 106. Meditation |
Let us look at just one more of the seven journals. This young man recorded very little for six days, then he began to describe such physical sensations as pulsation in the solar plexus, a swaying back and forth, terrific warmth, especially in the forehead, nausea, pulsation in the head, heavy breathing, relaxation, refreshment. In this account no mental images are described; however, toward the end of the second week two pages are devoted to inspirational self-analysis with a strong religious "flavor." A comment on time is interesting:
No feeling at all except near end when I knew the closing phrases were coming, but it seemed we had just begun and I didn't want to stop. The "whole body" vibration came on these closing words. Each day the period seems to get shorter and shorter. As to the incense – it is always pleasing to me and no particular reaction.
It should be kept in mind that the seven participants were asked not to discuss what they wrote in their journals. Group discussions dealt with philosophical subjects. There was no competition to "experience something." In fact, the attitude of all the young men was skeptical, at times cynical and critical. During the three weeks it is true that these boys were subjected to many stimuli to focus on what may loosely be termed "the spiritual life." Service (work) projects, daily group discussions, individual counseling periods, were balanced with dieting, semi-fasting, sweat baths, massages, sand packs, and exercise to cleanse the body. The report on the project may be used as a guide book in understanding the suggestions from the readings – not as you read them but rather when you test the ideas in your own experience. For meditation, as it is defined in the readings, is a movement in consciousness. These seven college students, with widely different backgrounds, who for the most part had experienced little contact with each other, recorded in three weeks very similar physical, mental, and emotional experiences during meditation periods. Let us return for a moment to the journals. Were the eighty-one physical sensations which were noted in endocrine areas indicative of the movement of the spiritual energy which is described in the Edgar Cayce readings? This would seem to be worthy of further consideration. An explanation in the readings of this movement of energy through the spiritual centers of the body is found in a series of readings on the interpretation of the Book of Revelation as a description of a meditation experience of the author. The seven churches in Asia Minor are described as symbolically connected with the seven endocrine glands which have been named, as are the seven seals which are opened. The chart which appears on the next page outlines these suggested relationships.
