In Reply to: the mood posted by Miguel on August 11, 2004 at 18:16:00:
I know with myself at least that my mind runs a hundred miles a minute and worries and business and concerns keep pushing in. So unless I do something by an act of will to get out of that business, I can't meditate. To me "meditate" means focused, unbroken calm.
Gearing down into that state of neutral can be walking amongst a garden for some people, speaking in tongues for others, or doing the rosary. It's a conscious effort to get away from problems and well, for lack of a better term, to shift gears into neutral,or get into an altered state of consciousness where you hear the very quiet thoughts that get drowned out by the noise and problems around us.
I really think it's like getting into "neutral." Sometimes when I'm desperately looking for something and can't find it, I spike into that kind of neutral state in the middle of my work. It lasts only 15-20 seconds, but often that's long enough to clear my thoughts and to reach down deep enough into my memory and remember where the missing thing is.
This applies to seeing things as well. Often when driving in a complex intersection where I have to see a broad perspective at once, I find my eyes going into (what seemed to me) a kind of non-seeing state. I didn't know why I was doing it but it worked. Then I read in a book that the North American Indians used to do that when out hunting and wanting to get as wide a peripheral vision as possible. They "flattened" their eyes, enabling the to see at wider angels.
I don't recommend anyone doing the eye-thing while driving unless it comes naturally. Don't tell your insurance company after the accident that a friend recommended it. But I do recommend gearing down and shifting into a calm place to meditate.