Serene Reflection Meditation Manual

1. What is meditation? Meditation can mean a lot of different things to different people. The form of meditation that will lead you to ultimate wisdom, enlightenment, or the Priceless Pearl is seated silent reflection. It is the supreme form of prayer because you are not talking to God, but listening instead.

Remember He only gave you one mouth but two ears. In more practical terms, silent reflection is the act of focused awareness on the present moment. When a thought arises let it pass and return to being present and aware. It is the only exercise you need to master to master your mind. Along the path to enlightenment, many mental super powers will develop.

2. How do I meditate?

Seated silent reflection is the simplest method that anyone is capable of doing almost anywhere. You just need to sit comfortably with your back straight and head upright, jaw relaxed, while casting your eyes downward at a 45 degree angle or looking straight at a blank wall. Deliberately breath in and out slowly. Notice your heart rate go down as your body relaxes. Maintain your posture and continue breathing slowly and deliberately until you feel fully relaxed and comfortable in your body.

3. Where can I meditate?

Anywhere that you won’t be disturbed and can focus. It can be in a chair, on a cushion, at a park, in a temple, in your bed, even in your car. For the purposes of this beginner’s manual it must be somewhere you can sit and not worry about anything other than sitting. If silent reflection is too fancy of a name, it could also be called “just sitting.”

4. When can I meditate?

You must be conscious. At first, silent reflection will be easiest while sitting. However you can also lie down, but be careful not to fall asleep. You can also stand and meditate, but that will be more taxing on your body for long periods of time and may make it harder to concentrate. You can even meditate while moving once you have gotten used to the state of stillness of mind.

6. Why should I meditate?

Ultimately it is to discover the Kingdom of God inside of you. Meditation will unlock your spirituality. There are many practical benefits along the way. Daily practice is essential. It is exercise for your mind. When you master it, you will master yourself, and you can master the world. It is the path to obtaining the Priceless Pearl.

7. What are the benefits of meditation?

Meditation will increase your willpower. It will increase your ability to focus on tasks. It will help you conquer fears. It will let your anger pass. Upon mastery, you will no longer be plagued by depression or anxiety. Addictions can be overcome. You will cease to engage in idle speech and naturally wish to speak truth over falsehood. Eventually, you will become wise. If you keep looking inward, you will discover the Kingdom of God.

What is the Priceless Pearl? Imagine you are a lake and all that dwells within it. Above you is a full moon. You are only aware of what is happening at the surface of the lake. Your thoughts are like fish swimming in this lake. They are always swimming underneath the surface. Sometimes they come up to the surface and you are aware of them. If you focus on the fish, you feed it. The more attention you give to them the bigger they get and the stronger they splash the waves.

You can see something else shining on your surface it’s shimmery and white. When you sit still and focus on the surface of your waters, it becomes clearer. You know there’s something there, but there is so many fish and there are some real big ones that keep coming up. They’ve eaten so much that now they are shitting in your waters. You can’t even see the shimmering reflection of white light on your surface anymore because you are too focused on fish and shit.

This is how most of us live every day. Focused on fish and shit so much we don’t even think about God. The good news is that even with all that fish and shit clouding the reflection of the moon, it is still shining upon us, just as God always watches over us. It is never too late to start cleaning your waters. Start serenely reflecting. Focus on stillness.

Over time, the fish in your lake start to starve. The shit at the surface sinks to the bottom. Eventually the fish that don’t serve you go extinct. Negative fish species like Self Doubt, Anxiety, Depression will never trouble your waters again. The only fish left are useful ones and some of those have become leviathans in your lake. Self control is a fish and it has become so large he nearly is as wide as the surface of your lake.

You look away from this good fish you have fed and focus on the surface of your waters. Self control finally keeps all fish at bay and your surface wobbles to rest and for the first time you can see the full moon in the sky reflecting on your surface shining in all it’s glory. In this moment you become a reflection of the moon in the sky. Remember I said your awareness is the surface of this lake and right now your awareness is a reflection of the moon. In this moment you are the moon.

Unlike the fish that swim to the surface, there is another creature in your waters. Deep at the bottom is a giant oyster. Inside sits a pearl equally beautiful to the moon in the sky. The moment you reflected the moon in the sky you looked upon the surface of your waters. When you looked, your waters were so clear that you could see the pearl shining beneath.

Remember at the beginning, I told you that you were the lake and all that was within it, but you were only aware of the surface. The moon made that clear that not only is it always watching you from above, but also from within, and that what you really are is the pearl watching the surface from below. Even if all of your waters dry up and the fish die, your pearl will remain. This knowledge that you can never die and will be with God is the Priceless Pearl.

Both the moon in the sky and the pearl in your depths have always been there for you at the surface. Just as God and the Kingdom of God have always been there for you in life. It is impossible to reach that place splashing around in your waters. You must be still to realize that they are always there, always have been, and always will be. Only in humility, meekness, and calm can you approach the gates of the Kingdom of God.