Part 2
Meditation Is Not Religion
Meditation teaches one how to be; it is an inward method for knowing oneself on all levels and for experiencing the higher levels of consciousness. The basic instruction for meditation is “Be still, and know that I am God,” and this is also the very core of the Bible.
But meditation does not interfere with any religious of cultural beliefs. Meditation should not be mingled with any sort of religion, and religious ceremony should not be involved in meditation. Doing so could create needless conflict with one’s cultural and religious background and personal beliefs. If a teacher involves any religious ceremony in meditation, it would be better not to learn from that person.
The word “meditation” has been used by various religions, but not with its proper meaning; real meditation is entirely different from the sense in which the word is used by religionists. The different religious groups of the world give people a code for what to do and what not to do, but the question of how to be remains unanswered.
In the English dictionary the word “meditation” has not been explained as yet. It is defined as meaning to ruminate on, to reflect upon, to contemplate― that’s all. But in the Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese languages, the word “meditation” has been used in a very clear way: it means to make the mind free from disturbing thoughts. Meditation is a method that makes one aware of the Reality. This is an inward journey from the gross, to the subtle, to the most subtle aspect of one’s being.
The purpose of the school of meditation is to lead one to the center of consciousness, from where consciousness from where consciousness flows on various degrees and grades. The purpose of meditation is not to convert one from Christianity, for example, to Judaism, or from Hinduism to Zen. Meditation neither rejects nor recognizes any particular religion.
The school of meditation is an inward method that leads one to the center of consciousness by stilling the mind. There is no other way of education that helps one to know oneself on all levels. There is no religion that does this, either― and if there is any philosophy that speaks of this, it is not helpful, because it is purely theoretical without any practice.
The practical aspect of religion is missing from daily life, no matter which religious tradition one comes from. “Knowing thyself” is the aim of everyone’s life, and for that, one must practice an inward method. The ancients of all great religions of the world knew the method of meditation, but modern humanity is lost in the charms and attractions of materialism. This is a self-created misery.
People are supposed to become wiser with age, but today old people are sent to state hospitals. Why does this happen? Because they are not taught to practice meditation and cannot deal with the loneliness of old age. People do not learn how to control their emotions.
When Christ was on the cross, why did he not cry? The reply that he was suffering for us is not a sufficient answer. The answer is that there is a center within every human being that, if attained, gives freedom from all pains, fears, and miseries―even the fear of death evaporates. Christ attained that level; why then don’t all Christians attain that state today? Because the great meditative practices of ancient Christianity have been lost. Practical Christianity does not exist today.
If one really studies and understands the Scriptures, one wonders how the sages lived on Mount Athos. How did the Desert Fathers live? Could they live without meditation? It is not possible. A man who does not know meditation can go insane if he lives all alone.
What Meditation Isn’t
Just as many people think meditation is a part of religion, they also confuse the words “meditation” and “contemplation” is defined as “meditation,” as if there were no difference between the two. But they are actually two different things.
Thinking with a definite idea in mind is contemplation, but in meditation one does not explore the various aspects of a particular concept. In meditation one has decided on a single point of focus, and one does not change that ―it is always the same focus. For contemplation one needs an idea, but to learn meditation one needs an object of concentration.
Meditation will tell one how distracted one’s mind is, how much concentration one has, but meditation is different from concentration. To concentrate is to narrow down, to lead the mind one-pointedly in one direction. Meditation is expansion, but if the mind is scattered and dissipated, there is nothing to expand. Without concentration, meditation is not possible.
Some schools of meditation want to please people, and so they say that one does not have to do anything particular to practice meditation. But they are cheating and hurting the people because it is not possible to direct the mind inward one-pointedly without concentration.
Meditation is a self-reliant method of inner study, and it therefore should not be confused with anything like hypnosis. Hypnosis can definitely help one in dealing with many dissipated, and distorted conditions of the mind, and a therapist should use all the available resources to help the patient to find out something new, creative, and helpful. Sometimes hypnosis should be used, so I’m not going to reject it.
But it does not make one independent, and so it cannot be included in a self-training program. Autosuggestion cannot be part of a self-training program either. I used to practice hypnosis, and I have made experiments with it, but I do not pursue it anymore because it can be dangerous. In the unconscious there lie many, many levels, and sometimes one can lose touch with the person he has hypnotized. The person can go beyond the subconscious, and it is such a pleasurable state that he might refuse to come back.
Freud also realized this problem. After he used this method, he found out that the patient can sometimes come in touch with certain powers within-negative or positive―that are beyond the reach of the therapist. I know a psychiatrist who used hypnosis for many years, who is now a patient herself because of overdoing it. Modern education is totally based on hypnosis, on suggestion. Education based on suggestion and autosuggestion is superficial and is not truthful.
What is the difference between hypnosis and meditation? Many of the books written on this topic are by people who have not experienced both systems, and so they cannot understand the differences between them. Hypnosis controls the mind, and then one is not oneself, but meditation is beneath all these different forms and names.
The purpose of the school of meditation is to lead one to the unity, to a realization that we are all breathing the same air and that there is only one proprietor who is giving the same vitality to you and me. In the school of meditation, one learns the process that makes one aware of the unity of life within all these multiples. Meditation makes a person aware of oneness, whereas hypnosis makes a person aware of manyness. One unites; the other divides. One is internal; the other is external.
Meditation leads one to the silence within. Most people don’t know what silence is. They have never enjoyed it. They may go to a quiet room where there is no outer sound, but the mind remains noisy all the time.
Once I told my master that I had observed silence for a long time, that I knew what silence was. He laughed at me and said, “If you don’t talk to anybody and put yourself in a pit, do you call it silence? No. That’s not true silence. You can take silence anywhere you are if you have developed the power of withdrawal. Then you can be the midst of the world and yet remain in silence. If you have not done that, then no matter where I put you, you will be disturbed.”
But silence can cripple one if he is not prepared for it. It can drive a person crazy from unfulfilled cravings for external companionship. How can external silence give one internal silence? The mind will start becoming more active when one is silent externally. But when one learns to love the silence within, then the highest of all joys becomes that deep silence in which one goes beyond all the states of one’s mind. The mind then turns within and enjoys that peace beyond.
. . . to be continued
