“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar…”
William Wordsworth, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”, 1804
Saints, mystics, poets, seers and seekers in every culture have sought the secret of life eternal.
The ever-growing annals of Near-Death Experiences and the findings of quantum physics offer present-day support to the notion that at least a part of us lives on beyond death. If so, what part? Are we immortal?
Our bodies die and decompose into their original elements. So for anyone who identifies only as being the body: we are not immortal.
We know that our flow of life energy ceases after the body dies; and that our thoughts and emotions constantly change and will therefore not likely last much longer, if at all, than the senses and energy needed to sustain them. So if we identify ourselves as being our vitality or our minds: we are not immortal.
What is left, and does it live on? If a part of us is immortal, then it must be within us now. If within us now, then it must be discoverable now.
Whatever others have to say on this subject, ultimately we can only discover the answer for ourselves. We can either wait till we die, or…
Exercise
Sitting quiet and still with eyes closed, in your imagination separate yourself from your body. Feel that you are floating above your own body. You still exist. Now separate yourself from your thoughts – project them onto a screen, out of the way. You still exist, lighter and freer. Continue in this way, separating your consciousness from any part of you that is finite or changeable.
Eventually, you will find – and become – the answer.
There is so much wrong with the world – but what can I, just one small person, do about it?
Anything? Nothing?
How about … everything!
There is no such thing as “the world.” There is only what we perceive it to be – and what we perceive is a reflection of our own consciousness – which itself changes from day to day and even from moment to moment.
When we are happy, we see happiness and beauty all around us, even on a rainy day: “the world” is a beautiful place. When we are sad or depressed, we see only ugliness, even on a sunny day: “the world” is a gloomy place.
Yet it is the same world, isn’t it? Or is it?
A colour-blind person sees the world differently from how I see it, or how a dog sees it, or how a tree “sees” it. We have this conception that “the world” is a static, definable entity – it is anything but. There are as many “worlds” as there are sentient beings perceiving their environments, multiplied by each moment of awareness.
So – if we want to change or improve the world, how to do so?
Change ourselves, we change our perceptions and “the world” is changed.
We can never control what is happening around us. But we can absolutely control our perceptions and reactions, and thus, we CAN change the world.
Meditation – practised regularly – transforms our consciousness, hence our outlook on life – and hence our perception of the world around us.
Most of the time we perceive our world through the lens of an over-active mind. It’s like driving in dense fog. Clear the fog and suddenly we’re in different, clear, bright surroundings. Meditation clears that fog, enabling us to see and feel a world changed indeed.
We are used to dealing with specific expressions or feelings of love: we speak of being in love with someone, of loving a hobby or a song or the way reflected moonlight dances on the water on a September evening.
While each of these experiences can compel and overwhelm, yet they are mere glimpses of the ocean of Love which we embody, which we house within our hearts. They are rays of light from the blazing Sun of Love within. These glimpses of love are hints to us, signposts to the source within.
To uncover and to grow into this source is the goal of meditation.
Our hearts are all love, but mostly veiled: to reveal the source of love within we need, slowly but surely, to unlock the gates of our hearts. This is meditation.
We say: “Oh, I love this painting” or “I love so-and-so” and this is true – to a point. What we really love are the feelings which that person or object inspires within us. These feelings – of happiness, beauty, serenity, empowerment, freedom – are evoked by our recognition of something we share with the person or object: by a recognition of oneness.
Love is the expression of oneness, the deepest truth of our being.
It is thus Love itself which we truly love.
We love to be in love and to feel love, for love reveals to us our underlying oneness with something vaster than our tiny selves; love expands us by offering a glimpse of a much vaster, freer Self – a premonition of the possibility of true liberation and illumination.
Because love is oneness, it is inescapable. It is the one power from which none can hide.
Thank God the mightiest Power in the Universe is so … loveable.
Freedom has been the guiding light, the catch-cry, the struggle of humanity for aeons. “Give me liberty or give me death!” cried American revolutionary, Patrick Henry.
History is the continuing re-telling of the same struggle in various forms and guises: freedom from tyranny, freedom from slavery, from economic oppression, from injustice, from prejudice, from inequality, from censorship, freedom of religion, freedom from religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, artistic freedom.
In all – or most – of these areas, we have made tremendous progress. By any reckoning, we live in one of the freest societies ever.
As history has evolved, so the struggle for freedom has found different voices, causes and expressions. Why does this struggle, despite countless impressive victories, never go away? Are we just never satisfied?
The struggle for freedom is the cry of the soul.
The soul is eternally free. Intuitively we know this: we know we ARE the soul and we ARE pure and free. Whatever outer circumstances stand in the way of that inner condition, we will always fight against and ultimately, overcome. The whole history of human thought, warfare, philosophy, science, politics, art, religion and spirituality – all forms of human aspiration – are expressions of this deep yearning, this cry for freedom. And so it will remain.
So after all the progress: how many of us are truly free? Very few indeed, for we remain subject to two seemingly invincible tyrants: our own thoughts and desires. Until we can silence our thoughts and desires at will, we are not free. We remain slaves.
The next frontier of the battle for freedom beckons within each of our hearts and minds. Today’s freedom fighters meditate, to confront these inner challenges that beset us all.
The theory is simple: we ingest (eat, drink and breathe in) a lot of gunk – chemicals, additives, processed and refined foods – which are neither easily assimilated or readily eliminated by the body. Their gradual build-up stresses our immune system and clogs or slows essential organs. We become slower, heavier and sicker. The solution: from time to time, undertake a diet designed to reduce the intake of additional toxins, while aiding in the elimination of the built-up stockpile – a ‘detox’.
Yet just as the build-up of chemicals is harmful to our body, so the accumulation of prejudices, negative thoughts and perceptions undermines our clarity, creativity, behaviour and happiness. Not only do we suffer: everyone around us suffers as well.
Daily meditation is the most effective detox for the mind.
In order to “let go” of unwanted thoughts, perceptions and emotions – and avoid the massive damage they cause – we need first to gain some control of the process of thought itself, the flow of mental activity in our brains. Trying to achieve this by analysis or thinking about it, is like the blind leading the blind, or putting the drunk in charge of the pub.
Only by stepping outside of the mind can we gain the perspective and detachment needed to perceive, and hence control the mind’s intractable activity.
Pure meditation occupies a vacant mind. When the mind is emptied of thoughts, our attachment to thought itself is loosened. As we separate ourselves from the thinking process, we come to realise that thought is not the reality. We are not our thoughts, after all. Thoughts which were looming, inescapable monsters are now seen as tiny, weak, expendable things. Unwanted thought-toxins, we let go of.
Daily meditation keeps the mind clear, sharp – and detoxed.
Yet how often do we focus on this most essential component of our existence? Do we ever pause to offer even a moment’s gratitude to our breath?
Ever? … If not, that’s like forgetting your wedding anniversary or neglecting to phone your mother on Mother’s Day – forgivable perhaps, but only just …
So before starting any breathing exercise, offer love and gratitude to the breath itself. This is not only a courteous gesture, it is a practical means to make the exercise more effective – for it is always easier to focus on something we love. You will find the exercise flows more smoothly, enjoyably, easily and you will bring much-needed intensity to the task …
It is our breath that connects us directly with every living thing – every plant, animal and human being – on the planet. We are all breathing the same air, sharing the same life-giving force. Our breath reminds us that we are one with all.
Exercise:
Choose a quiet place. Sit so that the spine is straight, yet relaxed. Close the eyes and focus all attention on your breath.
After a while, picture our planet earth, slowly revolving inside your heart.
You are breathing in time with the earth itself and every living thing. The earth is breathing your breath, as is every plant, animal and human being in perfect synchronicity. There is only one breath – your breath, under your control. You are breathing on behalf of all living beings, on behalf of Life itself. Imagine that if you would stop breathing, life and our earth would cease …
This exercise connects us with our life-giving breath, expands our self-awareness and offers us a private audience with the wonder of Oneness.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
– Matthew 5:8
When engine oil contains impurities, the engine doesn’t run smoothly and may even cease operating. When impurities in the form of germs, viruses or toxins enter our bodies, we become sick and may even die.
For our health, we value purity in our food, water and air: even more essential is the role of purity in our thoughts, intentions and actions.
For just as our bodies operate better when we consume pure food, water and air, so are we happier, more creative and more fulfilled, when our minds and hearts feed on a diet of pure thoughts and aspirations.
Our souls are all purity. The reason we do not constantly feel and perceive our souls is precisely because of the impurities in our consciousness. “Impurities” are anything which covers or clouds our souls’ purity: mostly in the form of thoughts, emotions, desires and distractions. This is not to say that all thoughts, emotions, desires and distractions are impure: just as a clod of dirt or a germ is not “impure” in itself, yet it acts as an impurity when added to engine oil or in a hospital operating theatre; so it is our minds’ attachment to thoughts, emotions and desires, and identification with them, that obscures our perception of our souls’ purity.
How do we obtain more purity in our consciousness? By meditating on purity.
Purity is within us: just as the sun emerges when the clouds are cleared away, so by wilfully putting aside all thoughts and desires – entering into a silent mind – our inner purity automatically comes to the fore. This takes practise.
The more purity we establish in our consciousness, the easier it becomes to meditate: the better our meditation, the more purity is established.
Love is the meaning of life; the most powerful force in the universe; the most basic need of every human being.
Love is power; love is happiness; love is fulfilment.
Love is not an action, not something we “do”. It is the matrix of our being, the power grid of the universe. It is a force within us which we can invoke, enter into and bring to the fore.
Love nurtures all other divine qualities. In love we find hope; we find strength; we find sacrifice; we find compassion; we find sweetness; we find forgiveness; we find patience; we find tolerance; we find knowledge; we find ingenuity; we find newness; we find success; we find progress; we find joy; we find energy; we find youthfulness; we find concentration; we find inspiration; we find determination; we find purpose; we find guidance; we find heroism; we find meaning; we find growth; we find fulfilment; we find glory.
The Beatles were absolutely right: “All you need is love!”
Everything we need, we find more easily, readily and abundantly where there is love; for love connects everything – and everyone – in the universe.
If love is the source of so many qualities we want and desperately need in life, then to find all those qualities, we need only to cultivate love.
But how to do so?
Through the disciplined focus of meditation.
Even in the driest desert there is always water: you just have to dig deep enough.
As we dig in meditation, we cannot but uncover the wellspring of love in our hearts.
While water in the desert, if overdrawn will run dry, our hearts’ love is limitless: the more it is expressed, the more love expands and multiplies.
Love is the root, tree, flower and fruit of meditation.
This is one of the simplest and best concentration exercises which anyone can practise anywhere, anytime.
Sit so that the spine is straight, yet relaxed. Close your eyes and focus only on your breath.
Choose a number that you can comfortably count to with each breath. Count up to this number slowly as you breathe in – hold your breath for two counts in the same rhythm – then count slowly to the same number as you exhale. Continue for 5 to 10 minutes, banishing all thoughts and distractions.
The purpose of the counting is to focus and anchor the mind.
To help focus on the counting, imagine that each number is “larger than life” – picture gigantic numbers being projected onto a massive movie theatre screen or up into the sky, all in different bold colours and designs. Or hear the numbers being called out in a resonant voice inside a vast cave.
Make it a game: try anything new and fun to help keep the numbers the exclusive focus of your attention. If you can be enthralled and fascinated by the numbers, then you will be less susceptible to the charm of other uninvited thoughts.
If you find yourself becoming distracted by thoughts or sounds, don’t be disheartened – simply make a fresh start, return to One and start counting again with renewed enthusiasm, determination and commitment. It is quite normal to have to start again several times in the course of a 5-minute session.
This exercise fulfils three prerequisites for meditation. It:
relaxes us physically;
brings calm and ultimately stillness to the mind;
as our breath goes from outside to inside, our consciousness is turned from the outer to the inner.
We are now at the shore of the meditation-ocean, ready to dive in.
Only two things are required of us: to breathe and to count.
Exercise:
Choose a quiet, uncluttered place where you will not be disturbed. Sit so that the spine is straight, yet relaxed. Close your eyes and focus all attention on your breath.
Now choose a number that is going to be comfortable for you to count up to slowly with each breath. Count up to this number slowly as you breathe in – hold your breath for two counts in the same rhythm – then count slowly to the same number as you exhale. Then repeat the process, over and again.
Imagine the outside world has dissolved. Nothing exists beyond your breathing and counting.
You have no job, no duties, no responsibilities. You do not even have a name or a form – only your breath. You do not have a past or a future. There is only now, this moment, and this moment consists entirely of this breath, in and out, and the counting that regulates it.
You are a breathing being, that is all. Breathing – and counting – are all you do. Live totally inside each breathed breath. Feel that each breath is your project, your creation, your child.
You are an artist of the breath: instead of creating poems, paintings or songs, your artworks are your breaths. Pour all your heart into each breath: all your love, your sense of beauty, purity and longing for perfection. Each breath is your whole world. Make each breath perfect, and then make each next breath more perfect than the last.
Nothing else matters. Nothing else is.
If you can practise this simple exercise for 5 – 10 minutes daily for several months with sincerity and intensity, your life will change for the better unimaginably.
Meditation and love are inseparable. It is through love that we meditate most effectively, and through meditation that we access ever deeper, vaster and sweeter love.
If you need any quality in life, then start by loving that quality and, like a magnet, your love will draw that quality towards you and into your life.
When forced to do something we don’t like – even a simple task – we soon become tired. When engaged in something we love – even a strenuous activity – we will happily continue all day.
If we love an activity we will naturally apply ourselves to it more eagerly and wholeheartedly than otherwise. We tend to do much better at school in subjects we like, and not so well in subjects we dislike. If you want or need to do well at any task, simply find it in yourself to love that task and you will automatically do much better at it. This is not always easy, but is always effective.
The more you love your meditation, the more sincerely and determinedly you will practise and the sooner you will derive positive benefits from meditation – and the more you will have access to the heart’s limitless ocean of love.
This is how love is the secret of meditation: if we approach meditation as a chore, as a dry discipline then it will be very difficult for us to apply ourselves and make progress. If however we approach the task with love, then eagerness, enthusiasm and joy are automatically there. All the qualities we need to succeed in meditation – discipline, determination, patience – come to us much more readily when guided by the power of love.
In meditation, as in everything else in life, love conquers.
According to martial arts lore: “He who controls his breath, controls his destiny.”
Doesn’t this sound a bit far-fetched?
First gain complete mastery of your own breath – under all circumstances. Then survey your destiny, and you will have your answer…
Exercise:
Because this exercise is so simple, it is tempting to allow the mind to wander off leash – yet the point of this exercise is precisely NOT to allow the mind to wander, to get used to sitting at ease inside a vacant mind. It is not an easy task to master, yet even in braving the challenge day by day, we can make tremendous progress in controlling our breath, clearing and focusing our mind while nurturing peace and poise within and without.
Choose a quiet, uncluttered place where you will not be disturbed. Sit so that the spine is straight, yet relaxed. Close the eyes and focus all attention on your breath.
Breathe in and out through the nostrils, with the feeling that you are breathing from the diaphragm and lower abdomen, rather than the chest: when you breathe, your shoulders should remain still, and not move up and down at all. Breathing from the diaphragm helps us to breathe more deeply and effectively, making it easier to relax and focus for longer.
Focus on making the ebb and flow of breath – in and out – as smooth and regular as possible, so that the air is flowing at one consistent speed.
Make your breath so calm that it would not disturb a tiny thread dangling right in front of your nostrils. Focus on an imaginary thread and consciously watch it remain immobile, motionless as your breath flows around it.
Allow no other thought to intrude. Simply breathe. Five minutes daily, unfailingly. Control your breath: control your destiny.
The first few weeks and months of a beginner’s meditation practice are the time we are most likely to give up.
Sitting still and attempting to quieten the mind can be a frustrating and seemingly fruitless task, and it is easy to imagine that one is deriving no benefit from it. One hasn’t yet developed the momentum of habit, nor the powerful motivation of deeper fulfilling experiences.
The whole exercise can seem both tedious and pointless.
Meanwhile, there is the mountain of pressure from a million other tasks and distractions, which invariably appear more pressing and essential right now than sitting down to fritter away time in further fruitless frustration.
Beginning meditators are much like the baby turtles who hatch eagerly in their thousands on the beach, and are immediately beset by predators on every side in their fledgling journey to the sea, with only a few getting to experience the joys of swimming.
We have spent an entire lifetime consciously building up our minds to be more and more complex, sophisticated and cluttered. And now we expect them to be silent in an instant? In your dreams!
Everything takes time. A diamond takes much longer to form than a lump of coal.
The beginner meditator needs the determination, patience and unwavering faith of a baby.
How many times does a baby fall flat on its face before mastering the skill of walking? Does it ever occur to the baby to give up?
Never!
Just as the capacity to walk is latent in the baby, and only needs practise to be manifested, so the capacity to meditate is inherent in everyone.
Once the baby can walk, there is no chance of reverting to crawling to get about. That would be absurd.
