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Meditacijos centras Ojas
 









1999 No.2

Dr. Metchislovas Vrubliauskas,
The Leader of Ojas Meditation Center

Essence of Meditation and its Practice (2)

    Here we will discuss the practical sides of meditation more broadly: its preconditions, application and effects. Meditation, as science, is taking its place in the West slowly but firmly. There are almost no publications on true meditation so far because there are no authentic meditators. Threatening and often one-sided articles and telecasts, born out of fear, superstitions and ignorance, stop the seekers - seekers of spirit and truth only for a short time. In fact it is good as it holds on the coward ones. That way naturally the brave and more sincere meditators are picked out, who later on will be able to share their inner light and truth with others.

    Searching the way, the spiritual way inwards to heart and one’s own soul, it is essential to find an enlightened man, buddha. Tuning into an enlightened spiritual Master protects from unnecessary mistakes and misleading paths. There is already the experience of past lives in the souls of the majority of deeper seekers that could have been gained in traditions of other religions. Each authentic tradition - Zen-buddhism, Sufism, Hasidism, Tantra, Taoism, Daoism, Yoga, etc. has its own unique methods and meditations for spiritual growth. Therefore the chosen spiritual path has to be wide and deep enough, otherwise it will seem boring and lifeless and will frighten away from searching. These authentic traditions in religion are like different branches in science - medicine, mathematics, physics, chemistry, psychology… Some branches are old, others - new. There are dried up branches in religions such as Marxism in science. These exist one or several centuries and disappear. On the other hand, the age of majority of religions hardly reaches a few thousand years. Only Jainism is an exception, as its sources describe the positions of stars before hundred thousand years.

    Thus, the spiritual way has to fit a soul. Osho describes a story, which happened to one disciple of Gautama Buddha. The latter was running about not knowing what to do. Buddha called him and said: “Close your eyes and look inwards”. The disciple started to look very carefully. Five of his past lives when he was searching passed through in front of his eyes. Buddha said: “You see that each time you have been leaving the path without reaching the goal. Be brave this time and go till the end”. This vision was enough for the disciple and he became enlightened that life.

    Speaking about meditation, it is necessary to keep in consciousness that it is not a technique, but a process, energetic phenomenon and state, which happen while practicing certain meditation methods. When meditation has happened, a certain transformation is proceeding, a transformation of a soul, similar to seed’s growing. A seed can’t become a tree without such transformation, so the soul can’t wake up and become a part of the divine. Meditation is the way of soul’s growth. There is no way back. Information is not important, what matters is transformation. It does not matter how much you know about the growth, it is important whether you are growing. And the growth always comes from the seed’s inside, from its integrity, and meditation - from soul’s inside, from its integrity. Meditation is the way for a separated soul to return to the whole, to return to God. As one drop returns to ocean and becomes an ocean, the soul returns to God and becomes God. Maybe for this reason Sufi mystic Mansoor was hacked by spleenful people for saying “I am God” sometimes. Of course, this didn’t destroy his divinity, and the death of the Master encouraged his disciple for seeking, who became enlightened after several years.

    Let’s take a simple meditation, which has been known for two and a half thousand years. This is a vipassana - the witnessing of breath, while practicing it Gautama Buddha awakened or became enlightened. More detailed description of that meditation you may find in Osho book published in Lithuanian language “Meditation - the First and the Last Freedom”. By practicing this meditation the same consciousness - the highest consciousness was reached not only by Gautama Buddha, but also by several hundreds of his disciples at the time when Buddha was in the body and by thousands of seekers later. Very likely this is the most simple meditation, but it bore the biggest fruits. No other meditation can equal at this aspect. Currently this meditation is being practiced widely. Usually the spiritual Master shares the methods he practiced himself. To center or to move inwards into one’s center of being Sufis use whirling very extensively. Eastern mystic Shiva described one hundred and twelve basic meditation methods. Meditation methods are discovered while meditating and don’t depend on their author. There is no need to believe in meditations. The transformation of the soul happens while meditating independently whether meditator believes in its author or not. Although in certain stages of the transformation or growth of the soul, the faith may really ease and make faster the way.

    Usually people, who are lost, don’t trust neither themselves nor others, come to meditation seminars. They would like to believe and trust but they can’t. They were told lies, have been deceived, offended, and beaten so many times and they stopped believing that love and truth exist. Even when an individual says that he loves or that it is true, it doesn’t feel so. Your thirst can’t be satisfied by such saying because man’s words are lifeless or because we are closed. We don’t feel how really is. We are uncertain about everything. It is always like that when we are in mind. There is always a doubt in mind. If you doubt you are probably in mind. Try to feel. The certainty is below or above the mind. The feeling may take you above the mind, but the consciousness is necessary. You may see mindless fanatics. They don’t think and don’t feel. They isolate themselves from others with their belief. It doesn’t matter what they believe in: party, nation, sect or leader of faith. Such faith is worse than thinking. However, the faith gives a certain power. When an undoubtful man focuses with his mind upon a certain idea or belief, it concentrates energy and the power comes out of it. But power is not yoga. Strength is unconscious yoga and yoga is conscious strength. If strength is consciously directed, then yoga is possible, and then meditation is possible. Meditation starts above the mind. Fanatical belief is below it. Conscious focusing, conscious concentration or contemplation is not meditation, but may be a ground, a stepping-stone for it.

    As Osho says, for meditation to happen three things are necessary: relaxation, non-judgement and witnessing. They are not sufficient, but necessary.

    First of all about relaxation, letting go. A man can relax only when he says truth. While lying, he becomes tensed. His eyes move differently while lying. If you don’t feel the other directly, you may sense a lie by looking into his eyes. The authors of lie detectors’ used such eye movements. Now even technical equipment can determine when you are lying. But if you don’t feel directly whether the other is lying, then, perhaps, you sometimes lie as well. If you lie then you will never totally relax. The man can naturally relax when he is himself, when he does not seek any gain, doesn’t pretend and when he doesn’t want to please or charm others. Then he is naturally beautiful, vital, full of inner beauty. He may look like a wild animal, but he doesn’t resemble a trained soldier. You probably know that wild animals never go mad and never attack other creatures without a reason. A trained animal looses his inner freedom; the fear appears. A baby or a child still is able to relax. But a soldier can’t. Love helps a lot to relaxation. Being relaxed and not judging you will never harm anybody.

    Non-judgement and non-valuation indicates a state of man’s mind. If you don’t judge or value, you can’t get angry with other person. The attitude of non-judgement or non-valuation trains us not to compare people or situations without a need. A little child can endlessly enjoy and be happy with his unsightly mother or disabled sister. But if you put into the child’s mind that this is ugly or bad, he will believe in it, and then a real hell will start in his mind and him. In fact, the hell is based on good wishes and nice ideas. Then a comparison starts, valuation and judgement. We can loathe other person only because he is not rich enough, stout or his nose is big. So much significance we give to the nose. This way we usually loose even love. It is nice and beautiful to feel another person or situation. If you are able to look at the flower and do not value it, if you can just look at and let it flow into you, let yourself to flow into it, then you know what is blissfulness and what love is. Love requires non-valuation, non-judgement, silence. Take a hand of your beloved and just feel. What silence and blissfulness will fill you up! Let love flow into you and share your love. Look into the eyes of your beloved. It is the simplest way. Share your inner silence, inner energy. If you are able to look into the eyes of your beloved without thinking, and feel her inner world, inner energies, then you know what is love, divinity, and meditation is not far away. Love and meditation are two wings to reach the divine, the endless inner sky.

    The third is witnessing. It is more difficult to express it by words. Only a superior consciousness can witness the lower one. A thing can’t witness an animal. It can’t even observe the animal. The animal can observe the man, but can’t witness him. Only a man can witness and only when he is unidentified from body or mind. It is easier to witness the body, because it is easier to unidentify from it. It is a little bit harder to witness mind, because it is subtler and harder to unidentify from. But once we get unidentified we realize that we are not body, mind and even feelings.

    The key to witnessing is totality. If you are able to do something and be totally absorbed by it, then witnessing may happen. Totality is the key to witnessing. The witnessing is the key to meditation. But you need not to get lost. There is no judgement at the time of witnessing. The understanding comes while witnessing. While witnessing we understand how it is. People usually are not aware of such moments. If you have ever looked for an answer for a long time, in a way that your mind became completely exhausted and you relaxed totally then witnessing could have happened. Then you could have understood what needed to be done or where was the way out, but you didn’t become aware of how this happens. Witnessing needs consciousness, not thinking: while thinking there will be no witnessing. Any part of you can’t witness, only you. In fact, you are the witnessing. The witnessing subject and an object being witnessed disappears in the process of witnessing. Witnessing helps you to unidentify from the body, mind, feelings and moods. All these things can’t be done unconsciously. Only a conscious action brings up consciousness.

(To be continued )

Essence of Meditation and its Practice(1) (The first part)

Essence of Meditation and its Practice(3) (The third part)







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