Hari
OM
Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation.
Meditation & Life, with Sw. Chinmayananda
(Gurudev).
We are now exploring the writings of Gurudev on our focus subject of
Meditation. The book is a thorough treatment of the subject and extends to over
170 pages of closely printed text. No attempt is intended, here, to present the
text in its entirety. However, important paragraphs and quotes will
be given, within a summary of each section. You
are encouraged to use the links on sidebar to obtain a copy for yourselves from
CM publications. Please remember that each of the posts under this title is part of a
thought flow and it is important to go back and read the previous post in order
to refresh and review the context.
6: Spiritual Growth cont'd.
The Technique of Self-Perfection.
The many saints and sages who have taken the path of meditation and
proven its value all tell the promise - you too can achieve this Supreme State
of Consciousness, a unified and glorious Bliss. Cease from all your tumbling
around in life looking for happiness; when you have the lost key in your pocket
how can you find it anywhere else?! Another example often given is that of the
lady who, for a moment, wonders where her favourite necklace is, only to have
her husband point out it is still round her neck! A modern example might be the
person who frantically seeks the missing spectacles, which are all the time on
their head!
The physical body, with its organs of perception and action, all its
chemistry and natural magicks, is nothing more than a 'suit of flesh' for the
jiiva to tire out some of its karmic debt; to burn out the vaasanas. The mortal
jiiva, however, is under the delusion that the 'suit' is himself… you are NOT
the body! You are the essence of Self, separated from your wholeness -
reconnect with that whole and you come to know you are immortal. The jiiva
identified with the body is the ego-self. The ego alone suffers, pain,
limitation, 'death'. The attempts to disassociate ourselves from our body
'habit' and the consistent practice of seeking our Real Identity is what
constitutes the divine life. This can be done by any of the four paths (yogas);
karma (action), bhakti (devotion), raaja (ascetisim - includes hatha, the
physical yoga) and jnaana (Knowledge). Saadhana is the daily practice of the
spiritual life. "The
present life is not the tyrannical dispensation of a power-mad, superhuman
dictator God… it was made by each of us, for ourselves, in our past hours, days
and lives. Our self-effort in the past is our destiny in the present. Thus any
self-effort (purushaartha) made in this life will have its effect in the next
incarnation...make your tomorrow peaceful by living today in right
understanding, divine thought and selfless action."
Wishes, desires, are the nascent kernal around which thoughts arise.
The thought alone tells us there is a desire lurking. The purpose of meditation
is to quieten the wishes so that the thoughts cease. Arresting the flow of
thoughts, the mind is free to focus on the one Truth. The life lived in pursuit
of the total removal of the river of thoughts is the divine life.
In the thought-castle we build for ourselves, we find such
story-telling! The "I" of ego is the king of its castle, all its
hopes and memories and pride… stopping thoughts, topples the king ego. To live
the life divine, is to live in the Kingdom of God. To enter that kingdom, the
requirement is that we surrender our personal kingdoms, the ego. Alter your attitude and live the life divine. You need not give up position or family or
possessions. Simply tweak the outlook from "I, Mr Jones, desire or plan to
execute…", which only solidifies the ego self, and adopt instead the
thoughts that 'He is the Truth and the Way, His will be done, may I be an
instrument in His hands and through this body may His plans be fulfilled.' With
this adjustment in thinking our path becomes clearer, less troublesome… more
divine.
As you progress thus, it becomes easier to spend more time in the
genuine search for Self Unification. A liberated person lies dormant in every
individual. As butter is in milk, God is in you. To obtain the tasty butter,
the milk must be churned. Churn your inner being to find the delicious butter
of God. If we stop using any one of our senses, one fifth of the world ceases
for us - closing one's eyes provides an easy demonstration of this. When all
the senses and the mind are thus controlled, we can see the Truth as it is. This
is the process of meditation which aids the life divine. There is a choice to
follow this. The choice is yours to make.
