The term meditation originates from the Latin “meditare”, and means “to think, to observe, to consider, to have in mind”. It is the conscious withdrawal of a person’s mindfulness or attention from the outside to the inside. There are different forms of meditation for making spiritual experiences.

Meditation – The meditator consciously directs the focus of all his observational ability to a certain 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, a communication with the inner voice, the inner master or the higher (self) etc. Depending on the purpose of it or on the progress of the meditator’s spiritual consciousness, different goals can be focused on or even achieved.

In meditation, for example, silence, calmness, focus, clarity, well-being, elevation, grounding, purification, security, wisdom, self-knowledge, solving conflicts etc. can be experienced. The techniques can be used in both daily and professional life for mental and physical refreshment. In this sense there are many profane meditation workshops or meditation apps nowadays – also via online media – which offer instructions and courses. The promotion of mindfulness and the sharpening of awareness are in any case welcome and good side effects.

Real meditation in the spiritual hermetic sense, however, differs significantly from this. Hermetic meditation has always been the universal key to the inner and outer worlds as well as to answers to the essential questions of life for spiritual students of different traditions.

Spiritual meditation restores lost access to the spirituality of the contemplative person. This spirituality must not be confused with the intellect. Whoever tries to find this access through the intellect or tries to force it can and will not find it. It cannot be provoked, it arises if the practiced student has prepared himself for it over a longer period of time. It requires a receptive mental and physical vessel to experience true meditating.

In general, it takes time and patience, as well as regular practice at the right place, at the right time, to allow meditation to arise. It allows the practitioner to enter a calm but alert state. This should not be confused with trance. The appropriate act usually brings mental clarity and sharpness in the observation of the inside as well as the outside. The inner gates open and allow the meditator to enter a new space of consciousness. The correct focus of the spiritual student at the beginning of the meditation, which corresponds to his inner maturity, determines the direction of the meditation. Without this sacred vector arrow, the meditation lacks direction and thus also the healing power.

A good explanation of the steps that are indispensable for true spiritual mediating is given by Patanjali (4.-2. century B.C.), who is called the Father of Yoga. He describes this path in eight steps to be learned by the spiritual student:

1. The correct handling of the environment.
2. the right way of dealing with oneself
3. the correct use of the body
4. the correct use of breath
5. the correct use of the senses
6. concentration – focusing
7. meditation can arise
8. the highest state, the inner freedom, can be reached

The high art of hermetic meditation is taught step by step in the teachings of the Hermetic Academy. For this purpose the keys of the practical application of symbols, colour, sound, hermetic words of power etc. are passed on.

meditation