Suggested Practices

There are many different states of meditation, but all meditation is a state of alertness in which one is completely aware of what is transpiring in one’s consciousness and one’s environment. Essentially, meditation is a state in which one is fully alert, yet also fully relaxed.

In Gnosticism the practice of mindfulness is not limited to formal sessions of meditation, but is integrated into one’s daily activities. As much as a Gnostic performs formal sessions of prayer, meditation, and ritual; the Gnostic also seeks to cultivate mindfulness throughout the day, ultimately seeking union of spiritual practice and daily living. It is this that leads to the development of higher states of consciousness and actual Self-realization. Any activity can be a practice of mindfulness, and coupled with Primordial Meditation the Goodness within oneself will naturally shine forth.

Silent Witness

The Practice of the Silent Witness is a practice of merely observing mental-emotional states, and all of the thoughts and feelings-emotions that arise, without any judgment, attachment, or aversion. One simply wishes to watch what is happening, inwardly and outwardly, without identifying oneself with anything that is happening.

Remaining identified with what is arising in consciousness makes us powerless to make any real change. If we can remove our self-identification with thoughts and emotions, and even events in life, we become empowered to make changes. Basically, the Silent Witness is an exercise in self-knowledge and the cultivation of self-awareness.

At any time, anywhere, just let go and let be, and become the Silent Witness of all that is transpiring within and all around you. Become aware of your body and with your awareness scan your body. Notice its posture and all of the sensations in the body, including any tensions or stresses. Then shift your focus to the feeling-emotions underlying the bodily sensations, allowing yourself to become conscious of your feelings and emotions. Then shift your focus to the thoughts associated with these feelings and emotions. Without any judgment at all, without attachment or aversion, just witness in silence what is happening.

This practice can be done in the midst of daily life. It is one of the key methods through which Christian Gnostics integrate their spiritual practice into daily living. One can engage in this practice for prolonged periods of time, but even just five or ten minutes throughout one's day is beneficial. Abiding in this Presence of Awareness the majority of the time evolves through consistent practice.

Witnessing is not something you do, it is the realization that awareness is present. Awareness is always present, even when you are totally absorbed in an activity or thought. "You" might be trying to do the witnessing, yet while this "you" seems to have awareness, in reality the "you" that tries to witness is being witnessed.

Primordial Meditation

Primordial Meditation with Breath: This method is is found in many esoteric schools. Essentially, you allow your body to find its own natural rhythm of breath and rest your attention gently on the breath.

According to Genesis, God breathed a Living Soul into the First Human Being, who was both male and female. All words for the parts of the Soul in Kabbalah mean “air,” “wind” or “breath", with the exception of Yechidah, which means “Divine Spark”. Thus, there is an intimate connection between the breath and the power of our Soul. In connection with these ideas you may recall what it is written: “When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” (Gospel of St. John 20:22-23).

There is power in our breath and in our breath we are connected to all that lives and the Spirit of God. Primordial Meditation using the breath as our focus can facilitate the Enlightenment Experience as well as activate psychic and spiritual gifts.

When you meditate using this method, breathe naturally, with even inhalations and exhalations, just as you ordinarily do. Focus your awareness very gently on the out-breath, and when you exhale just flow out with the breath. Every time you breathe in, let go and let be, and imagine that at the end of the out-breath your breath dissolves into the infinite spaciousness. At the end of every exhalation, before the next inhalation, you will find there is a gap – let go and enter into the gap. In the gap is the “place” of Pure and Primordial Being.

Whatever thoughts or emotions might arise, neither grasp at them nor push them away. Just let them be, and let them naturally arise and pass away, without doing anything with them. If you find that you have become distracted or daydreaming, merely restore your focus to your breath and continue.

Do not focus too tightly upon breath, but focus upon it lightly. Basically, you want to place about ¼ of your awareness on breath and leave the other ¾ free. In this state one is essentially aware of oneself and what is happening in consciousness and environment.

Instead of watching the breath, as though separate from breath, identify with your breath, as though you are becoming your breath. Breathe and let the breath and the one who is breathing gradually merge in a natural way without unnecessary force.

In this practice you will find that as the Presence of Awareness grows you will experience the mind becoming more and more silent and the vital-emotional being becoming more and more quiet.

Primordial Meditation with an Object: This method is also very ancient and very simple. Instead of focusing one’s awareness upon the breath, gently rest your mind on an object. You can use any object that has a natural beauty and that uplifts and inspires you. More powerful than this kind of object are sacred objects.

In this method, merely rest your mind upon the chosen object, and let yourself merge with it – it is the same as with breath, but uses an object for focus instead. If you become distracted, restore yourself to the practice.

(Beginning practice of Primordial Meditation with an object requires an external object of focus. However, in advanced practice an internal object or visualization may be used to further develop kavvanah-concentration.)

Primordial Meditation with Sound or Chant: Another ancient method of meditation is with chant and sound. Essentially, taking up a chant, you merge your mind with the sound of your voice.

In the prologue to the Gospel of John it is written: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” The Word-Logos is Sound-Vibration. In the Kabbalah there is an art of vibrating Divine Names and Words of Power through which facilitate shifts in consciousness.

The simple sound Ah can be used or any of the Divine Names can also be used. Chanting Yeshua's name, the chant 'Adonai Yeshua, Yeshua Messiah', the name of the Holy Bride (Kallah Messiah), the chant of the Mother of Light ('Ha Isha Ha Elyona, Aima Israel') are all very good, but any chant to which one is inclined may be used.

Simply take up the chant and gradually merge the mind with the chant.

Any time one finds oneself distressed, chant can serve as a relief and it automatically tends to guard the mind against falling into negativity. So, aside from Primordial Meditation, chant is a useful practice.

These are the basic methods of Primordial Meditation. You might wish to try each of these methods and find which one works best for you,