Most
dictionaries define the Western (Jewish, Christian, Islamic) meaning
of the word 'meditation,' but usually do not describe the Eastern
(Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist) concept of meditation. The most
appropriate dictionary definition I could find reads as follows.
"If you meditate, you give your attention to one thing, and do
not think about anything else, usually as a religious activity or as
way of calming or relaxing your mind." This definition implies
that meditation means thinking about something, be it religious or
mystical in nature, and that a constant thought process goes on
while one meditates. The purest Eastern definition of the word
'meditation' means not thinking at all, but rather focusing
consciousness on the cosmic whole, "the all and the
everything," as George Gurdjieff called it, without thought,
judgment, or distraction.
We
can define 'meditation' as the art of consciousness becoming aware
of itself on the grand and cosmic scale. Meditation cannot be called
a science as yet, because science requires objective testing with
objectively proven methods and results. Meditation is on the road to
becoming a real science, however, and not just an intuitive art
veiled in mystery.
Why
meditate?
Meditation
brings a sense of fullness and completion, and is the only permanent
source of tranquility available to human beings. All other forms of
serenity are temporary and dissolve into conflict and chaos over
time. The euphoria of drugs quickly lead to misery and
self-destruction. The wholesomeness oflove, so beautiful and
ethereal, is a relatively short lived and fleeting experience. As J.
Krishnamurti said, meditation brings order and "That order is
the order of the universe. It is irrevocable and doesn't depend on
anything." Meditation is the eternal essence of nature taking
on conscious form within the mortal human frame.
Meditation
is an adventure of self-discovery. How can you live without knowing
who or what you are? If someone asks you who you are during the day,
you may state your name, as if a temporary label actually means
something important. Ask yourself who you are when you are in deep
sleep, unconscious, and without even a dream to prove that you exist
at all. Ask yourself who you were ten months before you were born,
and who you will be just one moment after your body dies. Meditation
increases awareness of the natural phenomena that is actually going
on behind your own eyes. Self-knowledge has intrinsic value, even
without the indescribable bliss nature generously unleashes in those
who practice meditation with sincerity and patience.
The
wanting mechanism
What
keeps us diverted from meditation in the here and now? Look inside
your mind and fmd the wanting mechanism. The wanting mechanism
continuously constructs images of new experiences the mind desires,
derived from memories of the past. The mind becomes enamored with
these new fantasy images and is diverted away from what actually is,
here and now. The eternal cosmic consciousness exists here and now,
never in the future, and never in the past. Future and past are
illusory and do not exist in any real physical form outside of
projections of our own minds. What exists now is everything, and you
already have it.
Wanting
is part of life, creativity, family building, wealth creation, and
the survival instinct. In the sense of preserving the human race on
planet earth, wanting is a very good thing. In the sense of an
individual becoming an awakened Buddha, wanting is a hindrance.
Wanting creates duality, the wanter and that which is desired.
Siddhartha Gautama taught that desire is a root cause of suffering.
The questions is, how many of us can and should take the last steps
to enlightenment by dropping the wanting mechanism entirely?
Not
wanting means not wanting anything, not just dropping the desire for
sex, money, and power, but also dropping the desire for justice,
family, and nation. It is not what you want that matters, it is the
wanting mechanism itself that is the barrier. Deep meditation is a
giant leap beyond logic and the norms of society. It is dissolving
into infinity and oblivion and not coming back. Very few humans have
been able to manage that radical transformation totally, and that is
why enlightenment will always be an extremely rare phenomena. Ending
the wanting mechanism brings time to a halt, annihilates the future
and the past, and expands consciousness to the far reaches of the
universe.
If
everyone in the' world suddenly became enlightened, in my opinion,
the human race would come to an end. There would be a lack of
sufficient desire to keep people motivated enough to have families,
raise children, grow crops, and protect society from all the natural
threats, from disease to ecological disaster. That said, I certainly
believe that enlightenment is a desirable goal for those who really
want it, but you can see the impossibility of the situation. When
you "want" enlightenment your wanting mechanism is still
active and enlightenment will not happen to you. So we can all
breathe easy that everyone in the world will not become enlightened,
all at the same time, anytime soon.
Ask
yourself these questions.
1)
If you want something, how can you stop thinking about it?
2)
If you don't want anything, what is there to think about?
3)
If you don't want anything, is there anything to be angry
about?
4)
If you don't want anything, is there anything to make you
unhappy?
Rocks
and other inanimate objects do not want and they do not suffer, but
they are unconscious and dead. How does a living human being enter a
no-wanting state while fully conscious and ftlled to the brim with
life energy? That is the incredible contradiction and difficulty in
becoming enlightened.
At
some point in your practice of meditation you may see that wanting
is a barrier to further progress. Only when you can perceive this
very clearly should you try to step back from the wanting mechanism,
otherwise you will suppress desires and lead a false life. Stepping
back from the wanting mechanism is a form of intense
self-observation, not suppression.
Things
to do, things to avoid, and things to consider
Work
in groups when possible as group energy can multiply the energy of
an individual many times
over.
Remember that meditation is an escape to reality, not an
escape from reality. Avoid any guru or group
that
asks you to deny truth.
Don't limit
yourselfto just one teacher. The single guru approach can lead to
cult thinking with its
small
mindedness and us vs. them syndrome.
Hatha yoga can
make you more energetic and fit for long meditation sessions, but do
not take it too
seriously,
or become obsessed with extreme gymnastics. The easy and basic hatha
yoga exercises work best. Extreme kundalini yoga exercises that
involve fast breathing in bizarre positions may be dangerous and are
not recommended. Men should never sit with their heels pressed
behind their testicles, as some yogis and Buddhist monks instruct,
as this practice is unhealthful and can cause sterility.
Having a separate room used exclusively for meditation
can be very helpful. It is possible to build up
a
vibration in a room so that the moment you enter it your mind
becomes silent and ready for deep meditation.
Avoid fad and complicated philosophies that give your
mind more to think about. Meditation is a step
beyond
the thought process. No philosophy can adequately describe man's
place in the universe. Concentrate on meditation in this moment and
not on ancient scriptures. Many old scriptures were written by
madmen and fools, and have gained respect from society simply
because they are so old and dusty.
It is
essential to maintain a nutritionally adequate diet without becoming
a food fanatic. Most people
find
that a semivegetarian diet supplemented with dairy products and eggs
is generally best for meditation, but not essential. If you have a
medical problem, such as hypoglycemia, you may have to eat meat just
to survive. Even the Atkins high fat, high protein diet is perfectly
compatible with meditation.
Food should not be made the fundamental basis of your
practice of meditation. Adolf Hitler was a
vegetarian,
yet ~is diet did not make him virtuous or even nonviolent. Most
Tibetan lamas and Asian Zen monks eat meat, so obviously meat
consumption is not a serious obstacle to cosmic consciousness. There
is no scientific evidence to suggest that a vegetarian diet extends
lifespan or improves health. Nations with the highest longevity
rates, such as Japan, Sweden, and Australia, are all populated by
avid meat eaters.
Fasting is a waste of time and will weaken you physically. Like
taking LSD, fasting creates strangely entertaining short term
experiences but produces no long term benefits and can cause
permanent neurological damage. When you fast your body literally
feeds upon itself. If your brain needs protein for repair work, your
body will be directed to eat away its own own muscles, or worse,
your own peripheral nerve cells. People fast because their heads
feel cluttered with thoughts and they hope planned starvation will
purify their minds. The human body is made of mud (water and dirt),
so the idea of a perfect, spiritually purified physical body is
misguided. The way to end the cluttered feeling is to change the way
your brain and energy body function, and this can be accomplished
through the use of meditation techniques.
I do not recommend solitary meditation retreats longer than seven
days duration. To maintain health
one
must eat a balanced diet and get rigorous physical exercise every
day. To maintain full brain function one must also get mental
exercise through interaction with other human beings and through
problem solving. If you meditate in isolation for months or years
continuously, your body and brain will become deconditioned and
atrophy. You may develop strange hallucinations and delusions, and
come back physically weaker with a measurably lower IQ.
Avoid drugs and alcohol. Carlos Castaneda was a talented fiction
writer who misled many people.
Drugs
are not an effective path to enlightenment, but they are a quick
path to misery and insanity.
Have sex when you wish and do not force celibacy upon yourself in the
hopes that it will lead to
enlightenment.
To meditate one must be in a very natural and relaxed state of mind,
without repression or tension. Celibacy can only be of value if it
occurs spontaneously, without effort. The majority of famous gurus
who have claimed celibacy publicly have practiced intercourse
privately. Why make sex a big secret, and why have two faces? Many
fully enlightened humans have had sexual relations even after
enlightenment.
Practice choice less awareness (one object vision, mindfulness)
throughout the day. Meditation must
become
as continuous and spontaneous as breathing.
Don't
make meditation a competition, and drop any hidden agenda you may
have to use it to control others. Legitimate motives for meditation
are the desire for tranquility and ecstasy, freedom from suffering,
and the adventure of self-exploration. Don't turn your meditation
into a business. People who make a profit from intercourse have
turned something beautiful into something ugly. Those who make money
from meditation haye transformed a noble path into a sordid back
alley. Whether you are a sexual prostitute or a spiritual
prostitute. the fundamental quality of your mind is the same. Be
completely honest and have just one face. not two. One of the most
dangerous thoughts you can have is to think that you haye lost your
ego ~ For ewry action there is a reaction, not just in theoretical
physics, but in ordinary human life as well. When you create
positive actions you will eventually reap positive reactions for
yourself and for others. In this way what we call ethics and
morality are woven into the very fabric of the universe, right down
to the subatomic level.
