How to Meditate
 

What are your guidelines for meditating and beliefs about it? From research and connecting to Buddhist religion, it's very complicated. I'm theorizing that we have to be perservering, focused, and dedicated for these kinds of exercises for your mind to handle it. In the best and comfiest stance you can pull, and have nothing that will stop you.

The astral planes is another thing. People say that you can travel from your soul to a place like "heaven"? Sorry for stupid connections but like Insidious? HAHA. Please take failing to a minimal as we're all asking and curious and it's just dissapointing when you ask a serious question and someone just fails it.

Please guide and ask away.

Honestly, I think everybody would do some good from meditating. It's a chance to give your body/mind/soul quiet time to recharge and refocus your energy on what's important. I was born and raised as a Catholic but as I grew older I started branching out to other religions. I like to research/experience different religions and find views that resonate with my particular lifestyle. Now I see myself now more spiritual than religious. I strongly believe in the affects of positive and negative energy.
I'm an unofficial Reiki practitioner (meaning I'm not certified yet) and for those who don't know what that is, it's simply healing by intention. I think of it as an energy replacement method for holistic healing. Before I do a session, I usually have to meditate a bit and have the client meditate as well. During meditation, I'm usually able to see a person's aura and that's what I use as a guideline for my healing technique.

For the most simplest way of meditation, you can sit in any position that's comfortable, even in a chair. Close your eyes, clear your mind and focus on your breathing. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Since I'm particularly good at auras, I like to envision the CO2 that I'm exhaling as black energy and the oxygen I'm inhaling as a pristine blue color. Blue feels natural to me because I associate the clean air with crisp, fresh water like looking at an ocean. You can do this anywhere, quiet is ideal to start off with but I prefer to have low music on. I used to do it in class during lectures because sitting in one spot for 5 hours can get hectic with constant chatter/information being thrown at you from all directions.

The biggest thing with meditating is that you have to learn how to clear your mind. Our brains love having something to "chew" on and it's an art for a human being to have the power to just "be" nowadays. I'm pretty sure in Buddhism you're supposed to chant a certain phrase that is supposed to help you gain higher consciousness/awareness. I've adopted the notion that this part is totally up to you. Anybody can achieve higher consciousness if you have the will to.

In terms of astral planes, I believe that it has to do with our levels of consciousness/brain waves. Beta brain waves are 13-40 Hz, we use these waves when we are awake and alert. The Alpha brain wave (7-13 Hz) is entered during relaxation/meditation. This is the brain wave that is used for energy healers like me. Theta brain waves (4-7 Hz) are when we experience REM sleep, dreams/lucid dreams, and that limbo of "grogginess" we experience just before falling asleep and after waking. If I meditate at length, I'm able to enter this state and heal in a desperate situation. Theta brain waves are said to be the level on which our minds can connect with the Divine/All That Is.

In my beliefs, Heaven and Hell are all in our perception. Derived from Balinese culture, I believe they are the same place but through our 7 planes of existence that the journey to Heaven is a joyful one while the journey to Hell is a sad, tormenting one. I don't believe that our soul ever really dies, but when our physical bodies die that the energy of our physical form is being returned to the Universe as it should. Again, happiness and suffering are in our perception. Everyone is different therefore we all have individualized experiences that contribute to personal growth and self realization.

As said, CLEAR YOUR MIND. Do not let distractions enter. I use breathing exercises to focus myself first.

Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Rinse and repeat, increasing time increments as I go. I do this to relax and to have something to focus on that does not break my concentration on, well, nothing. What I tend to focus on is a part of a dream I had as a child, just a pristine lake, no ripples. To me, when I do see this and can control the image to be as still as I remember it being, I know that I am in my special place, I am relaxed.

This is all about what you want to get out of it. Like Ri2 has already said, this can be spiritual, or it can simply be a way to relax and recharge a bit. For me, it is the latter.