The World As You Make It chapter one How many times have you opened your eyes first thing in the morning and slowly begun knitting together all the things you simply must do that day? By the time your feet hit the floor, you feel burdened, irritated, sluggish, and downright miserable-especially on workdays. No wonder they call it "daybreak"-you feel shattered even before you begin. Where are those moments like on the television commercials where a fresh-looking person with a joyful smile laced with morning sunshine lifts themselves luxuriously from the bed with an expression of bliss? That moment isn''t in a product. It can''t be bottled, jarred, or shrink-wrapped. It isn''t stuffed in your mattress or pillow, or woven in your sheets. That moment is actually in you. If your mind is clouded upon waking with all the tasks you must comthis day, then the reality you''ve set before yourself will be tiresome, long, and filled with stress. If, however, you turn that first moment of magick into a thought of positive power-what then? How do you think your day will unfold? Meditation, generally thought of as an esoteric, New Age practice for the elite few who can sit with their backs straight and legs in a perfect lotus position for hours on end, is simply an elongated thought turned into an enchantment.
It is more than a tool for self-knowledge and self-improvethough it is those things too; what we are going to focus on here is how it is a tool for daily living that can change your life and assist you in manifesting whatever you want and living the life you really want. And anycan master the techniques to make dreams into reality. MindLight Meditation Right now-this minute-I want you to put this book down and prop it so that your hands are free, but you can read along with me. Are you situated? Good! Position your hands as if you are holding a small ball of glowwhite light. Take your time. Just relax and build the light between your hands. This light is a part of you and a part of the Great Work: what you will accomplish for the good of others throughout your lifetime. The light is a tool that you can use to build a healthy, positive future-and the most remarkable aspect is that this tremendous power lies in you! Next, move your hands apart and together as if they are held by a giant rubber band.
Open, close, open, close. Keep playing with the light and, as you do so, remember what it is like to move your hands through water-nice and slow, with a gentle, flowing resistance, except here we translate that feeling through watery resistance as elasticity. Add this remembered feeling of what it is like to move your hands through water to the present movement of your hands working with the MindLight-in, out, in, out. Try not to go past your shoulders when you move out, because we are workon building (we don''t want to scatter). Keep the rubber-band motion of your hands moving in and out shoulder-width apart, then move in for the compact ball of light, and out again. Repeat. Think of nothing but the light in your hands. If you begin to worry about other things, just gently push the thoughts away.
Concentrate only on the ball of light. Stay in the moment. Now we add the sacred breath. As you inhale with nice, deep breaths, draw your hands together to make the small ball. As you move your hands out and away from each other, exhale with one smooth, even breath. Inhale (hands in)-exhale (hands out). The slower the better. Techniques learned at a nice, slow pace stay with you longer and will be more precise when you need the power.
Rather than dwelling on a specific problem at the moment, let''s choose an energy that encourages openness of opportunity. What do you want the most right now: Peace? Harmony? Creativity? Wisdom? Happiness? Healing? Choose one of these and say the word aloud. Now, look into the MindLight you hold in your hands and take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Do this at least three times-more if you are stressed or unhappy. Now, breathe fully from the diaphragm and then inhale from the chest. Practice this type of breathing with several cleansing breaths, and when you are ready, take three of these nice, deep, measured breaths. On the third time, blow your desire (peace, harmony, creativwisdom, happiness, healing, etc.) into the MindLight.
That''s right, just pucker up those beautiful lips of yours and send that thought easily, fluidly into the MindLight you''ve created. Let the breath carrying your desire flow across your lips like fine silk through your fingers-the moisture from your body digitized by your thoughts of perfection. Once the thought is in the ball between your hands, you may feel the seemingly empty space vibrate, or your hands may tingle, or you might feel a "lightness" throughout your body. Pull your hands (holding the light ball) in over your heart, allowyour body to drink in this lovely MindLight you created. Breathe deeply several times, and as you breath in, think of your heart being surrounded by this harmonious, vibrant light. As you exhale, continue to relax and let go of any pent-up negativity-old hurts, pain, fear, unhappiness, etc. Every time you inhale, allow the light within yourself to grow stronger and brighter. Every time you exhale, let go of more and more crusted up, gross mental garbage.
Let the negativity break away, piece by piece. Keep up this visualization as long as you can; there is no time requirement. When you feel you are finished for now, drop your hands to your lap, close your eyes, and take another deep, even breath. Open your eyes and pick up the book. Don''t you feel great? You''ve just learned two very valuable pieces of information-the benof deep, cleansing breathing and how to create a MindLight. Tomormorning, when you wake up, don''t allow yourself to think of anything except that MindLight you just created. Was it for peace? Wisdom? HappiSay the word you associated in your mind with the MindLight several times as you rise to consciousness, eyelids slightly fluttering as you emerge to greet the day. Push all other thoughts aside-every single one.
Just keep the word in your mind as you get up and begin the movements of meetyour day. Again, don''t line up those tasks like little marching soldiers of personal duty. Instead, put that MindLight in your cup. That''s right, let the MindLight of happiness, positive self-worth, peace, or creativity (whatever you called it) sink slowly into that steaming cup of coffee or chilled juice. Drink it. Say to yourself, "I will meet every task as I should. The day will progress with plenty of time to achieve all I desire, and I will feel energized, positive, and useful until I go to sleep tonight." Now, go about your day.
Throughout the day, should you become stressed or overburdened, think of your MindLight like a fun bouncing ball. Be in the moment with that MindLight ball. Re-create the light in your hands when you are particustressed. Remember to breathe deeply and slowly. See your MindLight dancing on the boss''s head when he''s acting pushy because he''s majorly stressed. Or over there at the screaming cab driver. Or under the dining room table tickling your son''s feet (you know, the kid who is throwing the tantrum?). Bet you''ll be surprised at what happens! Meditation is nothing more than the moment you make magick.
Meditation is the wizard of the mind. And the next night? Make a new MindLight, just like the first one. It can have the same theme or a different one. Then, when you wake up the folmorning, repeat the sequence-don''t think of anything except that bouncing, lively MindLight the first few minutes of the day. Continue to play with that MindLight all day and evening long. Remember to stay in the moment with your new mind tool. And if you make MindLights all week? Expect your life to change and welcome it. You''ve just learned how to change your life in a positive way with very little effort-and now you know precisely what it is to meditate.
Meditation is the still point of unlimited opportunity. Friday Night Fights! We''re standing on a big, well-lit canvas square flanked by ropes secured at the four corners by metal poles. Already we can smell the sweat and heat of human bodies mixed with the aroma of popcorn and hot dogs, stale beer and flat soda. You are surrounded by loud music and people laughing in a swirl of popping, glaring lights and you move your feet a little bit-darned shoes are too tight, they''re pinching, and so you add this tidbit of irritation to your experience of "too much input"! The electric anticipation in the atmosphere flicks at your temples like a cat''s whiskers before the clawed strike, so vividly that you think you can reach out and touch that energy, and for a moment, you ride a high as never before. Like the air you breathe, you can''t see the charged energy, but you know that it''s there. Suddenly, the crowd leaps to its collective feet, screaming and shouting, roaring into a combined beast of amazing power while a simultaneous clanging of bells heralds the beginning of the event in a cacophony of heady vibration . darn those shoes anyway! And in the background, like a voice echoing in a rinsed-out soup can, you hear, "Are you ready to rrr-rumble!?" Welcome to your life. Every day we wrestle with the cause and effect of our own actions, which are a physical manifestation of our thoughts.
Like the Friday night fights, we show up in the ring, prepared or not, to put on the gloves.