Hello, brothers and sisters!
I notice many people, specially beginners (and even some of the most advanced), struggle with void meditation and with meditations that deal with energy. So this is my input on this. These are my thoughts on these disciplines. I wrote this based on how I myself used to struggle with that (and still do sometimes). This is the way it works best for me. However, it's been said many times that everyone is individual so I don't know if what works for me will also do for you. Also, for some people many of my points may be nothing new. But I hope this can be of help to many beginners and people of all levels who may have been struggling with these meditations.
If any of you guys notice any mistakes or disagree with any of the following, please correct me/show your points in this thread.
PS: This is a rather long post so I've made some slight formatting to make reading easier.
VOID MEDITATION
This is for those who are familiar with the void meditation described on the JoS website.
The main goal in void meditation is to empty your mind (and to strenghten your ability to do so at will) and to strenghten your focus. And specially if you're completely new to it, simply gazing at a stain on the wall, a light switch, etc for as long as you can without looking away will not help you get to this point at all. Although this may work for some people depending on their level of mind activity, this alone won't make you advance. The essence of void meditation goes beyond this.
Void meditating is pretty much like riding a bicycle. You can't just sit on top of the bicycle. There must also be some effort from you or else you'll fall. You must keep balancing your weight on the bicycle all the time, always avoiding to let yourself fall to the left or to the right. But as time passes, finding this balance point and keeping on it as you ride becomes natural.
So equally, you won't progress by just gazing at a point for as long as possible without looking away. You may often do this but still get distracted by thoughts like music, memories, etc during the process because this alone won't make these thoughts go away, so in the end you're just making your eyes exhausted and getting even more distracted. There must also be some effort from your mind and at first you must keep dodging these intruding thoughts all the time during the process, always avoiding to let your attention fall on them and always bringing your attention back to the here and now, balancing it at this point. Depending on your level of mind activity, this is not that easy; can be just as difficult as learning to ride a bike. But keep consistency and as you do it the right way and time passes, you'll advance to a point where finding this balance point where you think of nothing and keeping at it without having to think of how to do it is just as natural as walking.
From my experience, void meditation also helps wonders in visualization and in feeling energies. And, by the way...
ENERGY
It seems that many people do the aura of protection meditation but don't feel anything at all. That's because this meditation involves two disciplines: Visualization and feeling and manipulating energy. The aura of protection meditation is pretty much the foundation meditation (energy absorption), only with a specific visualization and directing of the energy you absorb. So if you have been struggling with the aura of protection, maybe you need to take some steps back. Just 'imagining' the energy may not work at all. In order to be successful with any meditations that involve feeling and manipulating energy, you need to get a good, efficient realistic hold on energy, what it is and what it feels like. Much is said about energy, bioelectricity, etc but you need to feel and recognize energy for real and not just visualize/imagine it.
Bioelectricity/ether/witch power/chi etc is one kind of energy among different kinds of energy. So, in order to be able to recognize the presence of bioelectricity, you need to know and recognize what energy in general is: As it's been said by the members, energy is everywhere. All the universe and everything around you is made up of energy. Your body, the food you eat, your furniture, and so on. All of this is energy arranged in different densities and vibrating in different frequencies. So we can say you are always in contact with energy, only you are not always aware of this. Awareness is what you need to feel the finest kinds of energy around you (like bioelectricity) and deal with them at will.
In order for you to recognize these finest kinds of energies, becoming familiar with the simplest kinds of energies in nature is a good place to start.
So, here are some of the simplest examples of energy outside of your body:
The next time you find yourself walking, notice that sensation you feel every time your feet step on the ground. You may get distracted by other things you may be doing or thinking of while you are walking, but this sensation is always there. Don't imagine the scene; don't visualize your feet stepping on the ground. Just focus your attention on feeling that sensation you get from the impact of the ground and your feet. Do you feel it? It's a heavy, dense sensation isn't it? This is energy from the ground, this is energy of the element of Earth. This is magnetic, gravitational energy. It even affects your being, since you can feel your feet/lower part of your legs heavy while you walk and after a walk; this is action from this energy. This same kind of dense energy can also be noticed when you are sitting/lying down; pay attention to the sensation you feel between your back/butt and the furniture.
Other simple examples of outside energies are sensations like the heat from the Sun in contact with your skin, the air in contact with your skin (which can be specially noticed when the wind changes its direction) and also the water in contact with your skin when you wash your hands and take a shower.
Now some simple examples of energy inside your body: Sensations like your heart beating, the air passing through your nose/mouth, your lungs filling with air (and your ribcage expanding/contracting with it), saliva in your mouth, tears on your eyes, your stomach opening space, gases, twitches, contractions, itching, tingling, pressures, blood pumping, aching and all sensations that can be consciously felt.
Give some attention to these kinds of sensations in your routine.While you walk, take a bath, sit on the bus, etc notice each of these energies, try this every day. As you become good in consciously recognizing the presence of these simple energies and being aware of them you'll notice it also becomes easier to recognize the presence of finer energies, like your own bioelectricity. Also, there is one good exercise for this somewhere on the JoS website. The following is this exercise, with the addition of my interpretations on energy:
*Sit in a comfortable place where you can relax, and in a comfortable position. Start to allow yourself to relax (which can also be done with a breathing exercise of your choice if you like). Pay attention to your surroundings and start noticing the many sensations around you. Notice the sensation of the air in contact with your skin, your butt in contact with the furniture, the temperature of the room, any outside sensations you can consciously notice. Concentrate on feeling each of these energies, take your time with feeling them and being aware of their presence. The more energies you notice, the better.
Then after some time, forget the ouside completely and bring your attention to the inside of your body. Closing your eyes at this point may help for you as you no longer see the outside of your body and your surroundings. Take your time to completely forget and detune from the outside of your body and these energies and to start tuning into your inside. Now that you're tuned into your inside, pay close attention to any sensations you might feel inside of your body. Your heart beating, your lungs filling, etc. Look for these sensations, these energies, and start noticing them. Take your time with feeling each of these energies and being aware of them. The more energies you discover, the better.
Then after some time, tune into the ouside of your body again and repeat the procedure. Then, again into your inside. Then switch again between outside/inside as many times as you feel is relevant. The next times you switch may be shorter depending on how well you can feel these outside and inside energies. There is no specific length of time; just take as long as you need to get a good hold on the energies. You'll certainly know when it's enough and when it's not yet. But make it effective. Take your time with it, be patient and enjoy the moment; do not rush*
Once you have a good and real hold on energies you can try manipulating these energies at will in an effective way. So this is my interpretation of how you should do the foundation meditation:
*Sit down in a comfortable place where you can relax and in a comfortable position. Allow yourself to relax either spontaneously or with a breathing exercise of your choice. Start to be aware of the energies both outside and inside of your body. It is important to be aware of the energies outside of your body, after all if you are absorbing energy, this energy must be coming from somewhere and you must know where it's coming from and recognize its presence.
Breathe in and as instructed on the JoS, will every single inch of your body to fill with energy along with your lungs. Don't try to imagine this energy; you must actually feel it and know it is real just like when you feel the impact between your feet and the ground as you walk. As you were aware of the energies inside of your body in advance, once you are finished breathing in pay attention and check if you feel any difference in amount of energy inside of you. Check if you really feel that there is more energy inside you than there was before you breathed in. If you feel that, it's working.
So now as instructed on the JoS, you can either breathe this energy back out (by exhaling and willing the energy out) or retain it inside of you (by exhaling but willing the energy to stay inside). Practice both until you feel you are doing both right, but don't overdo breathing out as this can make you exhausted As you progress you can also direct the energy in specific ways after you absorb it, like with the aura of protection meditation*
With the aura of protection you must do the above feeling the energy and at the same time visualizing it the color of the sunlight (white-gold) throughout the meditation. Then, at the moment you exhale, you don't breathe it out. You must will the energy to expand into your aura and at the same time visualize it getting brighter. So the aura of protection combines both the disciplines of feeling/manipulating energy and visualization; and in order to be successful it is ideal to succeed in both the void meditation and in feeling and manipulating energy effectively as described above.
Hope this was relevant. Thanks for anyone who read to the end.
HAIL SATAN!!!
