Picture: Shiva, king of meditating yogis
People naturally gather information of various kinds: an avid baseball fan analyzes the statistics of various players, an intellectual gleans facts and information from his favorite subjects, a philosopher studies and compares the sages of history, and so on. Our spiritual journey is composed of a different kind “gathering.”
In the beginning an aspirant may study various religions, teachers and philosophies. However, as one deepens in merging the little self into the vast Self, the mind takes on a different purpose than that of gathering information. Now the mind is used to focus attention upon transcending the mind through a mantra or some other meditational focus. Experience teaches that only when the mind is still is God revealed–this making all the difference.
No longer is gathering facts and information central to the aspirants life. With full awareness, the mind becomes still, the little bubble of the self dissolves and merges into the vast ocean of Consciousness. Now pure Consciousness is known, the one without a second. This pure awareness resides in its Self, no thought, no information gathering, no reference to another; it is purna: whole and complete.
When I started this journey of journeys I had many questions about so many things. Some of these questions could not be answered by books or intellectual study, they could only come from a source beyond speculation. As I continued in this quest I found so many of those questions were either answered, or they simply dropped off–the growing stillness rendered questions obsolete.
This morning I entered the inner Temple of Silence, the thought of the bubble dissolving into the sea–made it so. Whatever defines this part of the mind that operates in the world simply disintegrates, awareness becomes a vast ocean of consciousness. It is not an empty ocean, it is full of all life, everything that is good and pure, but it has no need for activity so it rests in the bliss and peace of itself.
To the worldly mind this may seem like a nice dream, or it may be inconceivable how one could be enraptured when there is not constant stimulation. My mom said, when I told my parents I was going into silence and seclusion for the next year, that she imagined if my father tried that he would run out of the cabin in a few days desperate to know the score of the football game! Most would have their version of a driving need to know the score–news of a child or grandchild, of the world, work, friends or family.
There is the story told in India of the yogi who simply showed up at a temple and spent his days meditating. The temple fed the yogi daily, the rest of his time he meditated or rested. The wealthy man who financed the temple noticed this yogi and that he did not do any chores around the temple, simply ate his meals and seemed to do nothing else. Finally he had had enough of this and angrily approached the yogi. “You do not do anything here, you should leave!” He shouted. The yogi was calm in the face of this verbal assault and answered, “I will gladly leave, but I would like you to meditate with me for a little while first.” The businessman said he did not have time for such foolishness, but the yogi was somehow calmly insistent and prevailed. The businessman spent some uncomfortable minutes trying to sit still, but could not. Suddenly it dawned on him what “work” this yogi was doing by meditating long hours throughout the day–he gained a newfound respect for him. “Mahatma,” the businessman said, “You may remain here at this temple as long as you like, blessing it’s precinct’s with your dedicated meditation.”
In your practice you recognize that what you are doing is fundamentally different than what a worldly man or woman does. From the depths of your meditation you may very well be inspired to do some great work, however you must know God first for any endeavor to be truly successful. To know God you transcend the desires, thoughts and all preoccupations of the self. First merge your little self in the great Self of God, then let all action flow from that high state. You will certainly be a blessing to this whole world as no other can be.