Imagine that the ultimate secret of life is written along the spoke of a wheel. Just read what is written, and all your questions will be answered. The message is a few words, yet almost no-one can read it. Why? – because the wheel is spinning, at high speed. Most people cannot even make out that there is writing on the spoke, let alone read what is written there: everything is a blur.
This spinning wheel is our mind. To even perceive that there is a message, we must first considerably slow the spinning of the wheel; then to read the message, the wheel must halt. This secret message of life and our soul’s purpose is clearly inscribed in the depths of our hearts: to see it there, and then to read it, we first must slow, then cease the spinning of the mind.
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Certain surgical procedures are so intricate, and the site of the operation so inaccessible, the surgeon must use finely calibrated instruments, and view the procedure using a precisely angled mirror. Now imagine that the mirror in use becomes fogged over. The entire procedure is suspended, and the patient’s life perhaps in jeopardy, because the surgeon cannot see anything. The condensation must be cleared, so the mirror can once more play its crucial role, and the surgery proceed.
The only faithful mirror is a completely clear mirror. Similarly, the only useful and faithful mind in meditation, is a completely clear mind. Thoughts, opinions and judgements, which our mind considers empowering, fog our mind and cripple its most essential function, which is to faithfully transmit the light of the heart and soul. To receive and hold the light of meditation, the mirror of the mind must absolutely remain clear and fog-free.
Our mind is a boat, adrift on a sea of confusion. When a wave comes, the boat is swept ashore; when the tide turns, the boat is carried out to sea; a strong current pushes the boat along the coast; and when the wind blows, the boat is blown according to the wind’s whim. Like this, our mind is at the mercy of the currents of thoughts, waves of emotion, tides of desire and winds of whimsy. As long as we identify as our mind, and as long as our mind identifies with its present thoughts and preoccupations, our very perception of ourselves is all at sea; we have no control over our own consciousness, even our own sense of who we are and what we stand for.
We cannot control the wind, the waves and the tides, nor the flow of thoughts, distractions and desires. But we must take control of our own mind so that we are no longer the plaything of these external forces.
We cannot pilot a boat that is a toy of the wind and waves. Nor can we take command of our own lives until we can hold our mind still, even for a few moments. To hold the boat in one place, we drop an anchor. The weight of the anchor gives the boat stability, resisting the invitation of the wind, pull of the tides and force of the waves.
Concentration is our anchor, providing a focal point to keep our mind fixed in one place for long enough for us to take control, to quieten our thoughts and emotions, so that we can then point our mind in the direction we wish to travel, into our spiritual heart. Only then, can we enter into meditation.
Meditation cannot flourish without proper concentration. The role of concentration is indispensable. A meditator is a gardener. The gardener’s task is two-fold: to cultivate beautiful, fragrant flowers and plants in an aesthetically pleasing composition; and to keep the garden free of weeds. To enter into the spiritual heart and enjoy the limitless peace, love, beauty and joy of our heart-garden is surely the goal of meditation; yet we cannot perceive the good qualities of the garden if the mind’s thought- and worry-weeds are allowed to proliferate. Weeds strangle, smother and climb all over the more delicate and beautiful plants, just as our mental doubts and fears obliterate our heart’s peace, sympathy and sweetness.
Effective concentration is to meditation, as weeding is to the garden, eliminating mental activity which disrupts the flow of our meditation and blights the beauty of our heart-garden. A perfect garden has not a single weed: a perfect meditation entertains not a single thought. But thoughts, like weeds, do not disappear of their own accord: they require constant work and vigilance to remove and to proactively prevent their further encroachment.
Gardeners will tell you that weeding is their most important and time-consuming task. Everything else comes from just loving the garden. Without an effective weeding program, the garden is doomed. Never underestimate the importance and power of concentration. If your concentration is diligent, sincere and intense, your meditation will take care of itself and flourish as a beautiful, powerful, adorable, fragrant garden.
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You cannot eat with paper chopsticks. They do not have the strength to grip anything, let alone carry it to your mouth. To do their job, chopsticks must be firm. Only a concentrated mind can grip and control its own thoughts, enabling us to enter into meditation.
In C. S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, an unprepossessing wardrobe hides an entrance to Narnia, another entire world.
This notion of a hidden portal, bridge or secret passageway to another, usually better, brighter or vaster realm, located within our physical world and yet existing entirely parallel to or beyond it, forms a thread from ancient legends, through folklore, poetry and literature to modern fiction and games. Often the portal is inaccessible, either physically or metaphorically; guarded by dragons, warriors, ferocious animals or precipitous cliffs; or accessible only by performing feats of heroism, sacrifice or dazzling endeavour, solving a mind-bending riddle, cracking a fiendish code or intoning an esoteric mantra.
One hero might stumble upon their portal by chance, while another seeks it ardently, devoting their life to finding and passing through it.
The portal to the Beyond is such a popular and universal device because it strikes a chord within and rings true in our imagination. We sense there is indeed another world – better, kinder, purer, vaster, brighter – somewhere within and parallel to our everyday existence. We sense also there must be a way, an entrance, to access this hidden realm. Many of us sense also, that it is our purpose, our mission, even our destiny to seek out this portal and pass through it, even while living here, not abandoning our present world.
This hidden dimension is of course, the spiritual realm. Our meditation practise is both our portal and our Beyond; at once revealing the wardrobe and embodying the vaster realm within.
Our meditation and spiritual journey, reveals and makes accessible to us the infinite within the finite; the eternal within the moment; the immortal within each breath; the spiritual within, all around, embracing, permeating, infusing, inspiring, enlivening and illumining the material.
Go deep, deep under the sea, to where all is silent, invisible and unreachable from the surface world. Rising from the sea floor a mountainous landscape looms, silent, mythical. Hidden half-way up the side of a steep canyon, the mouth of a cave. Deep inside the cave is an illuminated glass dome, housing a wondrous tropical garden of lush plants, delicate fragrance and flittering silent butterflies.
The caretaker and inhabitant of this magical garden is a breathtakingly beautiful child, in whose glowing sweet smile you are enveloped within a single glance. The moment you set eyes on this child, all thoughts and worries evaporate, plans and desires dissipate, your self-consciousness dissolves as you melt under waves of pure love. You do not need to explain or say anything, for all is understood, all is known, all is accepted, all is loved, all is one. You can only smile, wonder and adore. There is light inside and emanating from the child’s eyes, soft, all-seeing, all-knowing, all-forgiving and all-illumining.
Language is superfluous. There is nothing to say and nothing to be said. Your communication is only through smiling, subtle gestures and especially, the light of the eyes. Like the child, you feel yourself weightless, liberated from yourself, relieved of life’s burdens and responsibilities, of all pretence and performance. The child is simplicity, purity, beauty, innocence and charm incarnate.
Implicitly, you are aware this child knows you better than you know yourself, seeing through and beyond everything you try to be, or think you are. Astonished in mute wonder, the being you see reflected in the child’s eyes is more beautiful and perfect than you could ever have imagined yourself to be.
In wordless wonder of breathless humility your true self, your selfless self, recognises, embraces and merges into itself, yourself.
Why? We yearn for these glowing realities, and are drawn to them as a moth to a flame. We imagine we do not have them, because we do not feel them at this moment. And yet, we know they exist, for we have fleetingly felt and glimpsed them from time to time – so, we search for them.
We search in so many ways. We train, we travel, we study, we explore, we implore, we strive, we fight, we play, we indulge, we abstain, we practise, we beg, we cry, we create, we destroy, we accept, we reject, we acquire, we sacrifice.
For peace, light, love or bliss, some would kill; many would readily die.
And then, we attain a glimpse, an opening, a moment, a murmur, a blossoming or effulgence of peace, light, love or bliss … before, inevitably it fades, subsides, retreats, withers or turns slowly away.
Whatever we grasp, we can drop; whatever we learn, we can forget; whatever we make, can be broken; whatever we find, can be lost. Whatever we have, can be un-had … but what we are, we can never not be.
We seek peace, love, light and bliss as experiences, adventures or possessions, as things that we yearn to have. And so our quest, even when successful, is ever ultimately in vain.
Our search can only be fulfilled when we realise a simple truth: we do not have, and can never have peace, love, light and bliss. We are peace, love, light and bliss; we were never, and can never be otherwise.
Let us give up seeking to have. From henceforth, let us yearn only to be. Behold, we are not only from the Divine and of the Divine: we are the Divine.
“Yesterday I was clever.
That is why I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise.
That is why I am changing myself.”
– Sri Chinmoy
The personal embodies the universal. The personal is our window and key, to the universal.
We are the world – collectively, and individually. Everything in the world, is within all, and each of us – all the good and bad, beautiful and ugly, divine and undivine. We are the drops, our world the ocean.
It is asked: what good can my personal meditation do for the world? To which comes the answer: what good can my personal meditation not do for the world?
Every thought, every intention, every action and especially, every meditation of ours, contributes to the sum of our world-consciousness. True, we cannot direct the consciousness of the whole, but we can contribute positively with all our heart and soul, which embody the most powerful force in the universe.
Change can only come from within. If we do nothing to change ourselves within, we will not change without, and our world will not change – that is for sure. If we do change ourselves from within, then we are bound to change without, and our world is changed, however imperceptibly.
Meditation is the simplest, most effective way to bring forth the peace, light, love and power required to change ourselves within. This same peace, light, love and power is within everyone, but dormant. Just as countless candles can be lit from the flame of one candle; to stir this peace, light, love and power into life and action, requires inspiration, and inspiration can only come once these forces are awakened somewhere, inside someone. Let that someone, that one candle, be you.
When you take the universal personally, you become the universal person.
It is said, that for every poisonous plant in the Amazon rainforest, there is a matching plant growing nearby, which yields the antidote to that very poison.
Such is the balance of Nature … and in our spiritual lives.
Imagine the entire Amazon rainforest, is within us. We each embody its immensity and complexity, all its intricate, finely balanced ecosystems, weather patterns, life cycles, and teeming life forms.
Just as we contain every poisonous plant – fear, doubt, anxiety, insecurity, pride, jealousy, frustration, hatred, depression – so, we also contain somewhere nearby, each antidote – love, sympathy, faith, hope, gratitude, humility, enthusiasm, patience, cheerfulness.
It is best to shun all poisonous plants: but to avoid them, we need to know which ones they are, and how to recognise them. And once poisoned, knowing there is an antidote plant somewhere in the forest, is no help when we are dying: we have to know which plant is which, where to find it, and how to use it. This comes from an intimate knowledge of the forest, or in the case of our spiritual life, intimate knowledge of ourself.
The only way to know ourselves well enough to recognise the poison plants, and where their antidotes are to be found and how to apply them, is through meditation, for meditation reveals to us the character and nature of our own mind and heart; how to avoid the poisons of the mind and access our heart’s healing power.
Sure enough, all the poisonous plants are to be found growing in the mind; but like the forest, the powerful antidote plants are in close proximity. The distance from one to the other is not a physical distance; it is the effort of aspiration required to leap from our mind, into our heart.
“All real spiritual Masters teach meditation in silence.”
– Sri Chinmoy
This statement baffles the mind. We are used to learning using words, reason and analysis. Our mind sees itself as the seat of perception, the instrument of learning, caretaker of knowledge and curator of wisdom, while outside of itself is only blind ignorance.
Yet meditation calls for a silent mind, from which the mind’s cognitive repertoire of thoughts, words and concepts are banished. To reach silence, we needs must learn the language of silence, which can only be learned, in silence.
Sri Chinmoy continues:
“In school you have a teacher who is teaching you and offering his wisdom-light to you through language. In the spiritual life also, the teacher teaches through language. But the language of the spiritual teacher is meditation. Meditation is the inner language, and the teacher teaches meditation through silence.”
– Sri Chinmoy
But how can the teacher teach, and how can we learn, in silence?
Just look at a baby. The greater part of all we ever learn about life, we learn in our first six months. Does the baby learn with words, thoughts, reasoning? No! A baby learns by observation, imitation, assimilation and application. There is no mind involved, because the baby has not yet developed the mind. Ironically, there is no greater barrier to learning in our entire existence, than our mind.
The most direct route to learning meditation is to be as a baby, and learn from a Master:
“When a genuine spiritual Master meditates, Peace, Light and Bliss descend from above and enter into the sincere seeker. Then automatically he learns how to meditate from within.
“If you want to be under the guidance of a spiritual Master, the Master’s silent gaze will teach you how to meditate.”
– Sri Chinmoy
Standing in a long queue? Waiting around for a delayed flight? Doing some mind-numbing chore, over and again?
Wonderful! A golden opportunity to meditate…
While a rainy day may be useless for a parade, it offers the perfect chance for indoor games. Every situation which we find taxing, tiring or tiresome, can be turned around to our advantage.
A meditator is a traveller and explorer of the inner self: our inner self is our inner self regardless of what is happening to us or around us. Our journey of inner discovery always beckons with new avenues to be explored, new challenges to surmount, new vistas to enjoy. No matter what outer situation we find ourselves in, there is always a meditation technique that is applicable in the moment. In our spiritual life, every moment is a unique gift to be treasured, a golden opportunity for progress and growth.
Of course, not every meditation technique is applicable to every scenario: we cannot sit cross-legged in a moving queue, or start chanting loudly in the library. But no outer situation can take away our heart’s freedom, or our power of imagination; and any circumstance which challenges our mind’s focus, or threatens our control over our breath, is the ideal chance to practice and hone that very skill.
Mantras are endlessly adaptable and always applicable. If you do not know a useful mantra for the moment, create one on the spot, and put it to use right away, most likely in silence.
Hold fast to your life’s goal. Do not allow the mind to engage in negative responses: frustration, annoyance and grievance might all seem justifiable, but they smother our hearts’ sweetness and joy, thwarting our higher purpose. Keep the avenue to your heart always free and clear.
“Because you are consciously spiritual,
On each of your birthdays
Your soul comes to you to energise you,
Inspire you and give you additional strength
To go forward in your aspiration-life.”
– Sri Chinmoy
Intuitively, we know our birthdays are special, which is why we celebrate them. If our values are material and social, we celebrate with gifts and indulging in outer pleasures with friends. If our values are spiritual, we will give priority to our source – our soul, and its Source – God, remembering and focusing on the purpose for which our soul took birth in this form at this time.
It is recommended to set aside extra time to meditate on our birthday, and to meditate more often – say, four or five times during the day – to make the most of this rare opportunity to enter into the glow of our soul’s light and flow of our soul’s purpose. This is the time to be grateful for our acceptance of the spiritual life, and rededicate ourselves to our highest goals.
Like the waxing moon, many spiritual seekers feel that the soul may start coming to the fore several days in advance of our birthday, and remain prominent for some days thereafter. If you feel this, please meditate more during these days as well. Like anything in life, the more we value and express gratitude for any blessing, the more we will receive from the opportunity.
So, whatever you may or may not believe about the soul or God or the meaning of life, be sure to accept your birthday –¬ your Soul’s Day – as a sacred occasion, a blessingful opportunity to connect, commune with and embrace your pure and authentic self, and to recommit to your spiritual life, renewing your soul’s promise, your life’s true purpose.
From the ordinary perspective, we may consider the time and date of our birth to be a random, pot-luck selection, not signifying anything in particular.
Astrologers believe there is tremendous significance in the time of our birth, that the arrangement of the constellations and cosmic forces at that time, play a defining role in our attributes, personality, potentiality and destiny.
According to the Spiritual Masters, however, the time and date of our birth is determined neither by random chance, nor astrological alignments: it is our soul’s choice. The very purpose of the soul’s acceptance of a human form is to fulfil the soul‘s promise to its own Source – God; to manifest God’s Light and serve God’s creation – humanity. It is our soul, with God’s sanction, which chooses the time of our birth, and the environment into which we will be born, including the location, country, culture, and specifically, our parents and family connections.
While we might imagine our body being born, and accepting a soul to help guide us through life, the opposite is the case: it is our soul which chooses our parents, our physical form, vital, mind and heart.
Our birthday – which is really our Soul’s Day – is therefore of tremendous significance, a wonderful opportunity for us to remember that we are nothing but our soul, to feel and celebrate the presence and purpose of our soul and its Source, the Supreme.
Sri Chinmoy writes:
“The birthday is the anniversary of the day the soul entered into the world, making a very special promise to the Supreme. Especially on our birthday, we have the golden opportunity to renew that promise and offer our surrender and gratitude to the Supreme. The opportunity is there; only we have to avail ourselves of it.”
– Sri Chinmoy
In all devotional paths, God is approached in a personal form. Any personal form must have all the human attributes, including feet. If God is to be approachable, God has to walk on earth. Earth is our realm, our familiar home. However low we consider ourselves to be, we will always be able to touch God’s Feet, even without daring to raise our eyes any higher. God’s Feet are connected to the entirety of God’s existence. So God’s Feet are our constant reassurance of God’s Presence, Compassion, Blessings and Concern. God’s Feet are our immediate connection, our rendezvous point with God, the meeting place between Heaven and earth, the spiritual and the material, the promise of our future liberation with our present bondage. Unless and until God dissolves the creation, God’s Feet are our solace, protection, salvation, liberation and assurance of our ultimate perfection.
Sri Chinmoy writes:
“When the beginner meditates early in the morning, he should meditate on the Feet of the personal Supreme. Then, along with his own devoted love, he will feel God’s Compassion and Concern. He will say, ‘Here is Someone who is really great, infinitely greater than I. That is why I am touching His Feet with such devotion.’ He will feel that there is some purpose behind what he is doing. By touching the Feet of the Supreme, he is trying to become one with the Supreme. He feels that for him, this is the easiest approach. If someone is very tall, I won’t be able to touch his head. But I can touch his feet. Whether I touch his feet or his head, I can say that I have touched him. But when I touch his feet, immediately I get the feeling of purest joy and devotion.”
– Sri Chinmoy
