What is Meditation?
Meditation has been around for over 5000 years and first gathered public interest in 1959 in the USA. By the end of the 1960s, thousands of people worldwide were practising different forms of meditation.
Meditation for Sleep
In early experiments, doctors discovered that the metabolic rate is reduced by 16% in a matter of minutes during meditation. The metabolic rate is usually reduced by only 12% over many hours during sleep. This means that meditation quickly provides a state of rest that is much deeper than sleep. What’s even more remarkable is that the mind remains alert and aware during the rest, and there is no loss of consciousness as there is during sleep or in the dreaming state. This state is now referred to as restful alertness, and with practice, you reach here very quickly.
Meditation for Tension, Anxiety and Stress
Scientists all over the world have studied the effects of meditation. The results of these studies, printed in dozens of scientific journals and reported in hundreds of newspapers and magazines, have been responsible for increasing interest in meditation over the years. These scientific studies offer a vision of man with greater clarity of mind, improved health and freedom from tension, anxiety and stress.
Correspondingly, man is continually searching outwards from himself to find happiness, whereas the solution lies in turning his attention within, using meditation as the tool.
People have the idea that meditation involves concentration, brown rice diets, and special yogic postures and that one aspires to walk on burning coals and sleep on beds of nails. It is none of these but a very simple and profound way of turning your attention from the surface to the inner depths of the mind. It has the ability to give one the strength and insight to change one’s life in a constructive way and gain a more holistic viewpoint on life.
Meditation is Enjoyable
One of the most enjoyable aspects of meditation is the deep relaxation techniques experienced by the body and the central nervous system.
Meditation soothes away the stresses and strains of everyday life. It teaches you how to relax effortlessly, and it only takes 20-30 minutes twice daily.
Through the deep relaxation experienced during meditation, the physical body enjoys relaxation well beyond the lowest level of rest in sleep. This is deeply enriching to the central nervous system, which improves your health.
Find your Local Meditation Class
With over 50 meditation teaching centres worldwide, see our most popular locations below:
London Meditation Centres | Leicester Meditation Centres | Berkshire Meditation Centres | Essex Meditation Centres
Beyond the Conscious and Subconscious Mind
However, meditation techniques are much more than just a form of relaxation. It reaches far within, beyond the conscious and subconscious mind and begins drawing on the finer and finer energies that reside at the deeper levels of the superconscious mind. Here there is an infinite source of energy, pure energy that we bring back to the patterned areas of the mind and infuse these subtler energies into the grosser levels of the subconscious mind.
Now begins the real change. Although relaxation can be achieved by many methods, most of them temporary, our system of meditation working on the three aspects of man-body, mind, and spirit creates harmony between these levels, and we find self-integration.
Naturally, there are endless benefits when all aspects of us work in harmony with each other. This will promote better health, prevent illness and resolve mental and emotional problems and those of the heart.
Neutralising Mood Swings with Meditative Techniques
Mental benefits include neutralising mood swings and better clarity of mind and memory. Constant worries are soothed away as we gather the strength from within to deal with the challenges of everyday life.
Enjoying the physical benefits of meditation is just the beginning. Not only do we enjoy improved health as meditation draws to us powerful healing energies, but there is a myriad of other emotional and psychological benefits.
We have all strived to find greater inner strength during our lives, but generally, for most, this is a difficult task. In meditation, you draw that strength spontaneously from the depths of the mind. Strength is a quality of the mind found at the deeper levels we visit each time we dive within ourselves through meditation.
Want to be More Positive?
You can, but not by using the conscious or subconscious mind alone – you have to dive deeper within and draw from the superconscious mind where subtler energies reside. As the mind gets stronger through infusing this subtleness into the grosser levels, i.e. the subconscious and conscious areas of the mind, it changes into a more positive and powerful tool that helps us in every aspect of our lives.
These processes bring self-fulfilment and, in turn, greater self-confidence and self-esteem, qualities sadly lacking in many people’s lives.
Increased Intuition and Awareness
Unfolding to the depths of the mind has another very important purpose. The deeper levels of the mind have qualities that we have only heard of or witnessed occasionally in our lives – Intuition and Awareness. These are attributes of the mind normally beyond our reach, but these qualities come to the fore when you meditate regularly.
Intuition is a very powerful quality that assists our everyday actions and allows us to have a different perspective on life. It is like we have greater vision, perception and awareness. A further attribute of this is that greater understanding dawns on many areas of our lives.
Through these processes, one finds greater peace of mind. Live life in peace means that we are in total harmony with ourselves and our environment. Then the world takes on a new meaning to us. Our lives feel enriched, and our enjoyment of life increases a hundredfold.
This process we call Spiritual Unfoldment – the unfolding of the higher or true self. It is not just relaxation alone! It is not just relaxation alone; we need to be in touch with ourselves.
Our Divine right is to be Happy!
Our divine right is to be happy! All our scriptures and teachings tell us this – but they do not tell us how! That’s the problem!
Your life can be bursting with happiness, overflowing with joy, leading you to a totally blissful existence. Why not? Who told you that you could not have this?
All this is easily achieved through meditation – a systematic process of diving within yourself to find a higher consciousness and bring this consciousness into your everyday life. In reality, it is there already, and all you need is the key to the door. Meditation is that key, and it is time you unlock it with the help of a teacher!
The Meditation Teacher
If you wanted to have piano lessons, you would go to a piano teacher – common sense! So if you seek Spiritual Unfoldment, you need to go to a Spiritual Teacher. Learning meditation from a book is possible but difficult as the book cannot answer your questions.
However, your progress will be much quicker when you interact with a living person – a teacher. The teacher will know the path and its pitfalls and can lovingly guide you, so you will not stumble or fall. A human being needs a human touch, and consequently, the system in FISU is based on the guidance from a Spiritual Teacher.
These teachings were devised by a Spiritual Master called Gururaj Ananda Yogi. You can read his life profile on this website. Since he passed the physical, the organisation has been run by Rajesh Ananda and Jasmini Ananda – Spiritual Teachers for FISU based in the United Kingdom.
Each person that comes to learn under our system will receive individually and personally prescribed practices based on that person’s unique vibration. This method is unique and the key factor in the success of our programme. Do read the section Individually Prescribed Meditation which explains this process in greater depth.
These Spiritual Teachers bring great wisdom and are there to guide you along the path. They do not walk the path for you – no – you must do that for yourself, but they give you the tools to do this for yourself and are there to give guidance as they have experienced the path first-hand.
Their work is recorded and written down, and this forms a basis for further enquiry should the aspirant want to learn more of the philosophy behind our teachings. Of course, you may learn meditation purely to receive the benefits of relaxation and want nothing else. This is fine! However, most people soon realise that meditation is far more than a relaxation technique!
The FISU Meditation Philosophy
The philosophy or teachings that FISU offers remain a support system to the aspirant – to the enquiring mind and the seeker of truth. These teachings can embrace your life – you can live them for your betterment.
FISU is a non-denominational, non-sectarian, UK registered charity. We attract individuals from all walks of life, religions, and atheists and agnostics.
Our teachings are available at various non-residential and residential centres in many different countries.