At the heart of the human condition lies a contradiction which gives rise to a unique and dramatic tension. This contradiction is in the very character and attributes of the various levels of our being: body, vital, mind, heart and soul.
There lies between the “lower” three levels of our being – body, vital and mind – and the “higher” levels of heart and soul, an essential difference of nature. This difference informs both good and bad, and results in much of the drama, struggle, conflict, inspiration and creative genius that is the stuff of human history and progress.
In our bodies, vitals and minds, we are finite; in heart and soul, we are infinite.
We are one being, true: yet when we identify as being the body, vital or mind, or any combination of these, we see and believe ourselves to be, and act as though we are indeed a finite being inhabiting a finite world. When we enter into our spiritual heart and soul, we realise ourselves as spiritual beings of a limitless universe.
There is a radical difference – even a yawning gulf – between a finite and an infinite consciousness. They see themselves and their worlds in completely different, often opposing terms.
And humans are both – finite and infinite. At once.
Yet this contradiction, this tension, this paradox, only exists when perceived from the finite portion of our consciousness, especially from our minds – for the finite alone is incapable of comprehending or embodying the infinite … while the infinite can easily house the finite.
Hence the only way to remove this tension and resolve this contradiction is to identify with our spiritual selves. To transcend, then transform the finite, the finite must enter into, surrender to, and lose itself in the infinite. This is meditation.