In all spiritual traditions, meditation is a cornerstone of spiritual practice and discipline. There are many books written on meditation, many techniques, and all of them profess of a great value in stilling and turning off your thoughts. What is rarely discussed, and what I would like to share with you, is why meditation is the cornerstone.
First and foremost, stilling your mind helps you enhance your ability to communicate with your spiritual guides, it helps to eliminate mind chatter and alleviate stress. All of this is well-known. Proper breathing techniques greatly enhance your ability to slow down your mind, shifting you from a beta state to an alpha state or deeper.
Breathing
Correct breathing engages your focus and will, overriding your normal biological functions. This is essential in learning how to take control of your life. If you cannot maintain a sustained breathing technique, which stills the mind and calms the body, releasing stress, then you are being controlled by that stress. Since all spiritual traditions eventually lead to personal empowerment and divine consciousness, it is important to understand that divine consciousness can only be achieved through connection to the Divine, through control over your physical body and your lower self. This is also known as death of the personality.
Expanding Consciousness
In all spiritual practices, meditation is for expanding consciousness. This expansion allows us to connect to higher spiritual beings, as well as specific rays of creation and transformation. It is through proper breathing and meditation that we can hold onto these rays for extended periods of time, thus accelerating our transformation, from a lower vibration to a higher vibration. This allows us to overcome fears, doubts, and misconceptions, and additionally, to bring transformational energies that allow us to perpetuate physical, emotional, and mental healing for ourselves. And with enough practice, you can then flow these energies to others. There are no shortcuts to our spiritual progression, but there are certain tools that are instrumental.
Psychic Awareness
One more thing. When you meditate, focusing on your third eye, at the front of your forehead, will help expand clairvoyance. Focusing on a spot three inches behind and three inches above your head will stimulate both the pineal and pituitary gland, which not only enhances clairvoyance, but also your ability to communicate directly to your guides. For this opens a doorway to the spiritual dimensions. Advanced meditation can only be accomplished when basic body control and energy control, through empowerment of the will and breath are achieved. And advanced meditation is when it gets fun!