Another Version of Meditation

It’s all about energy.

Tarzan swinging on a vine in the jungle while deep in meditation. Image created by the Author with ImageFX.

Meditation is perhaps one of the stranger things to launch oneself into. It often, at least in Western countries, appears identical to Buddhist Mindfulness techniques. In India, things can get stranger. I’m thinking of mantras here, like saying the name of Krishna 50,000 times a day. (The guy known as Papaji did that. But don’t even try it. It’s nonsense.) I’m a little rusty on what the Taoists do, but I like them better, as they do recognize the centrality of Chi, which simply means energy. I like that better because it moves and it doesn’t have the slightest thing to do with watching your thoughts. Or self-hypnosis with mantras.

One time a thought tried to watch me, though! But it gave up and melted into a Large Language Model, and hasn’t been heard from since. Serves it right. The impudence of that silly thought!

Have you ever been watched by a thought? It’s pretty scary, I tell you. And things are getting worse! I was on Spotify, listening to AI musicians, when suddenly I found myself piloting a DC-3 over the Himalayas towards Shangri-La!

A DC-3 flying in brilliant sunlight high over the Himalayas towards Lhasa and the Potala. Image created by the Author with ImageFX.

I have to admit it was certainly better than listening to Breaking Rust or The Velvet Sundown, but who am I to say? DC-3s weren’t pressurized, so you tell me: Where does fantasy start? AI is only our latest attempt.

I heard, though, that the Neanderthals just simply couldn’t figure out our own connection with fantasy and imagination. They didn’t need it. A mammoth steak was enough,

For them. But we seem to need more.

Stonehenge with flowers. Artwork by the Author with ImageFX.

I’ll tell you a story about chi. Well, actually two:

I’ve never quite understood all the hubbub about chakras, but I guess there must be something going on there. Years and years ago, when I was first getting into this stuff, I discovered that there are all kinds of chakras you can utilize. Here are two things you can try: There are two energy points, ie, chakras, on the soles of your feet, right at the top of your insteps. If you can feel them and how they drink up the depths of the Earth, then suddenly all your movements are tai chi.

Chi again. Hmmm…

Here’s another one, and this is fun! When you’re out taking a walk, try this with your Hara. That’s the energy point an inch or two below your navel. When you’re climbing a hill, find something, a tree or whatever, at the top of the hill, and let the energy rope from your hara to the tree … just pull you up. It works! And it’s easier than flying to Lhasa.

OK, now you’re getting a little taste of what I mean by meditation. It’s energy,

And magic.

And it’s really there!

OK, I’ll throw in one more: Time is really important in all this stuff. We tend to ignore it as just some odd nuisance we have to deal with, but listen to Einstein. He discovered in Special and General Relativity that we actually live in a 4-dimensional space-time. In Special Relativity, which you can understand with high school mathematics, there’s something called the Interval. The four parts of it, three dimensions of space and one of time, all can shift around in relation to each other, but the Interval, ie, all four parts, doesn’t. It’s constant. That’s why it’s space-time. Who would have thought?

So if you let yourself start to experience time as just part of yourself … Just try it! Interesting things will start to happen.

Oh, and one more: In Quantum Mechanics, everything is quantized, ie, things are either waves or discontinuous little packets of energy called quanta. If I put energy into an atom, I can kick an electron into a higher more energetic orbital. When the electron then re-transitions to its base state, it lets loose a photon, and that’s how your electric light or phone or computer screen does its little trick. But … when the electron goes from one orbital to another, does it travel in between?

Well, of course not! First it’s here and then it’s there. In between, because it’s quantized, it’s undefined. Mathematically. Really.

People still don’t know if time is quantized, but what if it is?

That would mean that in between moments, things may not, uh… exist

In the way we usually think of things.

If time is quantized, then in each moment,

The Universe is brand new.

Maybe then it will pull you to the top of the hill.

That’s enough for one day, hmmm?

A world where each moment is new, but with flowers. Artwork by the Author with ImageFX.

© “John” Lesly Levin 2026

PS — If you’re not a really deep movie buff, you may not have caught the Shangri-La and DC-3 allusion. It’s from the 1937 Frank Capra film, Lost Horizon. Here’s the trailer:

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Also, if you’re curious about the Interval, just google for Spacetime Interval. My college physics professor, the incomparable K.J. Park, introduced me to it.

Let’s see… anything else? I really never did have the slightest affinity for all the stuff people are sometimes into about chakras. I discovered the ones on your feet and the nifty hara trick all by myself. I don’t even know if the ones on your feet have a name. But really, if you can sense them, then, suddenly!, all your movements are Tai Chi. It’s really neat. LOL, it is the lazy man’s guide to meditation. You won’t have to memorize (or practice) a thing.

I also used to take long walks in my hometown which has a lot of hills. When I caught on to the Hara trick, all I could do was laugh. Using that, I didn’t have to make any effort at all. Rather conversely, the energy just pulled me up and … well, if you’re letting the Universe pull you, then that opens a bunch of stuff.