- a way of tuning of the body and the mind to the frequencies of the heart

One can find many definitions of meditation. My favourite is that meditation is a type of mind-body complementary medicine. Why? Because it can have the effect of calming down the stream of thoughts (samatha meditation), it can dismantle the structures of the ego (vipassana meditation) and it can bring a positive charge to the mind (metta meditation).

There are many types of meditation techniques out there, with different names and in different forms. For ease of reference, I will dig deeper into the above mentioned three techniques – metta, samatha and vipassana.

I have one precautionary note: From my personal experience, I would advice not to start with any deeper meditation without having the basic psychological challenges of the mind resolved. That means:

(i) one should not hold onto any type of anger (including passive aggressivity, sarcasm, self-criticism, grief, restlessness, etc.) towards others or oneself,
(ii) one should not have any major fears (including procrastination, people pleasing, self-doubt, jealousy, etc.), and
(iii) one should have the basic notion of unity, i.e. interconnectedness of everything there is (the knowledge that everything affects everything else) – lacking this basic knowledge creates ignorance (including vulgarity, manipulation, general negativity, greed, lust, dismissive attitudes, one-sided opinions and views, pride, sense of loneliness or separation, etc.).

The basic psychological challenges of the mind – anger, fear and ignorance create the false ego structure. It is like the mind has a false programming that is not beneficial for the user of the mind – the being that is using the mind as a tool to exist in the reality. Such bad programming then depletes energy of the mind-body system and has a negative effect on one’s life, which is then not lived to the full potential.

It is true that meditation is the medicine, the antidote, to these three challenges. Samatha meditation (“calm meditation”) deals with anger, vipassana meditation (“insight meditation”) deals with ignorance and metta meditation (“love meditation”) deals with fear. But, because deeper meditation requires the mind-body system to be sufficiently energized, i.e. to be ready for its fine-tuning, one should take care of the major issues first.

The tools to deal with the major issues of the mind include:

Light physical exercise, rest, relaxation and sleep, stays in quiet nature, balanced diet, supportive communities, therapy, journaling, simplification of life, prioritization of self-care and prayer. This does not mean that one cannot use a meditation technique at this “stage”, but it should only be used to a limited, supportive extent.

Once anger, fear, ignorance in all of their forms start loosing their grasp over the mind-body (i.e. when the ego structure, the false programming, starts to diminish), the system then energizes enough to require a deeper “meditation technique” (I put this into quotation marks because a true meditation is no longer a technique but rather a way of surrendering of the mind-body to the source – the heart, which then takes over the process and starts programming, energizing, tuning and enlightening the whole system).

Enlightening, positive programming and love:

By meditation, one can prepare its system to be ready for the higher forms of our existence. I wrote that I would mention the three basic forms of meditation – vipassana, samatha and metta, but, meditation does not have any specific form - it is, in fact, an authentic, ultimately original and purely individual expression of a way of connecting oneself to the source, the heart.

The masculine/yang types of beings may use a meditation technique that is more steady and motionless, while feminine/yin types of beings may use a more active, movement-based techniques, like dance, walking meditation, qi gong, stretching, etc. Combination of these approaches is, of course, possible.

How to know where to start? First, use your intuition, try to understand what resonates with you the most. What is your most authentic expression. How would you like to connect to the source. Follow your inner compass, your inner guide, your bliss. If unsure, just follow your breath.

Metta meditation:

Metta, or loving-kindness meditation, prepares the ground of the body-mind system to be ready to accept love. Love means the ability to be good to oneself and to others.

It is especially good for beings that have problems with different forms of fear. That have problems to set the right boundaries, or self-care regimes. That are investing too much energy into others, or have other types of martyr-like ego structures.

Samatha meditation:

Samatha, or calm meditation, helps our body-minds to get rid of anger in all its forms. It relaxes our system and helps us to fine-tune it, to connect it to the inner and outer nature. Our body and mind then becomes a perfect tool for accepting information coming from higher realms.

It is best for people who are living stressful lives or in difficult environments. Who have troubles to tame their emotions or passions. Who are too invested in their daily problems and activities. Who have difficulties to disconnect from the hustle of our society.

Vipassana meditation:

Vipassana, or insight meditation, guides us through the web of lies of our egos. It makes us understand that we are self-sufficient beings, but part of the whole at the same time. It helps us to be authentic and to completely trust our inner guidance.

It is especially helpful to those who are lost in unending stories and opinions of our rational minds. To those who are unsure about their true calling or their path. It is helpful to those who have a feeling of separation from others or from the world.

Concluding remarks:

Before engaging into deeper meditation practice, tie the psychological knots first. The psychology needs to be healthy in order to move on to higher spirituality.

Start slowly, do not overwork yourself. Be in safe, quiet and supportive environments.

When meditating, we are opening ourselves to higher spiritual realms, please behave accordingly.