Loving Arms Meditation...                        
             ... including Guided Meditation

   

Note:  These meditations are being replaced by a newer series of meditations called:

          Basking in the Light 

Please visit that page and try those meditations.

 

 

Introduction:

Meditation, as the word is used here, describes a process of gently letting go of all that comes between yourself and the calm, loving, pristine depths of your own inner being. Every person has a calm, kind, loving, accepting, and supportive inner core to their being. However, most of us have become unconsciously  attached to the incessant chatter of the ego's old (and largely ineffective) schemes of attempting to pursue the enduring joy, love, esteem and well-being which are our innate birthright.

Often due to flawed emotional programs for happiness which we created during childhood, we have long been misled by our own mind, and we need to refocus our attention toward the calm, pristine depths of our own inner life. We need to set aside the old ineffective programs and strategies that we unconsciously adopted and learn instead to rely upon the inner life, the very core of our being, the only place where all of our adult needs for inner strength, emotional support and well-being can be fully and reliably met.

The art of meditation is somewhat like a game, if you jump in and totally immerse yourself in this game, even totally lose all thoughts about yourself in the midst of the game, then you'll get the best possible results. So, play along! Enjoy the adventure.

This inner work, when done with sincerity and dedication, can be an effective and powerful antidote for a variety of troublesome issues, many of which which have been caused by years of excessive attention toward our ineffective coping strategies and the rambling chatter of the discursive ego. Inner work, and the discovery of the calm, clear, loving and supportive depths within, can bring about many changes in one's life, including greater happiness, emotional stability and greater physical well-being.

We all have an underlying instinctual need for emotional fulfillment in a variety of basic ways such as pleasure, affection and esteem. We have an inner need for feelings of importance, recognition, and respect. But there is no human relationship which will ever fully meet all of our needs. Every human relationship will have human flaws and human misunderstandings. In short, every human relationship will be imperfect.

The relationship which we instinctively long for, the relationship which we need above all others, is a deep inner relationship with that inner light which illuminates, guides and empowers us in the perfect way that no human relationship can ever achieve. (For more about relationships, please see the article entitled Relationship: Human and Divine.)

Loving Arms Meditation:

The goal of this process is not about any physical arms, we're headed into the presence of something much greater. But to get started, an image or a keyword may be helpful... an image or key word that helps you to relax into the presence of all-encompassing Love.

Feel free to use a mental image of some loving or supportive situation if that's helpful to get the relaxation process started. Or, if an image is not appropriate for you, or is too distracting, then it may be helpful to have a keyword, a silently repeated word which helps you re-focus your attention toward calming the mind and relaxing into Love.

Also, it may also be helpful to shift your thoughts of yourself from being a noun, to being a verb. That is, rather than thinking of yourself as an "I" (something known and having fixed qualities), try to think of yourself as an on-going process (a work-in-progress), an ever-changing process which is powered by the ever-present ocean of Love in which we are immersed. Open yourself to new possibilities, new ways of life, and relax into the vast Ocean of Being.

Remembrance:

In order to overcome the old emotional patterns and conditioned responses, we need to actually remember to follow our inner guidance and bring the gifts of love, harmony and beauty into our daily life.

Whenever we need strength and clarity, we only need to remember the wondrous gifts of the Loving Presence which are able to help us overcome any situation. All of the gifts, including patience, compassion, self-confidence and loving-kindness are always with us, and are always accessible... if only we can remember to use them.

MP3 Audio of this Guided Meditation:

Note:  These meditations are being replaced by a newer series of  meditations called:

          Basking in the Light 

Please visit that page and try those meditations.

The content of the following mp3 audio recordings is similar to the written text on this page.

It will generally be quite helpful to listen to the Introduction immediately before listening to the Meditation, at least for the first few days. After that, you can go directly into the Meditation if you're inspired to do so.

These recordings are in mp3 audio format, which may be either listened to on-line, or may be downloaded to a folder on your own computer (right click your mouse and choose Save Target As... or Save Link as...) so that you can listen off-line or put the recordings on a CD or iPod.

1)  Introduction (listen to this before proceeding to the Meditation)

2)  Loving Arms Meditation (assumes you are familiar with the Introduction)

Enjoy!

For Further Study:

   Basking in the Light ... more guided meditations

Note: The Loving Arms Meditation draws upon some of the same concepts used in the Contemplative Prayer, or Centering Prayer, as taught by Father Thomas Keating.

   Contemplative Prayer, Fr. Thomas Keating

   Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships, by John Welwood

 

updated Sep 30, 2009