One form of mind-tending is the blank or empty form. It is used to visit other planes than our usual one, which tends to focus on words, pictures and language-based thought. Those tools have shown themselves historically to be extremely powerful and engaging. But as the Hindus, Buddhists and Indians have shown, they do not encompass everything there is. They actually exclude many things that matter to our lives and affect us.
Think of riding up an elevator. Each floor is extensive. In fact, in this particular elevator, the floor at each stop stretches out infinitely in a flat plane.
Many Western attempts to reach God and strip off the barnacles acquired in normal life focus on suppyling the practitioner with a message, using one that seems holy, inspired and inspiring, often from a religious source, such as the writings of a saint or the Bible. So, if you take the elevator to the spiritual services floor, you can walk over to the Catholic or Protestant or Jewish services which will usually include prayer and listening to a passage read aloud from such a source. Often, the reading will be followed by comments - a sermon or homily - by the leader of the service.
But there are other floors, several that have only silence and open space, no words or language. Just quiet. That is not necessarily better or holier, just different. Spiritual practices and psychological housekeeping may include working at interrupting and quieting the thought stream. The book How to Teach Physics to Your Dog uses the premise that dogs stay in the present more than we do and focus heavily on what is, right now. It seems that animals do that. I do believe that morality and planning and musing over memories are all important for enjoying human life. But, pausing the flow of thought as completely as you can manage is a good way to dig deeper into yourself, while, at the same time, tuning into the total universe in which everything happens. For de-stressing, toning up and allowing yourself to know and empathize with all your feelings and urges, try 8 to 10 minutes of sitting still, paying attention to nothing and listening attentively to the background behind it all. You can spare 8 to 10 minutes. Set a timer and when it rings, you are all done!
