The Power of Meditation

I am going to give you some insight on the power of meditation through the account of my most intense meditation experience to date. 

Meditation is a great tool for healing, but like with any medicine, meditation varies in intensity, purpose, and it is not intended for use by everyone. It is important to ensure that the particular meditation you wish to practice is right for you.

Since childhood, I have always had an interest in religion and spirituality. As I grew older, I became increasingly involved in eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. These religions practice meditation to discipline the mind or to attain enlightenment. And so began my interested in meditation.

There are many forms of meditation, each one yielding varying results. Some forms of meditation such as mindfulness, are simple and easy to learn. Others, such as meditation for attaining enlightenment, are more involved and require strict discipline.

Mindfulness is a type of meditation that is used to keep your focus in the present. You can use it to counteract negative feelings and emotions, or merely to feel more present in the “now". Mindfulness is relatively easy to learn. It can be done anywhere, and by anyone - should the need arise. I liken it to the Motrin of meditation because it reduces the mental inflammation of every day stress.

Mindfulness is as simple as drinking a cup of coffee. feeling the warmth of the cup, smelling its aroma, seeing its colors, listening to the sound of your sip, and tasting the flavors. its about being completely submerged in the moment.

Other methods of meditation such as those practiced in kundalini yoga, is meant to bring you closer to your higher self, open your third eye, or reach nirvana. The goal is to transcend all that is physical and become one with the cosmos. 

Kundalini yoga is said to awaken the sleeping serpent (or life force) that lies at the base of the spine.

My interest in meditation was simply to find my quiet space. The place where the mind is completely still and devoid of thoughts. Through many attempts, I quickly learned that the mind is HARD TO QUIET! The amount of discipline it takes to achieve a still mind is nearly impossible for the lay person.

Monks meditate for years before mastering this art!

While doing some extensive online research on meditation, I found a very intriguing book called the Tibetan book of the dead. In it, I found a section which was extremely helpful in helping me attain a meditative state. I won't go into the details of the methods taught in the book, but I will say there were a few different ways that were simple and effect. I found one that resonated with me and I tried it.


Disclaimer: What I experienced during my meditation was particular to me and I do not claim that this experience will be the same for others.

I describe my experience as the most exhilarating and simultaneously the most horrific experience I've ever had!


For the purpose of achieving a meditative sate, I was laying in bed on my back (the method was about visualization, not posture). It only took me a few minutes and then, MY MIND CLEARED! The immediate sensation was that of euphoria. Sheer bliss! So much so that I actually got an erection!

The second sensation was that of a vast expansion. A really, really, vast expansion! I felt as if my body melded into everything and I lost the ability to decipher direction. Then that's when the horror hit! I had never experienced something like this and it was frightening to me. I WAS EVERYWHERE!

I experienced an expanse so vast that was just as exhilarating as it was horrifying.

I believe that the jolt of fear and confusion was what allowed me to regain enough composure to snap myself back into the physical plane. Don't get me wrong, the expanse was blissful, but also horrifyingly unfamiliar.

I quickly opened my eyes. Once I got my wits about myself, I felt really calm and peaceful. I hadn't a care in the world! I again closed my eyes just to enjoy the calmness - but as soon as I shut my eyes I was sucked right back into the great expanse! I was not even trying to meditate! I felt like I had opened a portal to another world.

I decided to get up and walk around. All was calm and peaceful. I enjoyed the feeling - but I was still scared to close my eyes. I know its a bit contradictory that peace and fear can coexist at the same time, but that is what I felt.

A half an hour later I went out to my daughters recital. The whole trip there and back I hadn't a care in the world. I remember hugging my daughter and experiencing a deep feeling of joy, love, and peace. It was amazing.

Back at home, I still felt at peace, but still very apprehensive about closing my eyes. That night, I tried closing my eyes to sleep but once again I felt I was in a vastness too wide to comprehend. I felt outside of myself. I just wanted to feel like I was behind my eyes again; safe in the cocoon of my skull. I dont remember doing so, but I eventually fell asleep. The feeling took a couple of days to wear off before I was able to feel normal again.

I Should Have Paid Attention to the Fine-print!

During my reading of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the author discouraged, even warned, that westerners should not practice eastern meditation. That if westerners were to pursue such practices, they would become lazy and without a care for anything that is of value in western culture; including family life.

It must be understood that the life of a monk is a solitary one, and devoid of what westerners would consider earthly pleasures. I felt the realness of this during my experience. I had no care in the world. Yes I felt peace and love holding my child, but it was not particular to her. I could have been holding the vagrant down the street and would have felt the same emotions. What I was feeling was the connection between us as human beings. The eternal oneness. I felt that I could have easily detached from my daughter because I understood that 1. She was just another being, and that I could feel that same love for anyone, and from anyone. And 2. That even if I left her, we werent really apart because she was literally in me, and in the rocks, and in the plastic bag blowing in the wind. I knew that everything IS one!

Personally, I was not ready to separate from the person that I knew as my daughter. If that was what enlightenment entailed, I wasn't going to give up my attachment to her for it. This unwillingness to detach is why I feel it is hard for westerners to be enlightened. We are attached to our emotions, to people, to things, and to our own identities.


The Lessons

I learned I was not ready to detach. Most of us aren't, and that's OK. Life is about evolving and evolution is a process not a race. My experience also gave me a glimpse as to who we all are. That we are all one entity. It taught me to appreciate others. It helped me to be compassionate and recognize the struggle of other people as my own.

Today, I am more detached from people and things. In a good way. I dont need anyone to make me happy; my happiness comes from within. I don't allow situations to frazzle my inner peace (except my dog, he drives me nuts!). I am more focused on the now. And I am less affected by loss because I learned that nothing is truly ever lost, only transformed.

I still meditate, however, I mostly meditate for focus. I also meditate to achieve universal connection, but through practice, I have learned how to stay grounded in this plane. Usually the connection I seek through meditation is with my higher self. It is a safer way to connect with the “all” since he is in the middle plane between the physical world and the metaphysical. Of course we are talking in stages of consciousness since in reality there is no separation.


I recommend that before you start meditating you approach it with a clear understanding of what it is that you wish to achieve. Then pick a method of meditation that is specific to your goal. Before you begin, research the method and find out its origin. It is easy for someone in the west to to throw together a course on meditation without actually knowing its original intent. You do not want to find yourself meditating for focus, and instead unlocking parts of the psyche you are not prepared to face. Remember that meditation originates from cultures that use it as medicine; yet here in the west, we use it as a fad with limited knowledge of its power. I also recommend that if anyone should want to meditate for the purpose of attaining higher stages of consciousness, that you seek proper guidance from an expert with extensive experience in both the practice, and in guiding others through the process.

I BOW TO THE DIVINE THAT IS IN YOU, AND ALSO IN ME.

Evolve, Transcend, Ascend.

Thank you for reading! Please leave your comment on the comment section or tell me about your own experiences with meditation. Also, if you want me to touch on any subject/s that are of interest to you in future blogs, please send me an email @ micpel31@gmail.com. I would love to hear suggestions.


Author: Michael Pelaez