Meditation Instructions for Sun., August 7, 2011

For this Sunday, August 7th, the focus for our meditation will be on Kindness. One of the lessons of my spiritual teacher, Reverend Rosalyn L. Bruyere, is that our culture today places more emphasis on intelligence than common courtesy. One need look no further than what fills our airwaves with so-called entertainment in form of situation comedies in which characters score points with the audience by wittily tearing down another person. Even in normal discourse one is perceived as being unintelligent if you are unable to articulate with surgical precision what is wrong with another’s ideas. I distinctly recall Rev. Bruyere asking her class, “Would you rather be smart or kind?” My immediate response was how could one be considered smart if you didn’t know to be kind? There is no reason the two must remain mutually exclusive, but an imbalance appears to have developed in our society where people are given more kudos for their intellect than their Kindness. Years ago a popular bumper sticker began to be seen in which a phrase referring to the senseless acts of mayhem that would often make the evening news was altered to instead remind people to “Practice Random Acts of Kindness.” While a simple philosophy it bears a weightier value in helping to right what is wrong with our society. This week in our meditation let us ask what acts of Kindness we could contribute to the world around us. Let us also use our prayer to help promote the quality of Kindness to be better appreciated and emulated and thereby improve our nation as a whole.

As a reminder, we typically form as a group in our focused meditation every Sunday from 12:15 to 12:30 pm (Eastern time) and return to bring more energy to the same theme throughout the week as time permits. If you are unable to participate at that particular time there are instructions posted on how to energetically contribute at either an earlier or later time (please see “Instructions for Meditating at Alternate Dates or Times”). A few minutes before 12:15 you may want to get into your meditation posture and begin the relaxation phase.

Stage 1:
Sit (or lay down) so that you are relaxed and comfortable but your spine is straight and aligned over your pelvis (if seated). Begin by taking several slow, deep breaths. Follow the sensation of the breath down into your body. Breathe into your spine, your hips, and then your legs. Feel the breath reach your feet on the floor and then feel the connection through your feet to the earth's energy. Draw the earth's energy up through your feet into your body. Feel your body fill completely with this energy from your breath and the earth. Invite your own personal spiritual guides to join you in this meditation. Ask for those in the spiritual realm (especially the nation's Founding Fathers) who want to assist us in this effort to be present. If you have trouble feeling centered and fully in your body or feeling grounded to the earth ask Guidance to help you.

Stage 2:
Stay relaxed and begin to make a connection with the others in the group by perceiving that we are present in the same room and formed in a circle. Feel yourself make contact with the person on each side of you in the circle by taking their hand -- one to the right and one to the left. Feel the energy of the group grow as you make this connection. Recognize there are groups all over who are doing similar activities with the same intention. We are connected to them as well as to each other. Feel the grid or network that is created from this energetic connection. We receive energy from it as we feed energy to it.

Stage 3:
Place a brilliant white light over the center of the country. Extend blue rays out from the center of that light in the four directions (north, south, east, and west). The blue rays fill the country from border to border and sea to sea. Connect to the energetic grid or network created across the circle. Use that grid to direct energy to the manitou of the nation (see "Explanation of the Grid or Manitou" for more information) with the intent of sending the energy of Kindness across the nation.

The way to do this is to perceive in your body how the quality of Kindness feels. Ask yourself how do I feel when I am filled with a desire to show Kindness to others? How does it feel in my body when I am the recipient of unexpected Kindness? Hold that sensation and allow it to intensify as you feed that energy to the grid or network with each breath.

Stage 4:
Close by disconnecting from the group circle. Feel as though you release the hand of the person next to you and feel yourself break from the group.

Stage 5:
Thank your guidance and those in the spiritual realm for coming to assist you in this endeavor. Ask them to continue this work from their plane on your behalf. If you are able, you may want to repeat this process throughout the week, focusing on bringing light and energy to the meditation topic. When you do, connect to the same network or grid of energy created by the group at the original meditation session. Direct your intention to help support and grow that group energy. Be sure to disconnect from the group at the end.

If you have feedback or experiences you would like to share please let me know via e-mail to k_miritello@bellsouth.net or kmiritello@gmail.com