The Magick Mirror         continued

RECAP:
 

"It's that easy and it's that hard. EFFORT leads to leverage in every other area of your life.

Without EFFORT we tend to get stuck in our own heads imagining what "should've, would've, could've" been.  With EFFORT results become real and manifestation is accelerated. Goals start to become realized and results start happening in a meaningful way in our day to day lives.

So take a look into the Beta mirror to see what's really going on.  Of course, I have not yet addressed the issues which actually prevent us from taking such a look, but that will come in time. 

If you can be direct and honest with yourself by looking into your own Beta mirror, you will become highly effective at looking into the Beta mirror of people you encounter."

Unfortunately, many, many people want happiness, change, and success in their own lives without having to use EFFORT.  Let the results speak for themselves.  We live in a world dominated by gravity and only those who master the resistance of gravity see consistent and powerful results.

What is especially interesting about me, as a writer and a teacher, emphasizing this point, is that I have spent the largest part of my adult life teaching mystical, spiritual, and psychic practices. In the nineties I had an average of three very full classes running constantly every week - emphasizing the rich traditions of metaphysical systems and spiritual practices.  I encountered thousands of people who had spent their own lives studying metaphysical thought and gathering volumes of information.  Yet the large majority of those people also expressed the most unstable progress, the least satisfaction, and the least tangible results in their own lives.  Everyone was an information collector -always searching for the next newest thing.  The information being collected did not convert into energy.

After years of seeing that pattern in so many people, I began to switch the focus of my own teaching and began to emphasize "transformation."  Transformation - meaning converting information into energy and transforming the Self into a conduit for energy.  

Right now I am sharing a lesson with you that will change your life in a meaningful way. Yet I know that in this part of the lesson I am emphasizing the Beta aspect of the transformation process.  This has traditionally been the least favorite subject for many students.

I am going to continue to emphasize this topic in this lesson because it is the secret behind making everything work in your life.  Your intuitive abilities, your Empathic nature, your psychic potential, your spirituality - all rest on the foundation that is your Beta world.  Beta is the rock, the foundation, and the conduit for all that you want to do - for all that you aspire to be.

Depending on the level of discussion that we reach in this lesson, I may digress into a "metaphysical" version of this message, in order to speak to those who prefer to overlook this life enhancing step in their own personal path.

In the following lessons the emphasis will build towards more "psychic", Empathic, and spiritual issues, as you learn about EM Nodes.  Yet it will always be the degree of  EFFORT that you embody that will determine how well you can access and utilize those higher abilities.

There are thirty six "energy centers" within consciousness that I teach. EFFORT is the  label for the first one encountered in the process (Beta of Beta). No matter who you are, where you are, what you have done, or what you intend to do, - if you are reading this you are in your physical body. You deal with your physical body and your physical world every day. EFFORT is the level of energy potential you embody and have available to you for everything you do or aspire to do. 

REALITY CHECK:  do you have a high degree of EFFORT available to you every day producing the results you need and want or do you have a long list of reasons why you have low to minimal EFFORT available? Only you know and it only matters to you - so it's a very private realization.

Now, on to "The Other Beta Mirror" - the one that tells all to everyone around us, with or without our consent!!

Your physical body is a mirror of your inner world. If your body is weakened your mind will be weakened.  Again, remember that I am speaking of the average person in the average situation.  Someone who is paraplegic would still have avenues available for developing EFFORT.  

If your body becomes sluggish, de-energized, out of shape, etc. - your mind also becomes sluggish, de-energized, out of shape - because they are both one and the same unit of energy. Your body is your mind and your mind is your body.  Once that statement is fully realized in our society, in our world, major advancements in health and well-being will start to take place.  So much is happening that is moving in that direction, but we still have a long way to go. Once you realize it in your own life, positive changes will begin to happen on a regular basis.

But this is good news, it means that if you are feeling unmotivated, unclear, unable to focus, unable to get a grip on your life - you can begin with your physical body to initiate changes. By using your body, by putting it into motion, by resisting gravity and developing strength - you will start to build your EFFORT potential, - the physical strength will translate into mental strength, -which is the ability to focus and get things done. Your thought process will clear up and you will gain more and more control over your habits.  By becoming physically active and gaining physical strength you strengthen your mind -which is the conduit for your Empathic abilities.  This strength, EFFORT, clears up mental noise greater than any other factor. It separates imagination from reality and gives you the ability to develop crystal clear perception. It turns a sluggish unfocused mind, riddled with imaginary perception, into a sharp laser of concentrated ability.  The hard part: it's a matter of choice.

Not only does your body/mind act as a two way mirror to your inner world - (a mirror that can be temporarily cloaked from others) but there is another mirror that cannot be hidden from others:

Your Environment

 In the same way that your inner world is reflected in your physical body, your inner world is also reflected in your immediate environment.  This reflection of your inner world occurs in what could be thought of as concentric rings.  The closest ring to your physical body is your physical appearance. By appearance I am referring to how you dress and groom.   When you are feeling good, energized, motivated, and strong, it shows in your appearance.  In other words more EFFORT is applied to how you look.  The opposite is also true: when you feel weak, out of control, unmotivated, unhappy, etc., it also shows in your appearance.

The next concentric ring is any of your immediate environments.  We can map these rings out by degrees -starting with where you are the most "physically anchored."  By physically anchored, I mean where you keep your body the most.  So, the next ring would start with your own bedroom - the place where you sleep.  This may bring back flashbacks of your room as a teenager!  Or if you have teenagers, as I do, you will relate to this immediately.

A teenager's bedroom is frequently a microcosmic version of Hiroshima. (No disrespect intended towards Hiroshima).  The bedroom of a teenager is usually cluttered with clothes, items, garbage, and "other" to such an extent that it looks as if a tornado passed through.  This naturally reflects what we understand about adolescence.  Adolescence is a time of upheaval and major change in a person's life.  Chemically, physically, socially, psychologically a teenager's inner life is in transition.  Their inner world is not settled and their outer world shows it.

Your bedroom is your most intimate space - however it is configured. It is where you place your body to sleep at night.  How you maintain it is an intimate reflection of your Self.  Yet, this ring expands to include your home.  Your home reflects your inner world at any given moment.   The more you are attending to and caring for your home environment, the more you are typically attending to and caring for your inner needs as well.   When you allow your outer world to get out of control, to become disorganized and messy, it is often a reflection of what is going on inside.  When you feel out of control on the inside it is usually reflected in your home.  The lack of EFFORT shows in your private living space the same way it shows in your body.  The rings continue to expand to wherever you spend time.

Your car, your vehicle is another "mini-environment" which mirrors your inner world.  Your work space -whatever that is - is another mirror.  How you treat your physical environment reflects how you feel about yourself and how you perceive your reality.  

As an Empath you can read a person's environment to get a sense of what is going on inside of him or her.  What you are especially aware of now, is the level of EFFORT in that person's life.  A higher degree of EFFORT means greater mastery over Gravity; a lower degree of EFFORT means a lesser degree of mastery over Gravity.  

The beauty of this principle is that it also works by reversing the process from perceiving what is going on to actually being able to change what is going on.

If at any time in your life, your life feels "out of control" or there are events which are actually beyond your control - all of which is difficult and anxiety provoking; you can manipulate your environment to gain control over your inner world.    By actually putting your house into order, by cleaning and organizing you can create harmony in your environment which will translate into inner harmony and a greater sense of inner control.  It is not likely going to solve the "problem at hand" but it will increase your inner sense of control and stability, which will in turn, help you be more effective in handling the problem. It also relieves a great deal of stress when you have your own environment in order.

By applying EFFORT to your appearance and to your immediate environment you can increase the Beta energy available to you and strengthen the EFFORT  principle inside your own psyche.  When your home is clean and orderly your inner world feels more "clean and orderly." Physical clutter represents mental/emotional clutter.  The more mental noise a person is struggling with the greater the "chaos" will be in their outer world.  There will be times when that mental noise is too strong and overwhelming. When the mental noise is overwhelming you can begin to put your home in order and, in turn, put your thoughts in order.  This is only one principle, of many, that we will discuss, so please keep perspective on this topic. 

Your immediate environment and how you impact it, is the side of the Beta mirror that everyone can see. Even though you are an Empath, that does not mean that you are blind to the physical world.  It does not mean that you are "exempt" from the physical world. It is the starting point for all perception and experience and it is the ending point of all perception and experience. Another circle.

If you are like me you probably go through cycles with maintaining your environment. Normally I keep it clean and organized, but I go through phases where I work so much and put out so much EFFORT in other areas that I begin to get a little slack. I start to let a few little things go, then over time, the chaos starts to build up.  You can read what kind of cycle I am going through by taking a look at my home on any given day.  When you see my home all clean and organized then you know that my EFFORT level is high and that I am on top of things.  If my place is cluttered and disorganized then I am feeling more challenged and taxed at that time.  The result of me applying EFFORT to my environment, to restore harmony and balance to my outer world, is for me to experience the effect of EFFORT which restores harmony, balance, and strength to my inner world. 

It's that simple. I realize this subject deals with what might be called "obvious" but that is what we are doing -starting with the obvious : BETA and working our way inward to the less obvious.  

Next: the final section of this lesson - a daily practice that increases the amount of EFFORT  you have available to you for any purpose. This is an exercise that anyone can practice and will increase your energy level, your ability to concentrate and focus, AND the amount of EFFORT in your life!

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 © 2006 Jad Alexander All Rights Reserved

Growing and Spreading Your Wings

So far, in this course, we have begun to look at the energy of Gravity. Gravity is located at the Beta level of the energy grid and impacts the Beta level of communication.  Not only is Beta a source of information, it is the first control point of information.

In the first course, "Dreamtongue " you were introduced to the communication grid available to aware Empaths:

 

The communication grid also thought of as an inner network, or "Empath InnerNet" which can be accessed and utilized by a trained Empath.  Each section of the grid (or element) represents a level of interaction and a type of energy pattern.  Each element also represents a "state of consciousness" (S.o.C.) which has the potential to be developed into skill or ability.

I differentiate skill and ability here in the following ways:

Ability - is something that you can do, just naturally; you don't really know why you can do it or how you do it but you can, at times perform the ability.  I have the ability to press the keys of a piano and occasionally make sounds resembling music.

Skill - is something that I have taken time to learn about, practice, and develop. If I take music lessons and actually learn how to play the piano, then I have a skill. I can continue to improve this skill with EFFORT and master the act of playing the piano - if I had some ability to begin with. 

The first lesson in the Psychology of Energy course is an introduction to the subject of converting the Beta of Beta level of communication and ability into a skill.

That skill is labeled :  EFFORT. 

EFFORT is your own personal power reserve, it is your physical as well as psychic strength. It is the ability which controls ALL other abilities.  There are many channels for increasing your level of EFFORT.  I am concluding this introduction to Gravity/EFFORT with a powerful exercise that anyone can do.  I have taught it for many years, and find that those who actually make it a part of their own lifestyle experience amazing results.  I will share results I have had with this practice through various points of the remaining lesson.

The practice of Focused Sitting activates "EFFORT" energy within your psyche and energizes the grid within you; energizes your access to the "Empath InnerNet."  It is equivalent to charging your own batteries. Not a bad idea, eh?

"Focused Sitting" (Xen-Chi)  (this section is repeated and expanded upon in the XenChi section of  the Home site)

One of the primary goals of Empath training is to encourage and support Empathic individuals to progress, evolve, and actualize their full human potential. To awaken within the "dream", to experience life directly, and to realize the power of Empathic connections. Empaths in training are encouraged to adopt the practice of Focused Sitting, the foundation for Xen Chi (pronounced zen chee) , a practice of personal discipline for Empaths.

To begin this part of the  lesson I wish to share a story with you that I have told in almost every class I've ever taught. Obviously, it is one that I think is very important and useful. I first read the story in a Michael Talbot book called "Mysticism and the New Physics." If you have read "The Holographic Universe" you will know that any Talbot book is going to be a good book.

This is the famous "Chicken Story" (that many students know by heart by now. The chicken story has become a parable of how people are trapped by their own perception of the world around them. A group of Peace Corps volunteers went to a small society somewhere in New Guinea. Their mission was to educate the locals in hygiene and more "civilized" living habits. The villagers all gathered around the area that had been set up for viewing a film. They sat patiently and politely through the film which depicted technicians demonstrating new and better habits for them to follow. At the end of the film the volunteers asked the group, via interpreters, what exactly did they get out of the film? The audience was very hesitant to respond. It took some coaxing for any of them to speak. The volunteers were perplexed by their reaction. Finally, one brave soul spoke up. She said that, she wasn't sure but that she thought she had seen some chickens in the film. Then everyone else's faces lit up and they all starting saying something like, "yeah, I saw those chickens, too!" Everyone was excited and delighted in sharing about the chickens!

The point, of course, is that there were no chickens in the film! But for a "primitive" society, the images in the film were foreign and basically unrecognizable. They couldn't even make out what it was they were seeing --- so they projected onto the images what was familiar to them. When people are confronted with the unknown and/or something new, they (we) are faced with a "blank space" internally. We tend to project what we know into that blank space. The bottom line: we only perceive what we know. When faced with the unknown, we make up a meaning or scenario based upon what we know (or think we know.)

Many of the emotional / mental struggles that we experience as humans, and especially as Empaths, come from "seeing the chickens," in other words, not really seeing things clearly for what they are. YOU can only experience what you already know. As an Empath in training, it behooves you to open up to knowing more than ever before. True knowing only takes place through direct experience.

Empath training formally begins once you have made a CONSCIOUS commitment to being fully present in the moment, to train your awareness to focus in the NOW of every experience. This commitment prepares you mentally for achieving higher levels of consciousness which will help you manage and weld your Empath nature. How often do you find yourself in the midst of an experience, such as talking to a friend, or working, and you are focused on everything except what is actually happening. You are focused on something that has already happened in the past, or focused on what you imagine will happen in the future, or focused on what you are imagining is happening instead of experiencing it? This focusing on subjective states instead of the experience is called being "trapped within the dream." Your growth and development as an Empath will be based upon your commitment to awaken within the dream, realize how much of it is your own subjective creation, and to begin to focus on experience as it is happening in the moment.

As you progress in the training decide and continuously review your decision, to make something of your training experience. What you get out of the training will be totally of your own creation. You will be provided with more information than you'll ever be able to fully use. But gathering the information is not completing the training. The information is just some raw resource for you to use as you create your experience. This is a new mode of training for many people. To master this approach simply requires that you move from a passive (waiting) mode to an active mode. Don't wait for something to happen - make it happen! This is a vital transition for most Empaths who have made being "passive" into a lifestyle.

So, is it hopeless? Are we doomed to only see the chickens? To live in a dream? No, of course not. We have more tools to choose from than we can even imagine. One of the most powerful tools available for mastering the human nervous system comes from the ancient practices of Zen. To calm the storm, to awaken from the dream and to see beyond the chickens, all we need to do is to practice a very basic form of discipline. A discipline that could totally unleash the powers of perception and open the direct channels to transformative experience. With clarity and focus you can become a fully conscious actualized Empath.
 

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The application of focused sitting within the Empath training program is referred to as Xen Chi, referring to a western adaptation of Zen. The word "Zen" is an abbreviation of the Japanese word "zenna," which is a transliteration of the Sanskrit "dhyana" and Chinese "ch'an" or "ch'anna, i.e., the process of concentration and absorption by which the mind is tranquilized and brought into one-pointedness for the purpose of Self-Realization. Focused sitting, or the practice of Zazen, is known as the "gateway to total liberation."

By ordering and immobilizing of feet, hands, trunk, and head in a lotus like posture, and by regulating the breath, the methodical stilling of the thoughts and unification of the mind through special concentration; with the developmental control over the emotions and strengthening of the will; and with the cultivation of a profound silence in the deepest recesses of the mind - through the practice of focused sitting - there are established the optimal preconditions for looking into and actualizing your Empath (implicate) nature.

The uniqueness of focused sitting practice is this: that YOU, at the core, are freed from the mind, freed from bondage to all thoughtforms, visions, objects, and imaginings, however sacred or elevating, and brought to a state of absolute internal freedom, from which you may one day perceive your own true (implicate) nature, and the nature of the universe.

It is in focused sitting that the body-mind's force and vigor are enlarged and mobilized for the breakthrough into this new world of freedom. Energies which formerly were squandered in compulsive drives and purposeless actions are preserved and channeled into a unity through Xen Chi practices; and to the degree that mind attains one-pointedness through focused sitting, it no longer disperses its force in the uncontrolled proliferation of idle thoughts. The entire nervous system may be relaxed and soothed, inner tensions eliminated, and the tone of all organs strengthened.

In the broad sense, focused sitting involves more than just correct sitting. To enter fully into every action with total attention and clear awareness is the ultimate state of efficiency for Empathic functioning. Single mindedness and of bare attention are the foundation for an entire hierarchy of skills available within an actualized Empath.

In the "ordinary state", the mind is a jumble of thoughts and emotions, opinions, prejudices, where bare attention is nearly impossible. The ordinary mind is centered not in reality itself but in our ideas of it. By focusing the mind wholly on each object and every action, focused sitting strips the mind of extraneous thoughts and allows us to enter into a full rapport with life.

Focused sitting and mobile focus are two functions equally dynamic and mutually reinforcing. One who sits devotedly in practice everyday, the mind free of discriminating thoughts, finds it easier to relate wholeheartedly to daily tasks, and one who performs every act with total attention and clear awareness finds it less difficult to achieve the sense of "amazing space" during the sitting periods. Amazing space is that state of consciousness which is timeless and limitless, a sense of inner expansion and tranquility which can be achieved through regular practice.

Focused sitting practice for the student Empath begins with you counting the inhalations and exhalations of your breath while you are sitting motionless in xen chi posture. This is the first step in the process of stilling the bodily functions, quieting discursive thought, and strengthening concentration. It is given as the first step because in counting the in and out breaths, in natural rhythm and without strain, the mind has a scaffolding to support it, as it were. When concentration on the breathing becomes such that awareness of the counting is clear and the count is not lost, the next step is a slightly more difficult type of focus, namely following the inhalations and exhalations of the breath with the "mind's eye" only, again in natural rhythm. The blissful state flows from concentration on the breath and the value of breathing in terms of spiritual and psychological development have been lucidly set forth by prominent teachers throughout history. The following quote from Lama Govinda highlights the benefits: "from this state of perfect mental and physical equilibrium and its resulting inner harmony grows that serenity and happiness which fills the whole body with a feeling of supreme bliss like the refreshing coolness of a spring that penetrates the entire water of a mountain lake. Thus breathing becomes a vehicle of spiritual experience, the mediator between body and mind. It is the first step towards the transformation of the body from a state of more or less passively and unconsciously functioning physical organ into a vehicle or tool of a perfectly developed and enlightened mind. The most important result of the practice of mindfulness with regard to breathing, is the realization that the process of breathing is the connecting link between conscious and subconscious, gross-material and fine-material, volitional and non-volitional functions, and therefore the most perfect expression of the nature of all life."

To discover your full Empath (implicate) nature, first requires emptying your mind of "conceptual thought." The mind itself, as a conglomerate of thought, ideas, beliefs, etc., is the only obstacle on the path. Developing the mind, in this regard, is to develop the wall, the barrier to your goals. Focused sitting is the first tool on the path to gain control over the mind and to reduce it to it's proper functions. Before achieving this goal, most people are imprisoned within their minds. Focused sitting is a self-made key for escaping from the prison. Once you escape, ironically, you find that the prison was never there to begin with, only a mirage. All thoughts, whether ennobling or debasing are mutable and impermanent. They have a beginning and an end even as they are fleetingly with us, and this is as true of the thought of an era as of an individual. In Buddhism, thought is referred to as the "stream of life and death." It is important in this connection to distinguish the role of transitory thoughts from that of fixed concepts. Random ideas are relatively innocuous but ideologies, beliefs, opinions, and points of view, not to mention "factual knowledge" accumulated since birth (to which we attach ourselves) are the shadows which obscure our view of reality.

So long as thought continues to interfere with experience we cannot distinguish truth from untruth. It is imperative in Empath training, that these thoughts be stilled. Once they abate, the mental noise begins to subside and thoughts begin to clear. The moment of such realization is referred to as "awakening", the apprehension of the true substance of our self-nature (implicate nature). Unlike moral and philosophical concepts, which are variable, true insight is imperishable. Now for the first time we can live with inner peace and dignity, free from perplexity and disquiet, and in harmony with our environment.

Step One -- is to select a quiet room in which to sit. Lay out a fairly soft mat or pad some three feet square, and on top of this place a small circular cushion measuring about one foot in diameter to sit on, or use a square cushion folded in two. The important thing is to create a stable and comfortable seat with a cushion. Use what you have and create what works for you. Preferably you should not wear long pants or socks since these interfere with crossing the legs. Loose "yoga style" pants could work fine. Ideally it is best to sit in the full lotus position but this is difficult for many people. To sit in the full lotus you place the foot of the right leg over the thigh of the left leg and the foot of the left leg over the thigh of the right leg. The main point of this particular method of sitting is that by establishing a wide solid base, with crossed legs and with both knees touching the mat, you achieve absolute stability. With the body thus immobile, thoughts are not disturbed by physical movements and the mind more easily becomes tranquil.


If, like most westerners, you have trouble sitting in the full lotus posture because of pain, sit half-lotus, which is done by putting the foot of the left leg over the thigh of the right. For those of you who are not accustomed to sitting cross-legged, even this position may not be easy to maintain. You will probably find it difficult to keep the two knees on the mat and will have to push one or both of them down again and again until they stay down. In both half and full-lotus posture the uppermost foot can be reversed when the legs become tired.

For those who find both of these traditional postures acutely uncomfortable, an alternative position is the traditional Japanese one of sitting on heels and calves. This can be maintained for a longer time if a cushion is placed between the heels and the buttocks. One advantage of this posture is that the back can be kept erect easily. However, should all of these positions prove too uncomfortable, develop your own position which achieves the same goal of physical stability. Ultimately, you could use a chair if you have to.

Step Two -- is to rest your hands in your lap with all fingertips touching. You are forming an oval with your fingers, extending the thumbs upward and the other fingers downward. This murder, or hand position, is referred to as the position of "space", symbolic of all space. Hold this position during the entire practice, once you form this hand position practice has started. Once you release it, practice is over.

After you have crossed your legs, bend forward so as to thrust your buttocks out, then slowly bring the trunk to an erect posture. The head should be straight; if looked at from the side, your ears should be in line with your shoulders and the tip of your nose in line with your navel. The body from the wait up should be weightless, free from pressure or strain. Keep the eyes open and the mouth closed at this point. Ideally, the tip of your tongue should touch the back of your upper teeth. If you close your eyes you will fall into a dull and dreamy state. Your gaze should be lowered without focusing on anything in particular. Experience has shown that the mind is quietest, with the least fatigue or strain, when the eyes are in the lowered position.

The spinal column must be erect at all times. Thus self-correcting is important. When the body slumps, not only is undue pressure placed on the internal organs, interfering with their free functioning, but the vertebrae by impinging upon the nerves may cause strains of one kind or another. Since the mind and body are actually one thing, any impairment of the physical functions inevitably involves the mind and thus diminishes its clarity and one-pointedness, which are essential for effective concentration. From a purely psychological perspective, a ramrod erectness is as undesirable as a slouching position, for the one springs from unconscious pride and the other from abjectness, and since both are grounded in inefficient modes of consciousness, they are equally a hindrance to the practice.

Be careful to hold your head erect; if it inclines forward or backward or sideward, remaining there for any significant length of time, strain in the neck will be the result.

When you have established a correct posture, take a deep breath, hold it to the count of four, then exhale slowly and quietly. Repeat this two or three times, always breathing through the nose. After that breathe naturally. When you have accustomed yourself to this routine, one deep breath will be enough to start off your practice. Now bend your body to the right as far as you can go, then to the left, about four to six times each, in large arcs at first, then smaller ones until the trunk naturally comes to rest at the center.

YOU ARE NOW READY TO CONCENTRATE YOUR MIND. There are many good methods of concentration available. The easiest is for beginners in counting incoming and outgoing breaths. The value of this particular exercise lies in the fact that all reasoning is excluded and the discriminative mind put at rest (at least temporarily). Thus waves of thought are stilled and gradual one-pointedness of mind achieved. To start with count both inhalations and exhalations. Inhalations should be made by drawing in breath through the nostrils. Do this slowly and as gradually as possible but DO NOT strain, find your own comfort zone. Fill your lungs from the "bottom up." From the diaphragm in front of your stomach to the top of your lungs. Your stomach should extend outward as you fill the bottom of your lungs Make the breath as long and comfortable as possible. Once your lungs are full, hold your breath to the count of four. Then exhale by pursing your lips into a quiet whistle. Blow out the breath in a slow steady stream through pursued lips, without making much sound. Extend the breath for as long and as far as you can, emptying out the lungs. Once you have exhaled as much a possible without straining, then hold your breath again, to the count of four. Keeping track of the counts is what improves your ability to concentrate. You will notice your ability to concentrate to begin to improve due to this practice. When you inhale, concentrate on ONE; when you exhale concentrate on TWO, and so on, up to ten. Ten should always be an exhalation. Return to ONE once more count up to ten, counting as before. It's as simple as that. You goal in the beginning of the training is to be able to practice this for up to twenty minutes.

As I pointed out already, fleeting ideas which naturally fluctuate in the mind are not in themselves an impediment. This unfortunately is not commonly understood. Even among Japanese who have been studying and practicing Zen for five years or more there are many who misunderstand Zen practice to be a stopping of consciousness. There is indeed a kind of zazen that aims at doing just that but it is not the traditional zazen of Zen Buddhism. You must realize that no matter how intently you count your breaths you will still perceive what is in your line of vision, since your eyes are open, and you will hear the normal sounds about you, as your ears are not plugged. And since your brain is not asleep, various thoughts will dart about in your mind. Now, they will not hamper or diminish the effectiveness of xen chi unless, evaluating them as "good", you cling to them or, deciding they are "bad," you try to check or eliminate them. You must not regard any perceptions or sensations as an obstruction to xen chi nor should you pursue any of them. This is very important: Pursuit means that in the act of seeing, your gaze lingers on objects; in the course of hearing, your attention dwells on sounds, and in the process of thinking, your mind adheres to ideas. If you allow yourself to be distracted in such ways, your concentration on the counting of your breaths will be impeded. Let random thoughts arise and vanish as they will. Do not dally with them and do not try to expel or repress them, but merely concentrate all your energy on counting inhalations and exhalations.

In terminating a period of sitting, do not arise abruptly, but begin by rocking from side to side, first in small swings, then in large ones, for six or more times. You will observe that your movements in this exercise are the reverse of those you engage in when beginning focused sitting. Rise slowly and quietly walk around a minute or two, in what is called "kinhin" or mobile focus. Mobile focus will be a practice introduced at later stages of training.

As with all Empath training modes, be sure to make a note in your journal about your focused sitting practice. Do not dwell on thoughts or images, simply progress and degrees of submerging yourself into the experience. Your practice is your artwork. Your breathing and posture are your medium. Focus on improving each breath and continuously enhancing your posture. Some sessions will be deeply satisfying, others very disappointing. Over time and determination, the practice will evolve into a powerful tool for maintaining your own psyche.

This has been an introduction to focused sitting. This information is also available under the XenChi section of the home page, along with expansions on the practice.

The Psychology of Energy lessons continue.  The next section introduces you to Empath "Nodes."  Learning about the Nodes is like learning little puzzle pieces.  There are Eight primary Nodes to learn, so eight puzzle pieces to play with. Once you have learned about all eight puzzle pieces, you will be ready to fit them together to see the bigger picture. 

The bigger picture is the amazing Empathic system within you, embedded within your central nervous system, deeply connected within your brain.

When you are ready to start learning about the EM Nodes click here.

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© 2006 Jad Alexander  All Rights Reserved