whenever I refer to God or talk about God, I do not mean God of any distorted belief system that mankind has created. I am talking about the greater Love that connects us all, Spirit, the Source, the Almighty of Everything, the Universe, The Divine - use whatever wording you feel is deserving of a capital letter. Use whatever words you prefer to name Him-Her-It. So please, whenever I refer to God, you can translate it to the meaning that you feel most comfortable with. The main thing is not to get hung-up or stuck on this matter.

This course cannot teach you how to meditate. No book or person can. You can only learn to meditate by taking the space and time to practice for yourself. It is through practice that you will learn, realise and master meditation.
I hope this course will inspire you to take this journey. I hope it will save you a lot of time as we discuss and cover many of the misconceptions, pitfalls and erroneous beliefs around meditation.
To assist you with your journey I have created powerful meditation exercises that will support specific learning experiences to enhance your meditation efforts.
When you come across a meditation exercise, focus on the exercise for a while before continuing on with the course. This will give you the opportunity to practice and self-realise the teachings and practices, instead of it becoming just a sort of understanding in your mind.
To get the most out of any of your meditations, take to heart the following teaching that I call “the observation quote”:

Begin a careful observation of all that you do and all that you think.

Do not judge it by thinking “this is good” or “this is bad”. Simply observe it.

Pay attention and notice how observing it changes your consciousness.

If you will approach your difficulties in this way,

then what you really desire will grow and what you do not desire will diminish.

Keep this point of awareness as your inner compass.
With this approach you can increase your self awareness. Self awareness means that you have to start understanding yourself and keep growing from wherever you are right now. What is it that you need right now? Not what society says you need, nor what your family, friends, education or even your own mind might say you need.
Pay attention to how you feel about everything and develop this intuitive power, because by feeling comes understanding.

Last but not least I want to also introduce my life partner and transformational teacher Ian Tolmay. He touches and inspires me everyday with his passionate desire for the Truth and love for God. From his heart and an engineering mind he explains spiritual matters with depth and simplicity so anybody can understand it and move with it.

I want you to know that we are going with you on this journey within.
You can contact us through email any time for personal help or if you want to be in person together, come join us for a hands-on meditation retreat at our meditation centre, Secret Garden Retreats, in Andalusia, Spain.

I am in deep gratitude to the Almighty for every person, friend, guide, teacher, master and my life that has helped me to find my way within to the unconditional Love and for having the courage to live that truth and connection every day of my life.
I pray that you find the courage and perseverance to go to that place deeply within you where you are ignited to live in the highest truth and love, where the illusion cannot influence you.

By your side,
Rose

How to approach meditation

Meditation can be whatever we want it to be. And when it becomes part of our life style - a way of being, it can be a most powerful tool for Self-empowerment,  Spiritual freedom and God conscious living.
One could say that there are as many approaches to the ancient practice of meditation as there are people on earth. So what is the right thing for me to believe about meditation?
The following quote and questioning can clarifying this:

It is better not to think from the perspective of what is the right thing to believe about meditation, or God, or the universe.

Rather one can ask: What is it that I can understand about the simple practice of going within?

One thing is certain; the practice of going within is more than any one person’s concept of what it is, or “should” be. The more skills we cultivate to help us go within, the more likely we are to benefit from practicing meditation, and the less likely we are to become limited by a concept of what our practice “should” be.

What is your approach to meditation?
I want to share a story with you that a master teacher shared with me long ago. It is a story about shells on a beach, that highlights a simple yet important  teaching to contemplate and gain clarity about how to approach meditation regarding what you are looking for when going within.

Shells on a beach
Along a stretch of beach there are thousand’s of sea shells, of all different varieties. Let’s say that each shell represents something you could find if you looked within, for instance, feelings, thoughts, desires, fears, impressions, concepts, ideas, beliefs, and so on…
Now, if walking along a stretch of beach was a metaphor to describe going within, then will you be looking for only one shell? Or, will you be open to finding any shell that comes into view as you look down as you’re walking?
This serves to raise the question of whether you are open to finding only one kind of experience when you close your eyes to go within to meditate, or are you open to any possibility?
Are you going to look for one truth from meditation, one particular feeling, one desired experience of let’s say nirvana, of stillness, of enlightenment, of bliss or relaxation? Or will you be open to finding whatever is there to find?

This single choice and point of self awareness largely determines your success in meditation. It serves as an important direction on how to meditate as to go deeper.

The following story can also be helpful in establishing our approach to meditation and what we want from our practice:

A master and his disciple
There was a disciple who, after hearing a talk from his master about “Oneness”, had an enlightening experience during his meditation. The disciple went to the master and said: “Master, I think I now know the answer! It was revealed to me in meditation - I had an amazing experience in my meditation about oneness! I think I know now how to meditate. It is as you say Master! I am not my thoughts and troubles.  I am not my ego. I am not separate from God! We are truly all One. The only thing to do when I go within is to just witness how that we are all one. My endeavours to search for the truth are over and I now know the truth about everything!”
The master was silent for a while and then replied; “Because you hear me speak of oneness and other spiritual teachings, you think that all you have to do is accept with your mind what I have said. Then when you go within and have an exceptional experience, you think you have become enlightened and know how to meditate?

My dear disciple, do you not see that you do not yet understand the full nature of truth? You do not yet understand meditation’s true purpose. You are blinded by your dreamy concept of what spiritual matters are and you are trapped by what you think to be ultimate truth. You think you have arrived.
Every day you scurry around these grounds like a chatter-monkey. You come into the meditation hall completely unaware of the chaos and disturbance you create. Then you sit down to go within and look only for this ultimate truth of love and harmony.
You look to find your mind’s picture of what I teach, yet you do not see the many truths you can and need to see along the way.
Have you ever taken a look inward to see why you behave in this chaotic manner? Are you aware of what you do? - of how frantic your mornings are, and what effect it has on the rest of your day? And have you considered the effect it has on other people?”

The master continued,“You now think that you have found the ultimate truth and that you know how to meditate, when you still have such a long way to go. Don’t you think you need to pay closer attention and go a bit deeper?

Meditation is not a place to escape your life or your self. Make your practice a part of your existence in this world, not an escape - then many more truths will be revealed to you, not just the truths that you want to see. Perhaps now you can ask when you go within for direction about better ways to live your life and do your service and to see how you chatter monkey ego causes you and others suffering. This my dear disciple is all part of learning how to meditate.
You do not see the answers yet because you have not looked deeply enough. You are very close, you could see so much today if you wish. You are not unique in this way. Everyone is closer than they know to finding many truths and answers that will help them right now. It is simply a matter of taking their focus deeply enough in meditation”

The master closed his eyes and paused again to consider what he had to say next:
Like many others, you are blinded to the many truths, because you seek only the one truth. The so-called ‘ultimate truth’ is but a butterfly that the seeker chases. As he chases the butterfly, he does not see the ground, and thus he trips and falls, time and time again. When will he learn?
Enlightenment, Oneness . . . yes, by all means yearn for these things and be open to receive in kind. But also seek to correct the illusory ways in which you behave and think. Want to see and know many truths; then you will be able to see how to change your illusory ways. You will start to see ways you can let go and change, and thus you will get freer and become closer to God. You will be closer to full awareness, and your consciousness will lead you to experience deeper truths. These are all important components to learn.

Then the master gave a decidedly human and warm look to his disciple and said:  “Become more aware, become more present. Know that there are important truths waiting to be found, important understandings about your existence that will help you see a better way to wash the floor and bake the bread. This will be of great help to you and the others.”

“Dear one, contemplate what I have said. Hear what I have said. Change now. As you go within toward Oneness, do not seek only one thing. Be open to finding all manner of assistance when you do your practice, and you will be given thus.”