AHA 2: Techniques - Stilling the Mind & Visualizations

$195

AHA 2: Techniques - Stilling the Mind & Visualizations

Course Description

The heart of our practice is the specific meditation that we use to approach God each day. There are a wide variety of different techniques available to us. These techniques are grouped into a number of major categories. Two of the most important categories are: stilling the mind and visualization.

1. Stilling the Mind: The central purpose here is to quiet and calm the mind. These meditations can range from breathing to prayer to listening to music. Stilling the mind is an essential part of any practice.

2. Visualization: In visualization meditation, we create a spiritually charged image in our mind. This mental picture serves as a focus for our love and devotion and builds a link between God and us.

Session One: Breath

Breathing is perhaps the most universal form of meditation. It relaxes the body, calms the emotions and quiets the mind. When meditation on the breath is combined with concentration on the sefirot or energy centers, it creates a potent spiritual force that draws the power of the divine realm down into our physical plane of existence.

breath 1 (1).mp4

texts STM I.pdf

breath 1 (1).m4a

chart yogic kabalistic sefirot.jpg

Traditional Sefirot.pdf

chakras.pdf

practices breath STM 1.pdf

Session Two: Music

This session delves into the power of music to soothe our mind and inner being. Music has been developed as a spiritual practice in both Judaism and Eastern traditions in a variety of styles and forms.

music 2 (1).mp4

music 2 (1).m4a

texts music 2 (1).pdf

practices STM 2 Music.pdf

Session Three: Ego-Annihilation or Bitul

When our thoughts are brought to a complete standstill, the activity of the ego mind is extinguished and we enter into the peace and stillness of the universal Self. This session explores how we can use the Hasidic teaching and practice of surrender (bitul) and the technique of self-enquiry to access this sublime state.

bitul 3.mp4

bitul 3.m4a

texts bitul 3 .pdf

practices bitul 3.pdf

Session Four: Building an Image in Consciousness

Another way in which we can approach the Divine is using a spiritually potent image. This is the idea at the heart of visualization meditation, where we use the imaging power of the mind to build an inner space where we can meet with God.

image in consciousness 4.mp4

image in consciousness 4.m4a

texts image in consciousness 4.pdf

practices image in consciousness 4.pdf

Session Five: Calling the Name

Visualization meditation can also be used to invoke the Divine presence. Through a process of invocation and evocation we use spiritually charged images to send a beacon of energy into the higher realms that then evokes a Divine response in the form of a current of energy and consciousness that flows back in our direction. This session looks at how we harness the power of the sacred names and other vital tools from the tradition to call out to the Higher Power.

calling the name 5.mp4

calling the name 5.mp3

texts calling Name (1).pdf

practices calling the name 5.pdf

Divine name.pdf

Session Six: Your Inner Space

There is a mystical teaching that states: “The mind is the body of the intellect.” Like the body, the mind has a tangible form. In this session, we learn how to recognize the contours of our inner space and expand its boundaries using the techniques of visualization meditation.

inner space.mp4