Meditation
Methodology of Meditation
The purpose of meditation is to discover the True Self and Authentic Joy
Meditation is freedom from the mind and identification of the mind and movement towards the ecstasy of the Truth.
Meditation points to what is eternal—here and now. The Truth reveals itself in the midst of the silence. Although I have had some deep, esoteric experiences; however, that is not truly required for the Truth to reveal itself to itself. Truth is witnessing the silence. The silence and peace is the reflection of the Truth and not the Truth itself. The Truth is one which cannot be negated. It is always here in the midst of thoughts, or even no thoughts. It is here before, during and after each experience.
Meditation with Open Eyes
The first step is with open eyes we watch an object like a tree. As we are watching we would not do any of the following:
Our attention should be on the Silent Watcher within us that is watching only and not thinking nor evaluating.
If the thoughts arrive, watch the thoughts with no judgment. Let it pass.
After a while, a few days or months, this simple activity will bring us such joy. This is an unconditional joy. Nothing happened outside, we are here, the tree is there, the watcher is here watching. And suddenly, we feel this joy! This joy arrives when the mind stops. Joy arrives in the absence of the thinking mind. And for the first time, authentic inner joy is experienced.
This meditation will help to bring up the silent watcher at all times. It will empower this inner authentic power day by day and that is the key of being joyful. I will talk about this again when I bring up the authentic power of the present moment.
Meditation with Closed Eyes
This is a little more challenging. Before, we only looked at a tree and became aware of the silent watcher inside who is watching the tree. Now, we close our eyes.
The thoughts will be watched; however, it is more subtle than any regular material form. The silent watcher is seen as the sky and the thoughts that will come one after another as the clouds in the sky. They will come one after another. Just watch them. Do not judge them. Do not say “I wonder why I am having this many thoughts" or "how come my mind does not quiet down?”
After a while, ask your mind this question: What is the next thought? This is a very difficult question for the mind to answer since mind does not know what the next thought is! Our mind thinks randomly so, therefore, cannot answer this question. Since it is unable to answer, it will quiet down. We need to jump in between the gap of the TWO thoughts and just be a watcher there. The watcher of nothingness. Be the watcher of this silence and hold it as much as possible. In the beginning, it could be a few seconds; however, by and by, the gap will get larger and larger and, finally, one day you will see for yourself what you needed to see. Suddenly, through this silent nothingness, anything that is not real and is not you, such as your thoughts, your feelings, your false identity, your belongings, your relatives and your friends will drop.
Now you are facing the real you which is the awareness of this pure silence. Now, for the first time, you know who you really are. The silence works like a mirror, so that the Truth could recognize itself in that mirror. The silence and peace is the reflection of the Truth and not the Truth itself. This is so important to recognize. The Truth will be realized as powerful, blissful and eternal. It does not come and go, it has been always here during the thoughts or no thoughts, but it was overlooked.
This feeling is a thousand times more powerful and real that the first meditation of simply watching the tree. This is just like walking into a dark room. At the beginning, we cannot see anything; however, by and by, due to the light of the moon from the window and adjusting of our eye, we will be able to identify the items in the room after a minute or two. This clarity happens during meditation. At the beginning, it is dark and unfamiliar. As your patience deepens with time, the feelings open up to us.
The Ultimate State is to be Watcher of the Watcher
The final stage here is after this meditation, you become the watcher of this nothingness, Try to “turn upon yourself.” This means, try to be the Watcher of this Watcher. Be the observer of this observer. At the beginning it will be difficult; however, by practicing, it will happen. This is ultimate peace and Truth.
It will be seen that when the mind is resting in peace, all that is left is the eternal Truth, which is not coming and going. The Truth will be defined in you, as one fact that can't be negated. It cannot be cancelled. Tried to cancel yourself and see if you are successful. The Truth has always been here. It has this feeling of "I-Am-ness".
Once the Truth realized itself by the Truth, that is awakening.
Liberation of the Mind
Although the awakening has taken place, the mind may still be trying to become one with the Truth. At this time, the question would be, “Is this "I" that is trying to become one with the Truth Authentic?” That is a true investigation. “Is it true that there is an "I" who needs to be one with this Truth?” Once the investigation takes place, it will be realized "I" as a separate entity does not exist.
The mind needs to be comfortable with the silence, honor the Truth, and trust the Truth. It also reaches a point to realize its limitations. The Truth is the mystery, it can never be understood by the Mind. The Mind is never going to describe the Truth. The Mind needs to reach a point of comfort with "I don't know." This unknown will bring the mind to its knees. It will humble the mind. It will surrender the mind. Once this happens, the mind completely realizes that the Truth is all there is. Although it is not knowable, the Truth is all there is. So the Mind is more than happy to jump into the unknown and disappear as a separate sense of self—a separate entity. This Mind is a liberated Mind. This Mind is a free mind from "becoming." The Mind would realize that there is nothing to become. The Truth is all there is. This is complete freedom. Free at last. Free from searching, free from becoming. There is nothing to become, since the Truth is all there is and “I am that.”
This is the end of this path. Now the attention of the mind will effortlessly come back home. The attention of the mind will come back home and fall in love with the Truth. The Truth knows itself as the Truth and by the Truth, it falls in love with the Truth.
The purpose of meditation is to discover the True Self and Authentic Joy
Meditation is freedom from the mind and identification of the mind and movement towards the ecstasy of the Truth.
Meditation points to what is eternal—here and now. The Truth reveals itself in the midst of the silence. Although I have had some deep, esoteric experiences; however, that is not truly required for the Truth to reveal itself to itself. Truth is witnessing the silence. The silence and peace is the reflection of the Truth and not the Truth itself. The Truth is one which cannot be negated. It is always here in the midst of thoughts, or even no thoughts. It is here before, during and after each experience.
Meditation with Open Eyes
The first step is with open eyes we watch an object like a tree. As we are watching we would not do any of the following:
- Analyze the tree (how beautiful this tree is!)
- Evaluate it (I wonder how old it is)
- There should be utterly no thought about the tree.
Our attention should be on the Silent Watcher within us that is watching only and not thinking nor evaluating.
If the thoughts arrive, watch the thoughts with no judgment. Let it pass.
After a while, a few days or months, this simple activity will bring us such joy. This is an unconditional joy. Nothing happened outside, we are here, the tree is there, the watcher is here watching. And suddenly, we feel this joy! This joy arrives when the mind stops. Joy arrives in the absence of the thinking mind. And for the first time, authentic inner joy is experienced.
This meditation will help to bring up the silent watcher at all times. It will empower this inner authentic power day by day and that is the key of being joyful. I will talk about this again when I bring up the authentic power of the present moment.
Meditation with Closed Eyes
This is a little more challenging. Before, we only looked at a tree and became aware of the silent watcher inside who is watching the tree. Now, we close our eyes.
The thoughts will be watched; however, it is more subtle than any regular material form. The silent watcher is seen as the sky and the thoughts that will come one after another as the clouds in the sky. They will come one after another. Just watch them. Do not judge them. Do not say “I wonder why I am having this many thoughts" or "how come my mind does not quiet down?”
After a while, ask your mind this question: What is the next thought? This is a very difficult question for the mind to answer since mind does not know what the next thought is! Our mind thinks randomly so, therefore, cannot answer this question. Since it is unable to answer, it will quiet down. We need to jump in between the gap of the TWO thoughts and just be a watcher there. The watcher of nothingness. Be the watcher of this silence and hold it as much as possible. In the beginning, it could be a few seconds; however, by and by, the gap will get larger and larger and, finally, one day you will see for yourself what you needed to see. Suddenly, through this silent nothingness, anything that is not real and is not you, such as your thoughts, your feelings, your false identity, your belongings, your relatives and your friends will drop.
Now you are facing the real you which is the awareness of this pure silence. Now, for the first time, you know who you really are. The silence works like a mirror, so that the Truth could recognize itself in that mirror. The silence and peace is the reflection of the Truth and not the Truth itself. This is so important to recognize. The Truth will be realized as powerful, blissful and eternal. It does not come and go, it has been always here during the thoughts or no thoughts, but it was overlooked.
This feeling is a thousand times more powerful and real that the first meditation of simply watching the tree. This is just like walking into a dark room. At the beginning, we cannot see anything; however, by and by, due to the light of the moon from the window and adjusting of our eye, we will be able to identify the items in the room after a minute or two. This clarity happens during meditation. At the beginning, it is dark and unfamiliar. As your patience deepens with time, the feelings open up to us.
The Ultimate State is to be Watcher of the Watcher
The final stage here is after this meditation, you become the watcher of this nothingness, Try to “turn upon yourself.” This means, try to be the Watcher of this Watcher. Be the observer of this observer. At the beginning it will be difficult; however, by practicing, it will happen. This is ultimate peace and Truth.
It will be seen that when the mind is resting in peace, all that is left is the eternal Truth, which is not coming and going. The Truth will be defined in you, as one fact that can't be negated. It cannot be cancelled. Tried to cancel yourself and see if you are successful. The Truth has always been here. It has this feeling of "I-Am-ness".
Once the Truth realized itself by the Truth, that is awakening.
Liberation of the Mind
Although the awakening has taken place, the mind may still be trying to become one with the Truth. At this time, the question would be, “Is this "I" that is trying to become one with the Truth Authentic?” That is a true investigation. “Is it true that there is an "I" who needs to be one with this Truth?” Once the investigation takes place, it will be realized "I" as a separate entity does not exist.
The mind needs to be comfortable with the silence, honor the Truth, and trust the Truth. It also reaches a point to realize its limitations. The Truth is the mystery, it can never be understood by the Mind. The Mind is never going to describe the Truth. The Mind needs to reach a point of comfort with "I don't know." This unknown will bring the mind to its knees. It will humble the mind. It will surrender the mind. Once this happens, the mind completely realizes that the Truth is all there is. Although it is not knowable, the Truth is all there is. So the Mind is more than happy to jump into the unknown and disappear as a separate sense of self—a separate entity. This Mind is a liberated Mind. This Mind is a free mind from "becoming." The Mind would realize that there is nothing to become. The Truth is all there is. This is complete freedom. Free at last. Free from searching, free from becoming. There is nothing to become, since the Truth is all there is and “I am that.”
This is the end of this path. Now the attention of the mind will effortlessly come back home. The attention of the mind will come back home and fall in love with the Truth. The Truth knows itself as the Truth and by the Truth, it falls in love with the Truth.
