WHIRLING DERVISH, Cappadocia, Turkey

FOCUS…CONTEMPLATE…MEDITATE…POSITIVELY POWER THINKING! BRAIN POWER!

The practice of meditation simply means retreating inwardly, realizing the power of your brain! It comes in many forms and you can select anyone of the different ways of meditating.

PRAYER is meditation. It is the best kind of meditation. Through prayer, we simply purge our minds, talking to God. During my early education with the Catholic nuns, we always had religion classes, five times a week for 40 minutes. In addition, we prayed at the start of the class, before morning recess, after morning recess, before lunch, after lunch, and before the end of the class. Counting these totals to five times a day. If one now translates this, it is like the Moslems praying five times a day, except that we do not cleanse (wash ourselves) before praying.

I also remember the nuns telling us to visit the Chapel as many times a day (recess, lunch) and talk to Jesus. Of course, many of us did as we were told. The nuns told us to talk to Jesus as a FRIEND.  They said, He will always listen. Obediently, I followed as I was recommended and every time I visited the Chapel, I talked to Jesus. What did I say? I told Him how my day went, my family, my friends, my dilemmas, my gripes…anything that anyone would tell a Friend. Most of the time, I just said “Hello, my Friend”. That was enough but I know He was there for me. Even today, whenever I have a doubt, I always talk to Him and ask Him what I should do. Always, without failure, He answers me as a true Friend would. With the internet, He directs me to read an email pertaining to His response to my question. Sometimes, He just talks to me. One instance is when He told me while I was in a Chapel at a winery in Chile, “Why do you worry about your daughter getting into dental school?” It was then that I was thinking about my daughter and her desire to enter dental school. I was on my way back home from Chile that night, a Friday. The flight was overnight and I arrived Saturday morning. On Monday, a letter came from one of the universities that my daughter had applied and the message was positive – she was accepted into dental school! She is now a dentist and a very good one at that! I am very proud of her!

In my senior year of high school, we had to go to a retreat at a nun’s monastery. It was for three days and we were not allowed to talk at all. To meditate, we needed to retreat into our inner selves. We could walk around the gardens while saying the rosary, attend the lectures given by the nuns or the priests, pray in the Chapel or simply read religious books like those relating to the lives of saints. It was ALL MEDITATION and a big sacrifice to remain silent for 72 hours! That was tough, especially since we were at least 2 students per room, 4 or 6. For us, it was supposed to be like a “part-time” pajama party! But we had to obey all restrictions, all disciplines. The nuns patrolled the dormitory at night and we all were caught giggling and talking as we converged in one room, although we thought that perhaps they were ghosts! For whatever it was to us at that time, I now realize that it was the discipline to unclog our worst thoughts and replace them with thoughts that were good not only for us but for all! Bad thoughts out! Evil thoughts out! Negative thoughts out! Only positive thoughts in! One of the books required for us to read was on the examination of conscience, where the questions were based on the Ten Commandments. I can tell you that this is the toughest book I have ever read! Yet, following the Ten Commandments means only thinking positive thoughts, don’t you think? It means doing positive things (the good, the pluses) and apologizing or not doing any negative thing (the bad, the minuses). That MEDITATIVE RETREAT was meant to be a preparation for us to be able to conquer all the challenges we were going to face as we stepped into the world!

When we visited Turkey, there was always the bell ringing five times a day calling all to prayer. During this time, they cleanse themselves and prepare their special place to pay homage to Allah. In one of our tours, we attended a whirling dervish ceremony as shown on the video. This ceremony was very hypnotic, even to the audience and I am sure the people doing this become entranced as they whirled around and around! I can imagine that one releases all anxieties and tension as one whirled about. It was a very stimulating show to watch!

YOGA MEDITATION is one practice gaining a lot of popularity. This started with the Buddhist monks releasing their whole body to the spirit, almost in a trance-like pose. I do take yoga and tried the meditation classes but it has been difficult to “arrive in the place” as expected. Perhaps, my mind never stopped thinking. Even when I was extremely tired and sleepy, I still failed to go into the “peaceful” enchantment that many have described, almost similar to the positive hallucinogenic effects of LSD. I don’t think I ever will…I have always practiced closing off negative thoughts automatically and I always make sure that I am at peace with myself. In addition, I am always thinking creatively and innovatively so it is difficult for me to close off these spontaneous thoughts. I always sleep quickly, problems or no problems. As soon as I close my eyes, I am asleep!

Today, psychiatrists and psychologists utilize meditation to provide therapy to their patients or to alleviate mental stresses by a hypnotic discovery of the root of the problem or issues. Usually, the meditative state delves deep into the inner recesses of one’s mind and if not done carefully, could actually deliver more negative issues to the forefront.

My other definition of meditation is FOCUS. This means being able to concentrate on one thing, one task, and not multitask. Since the internet and computerization, we have been subjected to multitasking. It is an illusion that one can perform successfully doing several things at one time! We have only one brain! By doing many tasks simultaneously, our performance is mediocre and will actually take longer. Just put your tasks on a TO DO LIST, PRIORITIZING according to deadline dates and importance. Then check-off one at a time. This way, you are not stressed out and not tense. You will feel more relaxed and will be able to complete any task with 100% efficiency!

After I finished college, I had to take a board exam for chemistry or else I could not work as a chemist. The exams took one week for a total of ten exams in all. It was a three-hour exam (two per day) on every specialty of chemistry, including writing a research proposal (topic not disclosed until test time). The exams were not multiple choice. All problems had to be solved. Passing rate was 40%. I focused studying for these tests for six weeks, blocking all the times in my daily schedule, no TV, no partying at all! I had to harness all my POWER THINKING SKILLS for all six weeks to pass the tests. And I passed with flying colors! It was full FOCUS, full MEDITATION! I also did the same thing, studying for a full six weeks for my comprehensive exams in graduate school and these exams were on any chemistry topic. There were no set textbooks to review. I scheduled every book and class notes that I had to review and if I did not finish reviewing during the allotted time, I moved on to the next book. I had a “military” schedule for seven days of the week and I diligently and strictly committed myself to this routine. I did not allow any disturbance, of whatever kind, to clutter my mind. Any negative thoughts were quickly thrown out of my mind. I had one goal, one task that had to be done excellently. Today, I always fall back to this laser-like FOCUS whenever I need to accomplish a huge goal.

I know that focusing for even one hour may already be difficult for most people. Yet meditation and FOCUS ON POSITIVE THOUGHTS are important to one’s mental and emotional health. Stress, anxiety, tension, anger — all leading to negative thoughts — can cause one to feel unappreciated, unaccomplished, disliked, and other more negatively spiraling downward responses. One of the POSITIVE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION IS RELAXATION. It is important to designate a special quiet place to THINK POSITIVELY, to erase all negative thoughts. It is critical to be at PEACE with oneself, at least, after the meditation period. Breathing from the diaphragm, like babies do, is essential to successfully releasing all “emotional toxins”. By breathing, these toxins are released and the body and mind are freed. Closing your eyes to numb out the sense of sight will allow you to visualize the angst you have then turn the angst into a new different happy vision. It is almost like an examination of your conscience. You begin to realize the good from the bad. You begin to THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS to resolve any issues you may have. Most of all, you may even THINK CREATIVELY to solve problems you thought were impossible. Lastly, you feel PEACEFULLY POSITIVE!

I always feel happy whenever I am in a jacuzzi. The hot massaging waters of the jacuzzi relaxes my muscles and my brain. I close my eyes and just take it easy. Most often, I am able to develop new chemical products while sitting in the jacuzzi. For me, this is the place for meditating creatively. I thought of my novel nanopowder process while in the jacuzzi and have filed six US patents on this innovation after just one year of research. Two of them were allowed and the rest should be accepted shortly. There are more novel products from this technology in the pipeline.

So what’s for you? What type of meditation suits you?

You are who you are. Accept yourself positively with all your strengths and weaknesses!

DELETE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS…and better still, do not even allow negative thoughts to enter your mind.

RETAIN POSITIVE THOUGHTS…

FOCUS…CONTEMPLATE…RELAX…REJUVENATE…CREATE…PRAY…BE FREE!

POSITIVE POWER THINKING FROM POSITIVE MEDITATION!

POSITIVE BRAIN POWER!