Meditation is something that comes from within. It is not that somebody tells us to meditate and then we start doing it.  Rather we feel a calling from somewhere inside that says ‘hey, everything seems to be ok, except…?’ It’s that very elusive ‘something’ that makes us start searching, listening in different quarters, and inquiring about many different things. We may already have many great things going in life - a good home, good friends, good spouse, good job, good hobbies - but yet there is still something nagging us at the very edge of our consciousness - something where we don’t feel completely easy or completely fulfilled.

The power of meditation brings an unparalleled sense of inner stillness or in Sanskrit, samadhi. This stillness lets you rise a peg above the normal waking state consciousness which is always in motion, always busy and wrapped up with the details and qualities of physical existence. When your atoms become very still your whole being vibrates at a much higher, more intelligent and aware frequency. You are like an impeccable observer that takes note of everything, even the slightest tremor and has the power to attach importance to the various happenings around you or not. You become very centered - so centered that you naturally feel at peace in breast of many, many movements around you.

Meditation brings such clear perception that you begin to grasp another dimension of yourself: that in fact you are pure happiness, pure freedom. You begin to realize that you are more than just a body and mind with a certain personality and physical characteristics. Behind these obvious facets lies a great power, invisible to the eyes, but the basis from where your mental and physical characteristics are painted. Directly experiencing such a vision, you don’t feel so identified with your body and your mind. Thoughts like, ‘Oh, I hope I look nice?’, ‘Oh, do they recognize my degree?’, ‘Oh, I am feeling angry because they said this about me’ become small movements in the mental space, carrying little weight, little importance. You begin to feel light and easy in your body while guarding the knowledge that a great power is behind you, that is so vast and pure that it cannot be touched by small relative projections such as the ones above.

You accept yourself as you are and your heart glows.  You wish to share your heart space with others. You can’t really hate anyone, rather you remain neutral to those who don’t appreciate you or who speak ill of you.  You acquire a special connection to your heart which others can tangibly notice as you radiate and shine.  As a result, other people feel naturally attracted to you.

Over time, the practice of meditation transforms your mind. Where once your thoughts may have been scattered and wavering all over, your mind now becomes unwavering and your ability to focus and maintain attention becomes outstanding. You don’t get bogged down with details and hindrances; always you find solutions to problems that come your way. Anything that you put your mind and heart into now manifests more easily because of the time spent engaged consciously maintaining the flow of attention on the background space during your meditation.  People respect you for this great gift.

Heightened awareness and clear perception removes all kinds of bondage and knots. From emotional to physical, these knots all start to loosen and ultimately become completely untied, leaving you, the being able to act freely and without all kinds of baggage weighing you down. Being so clear in yourself allows you to act according to your own style as a free spirit without the fear of being ridiculed or feeling like the odd person out. The effect of the peer pressure that was built up for so many long early years begins to dissolve. No more are you bound to play the fool or the sheep, because you intimately know what is right for you, what is wrong for you and what it is for you to do.

We are born and raised with all kinds of cultural conditioning. From day one, suggestions, morals, rules and regulations have been a constant, often binding influence in our lives - and so we have become conditioned. Often we become carbon copies of our parents – for better or for worse. Meditation helps us to see past the layers of conditioning and create and live a fresh new outlook of ourselves. This extra insight, which comes only through true inner reflection, allows us to cultivate patterns that serve us and undo the ones that don’t.

You trust nothing until you have verified it yourself. In this way you don’t believe anything by rote or begin parroting somebody else’s philosophies or dogma, claiming it to be your own. You don’t get tricked or trapped into following causes that are not your own or not true to your spirit, nor do you become a victim of unconscious behaviour or unwholesome patterns.

You become so sensitive and alert that even the slightest things don’t escape your notice. You are one with the universe. The life that comes into and powers your body is the same as the life that powers all the other beings around you, even the same as the animals and plants. You become aware of those thoughts and actions that lead to creating a sense of division between you and your fellow human beings. Rather, you begin to pick up those thoughts and actions that create a natural sense of brotherhood with your fellow human beings.

Because of your inner clarity, you remove all kinds of internal doubts and fears. As a result, your direction becomes very clear and you can move through life with less and less struggle. A sixth sense tells you how to act and how not to act. You become so alert and conscious that you don’t fear for tomorrow and you don’t cloud the present with the past.

You begin to acquire connections to subtle powers of awareness that had previous lain dormant. You begin engaging your creative powers in finding ways to create oneness and harmony with people. A power of empathy begins to unfold. You see patterns in people and you start to understand where they are coming from and why they are the way they are. Your energy field is different, your thinking changes, the quality of your conversation and interactions changes. After having made profound changes in your own life, you can start consciously making changes in other people’s lives, whether it be through friendship, counseling, healing, energy-work or teaching.

Selfish motives dissolve. You begin to understand what’s best for the people around you as opposed to solely your own individualistic needs. You become very watchful of the force of life that moves through all the beings of the world, to the point that you don’t hurt people or unnecessarily bring pain to others or foist harm upon nature. You respect all of life’s creatures and creations and realize that your body is only one channel, one vehicle for the current of life. As the capacity for oneness expands so does your vision. In effect, you become a vaster being capable of vaster potential.

When the breath slows and your atoms become still, your life force has a chance to rejuvenate your body and so you stay young in body, mind and spirit. You find that you begin to eradicate patterns of lifestyle that cause aging, disease and wear and tear on the body. You actively employ the lifestyle that brings about the best health and happiness. You naturally begin to become very aware of the food you eat and its effect. You discover exactly what exercise and what amount you need in order to stay fit. You become aware of what company best suits you and without making undue efforts, you attract those people into your life.

September 2001