Recently I was excited to read a book on meditation because the author had some experiences and was not merely an intellectual. But I was disappointed to find that he had two separate pockets, one for his meditations, and one for his experiences. Even though he had deeper experiences, the author brought lock stock and barrel into the traditional misunderstandings about meditation. And in the end he admitted that you shouldn’t meditate too much or you will limit your experiences.
The reason for this author’s confusion was that he unknowingly was talking from two different centers. His meditation advice came from a state of mind, and his experiences come from his original state transcending thought.
Make your meditations into a one step process
So his meditation process involved first purifying the mind and then looking into your awareness. Here’s where those of us with self knowledge can smile a little, because we can see exactly what he is doing. He is relegating awareness to a state of mind, while in reality Awareness transcends all states of mind as Awarness is another name for your own self-nature. Once awareness becomes a state of mind then comes the endless preparations necessary to find this awareness. And your meditation practice seems to go up and down with your thought waves.
So here are some of the prerequisites that he gave with the hope that you can stabilize something that is naturally in motion. First eat the proper diet, then breathe correctly, relax the various points called chakras, and then quiet the mind and finally you are ready to look into awareness.
Before doing anything, look afresh
But here is the real secret for purifying the mind. If you simply take a fresh look at your mind, you will find that it is intrinsically pure. And that’s before you do anything to it. Of course we know what our thoughts say, but did you ever take a look to see what your mind is in itself? Is it really just a bunch of thoughts? What color is it and what is it shape? What is the sound that belongs to mind in itself?
If you run a blank you will have come face to face with that crystal clear thing called mind. A little discovery like this will bring the thing that you hope to obtain much closer to what you are now. In the end you will see that a pure mind is not the opposite of thoughts. With or without the thing that you call thoughts, your mind is already the purity that you are looking for.
You shine by your own light
Furthermore, once you discover the nature of your mind, you will not have to look for a separate awareness. The nature of your mind is awareness. It is clear and shines by its own timeless self. Although you can’t see your mind as a separate thing, it sees all. You know it because you are it, without the need for a separate knower. This is a description of your bright ever-shinning original mind.
So in your meditation abide as the thing that you are, and you can do away with the prerequisites. And best of all you will find that your deepest experience and your everyday meditations will be exactly the same. Although thoughts and your deepest experiences may at times may seem separate, in the end they get sewn into one pocket. And the name embroidered on that pocket is “I”, unseen yet abiding forever in its own light.
Asking Questions
If this blog seems a little theoretical to you, ask questions. Then you will see how the explanations in this blog apply to your life. And the freedom that you find will be real. Questioning is the key to your freedom. You’ll see that when you question limitation, it falls away.
Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it. When you can ask, you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.
Also for more detailed explanations and examples read through these blogs or get my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive.
Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants, can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.
Best Wishes,
Michael Gluckman