The mysticism of meditation decoded
Ever since I wrote, “Rubies in my Ears” which I truly feel is an inspirational story, my life if you will seems to have taken a different turn. It`s become a lot more introspective, and almost soul searching if you like, taking me to a realm, yet unknown to me.
What I have figured out is that, words and thought, can indeed change the worlds. Everything that we see today that is material in any form, was at some point, thought by someone, and subsequently converted to reality.
If you want anything in life, material or immaterial, think about it, capture that thought and nurture, and push it, and believe you me, that thought shall convert to reality in a reasonable short time frame. Eighty to ninety percent of what we want in our daily life in any case is routinely achieved. We worry and fret over the 10 odd percent of what is not achieved.
The next part of my introspection led me to the state of, “Mindfulness” and “Awareness”, and how you can benefit from simply being there, as opposed to being only half there. Thus trying to multi task for instance is a no no. Its better to be a master of one, than a jack of all trades and master of none.
The next stage of my introspection was, what is, “Consciousness”. I spoke to a few gurus, listened to several mystics, read online, but I was still unable to explain to myself the difference between Awareness & Consciousness, till the penny dropped.
Karmna = Work…..So all work performed or done, will quite obviously impact something.
If you study hard and get good grades, you can get a good job, which will identify as your Karma. If you do not study hard, & get lousy grades, and still get a good job, its not your Karma, its just pure dame luck smiling at you.
There are four dimensions of Karma which shape our lives routinely and constantly 24/7.
- Physical – Body
- Mental – Thought
- Emotion
- Energy
The interesting thing here is that you must push the gauntlet on these four human dimensions as evenly as possible, and you will see a shift happen.
When Thought, Emotion & Energy, come into line, the body too will follow and fall into line, that very aspect will drive you or propel you to what is called, “Consciousness”, which essentially is a heightened form of Awareness, the ability to observe things as they happen, without judging or prejudging them.
The harnessing and leveraging of Consciousness is called Chit Shakti. Conversely stands Maya Shakti, the lord of the Unconscious part of the brain, which rules Materialism.
The journey from Maya Shakti to Chit Shakti and back to Maya and Chit, is what we call Spiritualism. ie To ability to shun materialism per se on demand.
Interestingly the only known form of Work or Karma, that initiates all four aspects of Karma ie Physical, Thought, Emotion & Energy is Sex. ie Sex not Love. Thus should the sexual activity be done at an heightened level, consciously with full attention, commitment, and concentration, bringing into play the body, mind, emotion and energy in unison; you will see a drastic pro-active difference, simply quite magical.
The larger issue I have been grappling with is mediation, and why people seem to be flocking to it, as if it were the latest, fad & trend. What`s with mediation that makes gurus, mystics, sages of this world thrust forward their proprietary form or method of meditation, multiplying their avid die hard mediation followers and worshippers. Beyond that I was grappling with what precisely does mediation do for one.
In India alone there must be literally crores of people doing meditation, yet there is something starkly wrong in the larger society per se, so what is it. Is the mediation or the medicine wrong, or are the followers and practice of meditation wrong ?
As per Late Mr J Krishnamurti, meditation is not something that we do, it is the, “movement into the whole question of our living, how we live, how we behave, whether we have fears, anxiety, sorrows, or are we pursuing everlastingly pleasures, whether we have built images of ourselves and others, the understanding of that life, and of those issues involved in life, and being free from those”
In order to mediate, Mr Krishnamurti says we must have a sense and mind of pure Virtue and Righteousness, and love, not touched by desire. The ability to put our minds and life in order, having set aside dis-order, contradiction, and the struggle between the opposites. When all this is set and done, as per Mr Krishnamurti, we are ready to mediate.
Mr Krishnamurti goes on to say, we MUST NOT follow any teacher, guru, sage or mystic, following a particular brand of meditation or method, as what that method offers is not true. The truth is living. Practicing a method of meditation, which is “To Be practiced” by the meditator will only fuel division, conflict, distortion and dis-order of the mind.
Mr Krishnamuti says when our basic parameters are in place, as stated above, and we are able to, “Stand Completely Alone”, not burdened by the propaganda and thought and pattern of others. When we are able to observe objectively, not in any pattern, or without any conclusion, not what someone told you or suggested, but simply to observe, “What Is”
What Is = No Hope – No Despair – No Anger – No Bitterness – Just As Is.
This will happen when the Mind & Brain and Body are in complete harmony.
To achieve this, Mr Krishnamurti says, each person needs to forge their own path, and vehemently suggests against practicing any 3rd persons or gurus meditation method or formula, as that will only create dis-order.
To mediate you need to create a “Still Mind”. If you are trying to mediate for long periods and your mind keeps swinging back and forth, the best thing to do would be to simply observe that your mind and though is wandering and running away, and not attempt to pull it back to line. Simply observe, What Is.
Still the Mind Completely.
The Body must be completely still, without any movement, no twitch of the eye, or of the fingers or of the toes. If you can do this even for two minutes, just two minutes per day, that’s sufficient to get you started on your Meditation Journey.
Interestingly Mr Krishnamurti says, a person who is observing “What IS” in totality every day, that person will have no dreams when they sleep, as there is nothing left to observe, and thus resultantly no thought remnants can be pulled in from the sub-conscious to dream.
If you are lucky enough to pursue mediation and practice it, as it should be in its pristine sense, then you will lead a life of dignity, grace, beauty, with attention and full awareness.
Quite obviously mediation is only for the few, and not for the masses, its not a one size fits all panacea, that is being made out by the gurus of this world. Its certainly not a One hundred dollar quick fix method to align the mind, or to make good a loss of love or material.
There is also the question of the meditation itself, is it being done correctly, if not it could end up being on the lines of a self hypnosis, or merely an illusion ?
With the prerequisite of Virtue and Self Righteousness being central to meditation, that rules out most Politicians, most Lawyers, most Accountants, all spiritual and religious Guru`s, in all shapes and forms, in the pursuit of money, most businessmen, most business women. Ie in a Country like India, that leaves very few people who are qualified to mediate and who can enjoy and leverage the fruits of mediation to self advantage.
The question arises whether I qualify and fit the bill to meaningfully advance, and step into the enduring and seductive realm of meditation, do I have the values and elements of Virtue and Righteousness to do this. Regrettably the answer is, no I do not. I also need to examine whether I can love for love alone, without pleasure and desire. As of today, I don`t think I can, and thus will remain steadfast observing life as it goes, within the powerful spiritual bounds of Chit Shakti and Maya Shakti, and strive to, “Be Aware” and observe, “What Is”.
For the people who do truly mediate, more power to you.