This practice is called primordial meditation because it unveils and reveals our bornless being and innate goodness, which is the very essence of enlightenment. In Kabbalah, the highest name of God is Eheieh, which means “I Am” or “I Shall Be,” and alludes to pure or primordial being.
In many Christian Gnostic practices, the breath becomes the vehicle of the light-presence and the direct expression of the power of our supernal soul. Thus, primordial meditation using the breath as our focus may facilitate the enlightenment experience as well as activate the powers of the soul of light in us, resulting in psychic and spiritual gifts.
- When you meditate using this method, breathe naturally, with even inhalations and exhalations. Focus your awareness very gently on the outbreath, and when you exhale, let your awareness flow out with the breath. Every time you breathe in, let go and let be, and imagine that at the end of the outbreath your breath dissolves into the infinite spaciousness of truth. At the end of every exhalation, before the next inhalation, you will find there is a gap—let go and enter into the gap. In the gap is the place of pure and primordial being, which is called perfect repose.
- Whatever thoughts or emotions might arise, neither grasp at them nor push them away. Just let them be, and let them naturally arise and pass away, without engaging them or entertaining any judgment toward them. If you find that you have become distracted or identified with thoughts and emotions, or find yourself daydreaming, merely restore your focus to your breath and continue. If your mind enters into the gap and the natural state dawns, let go of the practice and just calmly abide.
- Instead of watching the breath as though you are separate from your breath, progressively allow yourself to identify with your breath. Breathe and let the breath and the one who is breathing gradually merge in a natural way without unnecessary force. Focus lightly upon the breath. Place about one-fourth of your awareness on breath and leave the other three-fourths free, resting in a quiet and spacious state of relaxed awareness.
With this practice you will find that as the presence of awareness grows you will experience a growing stillness of both the mind and the vital-emotional being. It is as though one is shedding the serpent's skin and putting on a body of clear or transparent light.
From Gnostic Healing, by Tau Malachi |