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(Skill)MeditationMeditation is the skill of clearing ones mind of thoughts and outside forces. At lower levels it allows one to concentrate better on a task and to better deal with annoyances and distractions. But at its highest level it allows one to delve into deep meditative trances in which such a user can cut off entire senses at will, focus through the worst of distractions without being unnerved or losing focus, and even to deepen their understanding of themselves and the world around them. Some truly great masters of mediation have even been rumored to be able to enter the Chavena at will, and to enter Dreamlike states there were they can look upon their own life, and even protect their dreams.
It is used by a wide spectrum of people throughout Mizahar, for both mundane and magical tasks, or even spiritual or intellectual ones.
It can be used in varying degrees to enhance ones life. This can be as simple as helping a smith concentrate on his task of making a sword, helping a Reimancer concentrate on his magic in the midst of battle, or simply deepening ones understanding of oneself through reflection to better understand the things they observe and sense and who they are.
Prerequisites and Related SkillsMeditation is a complementary skill, so does have not any prerequisites. However, it can be used for many other skills, to enhance or to help in focus or willpower.
Combat- Meditation can often help in combat, to keep someone from being distracted from the task at hand, or by irrelevant information or stimuli, or even such physical things such as injuries.
Crafting- People that build or craft things can be aided greatly by mediation. It allows them to focus on the specific task for a greater amount of time, to focus and notice ever smaller details in their work, and even to reflect upon their work and think of new and better ways to do things.
Exercise- Meditation can be useful in exercise by helping to focus on repetitive or repeated acts, or to even ignore aches and pains that would distract you from your work. It can help for someone to work through fatigue, and to learn to keep steady and constant breathing throughout even strenuous workouts.
Observation- Paired with a keen sense of observation, a person skilled in meditation can go into trances, and reflect upon past events and experiences, and notice details that were missed prior. They can also sometimes help to focus ones abilities to sense, by blocking out extraneous distractions, and focusing on specific senses or sensations. At higher levels a user can even to a degree enhance a specific sense, by cutting off all other senses and focusing solely on the one.
Personal Magic- First and foremost, mediation is used in and required for almost every initiation into personal magics. It also affects one of the factors or strains that affects using personal magic, that of ability to concentrate. Meditation can help a mage to keep concentrated better even in the midst of battle, and thus be able to control their magic better than normally possible under such distractions. It can help enhance willpower, focus, and concentration. Meditation is also believed to mitigate the consequences of overgiving to a degree.
World Magic- Mediation can help in world magic due to the dedication and concentration often needed to do such magics. It does not usually directly help as it does with personal magic, but it can still be invaluable. Especially in such world magics that require a strong willpower, such as stopping or easing possession in Spiritism, and dealing with another beings will within Summoning. The force of mind and willpower gained through long term meditation can be invaluable to such practitioners.
Gnosis- While meditation does not usually directly enhance ones gnosis, in some cases it can be vital in activating or focusing a gnosis, or in coming closer to a state of mind in which you can better understand or connect with a diety. Such gnosis that are enhanced by meditation include:
Dreamwalking,
Inavalti,
Lykata,
Oceanus, and
Severing.
TrainingMeditation has many common practices, which can aid one into meditating or gaining a meditative state, and to remain calm and focused.
Breathing- One of the first things someone will learn in mediation, is to control their breathing. Keeping a calm and even pace to ones breathing can be calming, and can assist in entering a meditative state.
Focus- When mediating, it is common to focus on a specific object, concept, or action.
-Object/Image- Often this is something the person is familiar with. They concentrate within their mind and form a specific image to the exclusion of all else. This could be things such as a smooth pebble they saw on the walk there, a complicated knot within the bark of a tree, the waves of surf crashing upon a beach, a God they worship, a person they love, or a favorite sword. Whatever image or object allows them to focus on it solely.
Generally this is either a pleasant image, or a calming or neutral one. It tends to be counterproductive though it if elicits strong emotion such as hate, anger, lust, or greed.
-Concept- This is another means of focus, in which the person focuses on a specific concept, instead of something that is physical. This could be the concept of absolute emptiness, or justice and righteousness. It could be of chaos, of darkness, or of life. Often this is used by practitioners who use their meditation as a form of devotion or worship to a deity, and the concept they often follow is that of the domain of their deity. They also often feel that meditating on the concept of their deity brings them closer to them, and to understanding them.
-Action- This means of focus is similar to ones used in personal magic, of
incantations and
gestures. It is also better for people in which sitting still and doing nothing is particularly difficult. Instead, they can use the specific repetitive action to calm and focus them, and send them into a meditative state in which their actions mean nothing, due to the repetition.
Examples of this are chanting the same word or set of words over and over, moving in a set pattern such as a set exercise or activity, or simply walking at a steady pace while clearing ones mind of thoughts.
Posture- Posture used while meditating varies from person to person. Some prefer to be sitting, possibly with their legs crossed. Others prefer standing. And others prefer to invent their own unique posture to take on while meditating. The posture itself is not of importance, what is important is that it is a posture that can be held for a long period of time, and is comfortable to the user.
Which means something that can be comfortable and useful to one practitioner, can be painful and a bad idea to another.
Relation to ScholarsOften meditation is used as a means of enlightenment, or a ways of better understanding themselves or the world around them. Many people skilled in meditation have found that while in the calm and free state of meditation, they can better think, and create new and unique ideas that would have gone unseen before. They can also sometimes find connections between things that previously appeared unrelated.
It takes a disciplined mind to spend long periods of time in solitude and blocking out emotions and distractions. It is said that over a long period of time meditation can increase ones intellect, willpower, focus, ability to discern details, and overall fitness.
Of course it is a bit uncertain if this is true, since the people who are likely to spend time developing skill in meditation, tend to already have some or all of these desired qualities, or develop it during the training.
Relation to ReligionOften people who meditate are religious, and use the skill to worship. You will find many people will use the time in meditation as a means to get closer to there deity, to pray, or to receive messages from their deity, whether real or not.
Whether these messages are real or not, it is true that meditating over time while focusing on a deity or their domain will tend to help a practitioner to better understand them, their wants, and to better understand their will. For this end many worshipers will meditate before making a large decision in regards to worship, in hopes that the clarity and focus brought on by meditation will help make their path clear, or to feel closer to the deity they follow.
Special Note: JamouraOne of the races known to be especially apt at mediation, is the
Jamoura. They above all others have dedicated entire lifetimes to it, even with their unusually long lifespan.
It is almost universally practiced by Jamoura, and most have spent entire centuries meditating daily. It is through this constant century long mediation, that they are able to recover conscious memories from their past lives, through something called Reminiscience.
Skill ProgressionNoviceA person who is a novice in meditation tends to be easily distracted. Even such simple things as birds calling, or the wind on their skin, or someone talking nearby, can break their concentration. They are simply learning the basics, how to breath, finding a means of focus, and a posture, and it can only help in very minor ways. It can take them half a bell of focus to get into a good meditative state if uninterrupted, and they are easily roused from it.
CompetentOnce a person is competent in meditation, they have better learned how to deal with minor irritants and distractions, and they are able to easily tune them out. They can still meditate even with such minor things going on without having their concentration broken, even minor aches and pains of the muscles are not an issue. However any moderate distractions like excessively loud or sudden noises, or someone coming up and pushing them over or hitting them will break them from their state. It is still very difficult to meditate while fighting or in the midst of certain complex actions, and they will not be able to go into a full meditative state, they it will still help them to a degree if they entered it beforehand. Steady breathing is almost second nature to them, and they find that they have more clarity when focusing and thinking, and notice some things that would normally escape them. It usually takes them 10-15 chimes to go into a meditative state, as long as nothing interrupts or distracts them.
ExpertFor an expert in meditation, few things can distract them or break their utter focus, and they can even tune out moderate distractions that previously broke their concentration, or numb themselves to wounds such as cuts or strikes that will bruise. It is at this point that meditation can even be entered in the midst of battle or very complex actions, and they can stay calm and focused throughout. Moderate pains and stimuli can be blocked out, and once they are fully in a meditative state they can even block out certain senses to a degree, not nullifying them but softening them and making them less extreme. They can go over events from recent days while meditating in solitude, and notice major details they did not notice prior, or make major connections between very different subjects. However entering such a deep state makes them very vulnerable to outside harm so it is best done alone and while in a safe place. It takes them 2-5 chimes to enter a meditative state, and 5-10 chimes for a deep meditative state.
MasterAt this point a master of meditation can do anything within the limits of the skill. They can cut off the input of specific senses, or even make themselves oblivious to the world outside of their mind by cutting them all off. They can focus on a specific sense by losing all of the rest, and thus increase the abilities of that specific remaining sense. Nothing will break their focus, not even being stabbed or run through by a sword, losing a limb, or being set on fire. They are almost always in a meditative state, and can enter it instantly, and only need 1 or 2 chimes to enter a deep meditative state. When in a deep meditative state they can go through almost all of their memories, even back to childhood, and notice things they were to young to understand at the time. By now they understand themselves at a intrinsic level, and are better able to think and make connections between facts they know that others might feel was impossible or blasphemous in its revelatory nature. The only limits here is that of the physical body, needing to stop for hunger, thirst, or injury. They can even meditate while asleep.