Meditation: Journey Inward to Self-Discovery

The art of meditation

Through meditation, you can see the world as a series of pictures thrown on the screen of your consciousness, writes Sadhu TL Vaswani

What is meditation? It is “withdrawal”, “retreat”, “detachment” from the outer to know myself. Who am I? Meditation is turning inward. Withdraw from the senses, the five senses and the outer world. Sink deeper and deeper, until you reach the mind—purified mind, refined mind. Withdraw still further—until you reach the heart: remove yourself from the domination of thought, desire, body, and feeling.

By this process of withdrawal, you sink deeper and deeper, until you touch the pure white light. You have to sink deeper still: until you merely not see light but become light-like—“become”, recover consciousness of what you are eternally, a ray of the eternal sun. It will help this process of withdrawal if you reserve a separate room for meditation and meditate there, locking the door.

That room will gradually be charged with a beautiful atmosphere which you may breathe in and be blessed: you gradually move in the midst of the light around you. Two very good periods for meditation are, dawn and twilight when the sun is going down. In the quiet of these two periods, the process of interiorisation is much helped on. Face the east or face the north: try to forget the physical body.

Quietly take in what comes. Try to “empty” the mind: try to still the mind and accept what comes. You will, at last, see a point, a point of light: it will grow! Observe the law of persistence. The mind is restlessness: it is difficult to empty it. But you must persist! Practice makes perfect. Do abhyasa. By purified sankalapa, break the old habits. The mind (lower) is often a rebel: it will take time to convert the rebel into a devotee. There is, also, the law of association—association with your Ishta, your Guru. It is difficult to meet a guru of the true type in these days. Dark night surrounds us. But in any case, try to be associated, in thought and love, with an Ishta, Guru Nanak, Sri Krishna, Buddha, Jesus or any one of the Great Masters. This association is shraddha, faith in the Master, confidence in the Teacher. The law of vibration: this calls for breath-control, slowing down the breath-movement: regulated in-breathing and out-breathing,

Yet more than breath-control is humility: it removes mental barriers. And to humility add longing, aspiration—thirst for truth, for light. So live that your very presence may send out vibrations of humility, longing and love!

Meditate and meditate: and the day comes, through a prolonged period of meditation, when you see the whole world in a new light, you see the world as series of pictures thrown on the screen of your consciousness. Great peace, the joy of which no tongue may tell, then fills you: and you become, ever-increasingly, a vehicle of grace to others and a source of service and strength to the lowly and the lost in this broken bleeding world!

X

Your wellbeing is a few clicks away.

Subscribe to your weekly dose of positivity, wellness, and motivation and get a free printable
Soulveda Gratitude journal