On the Process of Meditation.
In the last 30 years I’ve practiced several forms of yoga and meditation with varying results. In college in the mid 1990’s, I studied Taoism and Buddhism along with the writings of Ken Wilber, Swami Vivekananda, and Aldous Huxley. I had not delved fully into the Western Esoteric Tradition just yet. At the time, I was interested in the Perennial Philosophy and popularists like Joseph Campbell, developing a metaphysical outlook on life. I would meditate, usually poorly, for five to ten minutes a day. This gave me somewhat of a centered outlook for some of the day, but I still felt jostled about by life, and I had delved into angry emotions a little more than I would’ve liked.
Using I-Ching and meditation, along with as strict as possible of a daily routine, I wanted to create a “flow” for my life, as though the routine became one big ritual that allowed the Universe to conspire to give me what I need for intellectual, creative, physical, and emotional sustenance. This worked to a point. I consider the time from 1996 to 2002, a time of nascent spiritual growth with a great deal of failure.
In 2004, after delving into the writings of Aleister Crowley and Julius Evola, along with many other occult writers, I took an interest in Kabballah, Nordic-Germanic Runes, Tarot, and Hatha and Raja Yoga. The Yoga Aleister Crowley wrote about was strenuous, hard on the body, and difficult to do for long periods of time. I had some success in it, though I never quite reached Samadhi, the obliteration of consciousness in Union with the Divine. The best state I could reach was Pratyahara, which is a sort of observation of the inner workings of the mind, rather than the cessation of thought. I did not get to the next levels which are Dharana, the power to focus the mind on a single point, and Dhyana the lesser Samadhi of Union of Subject and Object. Yet I did not attain final Union in Samadhi. My level of attainment consisted of the ability to control my breathing and posture, and I felt a sense of connection to the Universe through sign, coincidence, and omen. I had a few short moments of thoughtless consciousness. Still, I felt the same “jostling about” by the world and events, often driving me to lose temperance. From 2004 to 2014, I consider the time of “spiritual action.” I did a lot of ceremonial and sexual magick. My wife and I used occult symbolism in various art and theatre projects. I also did a lot of work with the Runes, using Stephen Flowers’ adaption of the Runic Yoga postures of Karl Spiesberger of the Thule Society. This also had interesting, though varying results as I began initiation into the Elder Futhark.
Then in 2015, my wife and I took a course in Transcendental Meditation from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi school. Many people view the Maharishi as sort of a cult-like figure who popularized a homogenized version of Mantra and Bhakti Yoga for the modern Western bourgeoisie. However, what was taught was more powerful than any meditation or Yoga I had practiced before. After my first session, I felt an elation I’d never felt before in any time after I meditated. After the instructor did a ritual to the gods, I was given a Sanskrit mantra and while repeating this mantra silently for twenty minutes for the first time, I had eliminated nearly all thought. Though I was meditating for twenty minutes, it felt like five. It was as though time became irrelevant. I had been attempting Yoga and meditation for years, but I was never this powerful.
Three months later in mid-October 2015, I reached Samadhi for the first time and began the next cycle of my spiritual journey. The feeling of Samadhi came after an afternoon meditation in a hotel room in Los Angeles. I had been having weeks of meditation with little to no thoughts. During meditation I’d occasionally let the mantra go silent and sit with absolutely no thoughts in my mind, just listening to my breathing which had become over the months less forced but much deeper and fuller due to the nature of the meditation. When I reached Samadhi, I felt a “crackle” in my mind and the only “thought” I had was of the vague sensation of flying over blue clouds with occasional flashes that seemed like lightning. I was not asleep, nor was I hallucinating. Rather it felt like my mind had gone beyond a “no thought” space into something more cosmic. I felt as though I had transcended the body, space, and time.
As the alarm on my phone brought my wife and I out of meditation, I felt a power and a centeredness that I had never felt before. After this, it was as though the Universe, the Gods, or whatever label one wants to give to the Divine, was communicating with me directly, guiding me on my Path. I felt hollowed out, as though I did not exist, and life became supremely easy. It was as though I was moving on an energy current. Much of this is discussed in greater detail in my forthcoming book “The Chaos Aeon.”
After this experience meditating on Sanskrit mantras, I used the Transcendental Meditation technique with the Runes of the Elder Futhark. Before I write about what occurred due to this experiment, it is best to describe the process of meditation. Again, I go into greater detail in my book, so here I will provide the basic process of a twenty-minute meditation:
1. Sit comfortably in a chair or on a bed or mat. Usually, I sit on the floor or on a sofa or bed with my hands folded on my lap and my feet folded underneath me like this:
2. Close your eyes and breath slowly. Make sure you are relaxed. Then speak the mantra aloud, repeating it with intention, but slowly.
3. Then repeat the mantra quieter and quieter until it is silently repeated in your mind, but make sure not to force the mantra. It should be just a suggestion. If you have a thought intrude, gently, innocently go back to the mantra. Everything should be done gently. If you feel a pressure behind your eyes that means you are forcing the mantra.
4. After weeks of practice, experiment by occasionally letting the mantra disappear into silence (done without stress or force) where you can only hear your breathing. See how long you can sustain this without a thought intruding. If a thought does intrude, gently and innocently go back to the mantra. After practice one should be able to sustain thoughtless meditations without the mantra for longer periods of time.
After a while, one will notice how easy the meditations are and how easily one can reach thoughtless spaces. Again, this will take practice and it is best to meditate twice a day for twenty minutes, one in the morning preferably when one wakes up and again in the late afternoon. You can choose from different Sanskrit mantras such as Krim, Hrim, Hring, Hamsa, etc. Make sure to research the meaning of your mantra because they will have a profound effect on your life. It is best not to go into this blind as sometimes a mantra will produce melancholy feelings or create an event of initiation where one has to undergo an “ordeal” to test one’s spiritual fortitude.
After practice and the attainment of “no-mind,” try to focus on symbols in your mind and retain their image without wavering. This can be difficult. Symbols to begin experimenting with should be simple, such as a red triangle, or a circle with a dot in the center. Remember to always be gentle with the thought-image. Don’t force the symbol just as you do don’t force the mantra. These techniques if done for twenty minutes, twice a day should prove to be successful.
In 2016, I started experimenting with meditating on the Runes of the Elder Futhark, with great success. This culminated into my initiation of the Left-Hand Path of the Runes called the Uthark (as opposed to the Futhark), which places the Rune Fehu at the end of the row rather than the beginning. This initiation took place in 2019 and 2020, in Los Angeles, coinciding with the chaos of the lockdowns enforced by the progressive government in California. I write about all these workings in greater detail in “The Chaos Aeon.” It brought profound changes in my life and a profound connection to the gods and goddesses of the Indo-European Tradition.
To meditate on the Runes, one needs to understand the meanings of the Runes of the Elder and Younger Futharks. There are several books on this by Guido Von List, Stephen Flowers (aka Edred Thorsson,) Freya Aswynn, and Thomas Karlsson. It is best to experiment with divination as well to enhance one’s knowledge of the Runes to assist in meditation. Remember that the Runes are the most powerful magickal symbols of the Indo-European race. Working with them will permanently change your life. These are potent symbols and some have very dark undercurrents. Proceed with the utmost caution.
The process of Runic meditation is the same as the steps for Transcendental Meditation/mantra yoga, except with this, one is also focusing on the visual image of the Rune while repeating the name of the Rune as a mantra. After mastering Transcendental Meditation with Sanskrit mantras, one should be able to focus on images in their mind and sustain them for indefinite periods of time during a session without a wavering thought. This helps by repeating in your mind the name of a Rune such as “Sowilo” along with its image as seen below:
Start with “positive” Runes such as Sowilo, Wunjo, and Berkano at first, and keep a journal as to what occurs in your life, especially if you have any coincidences, signs, or synchronicities which illuminate further the meaning of the Rune of you’re working with. Working with a single Rune over days or weeks is the best way to get results at the beginning. The same is true for utilizing Sanskrit mantras or mantras from any other Tradition. Again remember to not force the Rune image or mantra, just gently and innocently return to it if the vision wavers.
Eventually after various initiations, these workings and meditations should enhance the quality of your life. You must practice meditation daily to achieve results. The techniques described here are the most effective methods initiate yourself into the Higher Mysteries. In our high speed and off-kilter modern world, it is difficult to slow down and find the time for this important spiritual practice. Meditation done correctly is the foundation of all spiritual and occult work. Without it, the entire endeavor is worthless. If you put sincere effort to make this practice a part of your daily ritual, events with conspire to bring into your life what the Greeks called Eudaimonia or the Good Life. Being centered through meditation will allow you to remain balanced, strong, and in control of your life to ride the tiger in the last days of the Kali Yuga.