How Applied Meditation works

Applied Meditation works intimately with imagination and mindfulness. I use the word “imagination” to encompass the modes of consciousness other than rational processing. The rational mind is linear, logical, analytical, cause and effect oriented, abstract, critical, particular, and categorical. The imagination is the language of the soul and speaks in poetry, story, art, music, metaphor, feeling, and visceral experience. It is the meeting ground of heart and spirit. Holistic and multidimensional, it is where the dance of probabilities takes place. The imagination makes patterns out of particulars, and it communes with healing energies. It is the locale of prayer. Through the imagination we access our intuitive awareness. It is the dwelling place of beliefs (which in turn dictate expectations). And it is the agent of creativity. The imagination rests on pure awareness, which we experience when we cultivate mindfulness.

Applied Meditation weaves together three approaches to consciousness that rarely cross paths. I call them the Witness (pure awareness) — as in the mindfulness of Eastern forms of meditation; the Active Imagination — as in visualization, imagery, and self-hypnosis; and the Receptive Imagination — as in intuition and creativity.