Stilling the Mind: Pratyahara Meditation
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Meditation is all about stilling and ultimately stopping the mind. As Mark teaches: "When the mind stops, Samadhi arises." This seems like an impossible task, until one receives Shaktipat and begins to study in earnest as a student of the Hard Light Center. Mark's instructions on the mystical technique of Pratyahara meditation are the foundation of this skill. 1) Pratyahara Meditation I* | Distilled Pratyahara* |
* Three of the meditations are also part of the Power Pack collection.
The guided meditation that Mark has called Pratyahara, is actually an exposition of five of the eight limbs of Yoga that Patanjali outlined in the Yoga Sutras. These are also mentioned within the Shiva Sutras. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali outlines eight steps to reach Realization:
- Yama abstentions
- Niyama observances
- Asana hatha postures for the body and nervous system
- Pranayama breath control
- Dharana concentration
- Dhyana meditation
- Pratyahara withdrawal of the senses
- Samadhi oneness
from Mark Griffin:
“The layers and layers of attention are becoming essentialized. No longer giving rise to separate qualities of modification, it simply merges into the ocean, like a drop being dropped into the ocean. It is this point of cessation where the mind ceases to possess or take ownership of its experiential flow, which up until that point acts as a kind of contraction. and its effect producing a contraction of attention. At that moment ones attention goes universal, simply arises as itself, without modification.
This is the event of samadhi – one’s attention coming into direct contact with the spontaneously arising indwelling truth. It is in this reflex of cessation that awakening occurs.” ~ Mark Griffin, July 8, 2010