DAILY PRACTICE

Once you taste of the Divine, you become an addict for life.
Nothing else will ever satisfy your hunger in the same way.
- John O'Donohue, poet and author

WHEN I FIRST STARTED a meditation practice many years ago, I would only see colors - vivid purple, green and blue. Then one morning, about six months into my regular practice, an unmistakable image flashed through the nothingness. The vision was a stone statue of an Egyptian queen, adorned with an ornate headdress, and it rotated 360 degrees in my mind's eye, enabling me to get a full glimpse of her profile. I was sufficiently freaked out by this uninvited simulacrum, and its appearance shocked me out of my relaxed state. I sat up straight, eyes like salad plates, and pondered what it meant.

Gradually, I connected enough mental dots to draw a loose conclusion about why THIS image, why NOW. Around that time, I'd made the monumental decision to transition from toiling in advertising and corporate marketing to work that focused solely on journalism and narrative writing. It was a bold declaration (to myself) that I wished to follow my true vocation as a nonfiction writer - not just penning ad copy, company newsletters, media releases and such, but really being a writer in every sense of the word. You know, scribbling on tablets into the wee of the night like Virginia Woolf in The Hours, extrapolating the soul, losing myself between lines of Kafka and Nabokov. This decision brought me miles closer to who I really was (and had always been - for goodness sakes, my favorite childhood book was the Merriam-Webster Dictionary!). This is how I wanted to live, with creativity at the fore.

As I've intuitively discovered over the years, it also was a return to who I once was in other lifetimes. (I've experienced conscious memories of having lived in ancient Egypt as a scribe to the queen. I will speak more about this later.) This meditation talisman of an Egyptian queen - Nefertiti, I believe - was a simple confirmation that my choice to go forward with righting full time was the write one (two words purposely transposed to see if you're awake), as it's something that's been an important part of me for a long, long, long time.

Now, far from being boring (because all sorts of crazy, cool stuff has transpired since my visit with the queen), meditation is something I crave. The feeling it imparts is addictive in a healthy way. I know that it's possible to do nothing yet still feel powerful and exquisitely peaceful. And after a dozen or so years of practicing, it takes only minutes, even seconds, to tune into my center of stillness. Meditation is not a waste of time any more than sleep is; conversely, it makes every moment count and its resulting clarity makes you more efficient in daily life.

Meditation is the most effective way to expand your consciousness because it creates a direct, unbridled link to your higher self and the creative intelligence of the universe. Like intuition, meditation is innate; your body already knows how to shift into a state of profound rest. You do this every night. Yet meditation differs from sleep in one distinct way: you are resting more deeply than you do when you sleep; and paradoxically, you are consciously awake. Instead of falling asleep, you fall awake.

All you type-As out there, trust me on this. If I can master the concept of mingling with silence, so can you. Create time in your life to give it a try, and just begin, bearing in mind the words of Zen philosopher Dogen: "When you walk in the mist, you get wet." In other words, by simply engaging in the practice of meditation, you will inevitably absorb the great teachings that exist in the sound of silence, and you'll agree that there's no place like OM.

LIFE AS A WHISPERED PRAYER

If meditation serves to crack open the cosmic door, then the art of contemplation - in which every moment is a whispered meditation - is the door swung wide open. Being able to live in perpetual contemplation (I imagine, as I'm still getting there) would lead us to the peak human experience of living with unconditional love - which is the hinges of the door being blown off. After this stage, we don't need a door, we have transcended.

I use the word "imagine" because my desire several years ago had been to successfully jump the chasm from occasional higher and blissful states to a leveling off in which I can realize those higher states all the time. In 2004, I had the pleasure of interviewing teacher, scientist and modern day mystic David Hawkins, MD, PhD, a prolific author and authority on the nature of consciousness. I was really curious about this leveling-off effect at the time, so I queried him. "Can we stay in this heightened state or is it more likely that we experience brief periods of it then return to our normal state?"

"It ebbs and flows," he responded. "It's not linear. It's more like the stock market - up and down, up and down."

I'd had peak experiences leading up to that time and since then have discovered that as our spiritual practice becomes dedicated and long term, our connection to higher consciousness evolves from simply being a passing phase into a permanent characteristic - something that, if done enough, becomes part of who we are. I've found this to be a self-perpetuating phenomenon: as we begin to experience the oneness of the universe very profoundly through repeated practices and training that reinforce those peak states, the more effortlessly and naturally the heightened and integrated state of contemplation occurs. I would describe this "oneness of the universe" as feeling totally connected with the one centrifugal energy that flows through all of creation with no sense of separateness. Everything Matters! With contemplation, the focused awareness that we realize through meditation becomes much more than (and everything other than) simply sitting in silence in a room with candles and incense. Our everyday activity becomes infused with it - whether we're folding laundry, mowing the lawn or walking the dog - and it brings us more fully alive.

I'm now in my car on the way to a meeting in Ohio. It's a crisp, blue-sky autumn day. The sun is glistening through colorful foliage. Shadows of already barren trees reflect off the road. Yellow school buses blend with the bright yellow leaves. As I drive along, my car whips the leaves aside and creates a path, literally and figuratively. What a perfect time to keep the radio OFF and tune in (no singing today!). So often we fill our time with noise. Road trips are a great chance to get into a contemplative state. Of course, I'm paying attention to my driving because as we know about meditation, it's about heightened awareness, not a sleep state. Focusing on driving becomes like chanting a mantra, which allows my mind to clear itself of everything else that I might be thinking and float into contemplation. I've found this to be an effective means for being creatively productive. In fact, this book project began with notes that I tape recorded while driving north by northeast. I outlined the entire manuscript by keeping the radio off, entering a contemplative state and allowing the information to pour through my voice into the tape recorder.

A Simple Daily Routine
I'm not advocating something rare or exotic. To date, at least 1,600 scientific studies have established the benefits of having a spiritual practice. The form that your practice takes should be whatever has the most meaning for you.

Here is my own typical daily routine: I do a morning meditation when time permits. I call in the energy of God, Christ, Divine Mother, the Holy Spirit and any other energies from Divine beings, mother earth, nature, heaven or the cosmos that seem "appropriate" that day or that I sense are present and willing to work with me. I ask for only the highest and purest energies to come through. I give thanks for life, health, family and friends, and the infinite forms of abundance bestowed upon me - from the ability to have a clear mind to the cup of coffee I savor upon waking each morning (and the fact that my husband lovingly takes care of brewing the coffee). I silently announce my intentions for the day and send prayers to those who've either requested that I do so, or who I feel may need a healing boost.

Then I settle into the silence and see what shows up. Oftentimes, insights for the day will bubble forth. On days when life is frenetic, all I can manage is a brain dump; keeping a notepad nearby allows me to write down things that I need to remember. (Be mindful of these subconscious thoughts, as they are oftentimes emergent intentions - whether we intend them consciously or not.) Sometimes, a message will download for me or someone else - which I usually type right into my laptop. Other days, I simply relish the nothingness because I realize it's probably going to be the calmest, quietest piece of my day. I close the meditation by once again expressing gratitude for life.

When I don't have time for an a.m. meditation, I can at least take a moment in the shower, or even upon waking, to ask for the highest and best outcome for the day ahead. I ask the universe to amaze and amuse me with its wisdom and whimsy. If I desire guidance on a particular issue for the day, I will either ask Spirit to be with me when confronting that situation or will simply say "show me the truth of what I need to know about this circumstance now." Then, I go on with my day, moving more into contemplation. At random times throughout the day, I stop, connect and observe whatever comes through my consciousness. This generally doesn't take any longer than a few seconds. Stop, connect, observe. This keeps my day on its truest course.

With enough practice of living in contemplation, there is no seam between formal tuning in and all other everyday pursuits. Intentions can go from being specific statements made at the dawning of a new day or during a special moonlit ritual, to ongoing, evolving, moment-to-moment contemplations that bend and sway like reeds on a breeze. I check my "voice messages" in this contemplative manner with no interruption of the tasks I'm doing - whether it's preparing dinner for my family or producing a public event for hundreds of people.

CONTEMPLATION

OM, Again
In a word: meditate!

Let Spirit Move You
Choose a simple daily (or regular) routine that connects you to Spirit: cut flowers or herbs in your garden, cast runes or pull a card from an inspirational deck, take a morning walk or do gentle yoga stretches. Afterwards, allow the energy to carry you into a mood of contemplation. Go about your day. If this mood fades, return to doing something that reconnects you - even if it's just taking a few deep breaths or glancing at artwork that inspires you.

© Gina Mazza Hillier, 2008

Excerpted with permission from Everything Matters, Nothing Matters: For Women Who Dare to Live with Exquisite Calm, Euphoric Creativity and Divine Clarity (St. Lynn's Press, April 2008, ISBN: 978-0-9767631-8-5, $17.95) is available at bookstores nationwide and major online booksellers. Visit www.EverythingmattersNothingmatters.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gina Mazza Hillier is nationally published freelance journalist, editor, writing consultant, dance enthusiast and advocate of living with creative abandon and full-frontal consciousness. She is known for being a source of inspiration - or, a muse - to others in their writing and in their spiritual-personal development. Gina is a partner and founder of Epiphany Works, LLC, an “inspired events” planning company that creates public entertainment and forums of inquiry to celebrate and integrate world cultures and spiritual traditions.

In addition to Everything Matters, Nothing Matters, she is the co-author of Romancing with Future (Findhorn Press, 2008) and The Highest and The Best (Xlibris, 2000). Gina can be reached at inspire@zoominternet.net. For more information, visit www.Ginawriter.com, www.epiphanyworks.org or http://museyoucanuse-gina.blogspot.com.