We have all, in our lives, experienced emotions well up from inside. And it is often difficult to understand why certain feelings come up when they do, especially when those feelings are negative. We don’t tend to worry about the good feelings we have — they are easy to live with — but what about the bad ones?
How do we troubleshoot our mind to better understand the thoughts and feelings we have? Kelee meditation offers a simple but profound way to explore the inner workings of our mind and let go of negative emotions that affect our quality of life.
What is Kelee Meditation?
Kelee meditation is a way to study your mind. The roots of Kelee meditation date back over 3,000 years. In ancient Sanskrit, the word kelee means, “having to do with different states of mind.” This refers to the place inside us where emotions come from. It also translates as “point hunter,” which relates to the practice of stilling the mind to a single point.
The word appears in Greek and Hebrew and translates as “vessel” or “receptacle.” This vessel, the Kelee, is the place within us where we feel emotion. The Hebrew translation is roughly, “a receptacle where you can take bad things out and put good things in” — meaning emotions, good and bad.
In its purest sense, the practice of meditation is focusing undistracted on a still point in your mind. The Kelee meditation practice teaches you how to do just that. Focusing your conscious awareness on a still point within your Kelee has a calming effect and feels much better than the chatter coming from your brain, so you naturally want to stay there.
How it can help you
With practice, Kelee meditation gives you the tools to pinpoint negative feelings that arise, and most importantly, let go of those things that trouble you. By looking within and studying your thoughts and their origins, you are able to understand how they affect your life.
When you can let go of what hurts you, there’s more room in your life for what heals you. Very few people enjoy feeling bad — most of us are looking for a way to start feeling good. When you are no longer distracted by troubling thoughts, you are able to open to the natural beauty of life.
According to Ron W. Rathbun, founder of Kelee meditation, a trademark of the practice is when students say, “Something that used to bother me, no longer does.”
Understanding the difference between the brain and the mind is the key to resolving negative ways of being. When you practice Kelee meditation, you move out of brain function, associated with thinking, and into mind function, associated with feeling.
The brain is analytical and wants to resolve issues through the thinking process, and while this may be effective in solving problems in the world, it doesn’t help solve problems inside us — you can’t think away an emotional pain.
By moving out of the thinking process of the brain, and into mind function — the peaceful place within your Kelee — you have a calm reference point that is detached from negative chatter. This detachment then begins the process of dissolving negative thought patterns.
Compartments
Negative thought patterns, referred to in the Kelee meditation practice as “compartments,” are our “issues.” Compartments are the result of negative experiences we have taken in during our lifetime. We tend to hold on to the things we don’t understand. So if we experience something that hurts us, we store it away in the hope that someday we’ll find an answer and eventual resolution.
However, holding on to these negative experiences has an effect on how we feel both physically and emotionally, and clouds our perception of the world. Compartments also pull electrochemical energy from the body — this is why, when you’re feeling emotionally down, you also feel physically drained. Compartments literally suck the life out of you.
When you become trapped in the negative thought process of a compartment, you can “loop” in a futile cycle of thinking, with no resolution. Kelee meditation helps you to break the loop by focusing on a still point in the mind. By breaking the loop, the energy source to the compartment is broken, and when the compartment is starved of energy, it begins to dissolve.
What you are left with when a compartment dissolves is a feeling of freedom you have never felt before.
The peaceful feeling you achieve from a few moments of stillness can have a profound effect on your life. And with continuous daily practice, the benefits can be far-reaching on both mental and physical well-being.
During Kelee meditation, you focus your conscious awareness on a still point. Focusing on a still point gives you the opportunity to break from the chatter coming from compartments and opens up a clear point of perception from which you can learn new, more harmonious ways of being.
There’s a difference between detaching from the looping of compartments and blocking out negative thoughts. When you block out a negative thought or feeling, you throw up a wall, which actually creates a further obstacle inside your mind.
Focusing your conscious awareness on a still point allows you to free your mind from negativity. From a still mind you can learn, for yourself, new lessons in life, and attain a deep sense of independence and freedom.
About Ron W. Rathbun, founder of Kelee meditation
Ron Rathbun began practicing stillness of mind in 1978. He noticed that negative emotion had built up and stuck in his mind in compartments. He studied the link between stilling the mind and dissolving these compartments initially as a means to free his own mind.
As Ron began to notice changes in himself, his friends also noticed a difference in him, and they asked him to start teaching the practice he had developed. In the past 37 years, Ron has continued to study deeper levels of mind and teach individuals who want to study their own mind.
Ron’s recent focus has been in medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he has taught Kelee meditation to physicians and nurses for the past seven years.
The Kelee meditation practice
Kelee meditation is a simple five-minute practice you do twice a day: once in the morning and once at night. It is easy to learn and can be done without attending a class — it is something you do to care for yourself and improve the quality of your own life. You study your mind at a pace that is comfortable for you, and with practice and patience, you begin to understand how your mind works.
As you let go of compartments, you start to clean up the condition of your mind. Things that used to bother you, no longer do, and you’re able to enjoy your life.
Studying your own mind is the most rewarding and beneficial thing you can do for yourself. Here’s how you can start.
—Joanna Phillips
©2015 with permission of the Kelee® Foundation
Sources:
http://www.thekelee.org
http://thekelee.com
https://health.ucsd.edu/medinfo/nursing/Documents/Nursing-Sum-2014.pdf