Howdy bro Phil,

I used to study all that Eastern stuff too, lots of years ago.  After 
a while, I found it too boring and one-sided.

LOVE IN HIM,

little purple Mari



At 12:44 PM 4/7/2007, you wrote:
>Rhonda,
>
>Being still has always been difficult for me.  It takes some practice.
>Learning how to focus and be still so you can hear God always begins with
>noise, that is, outside noise.  That includes everything you mentioned in
>your message.  I learned 27 years ago how to do this.  At first, everything
>is clamoring for attention the second you sit down to be still.  Screaming
>is often more like it.  The first time I did this, I almost freaked out when
>all the noise and clamor slammed into my brain.  I told the Lord that I
>would never be able to do what He was asking me to do.  He told me to wait.
>I did.  About 15 minutes later, as I identified the noises individually and
>let them fall away, or drift away, things became very quiet for the first
>time in my life.  I was on my knees and knealing in front of a chair I
>always used when praying but most of the time I sit in a comfortable chair
>now.  God is just on the other side of the noise.  Some noise is pretty
>threatening, too, like "You are sick and going to die," or, "Your mate has
>cancer and is going to die," or old memories try and surface to condemn you
>and your relationship with God.  Let them come and don't focus on any of
>them; just sit there.  Practicing this more than once will eventually allow
>you to go into a prayerful mode, sort of speak, almost immediately, and
>frankly, at any time or any place, and the second you do, the noise and
>racket bounces off and away almost immediately and suddenly, there is God.
>No, this is in no way eastern meditation techniques.  I don't focus on God
>or a flame of a candle or hum ohm to myself or try and create images.  I
>don't picture myself on the surface of a plasid pond or lake or ocean and
>slowly sinking to the bottom.  I don't picture myself slowly levitating into
>the sky to drift aimlessly among the clouds and eventually into and among
>the stars.  I don't picture myself in my favorite childhood memory playing,
>riding my bike, running with my little dog, or strolling through the woods
>on a gentle path.  I could, and I have when I didn't know any better, but I
>don't.  In fact, if such happens, I immediately mentally defocus away from
>them.  I've study eastern religions and practiced, years ago, Transcendental
>Meditation, and other eastern new age forms of meditation, and became quite
>good at it.  In fact, I became good enough that I know now I could have
>easily had and out of body experience, or O B E for short, or what is now
>commonly called astral projection.  What I am describing is nothing like
>that.  If any image, or unholy thought, attempts coming to mind as I sit and
>wait on the Lord, I let my mind immediately go to any of my favorite Bible
>verses.  When I let myself unfocus for a second from that verse, I know if
>what I was seeing or hearing is gone.  If it isn't, I return to the verse.
>If it is gone, I let myself return to just thinking and that's all this is.
>Biblical, or Scriptural, meditation is seeking God and to do that, we must
>be still and wait on Him.  As I said, I have learned, in recent years, how
>to allow this to occur on the fly, sort of speak, and it is a definite
>advantage to be able to instantly recognize the voice of the Lord over that
>of any other voice because we have lots of voices trying to get our
>attention.  So what happens after you cross this noise barrier of every day
>life events and circumstances?  Good question.  You hear God.  I know this
>is going to get me in trouble.  I reached a point in my prayer life, 27
>years ago, when praying in this manner, that I eventually remained on my
>knees and totally silent and almost motionless for 30 minutes as I listened.
>I did it daily for several weeks, maybe months, until I knew God and where
>He was.  He is inside of us and His name is The Holy Spirit.  What I
>discovered was that everything faded quietly into the background.  No, not
>disappeared all together and no, my mind didn't become empty.  I discovered
>that the only two people who were talking in my thoughts were the Holy
>Spirit and me without all the worldly interference.  Don't try this at all
>if you are really upset because sometimes we are really upset naturally,
>that is, our emotions are responding normally to present circumstances, and
>since the Lord gave us those emotions, and He has them Himself, He isn't
>expecting us to go into a trance and become devoid of all thought and
>emotion.  Besides, that alone is dangerous, spiritually speaking, in the
>first place.  This is especially true if you haven't ever heard God's voice
>in your thoughts clearly in the first place.  So, now that everybody thinks
>I am New Age and involved in the eastern art of meditation, I'll stop.
>
>Phil.