Entrance Meditations

The following "Entrance Meditations" are quoted from books written by Dr. Ira Progoff*, the founder of The Intensive Journal Method. 

The words describe certain subtle inner experiences that serve to quieten and center us and draw us into an atmosphere conducive to meditation – taking us through the entrance and then letting us go.

"The meditations provide a means of entering the realm of quietness in which inner experiences can take place. By creating a contemplative atmosphere, they provide a neutral starting point from which we can gain access to our depths. Our energies move inward, our intellectual mind is calmed, and our breathing becomes slower and softer as we are absorbed in the stillness." (from www.intensivejournal.org)

Entrance meditation from "The Well and the Cathedral" by Ira Progoff                                                                                                                       

We are resting,
physically quiet,
breath and body
in gentle harmony
holding the stillness within.

Holding the stillness within,
thoughts fit into place.
No longer spinning,
they come together;
No longer disputing,
our thoughts
are friendly with each other.
The quality of wholeness

replaces
the discord of the mind

Mind and body
together,
Thoughts and emotions
revolving around
a single center point.
Varied moments
actively churning
form a quiet center.
A quiet center forms
In their midst.

We feel the center of our Self,
the inner center of our Self,
it is neither body nor mind
but a center point
not this, not that,
a single center point,
the inner center of the Self.

In the midst of activity
soft, slow breathing
sets a balance.
An inward stillness
becomes present.
The center point within me
establishes itself.

For each of us it is so.
A center point within
forms itself.
A center point is present
not in space
but in our being.

Through this center point
we move inward.
Inward and downward
through a single straight shaft.
It is as though we go
deep into the earth
but within our Self.
Through the center point within
we go inward
deeper.
Deeper inward.

We move away from the surface of things;
we leave the circles of our thoughts,
our habits, customs.
All the shoulds and the oughts of our life
we leave behind.

We leave them on the surface
while we go inward into the depth of our life
moving through the center point
into the well of our Self
as deeply
as fully
as freely as we can.
Through a center point exploring the deep places.
Exploring the deep places
in the Silence… in the Silence.

Entrance Meditation from "The Star / Cross" by Ira Progoff

We are sitting in a place of quietness
letting the Self become still
letting the breath become slow
letting our thoughts come to rest.

Letting the Self become still,
energies that were moving about
can go inward now, can come to rest
in the stillness of our quiet being.

Breathing becomes quiet now,
not breathing by the tempo of outer things
but by an inner tempo.
Breathing at an inner pace
the breath moving in and out of itself
carried by its own rhythm
adjusting itself
to itself.

Excess thoughts drop away.
We become still.
Thinking becomes quiet,
thoughts fitting together
and settling into one place
by themselves
without our thinking them.
Many mixed thoughts become one whole thought
contained within itself.
One whole thought
in the mind at rest.

The breath is moving
at the center of my Self
in a regular rhythm.
The breath moves at the center.
The breath moves at the center,
breathing at an inner pace.
As the breath moves at the center,
quietly,
evenly,
the self becomes still
like quiet water.
The Self becomes still
like quiet water.
In the stillness of the Self,
in the quietness of the water my inward ear hears
my inward eye sees
signs and words and visions
reflected in the quiet waters.
In the stillness of the self,
in the Silence…  in the Silence.

********************************

As we go into the silence our eyes are closed. 
Our thoughts are quiet and our energies are not moving outward but inward. 
External phenomena do not distract us now, for our attention is directed to the events of our inner space. 
We perceive by sight, by sound, by each of our senses. 
All the senses by which we are accustomed to perceive things outwardly are available to us for our inward perception. 
Observations are presented to us, and understanding of an inner, intuitive kind comes to us as well when our eyes are closed and our energies are turned inward. 
We do not seek to control or direct what takes place in this interior space. 
We let it unfold out of its own nature.
And especially we pay attention to what transpires.  We observe it, and we record it.

Find out more about Dr Ira Progoff and The Intensive Journal Method:
www.intensivejournal.org

Three Books byDr. Ira Progoff:

1. The Well and the Cathedral
2. The White Robed Monk
3. The Star / Cross

Next page...Walking Meditation