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Common Issues for Meditation Students

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By George A. Boyd © 2021

Q: Are there common types of issues you encounter with meditation students?

A: There appear to be seven major categories of difficulties with which students struggle:

  1. Necessity to remediate basic meditation skills – These students have difficulties with seeing and hearing within, accessing intuition, moving attention, gaining discernment, and other key skills required for meditation mastery.
  2. Distractions of family, work, dependent care, or health issues – These students cannot find the time to meditate, because of the many demands placed upon them. As a consequence, they little progress towards their spiritual aspirations.
  3. Psychological problems and recovery from addiction – These internal temptations, compulsions, and distractions require that the student spend time in therapy and recovery groups to support stable functioning and serene sobriety. This may make meditational practice difficult, as the mind is continually processing these issues; instead of depth meditation, the student wrestles with turbulent thoughts and emotions.
  4. Ogre on the Threshold – These students encounter inner blocks that don’t let them progress beyond a certain level. For some, this tenacious resistance to deepening into meditation may keep them locked in the waking state of awareness. For others, they can go within a certain depth, and then they encounter an insurmountable barrier they cannot cross.
  5. Kundalini syndromes – Some of our students have come to us with a background of having experienced a powerful Kundalini awakening, which interfered with their personality functioning and left them with painful energetic anomalies. For some, these fires have largely died down, but they are left with trepidation to do deep meditation, lest this fiery energy reemerge. Others still grapple with this energy, and attempt to bring into under control when they recapture the imbalanced spiritual essence that is creating the energetic short circuit.
  6. Conflicts of values and beliefs – Students who toil with this type have a difficulty fully embracing Mudrashram® teachings and practices. They may harbor conflicted loyalty, for they wish to attempt to do the Mudrashram® work and the work of their former tradition. This leads to inner conflict, as the moral values and teachings of each tradition may contradict each other.
  7. Need for advanced guidance – Advanced students who reach the sixth and seventh stages of spirituality need guidance about developing their Multiplane Master form, shepherding, and engaging in spiritual teaching and ministry. These students need additional supervision beyond what they can glean from the Mudrashram® Correspondence Course and available advanced webinars.

We suggest that Mudrashram® students—and students of other spiritual traditions who are struggling with their practice—reflect upon the following questions:

  • Which of these categories describe your issues with meditation?
  • What specifically do you need to work on in these areas?
  • What have you done previously to attempt to address this issue? What were the results? Did it help resolve the issue?
  • What would be the markers to let you know you have resolved each of these issues?
  • What would be a next step you could take in the next 30 days that could help you make progress with each of these issues you have identified?

Some potential places that Mudrashram® students—and those affiliated with other traditions—could start include:

If category one is a concern, Mudrashram® students can take the Breakthrough Meditation Coaching Program. It specifically addresses many of these issues with targeted article and webinars, plus coaching to help you make movement in the problematic areas for you.

Students from other traditions can seek help from advanced students and your spiritual Master. We could also assist you with a meditation consultation to teach you an alternative approach that may allow you to make a breakthrough, if you cannot get the guidance within your own sangat.

If category two is an issue, you need to find a way to structure your life, so you have two to three hours daily to do study, meditation, prayer, personal inventory and planning, or carry out service to others and your spiritual organization.

If category three holds you back, continuing to go to your therapy and support groups will help you maintain stable functioning.

Those whose lives have been impacted through growing up in a dysfunctional family or who are survivors of an abusive relationship will find our Dysfunctional Family Recovery Coaching Program helpful.

Those in stable recovery from an active addiction may find our Addiction Recovery Coaching Program will assist them get to the bottom of the issues that led them to the destructive addictive patterns that vitiated their lives.

If category four holds you back, sometimes a meditation consultation can help you find a method to transcend the barrier that blocks you.

Sometimes a past life reading might help you uncover the original incident that led to the establishment of the block, when this seems a likely source of the problem.

If category five is your ongoing problem, a Kundalini Syndrome reading, coupled with regular coaching can help you cope with the energy dynamics you must face as you move forward towards re-integration and a subsidence of the intensity of the Kundalini.

If category six troubles you, you need to journal and clarify your values, and discover what is truly important and essential in your life. You need to explore your beliefs and identify what is genuinely true for you.

Some of our Mudrashram® students have found it helpful to utilize the templates in the Mudrashram® Home Study Workbook to delve into their issues in a methodical way.

Those attempting to sort out what they want to do, be, and have in their unique human life may find support in our Life Coaching Program.

Those of you, whose confusion and conflicts stem from your prior involvement in a religious or political cult, will find our Cult Recovery Coaching Program may help you discover who you are and what is an authentic spirituality that resonates with you.

If category seven is your main issue, you will need to schedule more time with the Lineage Holder or our most advanced mentors and coaches, who can assist you navigate the part of the journey in which you are now.

We suggest to you that you have resolved problems in the past; you can apply your intelligence and constructive effort to solve these problems as well. Just like a safe unlocks when you enter the correct combination, when you grasp what is the salient change factor, you will also solve your problem and make a breakthrough.

If we can assist you in any of these areas, please reach out to us.

What Holds People Back from Being Able to Meditate?

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By George A. Boyd ©2015, updated 2020

There are several issues that hold people back from being able to meditate. These include:

  1. Mental illness or severe physical illness – here you are unable to focus, and can’t think clearly.
  2. Demands of work and family – in this situation, you simply have no time for meditation.
  3. Cultural or religious prohibition – in this scenario, there are prohibitions on doing certain forms of meditation, or the cultural or religious group sees meditation as a pathway to madness or possession by evil spirits.
  4. Addiction – here you are obsessed with the object of your addiction, which largely takes over your life and thought.
  5. Rational or skeptical mindset – You do not enter an altered state of consciousness outside of the logical parameters of brain or physical universe; doubt and skepticism vitiates any inner experience and attributes it to an epiphenomenon of the nervous system or temporary psychosis.
  6. History of religious cultism or religious abuse – Your prior religious involvement has created sufficient personal dysfunction, so that you are frightened to again enter altered states of consciousness through meditation.
  7. Dysfunctional family background – In this case, you are dealing with the sequelae of abuse, trauma, and neglect, and until these issues are handled, it is hard for you to escape the psychological undertow of these issues.

Mental and Physical Illness – Mental illness and physical illness clearly must be controlled to the point that you can meditate: these conditions must be professionally supervised, though some people can find methods that help them get to a point where they are able to meditate. Some actually get help with their physical or mental health condition using prayer and meditation, but they must attain the requisite ability to focus their attention and to think clearly to move beyond the rudiments of relaxation and mindfulness.

Demands of Work and Family – The demands of work and family are a lifestyle issue. Many do not see another option for their overwhelming days; clearly they must find a way to clear up some time through letting go of some commitments and delegating some tasks. For some, getting clear about their priorities and re-creating a life that actualizes their personal potentials assists them to make changes in their lifestyle. For these, we have designed our Life Coaching Program.

Cultural and Religious Prohibition – Cultural and religious prohibition is commonly seen in milieus where there is a dominant religious authority that dictates rules for living and social conduct. These fundamentalist and totalitarian societies attempt to enforce conformity of belief and behavior. You may see it in radical Muslim sects, and in authoritarian sects of Judaism and Christianity; it appears in cultic groups from all religious backgrounds; it is also evident in atheistic Communist regimes, which attempt to constrain religious activity.

Clearly, you must have access to an alternative way of thinking and living. Some escape these totalistic, repressive environments either through emigration or joining an underground group that encourages prayer and meditation.

Addiction – Addiction can become life consuming, and meditation becomes impossible. You must get into recovery if you are to become free from the tenacious grasp of addiction. We offer some support to this group of individuals through our Addiction Recovery Coaching Program, which has now been completed, and is now available. We encourage people dealing with an addiction to find a supportive group to assist them attain and maintain abstinence from their addictive substance or behavior.

Skeptical Mindset – To overcome the self-sabotage of a rational or skeptical mindset, you must have an experience that cannot be explained away with a brain-based axiom. You must verify that there is something outside the scientific worldview to begin to entertain the possibility that you can transcend the brain and visible physical universe, and move into the other dimensional worlds of the Great Continuum. We teach you how to transcend brain-based awareness in our beginning meditation class, the Introduction to Meditation Program; and in intermediate meditation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.

Cult Involvement or Religious or Authoritarian Family Issues – Those who have had prior involvement with a religious cult or have had a background in a religious authoritarian family will need to deal with the issues of betrayal and abuse. We provide these individuals a structured way to work through these issues in our Cult Recovery Coaching Program. This program is now available.

Dysfunctional Family Issues – Like those dealing with addiction or cults, those growing up in a dysfunctional family must work through their issues before they are ready to meditate. Many of these will benefit from counseling, therapy, and support groups. We have developed a Dysfunctional Family Coaching Program to help them explore and work through these issues. This program is also now available.

Those who can overcome these hindrances to practicing meditation can make progress in their inner development. Not everyone is able to overcome these challenges, so not everyone is able to meditate—but for those who can, the potential benefits are great, indeed.