Which is more important for early development? Meditation or energy manipulation?
Both, but in a specific order.
That specific order, actually.
When I first started studying psionics, I got incredibly frustrated by the fact that there is no order, no systematic progression through the vast skills, no progressive training methods at all. People just pick a skill they want to learn and either spend years trying to learn it or give up a few weeks or even days. This is not only a ridiculous way of training, but it is the core reason people who do not believe in psi do not study it and do not practice it -- it's made to seem that only those born with some kind of "talent" can learn these things.
So anyway, in this frustration, I built my own progressive training manual. Divided into three stages of development, this is the first:
Meditation and Centering) our minds are normally a storm of chaotic thoughts, and while we simply ignore this and go about our business, we should not underestimate how much mental energy all these thoughts use up. By the time our day ends with work, socializing, hobbies and anything else, our mind is exhausted and there is nothing left to do but sleep. Even besides this, there is the practical point that with such chaos in our minds, we cannot concentrate without forcing it--which only uses more mental energy, and leaves us exhausted faster.
So the thing to do is learn to Mentally Relax, via Meditation. Specifically, a meditation where you sit and turn your attention inwards, and passively watch your thoughts. As one comes up, notice it and let it go. As another comes up behind it, let it go as well. Doing this for some minutes a day, the thoughts come up less and less, and you relax into a state of mental peace. A state I call Center--the veritable Eye of The Storm that is our mind.
Once you've found your Center, learn to quiet your mind and return to it whenever you want or need throughout the day while continuing the meditation to deepen the Center. Just finding it is only the beginning--the ultimate goal of meditation is to make this your normal state of mind, and the much deeper states that lay beyond it.
I should note that this Center is incredibly important, because from it, when you Concentrate, you can focus all your mental attention on one thing without having to force it. It's a very pleasant, very powerful way of concentrating the mind. And quite frankly, one I personally deem necessary to fully master most of the advanced abilities.
When you learn to Center fairly well, and can do it whenever you want, and hold it for a few minutes at a time in meditation, you can move onto the next exercise.
Which is an
Awareness Exercise, kind of like this one:
http://psionguild.org/php/index.php?page=articles&category=general_articles/foundation_skills&article=awareness_exerciseThe only difference between the exercise posted there and the one I use is where Awareness is directed after it can be maintained over the entire body. Instead of extending awareness into the aura and beyond the body, I advise that the student first extend they're awareness inward. Specifically, learning to sense and learn the difference between they're various internal energies, focusing mainly on they're subtle Mental Energy (psi) and they're denser Life Energy (Chi, Prana, Vital Force, whatever you wish to call it). This gives this exercise dual meaning: rather then simply being an exercise in mundane Awareness, it also becomes an exercise in energy Sensing.
Once the student can Sense they're energies, it's good to continue with extending they're awareness into the aura and beyond the body. This gives the student good first experiences with Scanning, as this exercise is aimed towards being able to sense physical objects without seeing. However, I advise that this is done while moving on to the next exercise as well, in order to progress in a timely manner.
The third exercise is
Grounding, but not as a casual thing to do when your upset or overloaded. This is the first exercise learned in Energy Development.
When you can sense your energies fairly well, you can take up the practice of clearing out your energy system, and we shall do this with Grounding as a meditation. To do this, you have to choose a method of Grounding, but for simplicities sake I will include mine: breathing.
To do this, we sit in whatever meditation posture we prefer by now, and Center, turn our Awareness inwards to our energies, and concentrate on our breath. The breathing ratio is four seconds in, eight seconds out. The visualization is pure fresh golden energy in, dark muddy energy out. This, when done properly, brings in fresh Psi and Life Energy into your energy system, and as it circulates you remove harmful energies, begin to clear blockages, and numerous other things. Remember: you are not simply removing energies, you are exchanging them, and purifying your energy system. It is also not about energy alone, but the qualities charged within those energies--certain thoughts or emotions, for example.
Thus we have a meditative practice in Grounding, which serves as our first exercise in Energy Development. It should be noted that the visualization, if done with proper concentration, serves as a method of deprogramming/filtering the energy you inhale and, once inside you, reprograms it by charging it with the energies you wish to remove from your system. Visualization isn't really necessary for this--if you can feel and move the energies, you can achieve the same effect by other means (simply concentrating and doing the Filtering/Programming manually, for example). But, for most people, it helps. And thus it is the default.
The other half of this practice is to use it throughout the day whenever you need, as is standard practice of the exercise--to Ground overwhelming emotions or energies. Practicing it like this along with the former meditative practice, you will eventually reach what is called simply The Grounded State, which is akin to an energetic/emotional version of Center, wherein your emotions are stable (ie, you can experience them without being overwhelmed or ruled by them--a very good state to be in when you learn Empathy) and your energy moves easily for you. This is a very valuable state to be in when doing more advanced energy work, and so I advise it be aspired that this become ones normal state of being--much as I advised the same for Center.
The fourth exercise is also two fold:
Charging.There is a lot of material on charging, so I will not go into it too far here. Instead I will simply list the two versions of charging that should be learned, and why.
The first that should be learned is Generation, which is the common charging method practiced, for example, by sending the mental message for your hand to move while holding it still--thus, the hand becomes energetically charged. This should be practiced as a charging method for Mental Energy--Psi.
The second that should be learned is Accumulation, wherein energy is brought in from outside you, and thus you become Charged. This should be used as a charging method for Life Energy.
They should be learned in that order, specifically. First practiced in the hands for a few weeks, to get a feel for what its like; but then they should be practiced as full body charging. This is because a full body charge is like stretching or weight lifting for the energy system as a whole, and thus full body charging strengthens the energy system, and in time will allow you to not only produce more of these energies naturally but also will increase your capacity to hold a larger and larger charge, wherein you become able to do more advanced things quite easily.
I also advise that both be practiced because both energies exist on two completely different levels of the energy system. Thus, by practicing both, you strengthen your overall Mind and Spirit, and thus you also strengthen the physical body some as well.
I should also note that Charging should never be done beyond your current limit (which the creative practitioner can find by using the Awareness he learned before). This is because, much like stretching too far or lifting too much with your physical body, you can hurt yourself. And believe me, such is not a pleasant experience. Finally, always Ground after you have held a Charge, so as to remove the excess energy and return to your normal state.
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Thus is a summary of the first level of training. I assume it will take the average beginner student a good year to properly work all the way through those four practices, but afterwards he or she will have an absolutely solid foundation in which anything else can be learned. Even when moving on, though, I would like to suggest that these four exercises become daily, lifelong things--the core of all your psionic practices. The Foundation is the single most important aspect of any building. And thus, the stronger your foundation is, the more powerful your more advanced abilities like Kinesis will be.
~:Shin:~
