Since we're currently into this subject, I felt this would would be a good time to send this tutorial by Van Auken. This was found at this link.
How to Meditate Deeply
By John Van Auken
Of the many meditation techniques available, the best for deep meditation is one that Edgar Cayce taught and used himself. It has been the most successful method that I have found for getting into a truly attuned-to-God state. And the side effects of this method are clearer dreams and more intuitive “knowings.”
The method is simple. Sitting or lying down (if lying down Cayce wanted you to cover your solar plexus with your hands), you use your “imaginative forces” (Cayce’s term) to “see, feel, and know” that you are making your way through three stages of transition:
STAGE 1: First, “remove the earthly portion and your personality.” In this stage I simply imagine myself removing the earthly aspects of my being and my outer personality self; moving them out in front of my body and letting them be suspended there for the duration of the meditation. I know, you’re wondering what else is there to me if I remove all my earthly elements and my personality. You’ll be amazed how much more there is to us.
When Cayce did this first stage, he actually had a substantial “beingness” suspended in front of his body. In fact, on one occasion during the World Affairs readings in New York, some one thought of another question to ask and attempted to pass a note to the conductor of the reading. Reaching over Cayce’s body he struck some unseen thing floating above Cayce’s body and it caused his physical body to flip over. When Cayce awoke he had a sore bruise on his physical body, yet the man never struck his physical body. Later that day he gave a reading on this strange incident, and it explained that Cayce removes the earthly portions of his being and his personality and suspends them in front of his body while giving a reading. So substantial and yet connected to the physical body is this suspended portion of his being, that if struck it moves the body. It is like a thought-form body that is so connected with the flesh body that bruises on it will reflect eventually in the physical body.
The first stage is to remove the earthly portions of your being and your personality from your body and suspend them in front of your body for the duration of the meditation.
STAGE 2: Next, he instructs us to “subjugate” control of the physical body to the subconscious mind and soul-self, explaining that these two are in the deeper, autonomic nervous system. At this stage our central nervous system is quite still (we are not moving or using our five external senses). He wants us to turn over control of the system to the deeper self: soul and subconscious mind. When I first attempted this, I simply imagined what my soul-self and subconscious were like, and allowed my whole body system to surrender to their control. Cayce said that a key indicator that this was happening would be a shift in our breathing pattern, a shift toward deeper breathing. I noticed this clearly. As I began to “subjugate,” my breathing shifted -- very similar to the shift that occurs when we are falling asleep.
STAGE 3: At this point in the process Cayce reminds us that the subconscious mind is always amenable to a suggestion, and, as he did, he wanted us to give ourselves a powerful suggestion to rise up and expand into the spiritual levels of our being and God’s presence. I used the suggestion: “Arise my soul, and enter into the infinite, universal mind and spirit of God.” In addition to saying and feeling the suggestion, I would imagine myself doing it. I would “see” myself doing it.
Cayce explained that during this stage we may feel ourselves expanding or becoming “buoyant,” even “levitating” (not necessarily physically, but our soul-self levitating and expanding as it rises). I found that my physical head would be drawn up and back slightly as I felt this ascending and expanding.
It’s important to understand that this is not an out-of-body experience. Rather, Cayce clearly teaches us to avoid going out of the body at this stage, but to “go through dimensions of consciousness.” Imagine and feel yourself rising through the mind’s levels of perception; expanding from individual, finite perception toward full, infinite, universal perception.
Cayce’s indicator that this stage is being achieved is the sense of rising and expanding. After months of practice I drew several illustrations of this process; see one on this page. (There isn't an illustration on the page. -Greg)
STAGE 4: Now, we need to sense the Presence of God and connect with It. This is not a human-like God, but an infinite, universal God of the entire Cosmos. Therefore, we must realize that we are entering an altered state of consciousness. We are leaving individualness and finiteness, and entering into universalness and infiniteness. It fits well with our expanding sensations from the previous stage. Just continue to expand into the God’s Presence.
Of course, I had to use my imagination in order to sense God’s Presence. I simply imagined what God was like in His/Her infinite state.
STAGE 5: Once we have the slightest sense of God’s Presence, we need to connect with It firmly, completely. I actually envisioned myself plugging into It, like an electrical appliance plugging into the source of power.
Now, after all of this seeking to get here, we have to stop our will-driven efforts and become completely receptive and expectant. Seeking becomes receiving. Cayce recommends that we say the little phrase, “Thy will be done in and through me, now.” And “see, feel, know” it is happening. Allow it. Imagine it. Abide in a receptive state in the Presence. I feel the Infinite flowing into the finite at this point. It’s rejuvenating and uplifting.
When you sense that the session is drawing to a natural close, retrace your steps through the stages until you are completely back into your body with your earthly portion and personality intact. Then, take a deep breath and go live life. Magically, the inner experience will affect the outer life in many wonderful ways.
