Meditation clears distortions. You might view it as the process of allowing cloudy waters to dissipate… letting the mud settle so you can see clearly. Contemplation is like gazing into that clear water.
Meditation and contemplation are both forms of interior practice; the prior has the potential to transform the latter into a super-power!
Ideally your time in meditation has allowed you to be comfortable in stillness and silence and has provided you with tools to step away from distraction, both outwardly and inwardly. Meditation creates an uncluttered space in the mind for contemplation.
We’ve consistently practiced turning our attention toward specific phenomena… the breath, sounds, sensations in the body, the ease created in simply paying attention to the present moment. In contemplation, we are deliberately turning our attention to a question, a word, a phrase or an idea. Your practice thus far with steady open attention will not only make this simple and enjoyable, it will allow the subject of your contemplation to come alive and reveal its essence.
Perhaps time in meditation has opened your heart and mind to deeper realities, transformative truths, unconditional love, or the purity of presence. This is fertile ground for insights and revelations. Why not plant new seeds with contemplation? It both calms and ignites the mind, exercises your meditation muscles, and can even establish union with the ultimate source of creativity! Enjoy!
Listen to the first audio and you will be guided as to how to use the next three.
Luminous Perception Meditation – Day 2