Meditation, Intuition and Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, had a napping habit which he was often teased about. As the story goes, he kept a rocking chair in his office, which he would use for these infamous naps. In one hand he would hold a rock. Beside the chair, underneath the hand with the rock, was a metal pail. The idea behind the pail was that if he fell far enough asleep for the rock to drop out of his hand, the sound of the rock hitting the pail would wake him back up. Does this make Edison the inventor of the "power nap"? Possibly. I am convinced there is a whole lot more to the story than meets the eye. I believe Edison used his naps to tap into the wisdom of his intuition. He used these "naps" to tap into the mind of God.

Years ago, I discovered there is a place just between awake and asleep where I would occasionally see visions or have an inspired idea. I see this as the place where we can actually tap into the mind of the One--the mind of God. Christians might call it the Holy Spirit. Scientists might call it the Zero-Point Field or the Matrix. It is that which flows in and through all things. Over time, I have tried to tune into this field in order to gain insight and wisdom from that place where truth exists, unfettered by the teachings of this world.

My research has led me to the field of brainwave states. Everything in this world, whether it be a grain of sand or a tree or emotions or a human being, emits an energy frequency or a vibration which is measurable. (For a really cool video where you can actually see the effects of sound frequencies watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO0bSSXmr1A) The mind itself also emits frequencies, called brainwave states. There are four different brainwave states that occur naturally: beta, alpha, theta and delta. Adults spend most of their waking time in the beta state, which is a very active, alert and engaged state. The alpha state is a slower, more contemplative state. Theta is a slower state than alpha and is characterized by the free flow of ideas. This can sometimes be associated with daydreaming, although I would also say this is where your greatest ideas often come from. Delta is the deep sleep stage.

I believe the best place to be when you want to consciously connect to God is in a theta state. Interestingly enough, I recently learned that children under the age of six or seven spend a majority of their time in a theta state. As I have always considered small children to be highly spiritual creatures ("be as a little child" Christ taught), this confirmed much of what I already held true. Ever notice times when you were in the shower or nearly asleep when you got a great idea or some insight into a problem? You were probably in a theta state. Just think what could be possible when you intentionally disengage your mind and focus on letting the mind of God in! Solutions to what seemed like impossible problems would come! Insights into truth would show up! In short, the world would be a very different place.

I am convinced Thomas Edison used his "naps" to work out solutions to his inventions' problems. He used the rock so that he didn't fall too deeply asleep! Look back at how much Edison accomplished in his lifetime. In order to do this, he put himself in a meditative state where he could access his intuition--which in my mind is another term for the mind of God. As humans, we all have this ability to connect to this unseen force. We just have to learn to harness it.