I need some advice
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 3 years before Jun 02, 2016
Frank 3 years ago
tomorrow I face the judicial system again and possibly for the last time. there is a good possibility I may have to sit in a jail cell for a little bit for things I did 2 years ago.
that being said, I am going to have a whole lot of time to myself.. to do some inner-work.
a whole lot of time.
does anyone have any exercises I can do other than my meditation that would help me evolve spiritually while I have the chance in my 8x8 retreat?
MiBeloved 3 years ago
When you are by yourself, the best yoga asana postures to do are the one which are easy. You can get a book of postures and just pick out the ones which attract you and practice them.
For meditation, the best thing to do if you are not in a teaching environment (ashram) is to just sit quietly and try to maintain mental stillness, to learn how to appreciate mental stillness, to move backward in the head away from the frontal part where thought construction is going non-stop most of the time.
A good activity when you are in the can is to keep a journal but that is if you are permitted to do so. It depends on the institution and on the companions in the cell you are in.
Don’t open your mouth and tell people that you meditate because in some cases, cell mates might feel threatened by that and might think you are weird.
Get to know people in the long haul by their actions and not by your intuition which may be incorrect on occasion.
Try to learn about the nature of the world as it functions there. Wherever you are, life will teach you if you are open to learning.
Send letters out to your friends regularly even if they do not reply.
Books like Bhagavad Gita, the life of Buddha etc could provide you with subjects of interest to ponder on to pass your time.
Alfredo 3 years ago
The fact that you have that positive attitude towards spirituality already gives you an edge in case you have to seat in the can.
Definitely keep your practice to yourself, for anything out of the ordinary in that environment is suspicious to others, and envy owns the day. You can meditate while reclining.
I know what is to seat in jail, for I was in that place for a while in Cuba in my younger years, and do not wish it to anyone.
This may be a good opportunity to try to master astral projection, and books like Michael's "Astral Projection" and "Meditation Pictorial" could also be very beneficial.
Don't try to dwell on things from your past that bring shame or guilt, and only do so after forgiving yourself, and for a teaching. Anyone who have done anything bad must forgive himself/herself to move forward, otherwise the guilt and shame end up ruining the present moment. Don't worry about whether you will have to pay, providence will take care of that anyhow for us, whether we wanted.
Look at it as a lesson, all these are lessons.
unlimitedsun 3 years ago
Sorry to hear of your predicament Frank. I worked a couple years for the Corrections Corporation of America, CCA as an Education Counselor. But that is an actual prison not a jail, so I hope you are indeed going to a jail and not a prison, and that it is for a short sentence.
You have already received all the spiritual practical solutions you need. In case you are going in as a "fresh fish", a fresh newcomer it is important to keep your wits about. Many a times individuals end up extending their stay on account of actions that took place while in detention, because of circumstances that are part of the territory; still some continue to make good time and shorten their sentence.
While working in the pen I have met some very interesting characters not only because of the magnitude of some the deviations and crimes, but also because of the profound spirituality and sincere religiosity of this group of people who really had a lot of time to leisurely take up such interests in earnest, in particular the lifers. They considered themselves wiser and a whole different class that had low tolerance for the spoiled and immature ways of the younger generation.
I wish you much luck maneuvering through the socio-politics and maintaining a balanced sense of focus as well as purpose.
One Consciousness!
Frank 3 years ago
thank you guys for everything, I am so very grateful for everything that has been said. lots of wisdom in many of these words.
thanks again,
Frank 3 years ago
Good news fellas.
I walked into an empty courtroom. It was just the Baliff, the prosecutor, my attorney and my probation officer.
My attorney brought me out into the hall and told me that the prosecutor made a plea bargain for 88 days. I could either take the 88 days or take it to trail. the problem with taking it to trial is:
All the prosecutor would have to do is convince the judge that I have violated my probation, which is exactly why I was there. My probation is "Open Mandate" which means I have to comply with whatever the hell my probation officer says. When I was in a treatment program back in July for addiction, they made me see a therapist and they diagnosed me with Depression. Now part of my open mandate probation was taking medication for this clinical depression.
In my practice of meditation and mindfulness I realized that it would be very hard to come across someone addicted to opiates that WASN'T depressed. since I've been clean and sober, the depression has lifted; and I felt that it was very stupid to take medication that I didn't need to be taking. I understand a chemical imbalance in the brain, but I also understand the role of the victim. My case of depression seemed very selfish and self centered.
That being said, it would have been stupid to take it to trial because there is proof that I stopped taking this medication and talking to a therapist. If the judge found me guilty after taking it to trial I could be sentenced up to 365 days.
So I accepted the plea bargain, signed the piece of paper saying I'd sit for 88 days and we went back into the courtroom.
The judge came into the courtroom and I stood before her. My attorney explained that I was pleading out to 88 days. The Baliff was standing next to me ready to take me into custody when the judge simply said "No."
The judge refused the plea bargain and said she was going to try to find a way around me going to jail and told me to come back in 10 days. The whole courtroom was speechless, including myself.
This God, He/She/It can most certainly change hearts and minds, and that's exactly what happened.
pretty amazing, huh?
Alfredo 3 years ago
The judge is none other than Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu-Narayana, from Vaikuntha.
MiBeloved 3 years ago
Money is a problem for all jurisdictions because of the global downturn and the limit of credit. Therefore putting people in jail and paying to house and feed them is not profitable in many court jurisdictions at this time. That favors less jail time or no jail time at all.
But regardless of your going to jail or not, and for my interest in you that is the least of the problems, the situation is again whether you are convinced that you have to make yourself useful in whichever way, without doing things which will cause you to run up against the law, irrespective of if the law is right or wrong.
The law cannot be right in every case; and it cannot be wrong in every case either. It has to be imperfect but so are our bodies and still we live in these bodies and try to make the best of it. In the same way are you convinced that you should live in such a way as to make yourself useful to some people and not act in ways which run you up against the law and give the state the right to incarcerate you?
That is my interest.
Are you going to be useful or not?
Are you going to stay sober so that you can see what to do responsibly and add to someone’s benefit, especially the benefit of those who are younger than you (physically?)?
So flatly, if the lady-judge says you sit in the can, I don’t care about it. My interest is your attitude toward being in a position to be able to care for others and keeping damn sober so you can do that.
unlimitedsun 3 years ago
You are very fortunate at this point.
Pray that you can make the best of it, as previously explained.
Please scrutinize the guidelines just benevolently formulated for you by Michael!!
Do not hesitate to inquire about practical details of what he means.
And, somehow prove that you have understood, if you want.
Our solutions are not simply in meditating and reading.
Therefore analyze, implement and execute in the physical!
Each one of us owes to ourselves and others a responsible life as human beings.
This shelters us further from deviations.
More beneficial than sitting in some can is reforming the self and its character.
That is a constant in the challenge before us.
One Consciousness!
Frank 3 years ago
michael, I never thought for one second you cared or were interested whether or not I am institutionalized. I felt obligated to let those who do care my fate in that courtroom last Friday.
what has happened is now in the past and will remain in the past, where it belongs.
today I am focused on making the next right choice. not only for myself, but for the "younger" people out there as well.
whatever joy there is in this world
all comes from desiring others to be happy
and whatever suffering there is in this world
all comes from desiring myself to be happy
Alfredo 3 years ago
Frank:
You Wrote: [michael, I never thought for one second you cared or were interested whether or not I am institutionalized. I felt obligated to let those who do care my fate in that courtroom last Friday.]
Please read Michael's last post to you again carefully. You did not get it.
Of all the advice you got, his was the most important. He has the ability to cut thru the BS, and into the nitty gritty, right off the bat.
So, can you tell me who cares about you here? Really? Who will pay your rent? Send you money while you seat in the can?
Or would you not prefer to be told the hard truths in the first place, so that you can start pulling yourself out of the hole you dug around you?
unlimitedsun 3 years ago
You are right; now best to focus on the next chapter. That means you have understood to grab the instruction close to your heart and mind, and leap over the distraction. So be on your merry way.
You are intelligent and resourceful. You would know to devise a proper plan with objectives respecting appropriate timeliness and taking into consideration your assets (skills and talents) that you can utilize to your service so you can help others.
Some of us report regularly here, because we feel the need to do so for having been instructed. You may also at some point share further as to how you are practically redressing your energy.
It is, it was, and will always be your choice. It is not about commiseration or even compassion. It is about taking an icy look at reality dead in the face and start to undertake what it is needed in order to get spiritual success. That is proper caring. It can take lifetimes; so no worries, no pressure.
Frank 3 years ago
I read everything everyone says more than once just in case I do not grasp the message. I read what he said, I understood it.
I can care about you without paying your rent or sending you money. if you think otherwise, then I couldn't tell you who actually cares about me. those minor details are not important to me.
I appreciate brutal honesty and all and cutting through BS and whatnot;
I just don't want someone to think I care about what details they are or are not interested in.
they are details, nonetheless.
thanks for all the help, and when I get the time I will go into more detail for you.
unlimitedsun 3 years ago
This is good. These matters are personal business, it okay to take issue.
So take heart!
I am glad you got some help and advice as you had expressed the need.
We look forward to hearing more of your progress.
