Make a list of all the qualities you most treasure; the qualities you, and the world, need most urgently.
Your list might include peace, love, oneness, joy, fulfilment, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, wisdom, courage, strength, belonging, kindness, tolerance, patience, beauty, sweetness, perfection, satisfaction.
All these qualities are to be found in our spiritual heart, the place we point to when we say “I”. Indeed, they are to be found nowhere else. “Home is where the heart is” because our heart is where we feel most natural, most comfortable, most fulfilled, most complete, most at home.
We cannot see the spiritual heart, so how can we be aware of it? How can we concentrate on it?
If you close your eyes and someone holds a rose in front of you, you will know it is there by its fragrance. Similarly, we know we have a spiritual heart by the fragrance of its qualities, its emissaries, and we can concentrate and enter into the heart by invoking, loving and absorbing ourselves in these qualities.
The spiritual heart is the 4th level of our being, at once housing and yet extending infinitely beyond the first three levels of body, vital and mind. The heart is our portal and guide to the spiritual realm, to our deeper, more real, eternal self.
Our heart is like the mother to our lesser parts, always offering love, compassion and concern, yet requiring infinite tolerance and patience, and often ignored.
The heart connects directly with reality through the identification of oneness. Our heart reveals itself and communicates most eloquently through a smile.
Love is the heart’s staple diet; music its universal language.
Our spiritual heart is ever new, all-loving and all-wise, continually expanding, deepening and blossoming.
Level three is where most of us spend most of our time, energy and focus, the locus for most of the conscious awareness of present-day humanity, the level which rules the world – for better and for worse.
We are speaking of the Mind.
It is the mind which sets humans apart from the animals. The root of “human” and “mankind” is the Sanskrit “manas”, meaning “the mind” or “the intellect”. Thus was mankind originally defined as “the thinking animal.”
The mind is our onboard computer. It receives all the information from our senses – what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch – processes it all through what it has already learned, and creates models of understanding through which we relate to ourselves and the universe.
In our hierarchy of concentric circles, the mind encloses the body and vital, so it has power to influence and control both body and vital and bend them to its will.
The mind is an ardent seeker of both knowledge and control. The mind applies its instruments of understanding: observation, experience, inquiry, logic, reason, analysis, the scientific method, to establish laws governing the world and behaviour. To the mind, knowledge is power, expressed through the expansion of itself, its ego and dominion: thus the mind seeks its fulfilment through extending and inflating itself. Knowledge, philosophy, science and technology are limbs of the mind, means by which it seeks identity, and to establish dominance and exert control.
Our present-day world is a projection of our minds’ majesty, immensity, ability, agility, fragility, facility, fecundity, creativity, audacity, ingenuity, intricacy, complexity, perplexity, perspicacity, superfluity, superiority, ambiguity, absurdity, disparity, disunity, duplicity, obduracy, autocracy, inflexibility, inadequacy, insecurity, instability, insincerity, impurity, inequity, iniquity, poverty, rapacity, hostility, cruelty, calumny, calamity – and insanity.
There are two convenient ways to represent a model of our five levels of being. One way is as a 5-story building, where the body is the ground floor and each succeeding level is the next floor above. This model is useful to understand some aspects of the relations between the various levels.
However perhaps a more accurate model may be to represent the levels of being as 5 concentric circles, the innermost circle being the body. It is clear from this model, that each successive circle will not only be larger than the previous, it will also encompass each of the “lower” levels. And so it is – each successive “higher” level has direct influence and control, or jurisdiction over the smaller circles within it.
Level 2, the Vital, is our life force, source of our vitality. Just as our physical body is formed from the realm of physical matter, so our vital derives from the immense field of cosmic energy.
With the vital energy now permeating the body, it is able to enter the field of action. The body can get up, move around, run, jump and dance. The body and vital are interdependent: the body needs the vital to enable it to act, while the vital needs the body to be able to express itself in the world.
The body with the vital is now a force of potential action, awaiting instructions. Like water, which in flood can cause massive destruction, or can be harnessed for irrigation and power generation, the vital-enabled body can just as easily build or destroy. Our body-vital combination requires direction and guidance. For this we must look to the next higher level of being, that most marvellous manifestation, the Human Mind.
… infinitely more complex than the physical Universe around us.
While no model can ever adequately represent the multifarious levels of our consciousness, nevertheless for our purposes it is helpful to envision ourselves as comprising five essential levels of being. Each level has its own distinct modes of consciousness, its own qualities, capacities and sometimes defining limitations. Of course we are one Being, and every level is intricately and intimately intertwined with each other level in myriad ways, some obvious and most mysterious.
The most apparent level of our being, the first we can consciously grasp and identify with, is that which embodies us here on earth, our physical form. Of all the levels of our being, our body is the only one most of us can actually see, point to and touch.
Our physical body is composed of physical matter and for the most part, obeys known laws of physics. We can draw a line around it, enclose it, we can weigh it and measure it. Being composed of physical matter, our bodies are conceived, born, grow, age, die and return to the physical elements from which they were formed.
Medical science and anatomy have given us a fair understanding of how the body works. Through general sciences we can observe how our bodies operate in and interact with our broader physical universe, which for the purposes of this model, serves as an extension or projection of our physical consciousness.
Our bodies are astonishingly intricate and marvellous instruments, yet in and of themselves they are essentially useless, inert matter. For the body to be able to act in the world, it needs the presence of the second level of our being, the Vital.
The highest moments in our lives, the pinnacle experiences, are but glimpses of our deeper selves, our true nature.
When we are swept off our feet with happiness; when we gasp at the sheer beauty of a sunset; when our heart melts in the smile of an innocent child; when we are lost in wonder at the towering majesty of mighty mountains or the twinkling mystery of far galaxies; when we thrill to pure poetic perfection; glow with the flame of inspiration or soar on the wings of song; when we are seized with the revelation of a new truth; when we exult in silent speechless bliss of rapt meditation – these moments are signposts to the Beyond, the eternal reality within.
These moments are clarion calls from the infinite, the spiritual realm. They are reminders to our long-dormant self-awareness that we are not merely a physical, emotional, mental finite self but we are something much vaster, grander, deeper, higher and finer: we are the eternal consciousness, the infinite universe, the immortal soul.
The spiritual life is the quest of self-discovery. Self-discovery is the ultimate of everything we love.
We love adventure – why? – our inner journey beckons from within. Each outer adventure we enjoy is a faint echo, a summons to embark on this ultimate adventure.
We love to play games – why? – life itself is a game. Self-discovery is the conscious realisation of and participation in the ultimate, cosmic Game.
We love to learn – why? – all learning is a precursor of self-discovery, the summation and consummation of all knowledge.
We love to be in love – why? – to be in love offers a hint and promise of the ultimate romance, our union with the Source of all being.
Clear your mind and recall any most inspiring incident, experience or feeling from your past… Fully immerse yourself in and treasure this memory for a while.
You will notice that what you have recalled, is just a single moment.
Not a span of time: though your golden moment may have come as the culmination of a series of moments, yet it will always be one moment that crowns them all, one moment that brings the fullness of an inner thrill, a flash of revelation, a glow of realisation, or a losing of oneself in a vastness grander, lighter, purer, brighter.
When our life flashes before our eyes at a time of great peril, what we actually perceive is a cascading cavalcade of moments, each one the distillation of our state of consciousness at that time.
While journey and process are both invaluable and essential, the goal and pinnacle of any meditation is likewise a single moment: an epiphany, an inner awakening, an elevation to a grace-filled state of pure being.
We do not so much attain such a state, as surrender ourselves into it.
Ordinary life is a haphazard configuration of moments mostly mundane. The spiritual life is a concerted, consecrated progression of ever-ascending, ever-transcending, all-illumining moments in quest of The Ultimate Moment.
Time is a mechanism that shields us – or allows us to hide – from the ultimate, eternal moment.
The Truth of our being is not to be found in time. It is ensconced in a single moment, the Eternal Now. Time is woven by the mind from the fabric of thoughts. Thinking, we weave ourselves into so many cocoons of oblivion. To go beyond time and perceive the Eternal Now, we must venture beyond thought’s grasp, beyond the realm of the mind.
When you walk past the building site of a new large building in the city, and peer through the window of the siding walls protecting the site, for months on end all you will see is a hole in the ground.
The hole gets deeper and larger. Every time you walk past, still there is only this huge hole in the ground. There is always activity in the hole, massive machinery moving dirt around. It seems the building itself will never manifest.
Then one day the building is there, shooting skywards and in no time it is complete.
The time taken to excavate the hole always seems inordinately long compared to the time taken to erect the building.
Yet this is the first principle of all construction: establish a solid foundation. The “hole in the ground”, the foundation, is the most important part of every construction, for upon it rests the entire edifice.
So it is with our meditation practice.
The concentration exercises we do in order to gain control of our minds – the breathing and counting, focusing on a candle or flower, mantras, creative visualisations – these are the “hole in the ground”, the unattractive but absolutely indispensible foundation upon which will stand all our future spiritual experience and accomplishments.
While this phase of our spiritual practice may sometimes seem dull and repetitive, yet it is of supreme importance for our spiritual life to blossom to its full potential.
Every day we practise our concentration and meditation, we lay another brick in the foundation of our future spiritual palace. Every day we do not practise, one brick is removed from that foundation and the whole structure becomes weaker.
When patience, determination and unshakeable resolve are constant companions of our spiritual quest, our perfection is destined.
Mantra is a most effective form of meditation practise because it simultaneously involves many levels of our being. The body is involved in creating the sound; we feel the vibration, resonance and cadence of the mantra in our very limbs. The mind is focussed on the meaning of the mantra and on the challenge of keeping errant thoughts and distractions at bay. The heart opens, blossoms, sings and shines through the mantra as its various inner qualities are summoned and blossom.
Mantra can be the entire meditation, or can be used to open or close a session. In a group meditation, the chanting of a mantra commonly signifies that the session is commencing or concluding.
There are many ways to chant a mantra.
A mantra can be chanted in silence, softly under the breath, or powerfully out aloud; in a slow or swift rhythm; alone or in company with others. How we chant a mantra will depend on our circumstances and the force or quality we are invoking.
The time to chant a mantra silently might be when others are asleep or needing to be undisturbed or when we are in a public place. We might chant a mantra softly while gathering our focus into a calm control. A mantra is to be chanted loudly when power, resolution and conviction are demanded, or when we are chanting together in a group.
When we need something immediately, we chant a mantra rapidly and with urgency: for example if we are falling asleep and must summon instant energy, or if we find our concentration wavering at a critical moment. Conversely, when we need a quality from deep within – peace, poise, vastness or tranquillity – then a slow cadence is required. Fast is for urgency; slow is for depth.
After chanting all the words on your list in turn, each for a minute or two, conclude with the mantra “AUM” for a while.
Feel that the sound is emanating spontaneously from the depths of your spiritual heart.
While chanting AUM, once you close your mouth around “M”, allow the “M” to sound for about 3 times as long as the “AU” sound at the start. As “M” reverberates, there is a sense of the mantra itself entering into the infinite.
AUM is the original syllable of Sanskrit. It is supposed to be the seed sound of the universe, the sound and vibration from which all of creation sprang. AUM is considered the Mother of all mantras. In the Vedas and Upanishads, the most ancient scriptures of humanity, each mantra and invocation commences with AUM.
AUM is the mantra associated with the chakra of the spiritual heart: the centre within us of peace, love, harmony and oneness. As such, AUM is a harmonising mantra: by chanting AUM, we feel all the parts of our being – our thoughts, emotions, our physical body – coming into alignment, into harmony with each other, as well as a sense of oneness spreading from our own heart to pervade our surroundings and into the cosmos.
There is good reason why AUM has been chanted in many traditions for thousands of years. The reason is simple: it works! AUM embodies all the spiritual qualities on your list, while not conjuring any specific thoughts, associations or emotions. AUM is like the master-key with access to all the qualities we need.
AUM can be chanted at any time, anywhere. It is calming, focusing, energising and elevating. If chanted sincerely and from the heart, AUM is always effective and fruitful.
A mantra is the repetition of a phrase, word or syllable. The mantra is the focus of our meditation and the meditation itself. The mantra, its meaning, sound and resonance are at once an anchor for the mind and an invocation of a spiritual force, power or quality.
Let’s start with a simple mantra exercise: make a list of spiritual qualities you need in your life, for example: Peace, Love, Light, Joy, Compassion, Forgiveness, Wisdom, Patience, Determination. Include mono-syllabic and multi-syllabic words.
Take up your meditation station: sitting relaxed with your spine straight. Focus on your breathing for a few minutes, to calm the mind and bring your attention to a still point. Mantras can be practised either with the eyes open or closed.
Chant each word from your list aloud for a few minutes in turn. Each repetition of the word will fit exactly to one exhalation. Vary the length of the word and the breath according to your feeling, being sure not to strain or exert yourself beyond your capacity. Everything should be controlled and steady.
While chanting, focus all your being in the word, its production, its meaning and its resonance. Allow no other thoughts or distractions.
Feel that you are chanting not with your voice but from your heart centre, and feel the vibration of the word resonating from your heart throughout all your body, mind and the room around you. You are fully absorbed, immersed in the creation, vibration and sensation of each repetition.
According to your feeling, vary the pitch, volume and cadence for each word. For example, you may find “Peace” works better when chanted softly, slowly and at a lower pitch, whereas “Joy” might sound better at a louder volume and a higher tone.
Human beings have a deep, mystic relationship with words.
Words connect us with meaning, sound, vibration, and with Being itself. They are a means to communicate, to illustrate, to educate, to elevate and to liberate. Words link silence with sound, bridge Heaven and earth, marry the human with the Divine.
A mantra is the repetition of a word, phrase or sentence that serves at once as an anchor for the mind, and a means of transcendence beyond the mind.
Mantra is mystery made manifest, portal to the spiritual.
Mantra can be a tool to help us enter into meditation; it can be the object of our meditation; and it can be meditation itself.
A mantra is an invocation. We use mantra to invoke specific qualities as well as to enter a deeper, higher consciousness.
When mantra is used as a tool to help us enter into meditation, the mantra acts as a focal point to which the mind remains fixed, and to which it returns whenever it becomes distracted.
If only a tool, then it would not matter much what word or phrase would be used. However once we apply not only our minds’ but also our hearts’ focus to a mantra, then its meaning and significance very much matter – for when the heart focuses intensely on a spiritual quality, that very quality comes to the fore from its source deep within the heart, just as a faithful dog responds to its name being called and comes running home.
The heart is like a large, deep bell. The mantra strikes this bell and in response, the quality invoked by the mantra resonates both within and all around. At this point, word has become reality: the mantra is at once meditation’s seed, flower and fruit.
If a boat is left by itself on the ocean, it will be in constant motion: moving this way with the tides, that way with the wind, another way with a current. The boat itself has no say in where it goes, helpless before the forces of sea, sky and moon.
Our mind is that boat. The wind is our thoughts, the tides our emotions and the currents, our desires and the overwhelming distractions of the world. Left by itself, our mind cannot stay still, being constantly pulled, pushed and lured this way and that – and mindlessly following.
The first prerequisite of meditation is to calm, and ultimately to still, the mind.
To fix a boat in one place, requires an anchor or mooring. Similarly, to fix our mind so that it is not swept away by distractions, thoughts and desires, requires a mind-anchor, a firm object of concentration.
This “anchor” can be a physical object to look at such as a candle flame or flower; it might be a sound such as music or a mantra; a mental process like counting; the inflow and outflow of our breath; or a scene created in our mind’s eye.
Most “meditation exercises” are simply exercises in concentration; the process of focusing and anchoring our mind on one thought, one object, one sound, one feeling to the exclusion of all else. Of course the mind will still wander, for that is its nature. Without an anchor, it will drift all over the sea: with an anchor, it will only be able to go so far before it is brought back to a point of stillness.
By virtue of daily practise, the mind gradually becomes used to remaining in the one place. In the mind’s stillness, meditation may commence.
Just as light and dark cannot coexist in the same space, so gratitude and negative feelings cannot co-inhabit our consciousness. To dispel darkness, turn the light on: to relinquish negative thoughts and feelings, invoke gratitude.
Our minds are usually circumscribed by fear, pride, insecurity and greed. Yet when gratitude opens our heart-door, our every thought and feeling surrenders to peace, love, sweetness and joy.
Gratitude is our unfailing friend, physician, mentor and saviour. It is the simplest and surest antidote to negativity and depression. To embrace gratitude is to banish gloom swiftly, safely and surely.
For gratitude to play its role most effectively, it must be practised, nurtured and cultivated, regularly and devotedly.
How to “practise” gratitude? Simple: just feel gratitude, as often and as much as possible, always accompanied by a smile. You can never overdose on gratitude.
Try this exercise: sit quietly alone, with eyes closed. Breathe calmly, consciously breathing peace into your whole system.
Imagine a flower, in bud form, in the depths of your heart. The innocence and purity of this flower-bud calls forth all your heart’s sympathy, concern and protection. Gaze smilingly in wonder at this flower with all your tender care. As it slowly opens to your love, you are entranced by the flower’s beauty, purity, sweetness, delicacy, subtlety, simplicity and fragrance. This is your gratitude-heart-flower, the embodiment of all your heart’s gratitude for everything good and divine. Breathing in, allow the flower’s fragrance to permeate your whole being the way incense fills a room.
Now let the flower grow to the extent that your whole body has become the flower itself. You are the flower, its beauty, fragrance and perfection.
The sweetness of gratitude is power invincible, devouring weakness, liberating limitation and burying imperfection.
