A New Experience - Guided Meditation

As I walked out of the lift in the 7^th floor of the apartment, I was a bit confused where exactly the flat that I was supposed to go to was located. I looked around. Yes, there was certainly one board hanging, but I barely read the board.  I rushed to the door of the nearest apartment. It was not the one I was looking for as it was closed and there were no lights in the house. Then I looked at the apartment just in front of it. That also did not seem to have any life. I turned back and then I saw the apartment I was supposed to go to.

There was a man standing in the corridor and speaking to another person who probably had just arrived there. I just stood there looking around till their conversation was over. On the door of the apartment were stickers proclaiming various things –Life Coach, Tarot reader, Angel Healer etc. I studied G, who was bald and very fair. He was somewhat stout and not very tall, but of medium built. His name gave away that he of course was from the North. Could be Delhi, UP or Punjab. Apart from the smile on his face, he was wearing a White Kurta and blue pajama. It being winter, he was also wearing a blue Nehru jacket.

We said Hi-Hello and I just went in to his apartment. He did not ask me why I was there, nor I told him my reason to be there. There were about 5 other men in the hall. Some of them were seated on the sofa and some on a chair in the far end of the hall. G asked me to sit on the sofa.

The room was sparingly decorated. The main color of the room was yellow, but the front wall was a bright orange. Against the Orange wall, was a wooden showcase. On the right hand side shelves of the showcase, there were piles of cassettes. Old Hindi song cassettes from the 80s and 90s when the tape recorder took the pride of place in middle class houses. There were some decorative pieces. Some lights and a small water fountain were placed on the left side shelves. The middle portion houses a wall mounted TV. Below it was a sound system connected to a phone. A soft meditation music was playing on it.

The top of the showcase was quite interesting. There were many indoor plants known as money plants. There were couple of other variety of plants as well. But the surplus of money plants was striking out. And all these plants were placed in water in different types of beautiful liquor bottles.

Slowly, few others also trickled in. 3 more gentlemen and 3 ladies.

Till all the people came in, G was speaking to some people and I was unable to get the context. Once everyone was there, G started the guided meditation. He explained that we will do 4 levels of meditation. The music was put on. We were asked to come down and sit cross legged on the floor. There were yoga mattress spread on the floor. Some people who has back problem wanted support. G said as long as you keep your spine straight, whether with support or without, it is ok.

Having sat he told us to start the level 1 of meditation, which is take a deep breath in. Notice how it goes in. Then breathe out. Notice how it comes out. He asked us to breathe through the gut and not the chest. He said, your thoughts may wander here and there. But just try to bring your attention to your breath. He asked us to count up to 21 using the fingers.

Once everyone was done, he asked us to bring our consciousness to the present and slowly open the eyes. He asked how was the feeling. Anyone wants to share anything. No one had anything to share.

Then we went to level 2 of the meditation. He asked us to take deep breath through nose making a nasal sound (ham)  and then breathe out through nose making sound (sa). The count remained the same at 21.

I somehow finished my 21 breathes quickly and opened my eyes. The others were still breathing. After some time, they stopped. I was looking around. But most of the others still had their eyes closed. Then G asked them to return to the present and slowly open their eyes. Some of the folks rubbed their palms and put it over their closed eyes, before opening the eyes.

2 other people joined then. G asked them to join the meditation. We were told how to do the level 3. It was to take a deep breath through nose, making a sound, and breathe out with a mild force through mouth. Same, 21 count.

The there was the Level 4. In this, one had to take a deep breath through nose, keep hold it in for 2 seconds, then breathe out with a mild force through mouth for count of 21. I was sure most people were not counting as they kept on doing this long after my count was over.

The G asked the usual questions. What did you feel? Is there anything you want to share. Some people said they felt very good. Felt relaxed. G told that each level of meditation opens new doors. He asked us to note the type of sleep that we will get in the night. He asked if we were ready for level 5 of meditation. Most said yes.

Level 5 he said is the Om meditation. Om, he said, as I had even read somewhere earlier is the sound that the universe makes. It is claimed that NASA has been able to even record this sound. Not sure how true this is. However, he turned down the volume of music. Asked us to breathe deep and say Om together. While saying Om, he asked us to focus our attention on the third eye. The chorus that was generated was not in synch. Some people started early, some late some finished early some late. It was interesting to hear. For some repetitions I did not say Om but listened to all others how they were doing. This was supposed to be done 21 times. But I am sure the folks did not count and some went as long as almost double the number.

After it was over, he asked how people felt. One of them said he felt a tingling in the forehead. Someone said he could see a blue light in his forehead. Someone else was feeling uncomfortable. G said all this is good. This is how it is supposed to be. Neither did I feel anything nor say anything.

After the meditation, there was a round of introduction. G asked everyone to tell their names, what they do and any experience in meditation.

People went one by one. Some people did not have any experience in meditation. Some had done Kundalini meditation and Raja Yoga meditation. One impatient young man asked if he will get what he wants and how soon will he get it. G replied that he has to ask, then Believe and he will receive it. He has asked. Now he should believe that he will receive it and it will happen. 

When it came to my introduction, after telling about me, I recounted an exchange that I had with a friend recently. There was a discussion and my friend said that if you are getting a first aid kit at your home, it means you are attracting some accident. You will invariably have an accident. I countered him saying it means if I buy insurance does it mean I attract death. An interesting discussion followed. G said Yes. He gave the usual story of putting the thought into the universe. The universe will decorate and enlarge it and send it back as an experience. Few others joined the discussion. One person spoke about a colleague in office who always had advised others to buy life insurance. That chap himself had insurance though he never smoked or took alcohol in his life. However, he died an untimely death. The discussion went on to why people take insurance, tax savings, better investment avenues etc. Finally another person summarized that you can take life insurance, but do not attach yourself to that. If you attach yourself to it, you attract it.

At the end, G gave his own introduction. Seems his life was in doldrums 1.5 years back. His relationships were not working, issues at professional side, he was on the dumps. Someone asked him to attend the Heal Your Life workshop. It was life changing for him. He took more such workshops and his life began to turn around. He liked to teach others what he learnt and he became a certified instructor from Lay House. And now he is imparting Laws of Attraction courses to others.

He told about his upcoming courses, took our phone numbers and email ids, hugged everyone and I 

left!