WHY KEEP A JOURNAL?

Keeping a journal of your meditative experiences is an excellent reference to track your progress, especially if you are involved in exercises to develop certain faculties. Your memory can play tricks on you over time, but if you have the written note of your experiences, you have it in black and white. I remember having an extremely vivid dream about 30 years ago, and I knew I would never forget this particular dream as it contained deep esoteric symbology. I was quite surprised one day while flicking through my old journal, that I had some of the sequences back to front; but there it was and I could not dispute the written word. So, if you have not already, start a journal and write in it immediately after each meditation session while your memory is still fresh.

THE BEST TIME TO MEDITATE

Many people have asked me about the best time to meditate. In my personal experience I have found early morning when I am fresh, a good time. As the day goes on and the chores of a workday take over, it is sometimes more difficult to move into an altered state of consciousness. Many people, because of the pressures of work, become overstimulated by coffee or certain types of tea. This makes it more difficult to take a few minutes to relax enough to move down into the alpha level to experience a deep meditative period. Some also worry about the further chores that have to be attended to. This, of course, is enough to bring you immediately back to the normal conscious level. Many people become tired after a day's work, and so tend to fall asleep in the middle of meditation. Once this pattern is established, it is often hard to break. Sometimes, getting up and washing your face to wake you up might work, but if you have a tendency to fall asleep again, it would be better to get up a half hour earlier in the morning and use that time as your meditation period.