The cushion for meditation

The preparation of the pillow. The Buddha, as he sat under the Bodhi tree for the attainment of enlightenment, he sat on a pile of grass called "Cusco". 

It may be helpful to view oneself in the act of meditating outdoors, under the Bodhi tree on a cushion of leaves "Cusco", there is no need to display large buildings, tinsel throne or special, just imagine myself meditating under the Bodhi tree. So it's helpful to have a cushion as a base and another to sit higher, but not a precise rule, not an obligation, it is not necessary, wherever you go, carrying two bags. 

We talked about the views and cushions but you can also meditate without these elements according just sit outside. In Rome there are many beautiful parks and one can, after a walk, sit and meditate. Last summer I was in Taipei where there are very few parks, very small and filled with people practicing Tai Chi or Kung-fu, but meditation is wonderful and I think it's better than the Tai-Chi.

Christmas Message Yogananda

Through the clarity of my meditation, I receive the deepest ever-present light of the Father, that I will pass through fully, and I am a child of God, just as was Jesus getting fully God, through His Holy Extended Consciousness through meditation. 

Close my eyes and forsake the temptation of material matters. Scruterò through the darkness of silence, until my eyes will be opened in the one of relativity inner eye of light. When my two eyes of good and evil will become one, covering only the goodness of God in all things, then you will see that my body, my mind and my soul will be filled with His light everywhere. 

All the veils of ignorance my inner life will be burnt in the light of Christ which awakens in me, and behold the intelligence of the child Jesus, cradled in rose petals and lace of light and through the thoughts of love of all true saints . 

After waiting for many incarnations, Christ reborn again in me. All the limits of my small mind will be broken, so that Christ can awaken omnipresent in the womb of my consciousness. 

My thoughts will decorate the Christmas tree of meditation with the rare gifts of devotion, sealed with the prayers of the heart of gold, so that Christ can come and receive my humble gifts. Mentally I will join those who pray in mosques, churches and temples and feel the birth of the Christ Consciousness as a universal peace on the altar of all devoted hearts ...

Mandalas for Meditation

Word of Sanskrit origin - it means sacred circle. The Mandala and 'concentric structure within which plays a geometric design, anthropomorphic and naturalistic. The Mandala is' a form of art used in many cultures and in different fields, from medicine to religion, from psychology to art. E 'seen as a tool to help recover harmony, peace and greater awareness of himself'. 

The Mandala is 'a form of expression of the graphic language used since the most' remote. The word Mandala and 'a word of Sanskrit origin consists of two parts: Send the word that means "essence" and the suffix that can' be translated as "container", so you can 'translate literally meaning " container of essence. " 

Definition is very suggestive that anticipates the profound significance of the geometry of the mandala. The geometry inside the Mandala and 'the circle, an image that invokes ancestral grounds and reassuring that suggest totality' united 'and the connection between the center and the periphery.

The horizon of meditation and contemplation

Life is the awareness of the One in action.
There is a dimension of existence
in which the act of folding a towel
is a gesture ever.
What does this mean?
There is an object, there is a movement underway,
is a physical environment, emotional, mental,
consciousness and spiritual in which the scene happens:
entire scene is permeated with a sense of awareness vast
that involves every aspect involved.
While the scene is just the set is wrapped in sacredness.
Quell'accadere, that gesture, that environment,
that awareness, the sacredness
tell in an instant timeless
a whole, a unity.
The focus is not on the frames,
the consapevoleza is not there,
is illuminated by another.
That scene, while dynamic
while sucessione frames, is eternal.
Awareness of a sacred timeless
infinitely large.
Life within life:
is evident that the smallest gesture,
the smallest event
every little happening
of this present so deep and wide
Life is nothing but the One in action.
Now, this is evident
but the words are not helpful.
It happens that disrupt this awareness
and all fell silent in amazement.

Meditation in Christianity

In Christianity, meditation is a form of interior prayer. Is done in a church or chapel, in the presence of the Eucharist, or in the privacy of their room. Preferably you in the morning, before any other action of the day. 

In its most general form is developed through several subsequent steps: 
It begins with the invocation of the Holy Spirit because it is the inner light of the meditator. 
Opens to the contemplation of a Gospel scene or reading a passage from the Bible or another book that can help. 
Deepens the significance of the episode or the teaching in question. It does so through reasoning and research of new situations and biblical passages similar or related. 
Focuses on some word or image or concept, "ruminating" within. 
Asks God for the grace to live the mystery that is contemplated. 
Set the commitment of a few gestures to live during the day, to make a charity that has been contemplated. 
Thank the Lord for the gift of light altar. 

A particular form of meditation is the lectio divina, which is a prayerful reading of a biblical passage.

Meditation in Islam

The concept of meditation is expressed in Arabic the word tafakkur, which is distinct from dhikr, better translated as "invocation" or "memory". One can say that the word dhikr is the memory of an earlier time, a way to emerge something that, fortunately, has not lost completely. 

However the two terms are unified in the mystical practice of Islam, because it is thanks to dhikr Allah, the invocation of the name of God, that state is reached, proper meditation. Dhikr as a method of spiritual concentration was developed by Sufis. 

This practice, which was built soon in Islam and already developed in the ninth and tenth centuries, provides for the repetition of one of the ninety-nine names of God or sacred formulas under the direction of a spiritual master. This teacher, called in Arabic sheikh or Murshid (guide), while in Iran and India have said pir, makes the method feasible for the participants in the rite. 

Of the various types of Sheikh, the most similar to the Hindu Pandits and Sheikh at-ta'lim, who knows the doctrine. 

The invocation of God's name reaches levels very obsessive and can be dangerous for anyone who is not guided properly and must be accompanied by the observance of a series of rituals. If practiced without true adherence to Islam, is so ineffective and dangerous.

When and how to meditate

When you meditate: 

Every day, several times during the day. Surely the awakening and before addormaentarsi meditation helps to start and conclude peacefully our waking hours. 
The morning is a great way to organize consciously devoted our energies and at night the transition between one day and ending hours of our vacation. 

How to meditate: 

Will choose a quiet place, and the yearning we found mostly in silence us, and to persevere if some noise around is invited! 
We will take care to sit down cross-legged with the spine erect, the positions are appropriate yogic Sukasana, Siddhasana and Padmasana, the mythical location of the lotus. If these postures are difficult to hold, we can fall back on a chair to sit in the back straight, and we will take care to rest well grounded both soles. 

Through the breath we're going to stretch any corntratture the body. 

The eyes may remain open or closed as you prefer. It is not essential lighting incense and candles, nor the background music, though nice and a sure help to raise the energy. 

By listening to our continuous breath or reciting a mantra of our mind detach its thorns to enter the sizes of the peace, this is meditation.