Hari
Om
Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation.
We have been exploring the writings of Gurudev, through his book
'Meditation & Life'. All the instructive chapters have been rendered and
now there follows twelve 'chapters' which are designed for contemplation both
before and after each meditation session. Please note that the actual writings
of Gurudev are quite lengthy, so only the gist and key points are going to be
given here. You are
again encouraged to seek out a copy of the book to keep to hand as it is an
inspiration and with each reading something more will drop into place.
Ch. 35; Evolutionary Unfoldment.
Of
itself, the mind is inert, having no life of its own - we ourselves give it the
strength it has. It is little more than a vehicle of processing and, just as a
driver can take their foot from the accelerator to have the vehicle come to a
stop, so the meditator must remove all power from the mind so that it ceases to
run.
All
the seekers who have mastered this 'driving skill' make similar
declarations…'mind is an inert thing. It cannot exist by itself. Therefore, we
can say that is a dead thing - and this world dies and decays because of this
dead thing called mind - what a strange wheel of stupidity!' In short, when the
mind dies, so does the illusion of 'world'. To come to such 'realisation' is
find oneself set free from the tyranny of mind. To do this, one must cultivate
trust and faith in the words of the masters and earlier 'travellers'. Such
faith ought not to be the result of 'seduction' of the scriptures or by falling
in a swoon of charisma from a given teacher - this would be 'blind faith'. It
must be a faith built upon your own researches into the Knowledge, giving them
full reflection and by practicing the techniques given to the fullest degree.
Let
us be clear here. We must not 'possess' faith, but let faith possess us. If we
hold that we possess faith we are giving ourselves the chance to be
dispossessed. Faith is not an object to be treated thus! By proper
investigation of a philosophy, however, we learn surrender and the faith then
possesses us; we don't have to think about or justify it. Such a faith cannot
be lost and such a faith lifts us, especially within meditation.
No
matter how much we 'will' ourselves to something, it will ever elude us. Will
is of the ego and ego can be punctured leaving the will nothing to cling to. The
attempt of an intelligent meditator is to revolutionise thinking (and therefore
their world) by removing the ego/will content, bringing an evolutionary
unfoldment whereby there is a Divine system of peace and perfection. Once
attaining this new internal condition, all interaction with external is
transformed and evolves also. Life becomes fully useful; attachments and
raaga-dvesha are no longer traps. We can operate and gain enjoyment of the
world, we can serve it and gain from it, but without the angst, the sway of
emotion, the traps of desires. We can live in joyful freedom of spirit.
Dropping
the ego is to live life intelligently. To keep the mind High, with a sense of
holiness within, we must constantly practice 'service of the good' (meaning the
saints and sages), by devoted study and deep reflection upon what is given in their
teachings. We must fuel a car with the best quality petrol in order for the
engine to run smoothly. Similarly, to keep our mind pure and functioning at
highest vibration, we must top up each day with the quality fuel of shaastra.
Our
sense of doership and enjoyership is what feeds the ego. Seek to starve it,
surrendering all 'this is me, that is mine'. On entering the meditative seat,
leave the ego at the door. Without this preparation, seekers tend to burn and
crash. The mind will take them all sorts of fanciful places; all pleasant and
refreshing perhaps, but nothing to do whatsoever with correct purification and
spiritual rise. Adjust your relationship with the external world using such
techniques as the saadhana chatushtaya. Only then can you properly seek to
alter your relationship with mind and ego. Your goal is to make your identity
with the ego disappear into the vision of the Self.
Be.
Just BE.
With
each practice, a gleam of Self will shine through, as the sun may peep through
the clouds. Let each such vision come and go, they will reappear more and more
as you practice. Each glimpse revives, rejuvenates and resurrects the faith in
purpose. Gradually the meditator starts to glow with the inner light and
develops a poise and serenity beyond all felt before.
Use
no force. Let spirituality open up within as a bud opens to a become a full
bloom. Make no haste, progress slowly.
