Meditation is a White Rose |
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by Robert Rabbin |
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everything. Then there is silence.
There is love. Lack
of love propels our search for wholeness and experience of fulfillment.
But if "we" do the seeking, we will fail. We are in the way. Our
own self is the barrier to love. We can't do anything about it. We can
only see it. Then it ends, by itself. This is what meditation is: the
ending of ourselves and the beginning of the rapture of reality. At
first, meditation is a practice that teaches us to focus our attention on
a single point, perhaps the breath or a mantra or the space between two
thoughts. As we focus, we are amazed to discover how many thoughts we
have. We begin to see that the mind is nothing but thoughts about things,
and thoughts about thoughts. We can observe the chaos of the mind, racing
without order or purpose from one thing to the next, careening from the
past to the future while barely touching the present moment. We also see
that all of these thoughts are self-centered; our whole internal
experience is qualified by this central thought, this image of
"me." As
we continue to focus the mind, we begin to observe our thoughts and
feeling states without getting lost in them. We see that these
mental/emotional states arise in numberless waves within the mind. That
which observes the play of thoughts is not the mind but the awareness from
which the mind itself is born. We can see that this awareness is
qualitatively different than thinking. It has a depth and silence to it.
Gradually, we begin to perceive through this awareness, in silence,
without thoughts, images and symbols. And, as we do, our own sense of self
becomes transparent. Meditation
ends our anxiety of self-centeredness because it invites us into the
silence of pure awareness. In this awareness, our spirit is liberated from
conditions. We no longer need strategies in life, because the fundamental
condition that needs strategies-the condition of "me"-has
disappeared. Our
entry into this silence marks the end of meditation as a practice and the
beginning of meditation as a state of being. Our chronic restlessness
subsides. A different way of seeing and knowing is arouse, a capacity of
intuitive perception that is wholistic and instantaneous. In
the stillness, we feel a subtle, pervasive presence. When we try to know
that presence, it recedes, returning as we relax and simply allow it to
be. Our thoughts and struggles appear in the midst of all of this, but
they no longer obscure that presence. This is called natural meditation.
It is the encounter with our Source. It is who we are, once we have
relinquished our smallness, pettiness, and fear. As we relax into
awareness, we see that we are the background from which all these forms
arise. We see this glowing presence as a shimmering light around
everything. It is indescribably beautiful and in the midst of this beauty
we fall in love with all things. Meditation
is an ending of ourselves and an opening into life before form, full of
beauty, full of peace, full of love. We intuitively move towards silence
because we can never be fulfilled unless we return to our Source. We've
forgotten about the Source; nonetheless, it is the very ground upon which
we stand and live. It is the essence of what we are, though we constantly
overlook it's shattering simplicity and ever-presence. Yet
whether we see it nor not, that light is within us. If we would just sit
quietly by the open window of our heart for a few minutes each day, soon
that light would be evident. If we need an image of that light within us for the sake of the mind that becomes lost in its brilliance, we might see a single white rose poised toward eternity while still glistening in the early morning sun. May everyone be at peace, in love, and know their most perfect Self.
a speaker and writer who presents Radical Sages programs throughout the world. He is a leading exponent of Silence and self-inquiry as a way of revealing our authentic being and of living an inspired life. www.radicalsages.com
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