Meditation comes from the Latin “meditare”, which means “to consider, to keep in mind, to have in mind”. Meditation is the conscious withdrawal of a person’s mindfulness or attention from the outside to the inside. There are various forms of meditation for spiritual experience.
The meditator consciously directs the focus of his or her entire ability to observe onto a specific point, which can be anything, such as an object, an image, a colour, a sound, a sequence of words or sounds (e.g. a mantra), a thought, an articulated question, silence, communication with the inner voice, the inner master or the higher self, and so on. Depending on the purpose or level of spiritual awareness of the meditator, a variety of goals may be sought or achieved.
In meditation, for example, silence, peace, concentration, clarity, well-being, elevation, grounding, purification, security, wisdom, self-knowledge, conflict resolution, etc. can be experienced; meditation techniques can be used in everyday and professional life for mental and physical refreshment.
With this in mind, there are now many secular meditation workshops or meditation apps offering instructions and courses, including through online media. The promotion of mindfulness and the sharpening of awareness are certainly welcome and good side effects.
What is “real” meditation?
Real meditation in the spiritual hermetic sense is very different. Hermetic meditation has always been the universal key to the inner and outer worlds and to the answers to the essential questions of life for spiritual students of the most diverse traditions.
Access to spirituality
Spiritual meditation restores to the contemplative the lost access to his own spirituality. This spirituality must not be confused with the mind. Those who try to find this access through the intellect or force it cannot and will not find it.
Real meditation is a gift. It cannot be provoked; it comes when the student has prepared for it over a long period of time. It requires a receptive mental and physical vessel to truly meditate.
In general, it takes time and patience, as well as regular practice in the right place at the right time, to allow the meditative state to arise.
Correct practice allows the practitioner to enter a calm but alert state of consciousness. This is not to be confused with a trance. Correct meditation usually brings mental clarity and sharpness of observation, both inwardly and outwardly.
The inner gates open and allow the meditator to enter a new space of consciousness. The correct focus of the spiritual disciple, set at the beginning of the contemplative work, which corresponds to his inner maturity, determines the direction of the meditation. Without this sacred
vector arrow, meditation lacks direction and therefore lacks healing power.
8 Steps to Learning Spiritual Meditation
Patanjali (4th-2nd century BC), known as the father of yoga, offers a good explanation of the steps that are essential for true Eastern meditation. He describes this path in eight steps to be learnt by the spiritual disciple:
- the right way of dealing with the environment
- the right way of dealing with oneself
- the right way to deal with the body
- The right way of dealing with the breath
- the right use of the senses
- concentration – focusing
- meditation can arise
- the highest state, inner freedom, can be attained
In the teachings of the Hermetic Academy, the high art of Hermetic, i.e. Western, meditation is taught in stages.
The keys to the practical use of symbols, colours, sounds, hermetic words of power, etc. are passed on.
