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Is There One Best Way To Meditate? by Carol E. McMahon, Ph.D.
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What is the "Light" of Enlightenment? - And How To Use It
by Carol E. McMahon, Ph.D., Featured Article: SpiritualNow.com
We’ve all heard of it. Many have seen it. It’s light seen in deep meditation – the “light” of enlightenment. To us it’s a metaphor. “Seeing the light;” like “opening your eyes,” and “awakening,” are just figures of speech, but we’re wrong here. When you know the light’s source you can produce it and use it to guide yourself to your highest goal. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is The Light Of Enlightenment?
The room can appear to brighten. “White light” has been reported. Enlightenment breakthrough is described as “ten suns shining.” Such light might seem mystical, even imaginary, but it’s an actual sensation. What causes it?
What Causes Light Sensations?
The cause of the light is attention. How is this possible? Let me explain.
In eyes-open meditation (the ‘open gaze’ of Zen for instance), good attention holds the eyes still. This creates a fixed retinal image that uses up photo pigment (as in exposing photographic film), causing visual distortion in the form of light. Thus light has a physical cause, and more important, you produce it. You create light sensations simply by gazing at a spot with focused attention.
It’s vital to know that seeing the light confirms attention. This lets you monitor attention and guide your meditation. Based on these facts a highly efficient “feedback meditation method” has been developed. Produce and make use of the light and you’re guided straight to your goal.
Guided By The Light – Better Than A Guru?
The guidance offered by the light is “feedback” – something necessary for skill learning. Skilled meditation requires attention. Attention makes it work. The more focused and sustained your attention, the more you benefit.
Put another way: the less your mind wanders the more you gain. Using light as feedback you can hold on to attention and prevent wandering. (It’s like having a built-in Guru to monitor meditation for accuracy.) Light sensations tell you you’re on target. Disappearance of these “feedback signals” alerts you to drifting away. Light provides information you need to succeed. That’s the “feedback method.” Here’s how it’s done.
How To Produce Light
First you need a focusing point – a target for attention. A pea size bull’s eye on a two inch round of paper, or even a spot on the floor will do. Specially designed discs however, help create light sensations. These “Focusing Discs” are freely available at the Straight Line Meditation website (FocusingDiscs).
Place your disc on the floor; sit erect, and focus with a gentle gaze on the bull’s eye. When distortion (light) appears, shift your attention to that. Hold on as you’d hold on to an anchor. The light anchors attention – assuring you meditation’s ‘active ingredient.’
“Go Into The Light?”
It’s been said “Go into the light.” Beware this advice. It lets your mind wander. (You’ll soon lose feedback - your anchor for attention.) Holding on to the light gives you straight line meditation: the shortest distance between you and your goal. Now here’s the key to successful meditation.
The Key To Success: Guidance From The Light
When you sit down to meditate, the key to success is recognizing feedback signals. Light signals attention. (Seeing it, you literally pay attention to your attention.) When your mind wanders, your eyes wander and the light disappears. That’s your signal to get back on target. Return to the bull’s eye; focus on the halo of light and re-anchor attention. With feedback, you need never again fall prey to a wandering mind.
Build Practice Skill With Feedback
Without feedback, meditation practice skill – your power of concentration, develops slowly. In fact, it may not develop at all. Light guides practice skill growth. Empower your practice with the feedback method - a power tool that sharpens with use and cuts through everything. You’ll “see the light” in more ways than one.
How To Meditate Better Than Your Guru: The Feedback Advantage
(by Carol E. McMahon, Ph.D., THE FREE PRESS, March 22, 2010)
Better than your Guru? No joke is intended. Read this and you’ll know how to meditate better than Gurus past and present. You’ll be free of the problem that limits their success: mind’s uncontrollable wandering.
Even Gurus are plagued by drifting and dreaming; time spent wandering when they’d hoped for attention. Now there's a fail-proof solution. The solution is “feedback.” Here’s how to use it.
Why Meditation Needs Feedback
Attention is the key to successful meditation. Attention makes it work. When you sit down to meditate however, even with the best intentions your mind wanders. Attention is all but impossible to sustain.
Why is attention so hard to hold on to? It’s because you lose attention without knowing you are losing it. Attention slips away unseen. To a research psychologist with an interest in skill learning, there's an easy solution to this problem: meditation needs feedback.
The Feedback Solution
In meditation the aim is attention, but if you can't see your target you can't correct your aim. Meditation is like shooting darts blindfolded. To excel in meditation (or darts), you need to see what you are doing. You need to monitor attention. You need feedback.
Where can you find feedback? Amazingly, it’s right before our eyes and has been there all along, unrecognized.
Where Can You Find Feedback? Right Before Your Eyes!
I discovered feedback while meditating with my eyes open. My attention was focused on a spot on the floor when I noticed a small halo of light flickering round it. The light was feedback -- visual proof of attention – the means of self-guidance that assured success. It works like this.
“See The Light:” Precision Guidance From Feedback
This light had often been seen before. It’s seen with Zen’s “open gaze.” It’s reported at enlightenment. Its origin and usefulness however, was never recognized. We missed the fact that this light is caused by attention, making it possible to attend to attention and mind your mind.
Sensations of light are produced when focused attention holds the eyes still. The steady gaze holds the image in the same place on the eyes’ retinas. Retinal fatigue follows, and with it distortion in the form of light.
As long as you attend, you see the light. When your mind wanders however, your eyes wander and the light disappears. Thus the light signals attention and alerts you when you wander off. Light offers precision self-guidance. Focus on the light and you sustain attention. In place of wandering in circles there’s a straight line to success.
A Whole New Ballgame: The Feedback Advantage
With traditional methods, mind’s wandering severely limits success. You can expect slow, or even no practice skill development. (You can get even less effective with practice.) Slow, unreliably progress is standard, and there’s no guarantee of return on invested time. Feedback solves these problems. Here’s the how-to.
The New Method How-To
Focusing discs specially designed to facilitate feedback are available online at StraightLineMeditation.com. (A spot on the floor will do in a pinch.) Simply focus with a gentle gaze on the bull’s eye. Visual distortion (the sensation of light) will appear, signaling attention. Shift your attention to the light. When your mind wanders, your eyes will wander and the light will vanish. That’s your signal to re-focus on the bull’s eye. (Beware the advice: “Go into the light.” The light is feedback, your anchor for attention. Hold on!) Hold on to feedback and you hold on to attention. Feedback guarantees it.
Meditating in Circles? Try Straight Line Meditation
Traditional meditation wanders. When you stop wandering you cover ground fast. Feedback guides you straight to your goal, further, faster than any prior method. Find detailed instruction for all practice levels and self-tests to guide you in STRAIGHT LINE MEDITATION by Carol E. McMahon, Ph.D. with Master Deac Cataldo. See the light. Your Guru will be awed.
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