Guided Breathing Meditation
Watch Marshall Vian Summers speak during the 2018 Encampment, Oct 18, 2018.
I’d like to share a few things with you before we begin our stillness practice together, things that I have found to be very helpful in preparing me for meditation experience. You know, we come to meditation with all the busyness of the day, concerns within our mind, perhaps many things going on in our mind all at once. So it’s important to gather ourselves before we begin this process, this very different focus and experience—collect ourselves. Otherwise, we approach our practice with a busy mind and we close our eyes and what do we have but a busy mind? So this [is] kind of a reset that can happen at the beginning of your practice. And one of the things that I do is I do some deep breathing because when you’re doing deep breathing, I find it very difficult to be preoccupied mentally while I’m doing deep breathing. It shifts the whole focus of your mind into your body, and you begin to enter a body state and out of a mind state. This is a deep what we call belly breathing because your lungs go very deep on either side, and you want to fill the entire lung field with air. This is a complete way of breathing, by the way. You can breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try it with me: in, out, in, out. And when you breathe in, you should be feeling your belly expanding, particularly at the sides. You don’t want your shoulders going up. You don’t want to go [gives demo] [laughter]. And then the next thing I do is focus on what my intention is for this practice. What do I need in this moment? Do I need to simply rest my mind? Do I need quiet? This is not an opportunity to do problem solving or to get answers. It’s not what we’re focused on here because that does not produce a state of stillness and receptivity. So you do the deep breathing and then think about what you want to focus on in this practice, so you enter it with intention and not merely haphazardly stumble into it. And it’s fine to take whatever time you need to get yourself grounded physically and get focused on what you’re doing—stillness practice, which is allowing the mind to come to a rest. That’s the first order of business is letting the mind come to a rest because stillness happens in a state of relaxation. So I practice the Na Rahn practice that’s given in Steps to Knowledge. And the way that I use that is to inhale in the “Na” and exhale on the “Rahn.” And with every exhale, I relax more and more. So my focus is to do the deep breathing on the Na and relax on the exhale. And every exhale I relax a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more. And most of the time it works and sometimes it doesn’t work. But there should be no struggle in your practice. And so we need to enter a more relaxed state. We want to be more physically grounded than be caught up in our mind. So we’re going to take five deep breaths. And then we’re going to begin to practice. And I will invite you to practice Na Rahn with me, inhaling on the Na and exhaling on the Rahn. And your whole focus at the beginning is just to focus on that breathing and the Na Rahn. So the mind has something to focus on now. So we can begin. Let us begin. Take 5 deep breaths. (demonstrates) In through the nose out through the mouth. Okay. When you’re in meditation, we’re just breathing through our nose. 12:05 (Meditation) 31:33 Let us begin to return in the visible world, bringing with us the relaxation that we’ve been able to achieve and know that we are building a connection to Knowledge deep within us. We’re building the bridge between our worldly mind and our eternal mind within us. Let us, then, come to build this bridge and to take reprieve from the world in the stillness that we can experience within ourselves. In this, we are blessed in this moment and carry the blessing forward with us into the future. Nasi Novare Coram.
Thank you so much for this precious teaching. NNC.
Thank you for creating this!
Was actually there at the 2018 Encampment, but I would love to see it again.. 🙂
It says that the guided breathing meditation video cannot be viewed here due to privacy..
It is great that this is mentioned by Marshal. The Tibetan monks over innumerable decades practiced and perfected the ‘art of breathing’. We find that puzzling since most of us consider breathing as the simple task of sucking in a bit of air and blowing it out.
Thank you for this practice and for making it available to us. I just now discovered it.
Feels lovely to practice together in this way
Thank you for sharing this teaching from Marshall Vian on stillness practice. What an important directive for us to engage more deeply and quietly during our meditation practices. NNC
Ever since I became a student of TNM it had been my prayer to engage in a stillness practice with the Messenger. To be in the same room with him, to experience the power of The Presence flowing through him and surrounding all who were blessed to be there. It was every bit as potent and meaningful as I thought it would be. I am so grateful Marshall allowed us to share in it with him as he connected with heaven. It was, for me, one of the many high points of the Encampment.
Thank you for making this moment in time available so that we may come back to it again and again. It is such a precious gift.
Nasi Novare Coram
The trail of stillness has brought me to the NM and will further keep me going. Thank you Marshall for this helpfull remarks for meditationpractice.
Thank you Josef for your engagement. The NM says “Through stillness, all things can be known.” This is so important. Also, “Life gives to you as you are still.” I love these quotes, they help me immensely.
Pleasure to see your activity here.
Nasi Novare Coram.
“This is not a casual pursuit. This is not something you do periodically when you are disenchanted with the world and you want answers. Here the answer is not merely an idea, or an image, or even a vision. The answer is a door that opens, through which you must pass, a journey to take now…not a journey that is governed by your intellect and your assumptions or the traditional beliefs of society, but a journey that is guided by Knowledge. For only Knowledge knows how to bring you to Knowledge and only Knowledge knows how to bring you to the Power and Presence of God in your life.”
“It is not something you learn in a weekend or in a month or even a year, for this mountain is a great mountain to climb. And it is in climbing it that you gain the wisdom, the perspective and the skills that you will need. Like climbing a mountain, it is a series of steps and actually a series of thresholds as well, where you have to choose again to keep going…thresholds where you lose heart or you try to compromise yourself, thinking that what you have is good enough, that you will be satisfied with where you are. But Knowledge will keep you moving up this mountain… for you must climb this mountain.”
“The Creator of all life has given humanity the teaching in Steps to Knowledge as a pure pathway to follow. It is not the only pathway in the world, certainly, but it is pure and uncontaminated, and it is extremely powerful. But it requires a daily practice, for whatever you practice on a daily basis, you become very good at. You acquire the skills, the abilities and the strength to do something…even something that requires great ability …with tremendous ease and determination.”
“May the power and presence of Knowledge guide you and bless you and teach you what is good from what only looks good, and show you the real current of your life and the pathway to connect with others. Only Knowledge knows these things, and it is these things that you most desperately need. May this power guide you, correct you, restrain you and prepare you for a greater life…and a greater service to the world.”
(Excerpts from: Deepening Your Spiritual Practice”)
Nasi Novare Coram
.
..
… .. .
It is great to see you reading the NM Revelations, Student.
I look forward to learning your name and hearing your personal responses to the material.
Nasi Novare Coram.
Porquê estou tão atraido por isso? E porquê isso é tão interessante para mim?
“So you breathe or you focus on a sound or a word. You can use the word “Nah Rahn”. “Nah Rahn””
… .. . .. …
“Many people are alone and perhaps they regret it extremely depending upon their circumstance perhaps they welcome it if they are seeking a reprieve from an unfortunate relationship. Perhaps they seek to be alone to gain reprieve from the pressures of constant engagement with other people. Whatever the case may be their being alone provides a great opportunity.
Many people have not been alone enough to gain a deeper connection within themselves, constantly stimulated by being with others or due to poverty and cramped conditions they are constantly surrounded by people so they have no time for quiet within themselves
Being alone is a great opportunity if it is utilized correctly. It is a time to begin to feel the deeper current of your life to forge a deeper relationship within yourself.
All the great artists and inventors and humanitarians have had to forge this deeper union within themselves a union with a deeper intelligence within themselves beyond the realm and the reach of the intellect. Many people who are by circumstance alone at this time do not take advantage of this great opportunity. Perhaps they seek partnership or meaningful relationships but such partnership and relationship are not on the horizon.
So what should they do with this time alone? How can they utilize this great opportunity? This is the opportunity to gain contact with the deeper intelligence within you, an intelligence that God has placed within you, an intelligence called Knowledge.
This intelligence is so very different from your surface mind your socially conditioned mind the mind that has been shaped through your experience and adaptation to the outer world but the mind of Knowledge is very different it does not speculate it does not debate it does not fantasize it is not afraid it is not confused. It represents the center of your inner certainty and inner direction but it is deep it resides within the well of silence the great empty space beneath the surface of your mind.
You will never be able to penetrate the surface of your mind if you are constantly stimulated or constantly engaged with other people or constantly seeking approval and pleasure and constantly trying to escape your own inner lack of security.
You must have this time of solitude.
Here you practice inner listening.
You learn how to focus the mind on a point or an idea so that the mind can become clear so that you can slip beneath the surface of the mind the turbulence and erratic surface of the mind. The world outside is going on but now you are disengaged from it you are beginning to forge an experience of your inner life
When you begin this exploration you will feel tremendous confusion and you will see all the imagery that is stimulated in your mind. Memories imaginations of the future strong ideas strong impressions these things will all be moving at the surface of your mind. Like the surface of the ocean swept by the waves turbulent and unpredictable it is but deeper down the waters of the world are being moved by greater more cosmic forces moved with certainty moved with purpose.
Beneath the surface of your mind is all the detritus of your mind the errant thoughts the deep seeded fears the longings the fantasies fragments of your experiences fragments of your dreams all the debris of the mind.
To go beneath this is to enter a very quiet place it looks empty but it is really not. It is the well of silence it is a place of pure experience. At first you will seek this perhaps out of the need for reprieve from the friction and difficulties of the outer world you will want to rest and be at peace to refresh your mind. This is entirely appropriate and even as you practice inner stillness you will still need this reprieve.
Like bathing the body it cleanses the mind but breaking free from the surface can be difficult on occasions it happens continuously but often it is difficult because you are so trapped there particularly if you respond to the media or watch movies or television these images are running around in your mind making it more difficult for you to slip beneath the surface.”
… .. . .. …
“So you breathe or you focus on a sound or a word. You can use the word “Nah Rahn”. “Nah Rahn”
Inhale “Nah” exhale “Rahn”. It is a resonating word resonating with the power of Knowledge in the universe but it is not a word or a sound you understand intellectually or it has associations with it necessarily, you want something that is just a pure sound and you need to be in a place that is quiet and still. You need to be comfortable and you need to approach this practice with a passive mind not aggressively trying to get something for yourself not trying to solve problems or gain insight, you come to be still to learn how to slip beneath the surface of your mind to develop an opening, an opening that will serve you when you are out in the world. an opening that will allow impulses and ideas and insights to come to you from Knowledge. You build that opening in your practice. You do this without trying to get anything without being greedy without being aggressive without being manipulative.
You come in a state of humility to receive and to experience the reprieve and the space and the wholeness that exists within this well of silence beneath the surface of the mind.
Perhaps you will fall asleep, that is OK if that is your need in the moment but you are taking a reprieve.
In the study of Steps to Knowledge you will learn how to focus and still the mind and how to think in accordance with the deeper Knowledge that God has placed within you to guide you and to protect you and to lead you to a greater life in the world. If you find yourself alone in life at this time it is the most wonderful opportunity to develop this deeper connection, … within yourself.”
(Excerpts from:Being Alone)
Novre Novre Comey Na Vera Te Novre
“”… speaks of the power of stillness within your mind and the power that the stillness within your mind will have within the world”
Steps to Knowledge #297
.
..
… .. .
Hello Ray. Does your email address still include the higher mind? I sent you a message and look forward to hearing from you again.