Lesson 4 - Meditation

This is the fourth lesson in the free druidry course of the Druid Order of Tristram.

Meditation naturally awakens inner awareness, which is the doorway to higher consciousness and divine communion.

Knowing what to expect and how to cooperate with your personal experiences will give you a deep and expansive inner life. Understanding the nature of superconsciousness, intuition, and devotion provides clarity and direction for how to achieve a balanced spiritual life.

Set up the altar, cast the circle and say the prayer as explained in previous lessons.

1. Sit down quietly in a comfortable position. Use a chair if you have back problems.

2. Close your eyes.

3. Deeply relax all your muscles, beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face. Keep them relaxed.

4. Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word, 'Awen', silently to yourself. For example, breathe in ... out, 'Awen',- in .. out, 'Awen', etc. Breathe easily and naturally. After exhalation, always wait for the impulse to breathe to appear. Do not let that the following exhalation or inhalation be started by the tendency to follow a rhythm.

5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. After you completed the meditation, take a moment to absorb your environment and to experience your feelings. By the time you finish, your feelings should be relaxed and your thoughts should have disappeared. When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened. Do not stand up for a few minutes.

6. Do not worry about whether you are successful in achieving a deep level of meditation. Maintain a passive attitude and permit meditation to occur at its own pace. When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them and return to repeating 'Awen'.

When finished, uncast the circle in the opposite direction.

This is considered the first step of meditation, or 'thoughtless awareness' when you were completely cognizant without thought, in a pure state of peaceful consciousness. With practice, it should come with little effort.

Practice the technique once or twice daily, but not within two hours after any meal, since the digestive
processes interferes with the elicitation of thoughtless awareness.