Free mediatation tools.

Does meditation require a tool?

Yes, you can say that for beginners. Just starting to meditate? You might use free tools and guidelines.

Selfawareness.com is a website dedicated to enlightenment and it is a place to meet like minded persons who believe in raising their consciousness level.

They offer tools for free such as:
1. Free Mp3 Guided Meditations you can download and play

2. A Free 7 Meditations eBook by Steven S. Sadleir in PDF format

3. A Free Live Guided Meditation teleconferenced class

4. A Free Monthly E-Newsletter "The Present Moment"

I believe in the potential of sound meditation and these CD Roms that are said to relax you and make you meditate can be useful for those who just start to meditate.

Do you require tools for meditation?

My first answer to this question is a definite 'NO'.

The purpose of meditation is to focus inward. Why do you a require a tool for that? All you need to do is sit in a quite place, turn off your telephone, inform the members of your house not to disturb you for the next fifteen minutes, sit comfortably and close your eyes.

First watch your breath going in and out. Thoughts will come. Just observe the thoughts but bring your focus back on your breathing. Thoughts will slowly fade away. You are now in a meditative state. Did we use any tool in this process?

But Selfawareness.com says it provides you the tools and training to access your inner knowing, purpose and raise your calibrated level of consciousness to full enlightenment.

I think these tools might help anyone who finds it difficult to focus inward.

Zen meditation candles.

I don't think it is in the Hindu culture to use candles while meditating. But in Zen culture, it seems, they use the candles.

In Japan, meditation candles are widely used as is evidenced by this website "The Japanese Connection"

However I was obliging an online contact and researching on Zen meditation methods and products they use during meditation. The material below is fascinating.

The Japanese connection says, "Warosoku, providing warm candlelight, comprise one of the three elements of simple Buddhist ceremonies of meditation and reverence. The other two elements include incense and flowers. Such ceremonies of light, flower and scent, date back to the sixth century in Japan. The wax of warosoku is formed from hazenoki, the sumac or wax tree. The wick, rather than string, is actually made of washi--Japanese hand-made paper."

Mr. Takazawa makes two basic types of warosoku for meditation, the ikari (wide at the top and narrow at the base) and the bou (even thickness throughout) forms. Meditation candles in these two forms have been around since about 1650. Mr. Takazawa's family business, begun in 1888, is itself over a hundred years old.

Each handmade candle is approximately 3.5 inches long, .4 inches in diameter at the bottom, and .7 inches in diameter at the top. Burn time is about 55 minutes per candle.

Courtesy:thejapaneseconnection.com