HOW LONG DOES ALL THIS TAKE?

Before you dismiss all this as too hard, let me give you an assurance. After a month or so  of the Calm Technique, you will want to make it a lifetime commitment. Every morning and evening for the rest of your life won't seem like a burden, it will seem like a pleasure. You will actually look forward to those rare moments of peace and harmony (relaxation) that modern life seldom offers. And the more you listen to the subtle things your body tells you, the more you will appreciate how important the Calm Technique really is to your life. Ultimately, as the runner becomes addicted to his running, so the meditator becomes addicted to meditation.

How long does it take? A day? A lifetime?

The ideal time to be spent with the Calm Technique each day is fifteen to thirty minutes, morning and evening. Most people seem to spend twenty minutes each time, but you should decide on a time for yourself. After a week, you will know what is the ideal time for you. Then you should standardize. If it's twenty minutes, it should be twenty minutes every time. Because even though the Calm Technique involves no heavy discipline, it is a discipline in itself. So regularity, diligence and determination will all bring their own rewards. Please note that the time you spend on the Calm Technique should be governed by how you react to it and what you want to get out of it, and not by what your schedule expects.

To begin with, let's set the standard time for the Calm Technique at twenty minutes. (Later you can vary it a little in either direction to suit the way you feel.) The times of day you should devote to the Calm Technique are once in the morning and once at evening, preferably before meals and as early as your schedule will allow. As the Calm Technique will have you feeling more alert and wide-awake at the end than when you began, it's preferable that your evening meditation takes place a couple of hours before bedtime (although experience will tell whether this is the case with you).

Twenty minutes twice a day will probably seem like quite s chunk out of your day. It is. The compensations are that you will feel much better for having done it in the morning, and you'll sleep better for having done it at night. You'll find that trading half an hour's sleep for half an hour with the Calm Technique is well worth it. Besides, a relaxed person sleeps better and gets by on significantly less sleep than a stressed person.

If the Calm Technique had to be performed without fail for twenty minutes twice a day, then it would be a stressbuilder in itself. The ideal is twenty minutes twice a day. But that's all it is, an ideal.

I should emphasize one last time the similarity between the Calm Technique and an exercise programme. You will notice the effect in the first few days. After that, the effects will be gradual anf barely discernible, but in the long run, you'll revel in the accumulated benefits of this tuning, training and exercise, and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Even if you have doubts, I sincerely urge you to persist with the Calm Technique for at least two months. After that, you won't need the urging - the benefits will be so obvious to you, you'll never want to stop.

But above all, learn to enjoy anf appreciate the time you spend on the Calm Technique for its own sake. Then the long-term benefits to your health and psyche will look after themselves.

-- This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique by Paul Wilson

HAVING ONLY ONE THING ON YOUR MIND

In spite of how easy it may appear to have only one thing on your mind at one time, it is an extraordinarily difficult task. Great athletes can sometimes do it, I'm told. Perhaps great scientists and thinkers can too. But ordinary folk like you and me have to be trained.

If you think I'm exaggerating, try this simple test:

Think of an egg. Just an egg. Nothing more. Not about hens or egg cups or prices. Close your eyes, visualize an egg, and for two minutes think only of that egg. With no other thought coming into your mind.

Right, close your eyes.

You thought it was going to be easy, didn't you. You thought of how you had to concentrate. You wondered if you were sitting the right way and whether your two minutes were up. You congratulated yourself on how easy it was. And you probably thought a hundred other thoughts. You see, the human mind finds it almost impossible to concentrate on only one thought for any length of time. Unless it's trained.

Athletes understand this. The heavyweight boxer pounds away at a punching ball for hours on end so that he no longer has to think about punching, so that he will no longer be distracted by the pain and exhaustion. The marathon runner treads the same steps, day in day out, so that she never has to consider the act of running or the pain, but can focus her consciousness on her internal timing clock. You practise the Calm Technique every day of your life so you never have to think about thinking, so you can focus your consciousness on 'being'.

No doubt you've heard of the 'runner's high', where the runner experiences a trance-like state, a great feeling of psychological wellbeing, and moments of deep personal insight. It is the same during the Calm Technique. And other similarities continue: the experienced meditator feels deprived if a day's meditation is missed, just as the runner is frustrated when denied the daily run. Both the meditator and the well-tuned athlete develop an increased capacity to cope with and enjoy life, and by becoming more healthy, eliminate stress from their lives. However, the Calm Technique does it more effectively, and is considerably easier on the feet!

HOW LONG DOES ALL THIS TAKE?

The biggest problem the twentieth century Western student has to overcome is impatience. Western culture and attitudes are geared towards the immediate result, thw overnight success. The advertisinf and magazinw mentality of our age, where information is continually telegraphed in short entertaining bursts, and where the spectacular always triumphs over the substantial, has affected our capacity to approach a subject with the depth and determination it often deserves. Our attention spans have been severely reduced. Our ability to persevere with a course of action or thinking, once embarked upon, is similarily affected.

Thissdvertising and magazine mentality has produced a proliferation of self-improvement courses (this one included). Many people have the desire to improve, but lack the willingness to persevere. Consequenly they flit from one superficial solution to the next, hoping for an easier way out, a big result for a small involvement, instant success or nirvana. Consequently, many self-improvement devotees tend to fall into extreme categories like the fanatics or the dilettantes.

The Calm Technique does not lend itself to fanaticism; there is insufficient mystery surrounding it. But I fear it could be an ideal playground for the dilettante: it has definite short-term potential where practical results can be realized, and it can also be resurrected with considerable success after long periods of abstinence. But, as the greatest benefits the Calm Technique has to offer are reserved for those who persevere, part-time involvement will only realise a fraction of its true potential. Dedication, perseverance and regular practice will bring profound long-term results which far outweigh any immediate improvements.

The benefits will be obvious from the first time you use the Calm Technique. They may be subtle but, at the very least, they will be relaxing and enjoyable. After a couple of weeks, you'll have a definite feeling of calm and wellbeing, you'll be more at ease with yourself and the world. If you smoke, overeat or drink to excess, you'll probably begin to feel the urge to wean yourself from these bad habits. (Note: This is not to suggest that the Calm Technique is s smoking/eating/drinking cure. It can help, but it's not a cure in its own right. Still, as you get more in touch with yourself through the Calm Technique, you'll find it more desirable and much easier to rid yourself of these habits.)

After a few weeks, when the improvements and the benefits aren't as obvious as they were in the first few days, you'll probably start to feel a bit impatient. The standard dilettante approach at this stage is to decide things aren't happening fast enough, and stop or seek yet another 'solution'. But the solution lies in your persistence. There is no meditation or self-improvement technique in existence that will produce dramatic results overnight. The Calm Technique can change your life dramatically, but it takes time. As meditation in itself has no goal, it can have no end. At no stage in your life will you ever be able to say, 'I've made it', because the process is ongoing. Like physical exercise, the Calm Technique should be a lifetime commitment.

--This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique by Paul Wilson

EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CALM TECHNIQUE

You will be more positive.
You will be more alive, healthier, happier.
You will have a greater capacity to cope.
You will have an increase in mental alertness, and will think and act more creatively.
You will eat better, sleep better, love better.
You will be more tolerant.
You will appreciate life more.

HOW CAN A 'SIMPLE EXERCISE' DO ALL THIS?

I'm asking you to believe a lot, aren't I? To believe that one very simple mental technique can bring all these wonderful benefits into your life. But it's true, and as you become more familiar with the practice you will begin to appreciate that everything in this book is easily attainable.

In the past few pages we have discussef the physiological changes that take place during the Calm Technique. During that twenty minutes of passive meditation, your physiological state becomes the opposite to that which exists when you're experiencing feelings of anxiety and tension. Your metabolic rate changes, your blood lactate level drops, even your skin produces an increase in electrical resistance. During the Calm Technique, you actually reverse the stress process! No doubt these phenomena are a direct result of your calm state of mind at the time, rather than any divine intervention or mystical process. This state of mind - the Calm State - is one of deep relaxation combined with extreme mental alertness, one which can only be attained through meditation.

Earlier we looked at other less tangible results of the Calm Technique, the emotional and spiritual advantages. Obviously, results in these areas can never be quantified to any acceptable scientific standard. No panel of scientists, no number of electrodes can ever prove to us exactly what emotional or attitudinal changes or improvements take place in the innermost recesses of a meditator's mind. These changes can only ever be vouched for by those who experience the benefits; that is, those who practise meditation. Unfortunately, you have no choice but to accept or reject their word on the subject. Consider though, that the popularity and credibility of meditation over such a long period of history has been maintained only through the testimony of its practitioners. Scientific evaluations of the physiological changes that take place have only been made in the past few decades.

But how do all these changes happen? What inspires them?

The one thing that almost all meditation techniques and practices have in common is single-mindedness, where the objective is to centre your attention on doing just one thing at one time with all your effort. So while there are many kinds of meditation - structured and unstructured, active and passive - they all share this same objective of doing one thing at a time.

When you have learned how to do one thing (and only one thing) at one time, you will have learned to centre your whole attention, to 'focus'. The Calm Technique will teach you to focus. This unique talent not only produces a wonderfully calm, balanced state of mind, but it also assists you in all aspects of your everyday life. You'll be able to think better, concentrate better, understand better. Your mind will be more creative. You'll function better in every respect.

One can only speculate how 'focusing' can bring about such positive results. It would seem that thr act of doing just one thing frees the mind from unnecessary conflict and distraction to such an extent that mind and body function more perfectly than at any other time. Eastern mystics have claimed for centuries that this is your natural state, this is how you're really meant to feel and function all the time!

Think how your mind works when you're anxious. Your thoughts seem to come faster and faster. They flit from pillar to post every few seconds. They look sadly on the past and worry about the future. The more you try to slow them down, the more frantic they seem to become. Then, as your attention ebbs and flows in a hundred different directions, your anxiety level increases ... one feeds the other until it's crisis time. 'I've really got to finish this work before the end of the day ... where did I leave my pen ... I wonder if I turned the iron off ... I must slow down ... I really have to brighten up my act ... made a terrible impression last time ... damn, forgot the dry-cleaning ... I've got to relax ... I think I might be getting an ulcer ... really should see a doctor ... where's all that writing paper ... why can't you ever find anything when you need it... I've really got to clean out all these drawers ... I'm putting on weight and I don't think I've got enough money to pay the gas bill next week ... I've got to relax ...' You just can't turn your mind off. You can't get to sleep. You ignore your diet. Things seem to get worse.

Imagine how calming it would be if you were unaffected by extraneous rubbish and all those unimportant thoughts. Imagine what it would be like if, at will, you could have only one thing on your mind at the one time. Imagine what it would be like to be able to sit down and do just one thing without distraction, without worrying about what you dif yesterday or what you have to do tomorrow or what's going on in the next room. Imagine being able to concentrate!

Maybe you could even imagine havibg nothing at all on your mind, on some occasions, for however brief a moment. Wouldn't that be something? Can you just imagine what a calming effect that could have on you?

Centring your mind or attention on just one thing is tantamount to having nothing on your mind at all.  You see, it is the very nature of thought to be always on the move. Thought depends on constant movement for its very existence; it is a dynamic process. Thoughts are always coming from one place  to go to another; moving from one concept to the next. If, by some means or other, you halt this restless process and the mind is no longer preoccupied with unsolicited thoughts, it soon becomes completely stilled. Only consciousness remains. And when you can achieve an absence of thought, you will begin to know what your mind really is; or more importantly, what your self really is.

Contrary to popular opinion, the mind is not the custodian of truth and understanding, it is nothing more than the activity of your consciousness. How many times have you thought your 'mind was playing tricks on you', you were 'fooling yourself', or you'd 'convinced yourself' thag something or other was true? If your mind was your real master, and not just an activity of your consciousness, why would you suffer so many ego-related problems? Why would your mind delude you into thinking you were sick when all you really wanted was attention; that you were hungry when in fact you were sad; that you loved when really you lusted; that you disliked wealthy people when in fact you envied them; that you were quite svelte when in fact you were overweight? And if your mind was the supreme authority in your make-up, how could you consciously plan ... let alone achieve ... a change to your way of thinking (e.g. 'I'm going to force myself to think positively')?

When you control your mind you have the capacity for greatness. When your mind controls you, you are a slave to your ego and your senses. By teaching you how to focus, the Calm Technique will teach  you how to quiet your mind and, in doing so, elevate your consciousness.

All this talk of stilling the mind may prompt you to dismiss the Calm Technique as an escapist routine. Nothing could be further from the truth. The meditative process is a discipline which trains you to concentrate your attention and thus improve the efficiency of your thinking. It enhances your understanding and all your intellectual facilities. And, in time, it becomes an extremely reliable way of differentiating between romance and reality.

-- This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique by Paul Wilson

The Benefits

'One who overcomes others has force;
One who overcomes himself is strong.'
Taoist poem

WHAT MEDITATION WILL DO FOR YOU

The benefits of meitation are widely documented and accepted today. Although it may be considered to be the province of ageing hippies and New Age types in some quarters, it is increasingly being used as a creative and therapeutic exercise by people in all walks of life.

The best thing I can say about thr Calm Technique is that you'll feel better after twenty minutes of successful meditation than you will after twelve hours of sleep. It is not intended to replace sleep, but it will leave you feeling more rested, more relaxed, and more alert.

The rewards that the Calm Technique will bring your way are many. As you read through its list of benefits, the claims of this programme may appear almost miraculous. This is not the case. You will not be overwhelmed by great physical and emotional transformation. The process is slow, subtle, cumulative and long term.

Think of it as an exercise programme. You begin in the knowledge that exercise is good for you. You know that twenty minutes one day per month is not enough, and that if you are to experience the full benefits of your efforts you must exercise regularly. So you do it regularly.

After your first couple of days, you will really feel like you have accomplished something. You're relaxed, you eat well, you sleep well. And as you work on it day by day, you become fitter and fitter.

Two months pass. You begin to think you're at your physical best (though common sense tells you there's still a long way to go). Now the day-to-day improvements aren't quite as noticeable. The novelty begins to wane. The importance seems to diminish. This is the period when most determination is needed. This is the turning point, where you either go on to become fit, or go back to  where you started. The temptation to take it easy for a while gnaws at you - you don't need exercise, you're fit, this is all a waste of time. You have a choice: continue or take a 'harmless' break. If you abandon your exercise programme at this stage, you will soon become aware of how much good it was doing you; but by then it's too late and you have to start all over again. If, on the other hand, you had persevered during this slow period, you would be so much closer to your ultimate goal - fitness.

The Calm Technique works just like that. It's an exercise programme for the mind and emotions, if you like. As with the physical exercise programme, there is an immediate result. Then there is the tendency for you to become either impatient or blase. If you persist, knowing that in the long term it will be well worth the effort, you will begin to notice significant improvements. You'll be more relaxed, more able to cope with everyday problems and annoyances, you'll have a greater capacity to enjoy life. Your wits will be keener and you'll be more creative. You'll have more energy, better health and a deeper (and ever- increasing) understanding of yourself, your life and how you relate to the world. In effect, you will flourish as a human being.

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESS

Since the West first began to take a serious interest in Yogic meditation at the turn of this century, there have been several notable studies of the physiological processes that take place during meditation. The most extensive and well reported studies took place primarily during the late 1960s at various US medical schools from Harvard to UCLA. There are enough books available on this subject for you to study it in as much detail as you can stand. For the purposes of this book, we will concern ourselves with a broad overview of these findings.

Meditation produces a state of deep relaxation (the Calm State) where, quite unlike sleep or hypnosis, your mind is wide awake and alert. During this state, some extraordinary things happen in your physiology.

There is a dramatic in the pattern of your brainwaves. There is an increase in slow alpha waves, which are usually only present when you are wide awake and relaxed. Often there is an increase in theta waves, which relate to higher forms of consciousness such as creativity.

At the same time, as these alpha waves are evident, there is a definite presence of delta waves, which occur only in the deepest sleep. Brainwave patterns during meditation indicate a state of mind that is alert, creative, but in deep relaxation. By all conventional physiological standards, this is impossible. To compound the mystery even further, there is virtually no rapid eye movement (REM) - an indication of sleep and dreaming - recorded in the meditative state.

Your metabolism is also affected (that's why you should avoid meditating directly after meals). Your oxygen consumption decreases about 20 per cent and you produce significantly less carbon monoxide. (Even in the deepest sleep, your decrease in oxygen consumption fails to equal those figures.) Your heartbeat and respiration rate decrease almost as dramatically. The lactate level in your bloodstream decreases by up to 50 per cent, nearly four times faster than in a state of deep relaxation! (Lactic acids are producing during the 'fight or flight' syndrome and contribute to feelings of anxiety, tension and fatigue.) Your blood pressure drops, and there is a definite increase in the electrical resistance of your skin (tension and anxiety induce a decrease in electrical resistance).

These remarkable physiological phenomena are unique to the meditative state and contribute to the great sense of peace, harmony and wellbeing you experience during the Calm Technique. Furthermore, these characteristics are the opposite to those you would find in a state of anxiety or anger. The Calm Technique produces an opposite response to that 'fight or flight' condition, and is therefore the most effective counter to stress and tension you can employ.

If you use the following checklist of life improvements after the first couple of weeks of the Calm Technique to test its effectiveness, you're having yourself on. While you will be aware of some benefits from the very beginning, others will develop with time and perseverance.

This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique by Paul Wilson

The Problem of Stress

'For the man who has conquered his mind, it is his greatest friend; but for the man who fails to do so, his mind will be his greatest enemy.'
Sri Krsna

What was the big threat facing us in the papers this morning? Do you think the greenhouse effect is more threatening than the spread of AIDS? Do you think the growing number of homeless people is a greater worry than the growing number of long-term unemployed? Add to all this the personal pressures that influence our lives: pressures from family, relationships and employment; the ambitions and standards we set for ourselves; our health and wealth; all the doubts, fears and insecurities of our everyday lives ... is it any wonder we're feeling tense?

If there was ever a period in history when we could hardly avoid falling victim to the ravages of stress and tension, it's now. Stress today is a big threat and claims just as many casualties (if not more) as the Plague did in the seventeenth century. And just as it took a major lifestyle adjustment to combat the Plague, a similar adjustment is needed today to combat stress.

Stress is popularly accepted as the most common promoter of disease and discomfort in the Western world. It is blamed for the escalating incidence of heart disease and the risinf national blood pressure; it encourages almost every fashionable ailment from migraine to cancer; it reduces resistance to disease; it contributes to the rampant insanity and social disorders that confront us every day of our lives. It leads to hypertension, indigestion, constipation, palpitations, insomnia and impotence. It has been blamed for high blood pressure, the hardening of the arteries, strokes and suicide. Overall, it's encouraged more serious illness and suffering than any other known condition, yet it doesn't sound anywhere as frightening or ugly as cancer or leprosy or even, dare I say it, herpes. Such is the insidious nature of stress.

Unlike most ailments, stress doesn't pass with time. It is self-perpetuating. It builds and builds until it is a major influence on your mind and body, until it dominates almost every action you take, every emotion you feel, and every thought you think. Contrary to popular opinion, the reason for this is biological rather than neurotic. Humans, like all animals, arr biologically equipped for regular episodes of 'fight or flight'. When confronted by a hostile animal or adversary, primitive men had the choice: either stay and fight, or flee for their lives. While deciding, their bodies were preparing for either eventuality. With no conscious effort, the adrenal glands began secreting adrenaline and epinephrine hormones, muscles tensed, pulses quickened, blood pressure rose, digestion ceased, breathing quickened. They were perfectly equipped for either fight or flight.

In today's world, every mishap, confrontation, mistake, and almost every move we make seems to activate this 'fight or flight' mechanism. The early morninh alarm fails to sound. You don't have a clean shirt. The garbage hasn't been collected again. The train runs late. The tickey collector is aggressive. You're late for work. Your best friend is angry because of something you said. You don't know how you're going to finish all your work this week. You discover you're the centre of a spicy piece of office gossip. And it's still only 9.20 a.m.

Each one of those 'unimportant' little aggravations activates the 'fight or flight' response in your body. You experience this physiological preparation for action hundreds of times throughout an average day. However, there are differences between your 'fight or flight' reaction and the primitive men's. They could resolve their stressful situations simply by performing one of the two options at their disposal: fighting or fleeing. Either way, the strain on their muscles ueed up the chemicals in their system, and they immediately began to calm down and their stress levels dissolved. In your case it's not so easy. When your 'fight or flight' mechanism is activated, you have to stay at your desk. Or behind the wheel of your cab. Or behind the sales counter. And all you can do is brood. Your nerves and muscles are all primed for fight or flight, your juices are flowing and there's nothing you can do about it. You're stuck in that passive situation while your stress level builds and builds.

Is it any wonder that your stress ends up at such critical levels?

This book is dedicated to eliminating stress.

I'm sure everyone recognizes the fact that it is possible to live a stress-free life. Yet, if you're like most people I know, you won't be prepared to make the dramatic lifestyle adjustment that's required to achieve this end. Like me, you're probably not prepared to change your occupation or husband, or move to a remote part of the country. Similarly, you're probably not prepared to reduce your diet to a subsistence level, or forget just how good wine tastes, to exercise at least thirty minutes a day, to concentrate only on positive thoughts, to get at least eight hours' sleep every night and to drink five litres of fluoride-free water every day.

There has to be a more practical solution than this!

There is. It is possible to live a prpgressively stress-free existence without making dramatic changes to your lifestyle. It is possible to face every day feeling calm and relaxed, easily coping with the pressures and anxieties that modern life presents. It is possible to enjoy a peaceful, happy, contented and confident existence, living life to the fullest. All with a minimum of guidance, surprisingly little effort, and the Calm Technique.

Primarily, the Calm Technique influences your state of mind. If your mind is calm, your life will be in order. As well, your state of mind has a very definite influence on your general state of health. Consider how a relaxed, happy, easy-going person always seems to have fewer medical complaints than someone who is neurotic, bitter and anxious. You may argue that the medical complaints could be the cause of the state of mind rather than the other way around; but evidence has shown that the mental state (read 'stress') does have a marked negative effect on organic conditions. Not only does it encourage ill-health and disease, but it inhibits the body's immune responses and the entire healing process.

Meditation not only encouraged a powerful health-giving frame of mind, but it is also one of the most  successful antidotes to stress. The Calm Technique will reduce accumulated stress. It will have a positive effect on your general state of mind and health. Use it sincerely and conscientiously, and the day will certainly come when you will no longer be a victim of stress.

WHY IT'S CALLED THE CALM TECHNIQUE

If I could give you just one thing that would greatly influence your life for the better, it would be a sense of Calm. Then, when the newspapers preacb doom and gloom, the cost of living goes through the roof, your livelihood is threatened by computers and industrial robots, when the entire world is overwhelmed by feelings of impotence and despair, you will be confident, contented and living life to the fullest. You will enjoy a zest and enthusiasm for living that 'normal' peopld seldom feel. You will look forward to each day with a long-forgotten feeling of youthful adventure.

Quite a bonus for having a sense of Calm, wouldn't you say?

The Calm Technique is dedicated to developing this sense of Calm. Calm is what you experience while you're practising it (the Calm State), Calm is what you practise, and Calm is what you achieve as a result. This simple state, which is so easy to achieve, can have the most profound effect on your entire life.

The Calm Technique is a simple and straightforward meditation technique which, with persevrrance, can dramatically improve the way you think, the way you feel and the way you live. Simply by following the information contained within these pages, you will soon begin to experience its full potential and enjoy many of the benefits that the traditional avenues of meditation study have promised throughout the ages.

Simplicity is the key to the Calm Technique. Each step of the process is clearly set out in simple, easy-to-follow stages. This does not limit its effectiveness one bit. In fact, students of the Calm Technique who have learned other techniques tend to agree that the simplicity of the Calm Technique not only makes the process easier to appreciate, but actually enhances it.

I've said it before, and will say it many more times by the end of this book: the great advantage of the Calm Technique is that it really works! You will find it easy to understand and apply, you will begin to see positive results from the very first time you use it, and the benefits will become more and more obvious as you continue to practise it.

This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique by Paul Wilson

The Calm Technique

'To see a world in a grain of sand
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.'
William Blake

This is a book on meditation. For many people today, the mere mention of the word 'meditation' is enough to have them reaching for the phone book in search of deprogrammers while muttering things about secret cults, sleep deprivation and protein deficiencies. It conjures up all sorts of exotic images of saffron robes, incense, chants, prayer and Eastern gobbledegook. Indeed, much of the research for this book has been conducted within these latter environments (although I have yet to encounter a genuine 'secret cult').

In spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the misapprehension persists that meditation is inextricably linked with religious knowledge and understanding. I'm sure this attitude continues as much because of the romantic notions and enlistment techniques of the organizations that teach it, as it does from any intrinsic characteristic of meditation itself. Faith, rituals and philosophies are not essential for effective meditation. The physical and emotional rewards alone, while not necessarily the ultimate expressions of all that is possible within the art, are reasons enough for practising it.

The Calm Technique is mainly concerned with the temporal aspects of meditation: the physical and emotional benefits. Its primary intention is to improve your quality of life, your health and your understanding. This is achieved through a physiological state we call the Calm State, which is one of great peace and calm.

When you achieve this state, stress-related problems will begin to diminish or vanish completely. You will begin to develop a sense of wellbeing and confidence like you haven't felt in a long, long time. You will sleep better, eat better, think better, live better. In short, you'll feel great to be alive.

Obviously, for those who are so inclined, meditation can bring profound spiritual rewards as well. Those of you who are mainly concerned with spiritual enlightenment should consider the Calm Technique as the first step on a long, hard road. For such a search, this book is only a beginning. The Calm Technique can help you free your consciousness to pursue higher goals. When you have mastered it, you can combine the Calm Technique with prayer, readings from the various scriptures, as well as any of the other spiritual directions that are open to you. You should consider this as a major step in the right direction.

WHAT EXACTLY IS 'MEDITATION'?

Ask a thousand meditators to define 'meditation' in terms of their own experience, and you'll get a thousand different answers. This seems hardly surprising when you considee how personal and subjective the experience that takes place entirely within your mind is. What meditation does for one person may have little in common with what it does for another. As expectations ans appreciations vary dramatically from one person to the next, it becomea clear why so many of the traditional schools resort to mysticism and vagueness.

But how can we define 'meditation'?

A really smug definition of meditation one regularly heare is: 'the best definition of meditation is the act of meditation itself'. Obviously, this is not a definition. However it is forgivable because, in many ways, 'meditation' is as much an abstraction as 'love' or 'envy', both of which are extremely difficult to define in experiential terms.

The really cosmic definition of meditation says it is the means of elevating the consciousness from the Lower Mind to the Higher Mind. The analogy which explains this phenomenon usually goes something like this: 'The Lower Mind equates with what you see around you now - daylight, trees, cars, dirty washing, highway hoardings. The Higher Mind equates with the changes in your perceptions if you were to take on a satellite point of view. You would see yourself as more a part of the Universe; your everyday surroundings would seem less important anf less threatening; the higher you went, the more your horizons would be expanded.' While that is accurate to a certain extent, it is too heavenly and grandiose an explanation for someone just beginning meditation.

I believe meditation is best explained (if not defined) in a word: 'being'. When you learn how to live only in the momeny; when nothing distracts you; when you are not tied to the past or anxious about the future; when your mind and your emotions are your servants rather than your master, your consciousness (your awareness) is in the mosy perfect state possible. This state is simply 'being'. Meditation is about 'being'; not about 'doing'.

In meditation, you become peacefully aware of your real self: what you are and what your purpose is in life. The more you use it, the more aware you become. There is no flash of inspiration and enlightenment that allows you to shout: 'So that's what I really am!'; the experience is subtle and cumulative. By becoming aware of your real self (as opposed to the 'self' you like to present to the world, and indeed, the 'self' you may even pretend to yourself) you will no longer be a victim of the pressures and anxieties of modern life. When you learn to live for each moment, to enjoy and appreciate life to the fullest at that moment, you suddenly become impervious to the myriad of doubts and fears that you've lived with all your life. When you can finally appreciate that just 'being' is everything, that you cannot make life perform exactly as you would like it to, that you casnot control the future, and that there is no point in dwelling on what has passed, you will have achieved something something that most people never come close to in a lifetime: you will have peace.

Meditation is subtle and habitual. It is not a one-off adventure or experience that will transport you ino other worlds of cosmic ecstasy (well, not as far as I know). But there will almost surely be moments when you become blissfully unaware of the passage of time and the distractions of your own mind. There may even be times when you will be totally unaware of your very physical presence, yet be remarkably aware of your existence. Those are moments when you are just 'being', and they are moments to be treasured. When the mind is calmed, and external distractions and influences are eliminated, you will come in contact with the very essence of your understanding (being) and truly understand the meaning of peace.

This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique  by Paul Wilson