African Meditation Techniques

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By Ashley Brooks, eHow Contributing Writer
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African meditation techniques originate from a wide variety of sources, including the
indigenous belief systems of the tribes and countries of Africa, and belief systems
formulated in other nations such as India and Asia and introduced to Africa. African
meditation techniques are focused on the attainment of divinity and true selfhood
through an active, focused and determined connection with the divine forces that exist
both inside and outside of the self.
The Ausar Auset Society
1. The Ausar Auset Society is a religious system based on the religious beliefs of the
cultures of ancient Ethiopia, Egypt, Palestine and India. According to the article
"About the Ausar Auset Society" at uaia.org, devotees of the belief system practice
yoga, meditation , astrology, vegetarianism, divination, philosophy and a variety of
other practices designed to develop a well-rounded, historically centered and
spiritually purposeful self. The article argues that there is a "divine intelligence [that]
is ever present and actively ordering the events of our lives," and that in order to
access this "divine intelligence" worshipers must prepare their minds and bodies
through rituals and meditation. Ausar Auset meditation is systemically similar to
other types of meditation. You must find a quiet, comfortable and safe environment
in which you can either be seated or lie down and still your mind. You can enhance
the ritual by lighting incense or playing tribal or drum-based music that evokes the
spirit of various African cultures. While meditating, focus your attention first on
stilling your mind and allowing your thoughts to pass through your consciousness
without judgment or criticism. Finally, once you've reached a space of internal
quietude and peace, you will find yourself able to integrate the lessons formally
learned into your meditative trance.
Kemetic Meditation
2. Kemetic rituals are based on the belief system popularly associated with the cultures
of ancient Egypt. Based primarily on the text now known as the Egyptian Book of the
Dead, Kemetic meditation focuses on invoking the associations and powers of the
 gods Ausar (Osiris) and Auset (Isis). The gods and goddesses of the Egyptian
pantheon have multiple overlapping aspects; it is important, before practicing any
type of Kemetic ritual, to become familiar with the incarnations and associations of
the various gods and goddesses. The article "Kemetic Mysticism: Daily Shems
Program" on the Kemetic Yoga Association website suggests that you first become
familiar with the spiritual texts and teachings that form the core of Kemetic ritual, and
then begin your meditation with Kemetic yoga, a series of postures that invoke the
spiritual journey of life, death and transcendence attributed to the god Osiris and the
goddess Isis. The article describes the word "shems" as a term used in ancient
Egypt to describe a follower of a spiritual path. After performing this ritual, you
should feel energized yet calm and ready to begin your meditation. You can either
choose to meditate on an aspect of the divine that you wish to manifest in your life,
or you can recite a series of chants that praise the experiences and wisdom of the
gods and goddesses.
Other Techniques
3. If strictly adhering to a codified belief system is something you're not comfortable
with, but you still wish to use African meditation techniques, consider creating your
own ritual. Like most spiritual practices, African meditation is open to interpretation,
and especially to creation. One of the most powerful forces that can connect us to a
sense of wholeness and divinity is the act of spiritual creation. Remember to honor
yourself and the divine by being respectful and honest during your meditative ritual.
Take the time to eagerly study the texts and information available on the belief
systems of ancient Africa, and integrate those practices which seem to resonate with
you the most.

Read more: Best Way - African Meditation Techniques | eHow.com

Silence:
It is quiet out, the door is open, the rain softly caressing wherever it falls and yet the
sun is shining in the distance. I am sitting on my balcony in Kampala, Uganda, drinking
it all in. The smell of fresh rain on parched African earth, enhanced by the scent of
the bougainvillea flowers below me.
My heart is still; there is an absence of turmoil. I live in a world of sounds and noise,
where I am bombarded by sounds, questions, answers and commands. Stillness of
heart, my soul is like a calm sea at dawn.

Even silence has its varieties: There is the silence when I do not know what to say. We
can reprove a person without a word with silence. That is the silence that condemns,
like not speaking to a person for a number of days can reduce them to rubble within.
Out of my silence I speak. I have found that we cannot speak if we are never silent,
we only rattle. Silence is a way of communion with one self, with the divinity within.
The Muslims say that two people have only learned to love each other when they can
be silent together.
When I am at home with God within me, I do not have to speak. My spirit
communicates with His in silence. I am finding that I can speak words that have an
effect on my world when I come out of my silence. Wisdom, sensitivity are imparted
to me, there is a birthing of something that takes place only in the silence.
Silence allows my inner fractions to dissipate, no longer am I the center of the earth
but become centered. Out of silence comes hope, I am not pessimistic, not cynical,
but a person who can run this race of life once again with purpose.
I am sitting in the silence of the sunset...
Open my minds eye so I may see and feel Your shinning light presence close to me.
Give me inner strength for my stumbling feet as I battle the crowd on life's busy street.
And widen the vision of my unseeing minds eye so in passing faces I'll recognize not just a
stranger, unloved, and unknown, but a friend with a heart and soul that is much like my
own.
~Author~
Ruth Ann Mahaffey
Meditation is a form of stress management that will allow our mind to experience an oasis of
peace and love within our heart and mind. Meditation gave me back control over my life so
that no matter what was happening externally weather it was positive or negative I could
still develop control over my thoughts and thus control the emotions and feeling in my
mind. NO one can control eradicate adversity in life but you can master the way you
respond in regards to your thinking processes. Take control now master your mind through
one of the meditation techniques and you will forever be able to be the peaceful beacon in
the eye of the storm of any adversity.