The Heartfulness Way: Heart-Based Meditations for Spiritual Transformation by Patel Kamlesh D. & Pollock Joshua

Author:Patel, Kamlesh D. & Pollock, Joshua [Patel, Kamlesh D.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
Published: 2018-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

How to Meditate

Having fixed a time and place and found a comfortable pose, we are now ready to meditate. We gently close our eyes and center our awareness in the heart, supposing that divine light is present therein and that it is attracting us inward.

“What does it mean to suppose that divine light is present in the heart?” I asked.

“It is a hypothesis,” said Daaji. “At first, we don’t know what is inside the heart. We are waiting to find out. Meditation is an experiment in which we test this hypothesis that divine light is present in our hearts. The proof of this experiment comes when we actually experience it, through feeling.”

“How do we conduct this meditative experiment?” I asked.

“We relax and gently allow our awareness to rest in the heart,” said Daaji. “Divine light is not a thought, but a feeling. This feeling cannot be manufactured. Therefore, we should not make attempts to think about it or to feel it. Meditation is really a form of waiting—­relaxed, patient waiting, without any expectation. Therefore, we do not repeatedly remind ourselves that ‘divine light is present in my heart, and it is attracting me inward.’ We don’t need to keep refreshing this idea. It’s not a mantra that we repeat: ‘Divine light is in my heart, divine light is in my heart.’ That would only disturb us. It would be artificial and effortful. Rather, the thought of divine light must disappear from our minds in order to give way to the actual experience of light in the heart. The object of meditation is something that we feel, not something to think about.”

“But the definition of meditation is to think continuously about one thing,” I said.

“Yes,” said Daaji. “And we are continuously and totally attentive to this idea, but it is a deeper attentiveness—­a nearly subconscious attentiveness. People tend to misunderstand this. If you try to hold it as a conscious thought, you are only concentrating. That is not meditation.”

“What triggers this deeper attentiveness?” I asked.

“Your intention to meditate,” said Daaji. “That is sufficient. You see, consciousness is vast. Most of it lies beyond our conscious awareness. The portion of consciousness of which we are aware is only a minute fraction of its totality. The thought of divine light pervades those deeper realms of consciousness that are beyond our awareness. So you do not need to wrangle with the thought of divine light at any conscious level. Even if this thought never occurs to your conscious mind, rest assured that you are still meditating.”

“So what do we actually do in meditation?” I asked.

“Simply relax into your heart-­centered awareness and wait,” Daaji repeated.

“This method is almost too simple,” I said.

“Reality is simple!” he replied. “And to achieve a simple thing, we must adopt simple means. Babuji used to say that it’s easier to pick up a needle with your fingers than with a crane!”

“If only I’d known how simple meditation is back when I first started,” I said.

“But you learned through experience,” he said.

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