Monday, May 6, 2013

MEDITATION AND EXPANDING MY LIMITED MIND

[The following is reworked from my blog of September 15, 2009.]

I get great comfort from the 23rd Psalm. I use it as my meditation base, and I've found changing the name of my focal point ever so often is a helpful tool in expanding my limited mind.

For instance, instead of “The Lord is my shepherd,” I sometimes use ”The Great Spirit is my shepherd,” or “The Christ,” or  “Allah,” or “God,” or “The Buddha.” It’s interesting how varied my insides feel depending on the name I use…not elevated and not depressed, just different…always comforted though.

Since I’m still trying to learn to live at ”the core of the coin,”  i.e., not on one side or the other, calling one side “good,” so the other must be “bad,” but at the core, as one, I’m experimenting with this.

I call to mind the Psalm and change it to: [The Great Spirit] [the Christ] [Allah] [God] [the Buddha] is my Shepherd, I shall not want. It makes me to lie down in green pastures, It leads me beside the still waters, It restores my soul. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for It is within me. Its rod and Its staff, they comfort me. It prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. It anoints my head with oil, my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the consciousness of [the Great Spirit, etc.] forever.

One beneficial side effect already…this practice helps focus me on the Psalm itself. It may be just to keep the exchanged word(s) in mind, but anything that keeps my mind focused in the moment is good, according to me.

Thank You.

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