Q: I have noticed that some people do not seem capable of doing the Mudrashram® meditations. Can you identify where they can start doing these?

A: These capabilities for meditation can be briefly summarized below:

1. Capable of obedience and devotion, temple worship and prayer
2. Capable of doing a simple mantra or breath technique
3. Capable of doing scriptural study and reflection upon spiritual ideas
4. Capable of synthesizing spiritual ideas, giving spiritual discourse
5. Capable of reflective meditation and contemplation of seed thoughts, seeking the answers to deep spiritual questions
6. Capable of detaching from the content of the mind, and collecting the attention
7. Capable of moving the attention along the thread of consciousness and opening awareness of the bands of the mind
8. Capable of uniting attention with the attentional principle, conscious travel on the inner Planes
9. Capable of uniting attention with the spirit, and opening the channels of the Nada
10. Capable of uniting attention with the Soul, and realizing the true nature of the Soul
11. Capable of using a transformational mantra or other transformative technique to guide the unfoldment of a spiritual essence
12. Capable of ministering the Light to others through healing modalities and attunement meditation
13. Capable of using a variety of techniques to do inner work on the personality, the unconscious mind, and in the Superconscious mind
14. Capable of guiding others through stages five to thirteen

Religion and initial exposure to meditation guides people in stages one to four—clergy trains to be able to give discourse on the scriptures. The aspirant process, for many people, begins with reflection and deep thinking about the meaning of life.

In Mudrashram®, we start people at stage six and guide them progressively to gain mastery over each step. For those who have not meditated before, the Introduction to Meditation Program teaches you steps six and seven. You go over these steps in our intermediate courses—the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program—and additionally learn steps eight through eleven and thirteen; current students can learn step twelve, attunement meditation, in our bimonthly Light Sittings.

Q: What enables people to shift from one step to another?

A: Spiritual life begins for many people from an emotional platform. They are capable of love and devotion, obedience, and faith. They advance to doing prayer and simple meditation through following structured guidelines in step two.

For example, in many religious groups, the prayers are written down: you only have to repeat them. Instructions to watch or count the breath, monitoring the feet rising and falling as you walk, or chanting or mentally repeating a simple mantra can be remembered and easily practiced.

Engagement of the intellect begins at step three. You start to study the scriptures of your faith or spiritual group. As you become learned in these teachings, you gain the ability to explain them to others, and you progress to stage four.

Stage five engages the deep questions of the heart: we say the true aspirant process starts here. This deep exploration of meaning can be triggered in you through a life trauma, a quest to end your suffering and misery, or an attempt to answer your questions that you cannot solve in your current religious or spiritual group. Doctrine homogenizes the group’s faith and philosophy; when you reach this stage, you find established doctrine too narrow and limiting.

True meditation begins at stage six with mindfulness: collecting your attention and becoming present. Progressively deeper stages of meditation are achieved through mastery of moving your attention to discrete locations along the thread of consciousness and encountering and contemplating selected objects of meditation.

In some spiritual groups at stage ten, they substitute a nucleus of identity for the Soul. Alternately, they may focus attention upon the ensouling entity of a higher octave of being. The process of attentional prehension and union with these essences in the Superconscious mind is similar in these other cases.

We suggest you contemplate these steps to be clear about them. If you have been able to start the core process of interiorization at step six, you may wish to inquire, “how do I gain union with the immortal essences within me, and acquire each of the skills that I need to support my personal growth and spiritual progress?”

You can learn each of these methods in the Mudrashram® system of Integral meditation. We welcome you to investigate our approach to see if it allows you to obtain these objectives and give you the keys to unlocking your full human and spiritual potential.