Active Meditation

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The Sufi circle

Most meditations are done on one's own or with a teacher. Movement meditation as practised by some Sufis (best known for their dramatic whirling dancing) is done by groups of five to fifteen people and involves chanting as well. Form a circle with your companions, standing with feet apart some distance from each other but not so far that you have to stretch your arms as you join hands.

Now, very slowly lean backwards raising your face to the ceiling (or sky if you are doing this outdoors) and bring the hands up. When everyone is comfortably looking as straight up as they can, say the words 'Ya Hai' loudly in unison. Now all the people in the group bring their arms down and their heads and bodies forward, until they are facing downwards. Now say in the sane ringing, triumphant tone, 'Ya Huk', and return to the 'Ya Hai' position and repeat again and again, establishing a speed and a rhythm comfortable to everyone. Seen from above, the group looks like a blossom opening and closing in perfect harmony.

The point of this meditation is total involvement of awareness of the movement and the accompanying sounds, and each person must be conscious of the physical condition of each of the others in the group. If someone finds that he or she is having to push himself or herself to keep up with the group as it establishes its rhythm, that person steps back and brings the hands of the people on either side together so that the circle remains intact. There must be complete freedom to do this. No one should feel compelled to keep up: if so, the whole point of the meditation is lost.

The aim is to go beyond fatigue to the point where exhaustion is forgotten and all are so lost in the movement and chanting that they become unaware of everything apart from the awareness of self and universe being in total harmony which is the point of all meditation.

Most groups start with 10- to 15-minute sessions to establish harmony and a rate at which everyone is comfortable, and when this is achieved, extend the sessions to half an hour.

Sensory awareness meditation

Movement is also a part of this sensory awareness meditation in which it is combined with breathing awareness. Begin by lying on your back on a rug or mat. Your legs can be fully extended or drawn in towards the buttocks with the feet flat on the floor. When you are comfortable, close your eyes and concentrate for a few minutes on letting each part of the body in turn sink more deeply into the floor, starting with the feet and moving upwards through the calves, knees, thighs, pelvis, ribcage, chest, hands, lower arms, elbows, upper arms and neck to the head.

Concentrate not just on the surfaces that are in contact with the floor but with the sides and top too. Now, concentrating on each exhalation of breath, try to feel your whole body sink deeply into the floor. After about 15 minutes, lay the hands on the diaphragm, keeping the upper arms and elbows firmly on the floor. After the diaphragm has moved the hands up and down, up and down for a minute or two, they will feel as if they have been incorporated into the breathing process.

Very slowly raise them a little from the body, concentrating all the time on your breathing, then return them to the diaphragm, allowing them once again to become part of the breathing process.

Repeat this for 10 minutes or so, gradually increasing the distance the hands are moved away from the body each time until they eventually come to land on the floor. Slowly you will come to think that the whole cycle is happening by itself with absolutely no effort on your part, and you will find yourself at one with the world.

Tai Chi Ch'uan

Although it is not meditation in the accepted meaning of the word, the aim of Tai Chi (the 'Ch'uan' is usually dropped) is to combine motion, unity and dance so that those who practise its art surrender to the natural flow of the universe and become one with it-exactly the aim of more passive meditation.

Tai Chi is a means of exploring the processes of mind and body through creative movement and reflects the I Ching belief that nature is always in motion. It is said to have originated with the meditation of a Taoist monk, Chang San-feng, who one day saw a magpie trying to attack a snake. The reptile teased the bird by writhing and curling in a spiral motion, always remaining just out of the bird's reach.

Similar movements are now an integral part of Tai Chi. In Tai Chi, the image of water symbolizes the flow of energy. It represents the way the flow of energy yields to the form of its container. Earth is seen as a link between person and planet. The use of circular forms of expression shows unity and containment.

It is not possible to learn Tai Chi from the pages of a book. Traditionally the practice was handed down from master to pupil. Today most large towns offer Tai Chi classes, and anyone wishing to learn its ways and mysteries should join a group.

The classes always begin with a period of meditative stillness, and then the pupils step forward on the right foot-an energy step, with fire being visualized shooting from the palms of the hands. Then the energy is pulled back into the body and the weight transferred to the left foot, everyone now visualizing water cascading over him or her. With the body turning to the left, the palms are rotated and curved back to the right.

The body continues to turn to the right with both feet firmly fixed to the floor, then the left foot is brought round, returning the body to the centre. Tai Chi is a process of self-discovery and, like yoga, demonstrates the link between body, movement and posture, and contemplative states of being. In the words of one expert, Al Huang, who wrote the classic Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain, 'Tai Chi is to help you get acquainted with your own sense of personal growth, the creative process of just being you.'

Attention to life meditation

This is not meditation in the strictest sense of the word, and it is not a method to be used in daily or twice-daily sessions. Rather, it is part of everyday activity, its object being to focus consciously all your attention on the particular movement, activity or task you are performing to the exclusion of everything else.

Take something as mundane as dishwashing. As you wash each dish, close your eyes and concentrate on feeling each sensation-the warmth of the water, the texture of the plate, the soapiness of the lather, the smell of the detergent. Focus on each part of the activity. To do so, consciously relax all the muscles not essential to the task and work the muscles actually being used as sparingly as possible.

In focusing your thinking on the task in hand in as concentrated a manner as possible, you are actually meditating, albeit for a very short time, but it is surprising how effective such short-span meditation can be, especially in helping to remove feelings of stress.

Meditation on the run

Many long-distance runners hit a point, usually about three-quarters of an hour into a run, when they experience what is commonly called a 'high'. This is remarkably similar to what happens during mantra or chanting meditation, with the rhythmic repetition of the word or phrase being replaced by the rhythm of the run. The runner's conscious mind shuts down, allowing other areas of consciousness to open up.

So, if you enjoy a jog, use it not just to make the body fit, but to put your mind in better shape too. Don't try to compete with other runners in the park or against the clock to beat your own personal best time. If you do, you are shutting your mind to the possibility of meditation.

Run easily, establishing a regular rhythm, and focus your attention on your breathing, your pulse and heartbeat, and after a while you will reach a point where you will be as perfectly in tune with the world as a Buddhist monk sitting hour after hour in contemplative meditation.