meditation: 34 days in

I wrote before about taking a 40-day Meditation Challenge. Well, I'm almost done with it. It's been kind of a sacrifice--it requires planning ahead and remembering to do it--but it's been good so far.

Meditation is a cleansing thing. It's like this quote that Buddha never said (haha!):

Someone once asked the Buddha skeptically, “What have you gained through meditation.”
The Buddha replied, “Nothing at all.”
“Then, Blessed One, what good is it.”
“Let me tell you what I lost through meditation: sickness, anger, depression, insecurity, the burden of old age, the fear of death. That is the good of meditation, which leads to nirvana.”

Did Buddha really say that? Apparently not! But the idea behind it appears to be solid enough.

In kundalini meditation, you chant things. All these chants are designed to stimulate the roof of your mouth, and the roof of your mouth apparently has endings for all 12 major organ meridians in it, along with a connection to your hypothalamus gland. So just by making the sounds, you encourage your body to jump-start its processes. This leads to a physical cleansing of sorts.

For me, the day after I started meditating--or maybe it was two days after--I got a canker sore for the first time in a long, long time. I've also gotten acne for the first time in several years. I'm hoping that as I continue my meditations my skin calms down again! We'll see.

For my 40-day meditation, I've been doing the Kirtan Kriya. The chant for this one is "Sa Ta Na Ma," which means birth, life, death, and rebirth. I always think of rebirth as resurrection, though. The chant is, to me, about Jesus Christ.

Also in kundalini meditation, you talk about the Guru a lot. Turns out "Guru" comes from two words, "Gu" and "Ru," meaning light and darkness--the Guru is the one who enlightens the darkness. Examine:

• John 9:5

  5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
  

• Doctrine and Covenants 39:2

  2 The light and the life of the world; a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not;
  

• Mosiah 16:9

  9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.
  

• John 12:46

  46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
  

• John 8:12

  12 ¶Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
   

The Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants constantly refer to Christ as the light of the world--the one who brings light to the darkness.

In other words, the Guru.

Last night I doubled my meditation time for the first time. I was having a hard night. But during my meditation, I just focused everything on Jesus Christ, and envisioned Him before me.

And it was incredible. The clearer I sought His image in my mind, the closer I felt to Him, until I could see Him so clearly and felt just enveloped in His love. Just remembering it is so powerful to me. It was like getting this spiritual hug from my Savior. It was beautiful. I cried.

If you're seeking peace in your life, and moments like that, where you just wholly feel God's love for you so clearly, I do have to recommend taking up Christ-centered kundalini meditation. Here. Use this website. It is great.