A Practical Guide to Reading Your Condition

 The following questions are intended to help us describe our condition precisely—before, during and just after our meditations.

In addition to helping us develop sensitivity, they also encourage us to use greater precision when writing in our diary. As for the diary it is strictly for personal use.

We suggest that you first make a brief note of your condition prior to meditation (question 1), and then answer the other questions immediately after meditation.

You can also write down what remains in you after the meditation, trying to distinguish between observations relating to the various “levels” of consciousness—physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

Examples are provided as suggestions but what is really called for is to be subtly attentive to one’s own “real” condition.

1. General Condition Prior to Meditation

How do I feel?

For example:

  • light or heavy
  • quiet or agitated
  • peaceful or distressed
  • centred, distracted or confused
  • happy or sad
  • perplexed
  • excited

Specify:

2. General Condition After Meditation

How do I feel?

For example:

  • floating
  • detached
  • under the effect of transmission
  • light or heavy
  • quiet or agitated
  • calm or distressed
  • centered, distracted or confused
  • happy or sad
  • perplexed
  • excited

Specify:

3. Condition During Meditation

Physical Level

What did I experience at the physical level?

Posture

  • Instability ☐
  • Stability ☐
  • Discomfort ☐
  • Well being ☐

Other Phenomena Observed

For example:

  • tension
  • heat
  • passage of energy

Specify:

Emotions

Did I experience emotions—according to the Sahaj Marg definition, self-centered emotions?

  • Yes ☐
  • No ☐

If yes, specify. For example:

  • sadness
  • happiness
  • anger
  • guilt

Feelings

Did I experience feelings—“altruistic” according to the Sahaj Marg definition?

  • Yes ☐
  • No ☐

If yes, specify. For example:

  • aspiration
  • nostalgia
  • compassion
  • love

Mental Activity

My mental activity was:

  • Agitated ☐
  • Peaceful or non-existent ☐

My thoughts were:

  • unconnected to one another — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • intense, repetitive, obsessive — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • centered on myself — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • centered on my relationships: family, friend, intimate or professional — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • linked to my spiritual path: the method, the Mission, the Master, etc. — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • focused on the past — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • on the future — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • on the present — Yes ☐ No ☐
  • cannot remember — Yes ☐ No ☐

Perception of Time

My perception of time was, for example:

  • suspended
  • expanded
  • condensed

Specify:

Depth of Meditation

The depth of my meditation was:

  • Superficial ☐
  • Absorption (samadhi) ☐

Effects of Transmission

How did I experience the effects of transmission?

For example:

  • subtle
  • strong
  • heat
  • freshness
  • “melting”
  • transmission

Specify:

Overall Experience

How did I experience overall?

  • Intensely ☐
  • With detachment ☐

Other Observations

Other specific or unusual happenings observed:

 

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