Flame & the Void Guided Meditation
Hey all, I am a meditation instructor and a massive fan of WoT.
The meditation offered at the start of the Eye of the World has always stuck with me.
>"Remember the flame, lad, and the void.” It was an odd thing Tam had taught him. Concentrate on a single flame and feed all your passions into it—fear, hate, anger—until your mind became empty. Become one with the void, Tam said, and you could do anything."
This simple practice is basically a mindfulness practice, but with additions that are perfect for beginners. It is now a practice I offer regularly because simply put, it works.
In traditional mindfulness, you pick an object to focus upon (the breath) and when your mind wanders, you gently return it to the breath. This approach works great, but often new practitioners struggle with the letting go aspect.
What's more, there isn't guidance on when to stop the practice and simply 'be'.
The flame and void technique offers practitioners something to do with all the thoughts, emotions, and sensations that arise (offer it to the flame) and when there is nothing to offer, they can release the flame and simple be (in the moment/self/void).
How to practice:
>1: Visualize a flame (object of meditation).
2: Feed it all emotions, thought, and sensation.
3: When there is nothing left, release the flame.
4: Embrace the void (present moment/mindfulness/self) that remains.
5: If needed, begin again.
Yes, this practice was 'made up' by Jordan, but so were all meditation practices. This one works, and works well for beginners.
I have created a 24 minute guided session for adults, and a 6 minute guided session for kids following the above protocol. Listen here if you are interested :)
