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.
It is as true in the spiritual world as in the material, that one
can not gain anything from, or for, nothing. Materially, we know that in exchange
for obtaining the necessities - and even more so for the luxuries - of life, we
must pay with our toil and efforts. Equally, for spiritual gain, there must be
an exchange; in this case it is the steady and sincere practice of the
examples set by the masters. That which we call 'saadhana'.
What is it that drives an individual to spiritual pursuit of the
type which is deep and enduring? Oftentimes there are gaps. There is a tendency
only to concentrate on spiritual pursuit when one is laid low and in need of
help which cannot be found in the material world. Occasionally, the Lord is
remembered and thanked in times of joy. Neither of these two extremes, however,
truly makes of us spiritual beings. We are stuck in material mentality whilst
trying to draw from our spiritual account. With each successive life (Vedanta
explains this cycle - have patience!) the jiiva (the individualised ego-self)
goes through the same trials and tribulations; each life may have a different
balance of these but they are essentially the same lessons over and over. We
keep getting 'our noses rubbed' in the messes of our own making until, finally,
after endless returns, there comes a moment of inspiration which fires us up to
live life differently; to reach out to the spirit instead of the material… and
finding that the material takes care of itself. Gurudev states here, "...now we have a mortal who has evolved through the
required lower lives and has come to the gate which opens to the fields of the
divine life. Only passing through the dingy caves of ego-based activities can
the jiiva emerge into the open expanse of selfless Love… leading in due time to
a recognition of the essential Oneness of All creation.."
The Divine Versus The Worldly Life.
To live spiritually, we do not have to retreat to thick forest, high
mountains or desert places. Neither do
we have to be exceptional folk with special qualifications. Indeed, all too
often, those who seek to retreat are doing so to escape the mess of life,
rather to arrive at spiritual life - and they find that when the get to their
tree-house or cave, that everything they wanted to escape comes with them; for
it all comes down to our personality and how we deal with things. We are faced
with the 'ghosts' and the facts of who we are. Where
we are makes very little difference to spiritual life. The difference only
comes by living the divine life...and
that can be done anywhere.
It can seem thankless and unproductive in the short term, unlike
material life, where gains can be immediate. The aspirant's goal is an eternal
experience. Note - not an experience of
the eternal (though gaining glimpses as small rewards and encouragement can
often occur for the dedicated sadhaka) - but eternal becomes the experience. In
other words, never again lost. This return to OM is, strictly, not an experience
either, for having returned to our True Condition, we find that we are beyond
such concepts. It takes a lot of faith and determination to keep working for
such a thing. Somewhat as a sculptor has faith that each lump of rock contains
the truth of his art, we must keep chipping away at ourselves. Divine life is
the chiseling process by which Truth is brought out to fulfill Itself. Divine
life is the technique of self-perfection. To
strive for this Truth is the highest of all conscious efforts that any human
can make. No other sentient being has the equipment for thus hastening
its own evolution as efficiently as the human being. From a spiritual point of
view, to have this huge intellectual advantage and not to use it in pursuit of
the greatest philosophical challenge, is to waste life.
"Every action of an individual
in the outer world is but an attempt to express fully… every word, thought and
deed is an unconscious effort to regain the state of Fullness; but the trouble
is that the phenomenal world of finite things and beings is not the place to
find the Infinite, thus the worldly person never obtains true satisfaction. The
eternal Infinite alone is capable of capping that yearning. Lasting
satisfaction can never be reached by sense gratification."
The central motivation of all living things, from the animal in the
jungle to the leaders of our nations, is directed toward getting rid of pain
and gaining happiness. It is a universal instinct. However, even the great
thinkers have missed the mark as to the method of reaching the goal. "The
true nature of the ocean is water; the waves, the foam, the sparkling ripples,
the flickering bubbles - all merely are forms of that same substance, given
different names. There is no individuality of each of those forms. All are
water only. So too, the multiplicity of things and beings … is merely different
names and forms of that One Essential Bliss." It is due to this erroneous
belief of separateness of things that the jiiva is born; it suffers as it attaches
to the ideas of "I"ness and "my"ness. Choke these and you
will have taken a substantial step towards the truth of your nature, that
blissful "I AM" which is Existence Itself, non-dual Consciousness.
To obtain this whilst living in the body is a rare thing, but many
have attained it throughout the centuries and the methodology is thus tried and
proven. It is these 'jiivanmuktas' who have 'lived to tell the tale' and share their example that, thus, all sadhakas can take heart and know that the results will equal their efforts. 'You too can achieve this Supreme state', is the promise...
