The Art of Meditation as Bravery Acquisition Part 3 by Nicholas Saeculario.
I will guide you in a meditation which is directed at the relationship between single-mindedness and individual anatomy responding to attaining it.
A meditator who deepens their focus between the eyebrows,
Censors their limbs and back having shown sensitivity to augmenting concentration.
One does not have to accumulate a large amount of time meditating to witness what are the immediate sensory reactions from achieving to see single-mindedly.
The signs which a meditator experiences,
Specifically on their upper back,
Are received promptly within the first attempts to position the base of the nose slightly upwards which leads the muscles of the forehead to diagonally rise.
Bring your body in a comfortable position.
If you meditate seated,
I suggest you lie on your bed or couch,
While if you usually lie,
Try meditating with your back on a chair.
From now on,
Breathe from the nose.
Your lips are softly sealed and your tongue rests at the roof of your mouth.
This positioning protects the tongue from any sudden spasm that a meditator senses in which provokes teeth trembling.
As you adjust,
Start to increase your sensitivity to your arms,
Legs and upper back.
You can do this by imagining that your entire body is one of these anatomical spots.
You feel your pulse stemming from that part only,
Which is the result of bringing your mind to perceived sense-making occurring there in advance.
What if your right knee were the single spot of your bodily experience?
Then there would be an identification between your breath and a sensation coming from such body part,
The characteristics of which are higher density felt around it,
Soft pressure upon its bone structure and subsequent pulsating or numbing.
You already have assumed a posture that feels natural without creating discomfort and you continue breathing from the nose.
The lights upon the screen formed when you see with closed eyes may vary from light blue to yellow to ultraviolet combinations ranging from maroon to fuchsia.
Deepening your concentration has an effect on the colors appearing.
The more you maintain a single point in view,
The shades are turning brighter while lines are more accentuated.
Here's three prompts to maintain such single-mindedness.
First,
Do not over-raise your forehead muscles.
To prevent this from happening,
Place a finger between the eyebrows.
Relax your forehead completely.
If you sensed your skin moving,
The lift was exaggerated.
Second,
The moment a thought is perceived by you,
Direct your gaze at the point where the eyebrows meet.
That point is found by pushing lightly the eyelids so that the base of your nose elevates as much to cause your perspective an upward shift of an inch or so.
Third,
Approach what it means to meditate as literal enlightenment,
Watching the lights turn brighter and delineated from behind closed eyes.
The back is the first anatomical area that a meditator senses to respond to their increased concentration.
Such response comes from generating more heat across the spine,
Which is due to pressure created at the medulla oblongata found between the pons and spinal cord.
Heat is the result of more electrons passing through the spine as oxygenated bloodstream.
Start preparing your back for attaining this reaction.
Take a deep inhale from the nose and witness your shoulders elevate.
With a slow exhalation,
The shoulders move back,
Hence the shoulder blades open.
What you did earlier,
Isolating your right knee until it feels as if it captures sense-making entirely,
Begin to do with your back.
Upon achieving isolation,
Meaning your back becomes the center of sensual experience,
It is time to further deepen your concentration between the eyebrows.
Push the eyelids upwards and envision the letter V taking shape at the base of the nose.
Thoughts may be coming to you all along.
Returning regardless to the intended focal point is what distinguishes a long-time meditator from the rest.
Return then to the visual sign of single-mindedness.
It is enough to capture an instance or two of that sign every time you meditate.
Seeing it,
Anyone who can isolate their back from the rest of their body,
Produces a stimulus at the medulla that sends an exhilarating effect covering one's scapula.
To receive the effect of single-mindedness on your back is to feel being stroked gently,
Followed by a variation of side effects,
Including numbness,
Temperature rising,
And circulation.
This type of circulation,
Movement of oxygenated blood,
Is characteristic on the hands and feet due to those parts being the last to receive such blood,
Hence oxygen concentration there is higher.
Bring this session to an end by opening the eyes.
Do not rush to your next activity.
Rather,
My suggestion is to slowly awaken your shoulders and neck first,
Then your ankles,
Finishing up with your thighs.
I will leave you this time with the definition of self-care from the perspective of a meditator.
The essence of the art of meditation,
Scientifically speaking,
Is an electrokinetic phenomenon produced at the medulla oblongata,
The point at the base of the cranium.
You can imagine its location being at the opposite pole to the tip of the nose,
On the back of the head.
