Comment from JR Fan
Time: June 24, 2008, 9:42 am

Hey everyone. I’m really interested in learning more about meditation. I just read James Ray’s book Harmonic Wealth and have been practicing his four categories of meditation: Focusing/Visualization, Listening/Watching, Static Transcendence, and Mobile Transcendence. He lists a bunch of ways to access each category in his book (page 309), but I’m still having some issues. I have listened to some meditation DVDs in the past and have been able to get into that space pretty easily, but I’m having a much harder time focusing in on my own. Any tips for how to tune in without the help of an audio track?
I plan on attending Quantum Leap in the fall, so hopefully he’ll teach me some more techniques there, but I’d really like to keep meditating before then and make some progress.

Help!

Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: June 24, 2008, 3:15 pm

Hi JR Fan,

I’m not familiar with Ray or his system of meditation, I’m afraid, so I can’t comment on that specifically. My approach to guided meditations (outlined here) is that they should be teaching skills that the practitioner can integrate into his or her toolbox. Some kinds of guided meditations, however, offer more of a “free ride” where you’re more swept along by the generally relaxing and upbeat tone of the presenter. This isn’t a comment on Ray, of course, since I don’t know his work.

Anyway, a good place to start cultivating focus is always to start with the body, and to make sure that any period of practice begins with a “body scan” — where we systematically pay attention to different parts of the body, letting go of any unnecessary effort as we do so. The act of taking awareness into the body helps to slow the mind down so that we can focus more easily. But there’s a lot more that could be said — especially about balancing alertness and relaxation. I’d suggest checking out the posture and mindfulness of breathing sections on the site for some pointers.

All the best,
Bodhipaksa