We live among sounds both pleasing and discordant. Often, we find ourselves assailed by unwelcome noises from sources over which we have little control – TV and radio trivia from our neighbours, jackhammers in the street, planes buzzing overhead, even the drone of conversations conducted by others. This is why silence is regarded as a positive value. Suddenly we find ourselves alone again, with no unwanted demands on our attention. It’s as if we have stumbled upon a long-lost treasure. Silence is the natural state of our being. In its deepest and truest form, it is a stillness found at the core of the self. If we know how to access this inner silent and still state, we find it unfailingly, because it is always there and always has been. Connecting with our inner silence strengthens our ability to remain in a state of ‘soul consciousness’, which is the awareness of our self as a spiritual being. How do we penetrate the walls of noise that surround spirit? External noises are relatively easy to avoid, but it is more difficult to muffle the din of ego. Our egotistical attachments, emotions and anxieties create an inner clamour, which we must learn how to quieten. For this, we do not need esoteric, demanding techniques, simply a willingness to listen to the silent symphony of the self, whatever other noises claim our attention both inside and outside the concert hall.
A valuable mantra for meditation would be: I am the imperishable energy consciousness. I am eternal. The more we meditate on this acclamation, the easier we will find it to realize its profound truth.
In ancient Greece the philosopher Socrates is said to have patiently questioned an uneducated slave boy until the lad revealed that, all his life, he had known a fundamental mathematical theorem without having been taught it, and without even knowing that he knew it. The truth, said Socrates, is eternal, unchanging and born within us. You need only be reminded where to look, and you will find it lying there in wait for you. We may not accept that scientific expertise is so readily disclosed within ourselves, but, certainly, that is where to look for truth of our spiritual identity.
One of the reasons that truth may appear so elusive is that most of us, most of the time, are afraid to search. The ego clings to material existence. It insists on its own completeness, its own sufficiency, and turns away from intimations of a timeless inner truth. Locating this truth means clearing away the attachments, desires and anxieties that obscure the purest reality – all forms of psychic clutter that make up the very foundation of the ego.
Purity, peace, love, truth and happiness all lie inside us, ready to be rediscovered. The journey of the spirit concludes at our starting-point. What everyone is looking for is already there, within their grasp, and always has been. We are reminded of the claim made by Michelangelo that his David, his Pietà and his other great sculptures were already present inside the raw marble blocks hewn from the quarries of Carrara in Italy. He needed to see them there and release them – to actualize their potential. In the same way, we can work with what we have to awaken our spiritual qualities. As we energize our capacity to give and to love, as we coax back our inner peace, and as our happiness becomes a daily decision, not a dependency, we realize the true beauty behind the surface of our skin.
There are, arguably, five innate spiritual qualities: truth, love, bliss, purity and peace. This exercise helps us to find them within.
1. Picture your inner world as a hidden garden, locked behind ivy-covered walls. Meditation is the key with which to open the gate. Use it to gain entry and look inside. Notice how the flower beds are perfectly tended, despite having been locked away. The patterns they make, the harmony in the colours, seem natural and right. This is your inner truth.
2. Step inside. Your desire to explore, to get closer to the blooms, is the love and acceptance you have for your own nature. Savour it and enjoy the vibrancy of the colours. Feel the bliss that such a sight evokes.
3. Drawing closer, see the completely accepting manner in which each flower opens, and the perfect ellipse of every petal. This is purity that is never puritanical.
4. Finally, close your eyes and breathe deeply. The scent is overpowering, obliterating any sense of self. This is peace of the soul – undistracted by any clamouring cries of ego.
There is a good reason why many of us spend most of each day distracting ourselves with noise – whether singing or humming to ourselves, chattering to friends or family, or leaving a radio or TV switched on. In the heart of silence, our most truthful inner voice can be heard, darker feelings may arise, and we may well be discomforted, even frightened, by what we hear and inwardly see. Yet silence is our natural ‘soul state’, and we will never connect with the truth that it holds for us unless we can learn to bring calm to our busy mind.
In silence the mind is quiet. The self is no longer distracted by worldly sounds or mental activity. This facilitates a reunion with the quiet voice of our own innate wisdom. Sometimes referred to as intuition, this is the inner guide that seeks to help us with our more challenging and often life changing decisions.
If we are able to come across silent places, we are often thankful for finding what has become an increasingly rare commodity in our busy world. They can help us into our own inner space of stillness. To begin making our way to such a space within your being, find a quiet spot and practise one of the meditations or visualizations in this book. Do not be concerned if occasional sounds interrupt the perfect quiet: think of these as ripples caused by beautiful fish nosing the surface of a still pond. Allow birdsong, whispering breezes and even more discordant sounds such as distant traffic to pass through your mind like the wind in a field of corn.
Some of the oldest meditative practices are accompanied by chants or bells. If you opt for this approach to meditation, choose a sound that will fade gently, then ride that sound with your awareness until you find yourself in silence. Allow the feeling of calm to permeate and cradle your being. Eventually you will be able to visit this inner citadel of quiet even amid the restlessness of everyday life. Whatever sounds encircle you in the world outside, you will be able to travel, at a moment’s notice, to your spiritual place of silence.
Peace and quiet exist within all of us, but many of us have lost the knack of finding it. This meditation will help to release it from its inner source, and allow us to rejoin it in our own oasis. Try the exercise in either a quiet or a noisy place: its effects will be the same.
1. Sit comfortably, close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few moments. Visualize that you are sitting alone by the water in an oasis. The desert stretches beyond as far as the eye can see, but immediately in front of you is a fertile haven – your place of silence.
2. Gaze into the mirrored surface of the water. Reflected, you can see clouds passing in front of the Sun. These are the thoughts, emotions and memories that prevent you from enjoying your place of silence. Banish the clouds mentally to reveal the unwavering light of the Sun.
3. Lean forward and look at your own reflection. The face belongs to a stranger. Is it happy or sad, alert or tired, confident or shy? Does it radiate energy?
4. Now drink from the pool. The water is the pure energy, the silent power at the silent heart of your being. Refreshed, you can re-enter life.
From ancient Greece to Native North America, breath has been envisaged as being closely connected with the spirit. Behind much of the symbolism is the notion that breath is a divine gift, returned at death to the donor. In the Hindu tradition of yoga, breathing is intended to align individual respiration with the rhythm of the cosmos. Yogis practise pranayama (breathing exercises performed through the nose) to strengthen the body, clarify the mind and maintain inner harmony.
There is a direct connection between quality of breathing and inner calm. Anyone who is agitated will experience shallow, fast and irregular breathing; peace of mind is associated with breathing that is deep, slow and regular. Keeping the mind focused by concentrating on breathing is fundamental to some meditation techniques, used to train the mind to be alert and observant. However, not all meditation focuses on breath: this emphasis may be useful, but some of us may find that it encourages excessive consciousness of the body’s functions. A troubled spirit will remain troubled no matter how much we work on our breathing. If the idea of breath offers us anything in our spiritual quest, it is as a subject for visualization.
Sit comfortably and take a series of deep breaths. Imagine that you are inhaling truth, insight and pure spiritual energy, and exhaling illusion, egotism and the negative energy of emotions. Visualize the in-breath as blue, and the out-breath as red. At the same time, affirm that spiritual awareness will come as naturally to you as breathing.
Breathing connects us with the whole world. In the air we breathe are the life-sustaining molecules we know as oxygen. Breathing ‘inwards’ is vital to the health of our body. But it is the light of love that connects us at the spiritual level. It is in the giving ‘outwards’ of our love that our well-being is maintained. Even receiving, with love, can be an act of giving. Perhaps this is why it has often been said that love is the ‘oxygen of the soul’. Imagine infinite exchanges of breath forming an invisible web that unites humanity.
Deep, regular breathing is a tried-and-tested way to generate mental calm. This exercise combines restful breathing with a relaxing visualization that draws upon the age-old symbolism of the nurturing sea.
1. Imagine yourself as a fisherman on a boat in the middle of the ocean. It is a beautiful day; the Sun is sparkling on the waves and on the mesh of your net, drifting leeward. Time your breathing to the gentle rocking of the boat as it rises and falls on the ocean swell. Breathe purposefully. Inhale deeply; exhale long and slow.
2. With each inhalation, pull a little more of your net from the water. Although the net is full, you find it easy to haul in, with the swelling waves to help you.
3. Your catch teems with the infinite treasures of spirit: purity, truth, wisdom, patience, love, calm, beauty.
4. As you breathe and pull on the net, you enjoy, in your imagination, the relaxing sounds of the sea and the seabirds all around. You are out of sight of land, but feel wonderfully calm. And you feel your breath as the rhythm of the cosmos itself.
Meditation is not a difficult or esoteric practice, available only to those of us who are already in touch with our spirituality. Nor is it achievable with only a specific goal in mind. The meditator’s path is both endless and endlessly rewarding – an experience of peace, not an act carried out to find peace.
The essence of meditation is a natural experience of healing (the word “meditation” comes from the Latin mederi, “to heal”): the call of spirit to the peace within. We all have a need for such healing – if I am honest and look at my own life, I recognize pain, suffering and darkness in certain areas. The deepest repair to our being is when meditation gives us its greatest gift: the realization of who we are. With this comes freedom. The ultimate destination of meditation is our spiritual freedom.
Spirit is distinct from mind and intellect, yet may recruit these faculties for its own purposes. Meditation draws these strands together in a unity of being. We are spirit, which is conscious and self-aware; and the mind is our faculty of creation, the canvas on which spirit paints its inspiration and the method by which we turn that inspiration into a reality. Meditation is the road to self-realization. Along the road we cast aside our many false identities. This is essential if we are to create the internal space in which we welcome back our inner peace.
A common misconception about meditation is that it removes us from consciousness – that we need to stop thinking. In fact, the opposite is true. Meditation teaches us to contemplate ourselves using our purest thoughts (such as, I am spirit, and, My original and eternal nature is peace). Only thoughts unencumbered by rationalization can open the windows onto self-knowledge and self-understanding.
As our spiritual self-awareness becomes stronger, so does our ability to move about in the world as free and assured human beings, with increasing calm amid life’s turbulence. We also gain a greater capacity for empathy and compassion toward others who are not at peace. Meditation gives us a sense of the togetherness of all things – the community of spirit. We are able to appreciate each of our worldly experiences with a more focused vision of what is important.
A simple exercise demonstrates the cap acity of meditation for revealing what is true. Bring to mind your name, but do not associate it with yourself. Hold the image of its letters in your mind while you say it silently to yourself. What does it mean? Does it connect with your identity? Many people, when they do this exercise, find that the thought of their name out of context is quite bizarre. By focusing their mind fully on the essence of the word, they experience a fundamental (if not profound) truth: our name has no essential meaning or importance and no true relation to who we are, it is merely a practical convenience. Its reality is not self but sound, an articulation of the tongue experienced by the ear; or a pattern of signs, selected from the repertoire of the alphabet. It floats in the mind like a spacecraft from an alien planet.
If this truth is available by such a simple meditation, imagine the scope for insight when we begin to meditate on whole thoughts, experiences or actions. Inevitably, as horizons open up to us by expanding spiritual awareness, we will more keenly sense suffering and evil in the world, as well as beauty and goodness. Try not to let this deter you from your path. Simply try to acknowledge any unhappiness as the way life is at the moment. This serene acceptance opens us to a spiritual opportunity: the chance to let the light of our inner peace shine through the compassion we can create for all that is suffering as much as it shines in the joy we have for all that is good. If we can prevent ourselves from identifying with all that appears as sorrow and pain, we can deepen our perception to give us a greater connection with life. This is meditation of the most practical kind.
When we begin meditation, it is often best to find a quiet, empty space with few distractions (perhaps a room in your home rarely visited by others), in which to learn to focus our minds. Start with ten or fifteen minutes per day. You might lengthen this if it seems appropriate after your initial sessions. Soft lighting can help the atmosphere. It is also worth trying a guided commentary to start with – a recording by an experienced meditator who can lead you into soul-consciousness. At the end of the session, reflect on your experience, and note how your mood is changed, and how valuable the meditation has been.
We might use a mandala (a geometric diagram) or a mantra (a chant) to help us become more conscious of ourselves as spirit. We can create our own mandalas from nature – perhaps from the head of a flower, or the veins on a leaf. Spend time looking at the pattern before you. Try not to stare but allow your focus to rest gently. If your object is, say, a flower, every aspect has an equivalent within spirit: think of the flowering of spirit, the emergence of its full fragrance, its perfection, and so on. A mantra can be any spiritual insight that empowers and calms us, such as I am spirit or I am peace. Simply repeat the phrase to yourself, silently if you prefer, and let it fill your consciousness.
The deepest, most empowering form of meditation, however, is that which focuses on the self as spirit without any external aids. The self is experienced as a point of radiant spiritual light. Or we simply savour the quality of our own peaceful thoughts. In this gentle but self-illuminating focus, we can truly experience ourselves and become the master of every thought and action. Our inner peace radiates from deep within through everything we do and say, permeating all our interactions. Meditation at this level expands and maintains self-awareness, and restores self-sovereignty. It creates a peaceful and loving mind, reaches the still, silent core of the self, and opens that silence to divine power, to be touched, taught and transformed. Light enters and opens the spirit.
Below are two approaches to meditation, one based on visualization, the other, more advanced, on pure thought.
Visualize yourself walking along a river the length of its journey, from a noisy, crashing mountain stream, to a broad, deep meander where only a floating twig or two reveals its movement, and finally to the meeting with the ocean, where all is still, silent and peaceful. This is what I experience inside. Calm, quiet, stillness.
In the purest form of meditation you take yourself as your object. A simple idea – such as, I am a peaceful soul – comes to life as you experience it. There is no deliberate repetition, only a stream of thoughts – the right kinds of thoughts, based on an understanding of self as spirit. It does not matter how fast the thoughts flow, so long as they are moving. If they wander, gently bring them back. In time they will slow down, and you will be able to savour them. They flow from the eternal empowering qualities of purity, peace, love, truth and happiness within yourself. In pure self-realization, you experience yourself as radiant light.
When most of us hear the word yoga, our minds conjure up images of contorted postures accessible only to the extremely agile. However, as with meditation, there is nothing essentially complicated or mysterious about yoga. Its simplest definition is “union”. If we bear this meaning in mind, we will see that we spend large amounts of our lives “in yoga” – even over the course of a day we move from one union (interaction) to another. These are the temporary unions of our consciousness – with objects, ideas or other people. They tend to be brief, mental attempts to unite with something outside ourselves, and while this has little to do with spirit (and more to do with desire and attachment), it does demonstrate our natural inclination toward unity.
As the waters of the Ganges flow incessantly toward the ocean, so do the minds of the bhakta [yogi] move constantly toward Me, the Supreme Person residing in every heart, when they hear about My qualities.
•
Bhagavata Purana
(c.500 BC)
In the East, ancient yoga traditions have detailed architectures on how to build our lives around a yogic path. Breathing techniques, asanas (postures), purification and detachment all comprise the language of the yogic journey. The goal is to achieve direct union with the (divine) source, so that we may be purified and liberated from our worldly trials and even, as some believe, our worldly existence.
But to achieve this union we need not feel that we have to make a long and arduous inner journey, crossing stages of painful sacrifice and initiation as we graduate from one level of enlightenment to the next. Ways have been developed that enable us to touch the light much faster than we might by more ancient methods. While our awareness of the source might dim so as to be lost in the darkest corner of our consciousness, our eternal connection with it is as imperishable as the spirit itself. In fact, it can take only a second to reinvigorate the communication between the heart of our soul and the heart of divinity. This is the essence of yoga – a love-link with the One who never stops loving. But it does require three things: the realization that we are eternal spirit; the recognition that we have a parent spirit, with whom we have a unique personal relationship; and (perhaps the most challenging step of all) the suspension of our attachment to the material world of objects, ideas – and people.
However, we need not wait until we have completed all three steps, in whole or in part, to begin our journey of yoga. The postures of mind and intellect are more important than postures of the body. A healthy relationship is built, sustained and matured in the exchanges of open, honest and intimate communication. Our relationship with the source is no different, except that it is silent.
To prepare ourselves for this conversation with the source, we must ensure that we have the correct state of consciousness. We release our awareness of worldly distractions, dive deep within ourselves and become conscious of our spiritual identity. Once we have realized our inner peace, through meditation, we can turn toward the source and open ourselves to transmit and receive the pure light of love. We will know that we have achieved union when our transmission is returned through waves of love penetrating our being, in the same way that the Sun’s warmth penetrates our skin. We will be aware of the most subtle of beings shining benevolence across our spiritual path in rays of light. These are like seeds planted in the soul which burst forth in our intellects unexpectedly, to empower us and lighten our way in a world of many falsehoods. They serve to remind us that we have achieved yoga and that we are now living in the light of our parent, friend and guide, the source of love, truth and power – now only a moment away. This living remembrance is yoga of the most natural kind.
Throughout the world, ritualized devotion is the most popular way to make contact with the divine. It can become as automatic or mechanical as our acceptance of a doctor’s prescription; moreover, it can block out awareness of the devotee’s own greatness of spirit. Yet ritual arguably serves the desire to acknowledge truths in actions un tainted by worldly significance.
Within a non-denominational way of life, ritual’s meaning becomes personalized. Bowing down in devotion may seem problematic for those who believe that the spirit lies within, but even that time-honoured form of worship could be treated as a self-ennobling act, in the way that a citizen bows down to receive the sword of knighthood.
However, prayer, within institutionalized religions, is often an expression of wishfulness, hope or fear. How do we explain that someone can pray for peace, then half an hour later become angry? The answer is that prayer cannot transform spirit. It can meet various needs that people, in their religions, have felt over millennia. Prayer formalizes a perceived relationship between the individual and divinity; it expresses a longing for a better world; it invokes the name of God to bring blessings. But without spiritual awareness, prayer and other forms of institutional worship are like houses without roofs. They are ill-equipped to serve the principal purpose for which they are intended: bringing the divine into our lives.
For many on the road to spiritual awareness, affirmations are more appropriate than prayer. These are formal statements, intense with conviction, self-belief and determination. An example might be: I am love. My purpose is to give love. The avowal is made with such conviction that it becomes a performative statement, like I swear in court, or I do in marriage. Affirmations attract their own truth. We express what we believe, and the belief becomes concentrated and self-evident. By these quintessential truths we sustain ourselves on our journey.
Religions can be institutionalized, but spirit cannot. Learn to recognize the personal truth that you can find in various forms of worship, and let that inform your own realization of self as spirit.
1. In your imagination, visit as many places of worship as you can, covering as many faiths as possible, while observances are being performed. You empathize with the worshippers and recognize the strength of faith and commitment that each individual shares with you. Meditate on your connections with these people: you are all essentially spiritual beings.
2. Imagine your thoughts riding a vessel, carried along a powerful river, which is the strength of your own spirit. Rain falls for many days and a flood rises, obscuring the shape of the river, but you are safe in your self-belief. You invite the worshippers from each faith, each group on its own separate mountain, to board your ship. In time the flood rises above the mountain tops.
3. Safe in the ship, meditate together and feel the sense of community. The rain stops and the waters subside. The land appears again, so your guests happily leave the vessel. You feel a deep connection with humanity.
The journey to inner peace is an ongoing process of rediscovery conducted within the context of everyday life. To arrive at our destination, we do not need to become monkishly ascetic and isolate ourselves from society, neither must we rise at five and live on a frugal diet. However, periods of retreat – a weekend, a week, even longer if possible – can certainly help us to tap deeper into our inner silence, and in this respect a brief retirement from the distractions of daily living can benefit everyone.
First, the act of going on retreat affirms our commitment to spiritual priorities. We undertake to give our self the time and space to nurture the awareness of our self as a spiritual being. This may seem an elementary aspect, but after busy days, perhaps months or years, during which our attention was mostly wrapped up in more material priorities, this spiritual interlude is vital to our well-being. We give our self the opportunity to dive deep into our own heart, to find and realize our own spiritual treasures. Simply realizing we are spiritual beings and not just a physical entity may be reward enough from just one retreat. Yet this is the essential starting point for our spiritual journey.
Secondly, we give ourselves time – or more accurately we remove ourselves from time. For as long as we are on retreat, our lives cease to be governed by the anxieties of clock time. If we are on communal retreat, we might, of course, observe regular times for meals and shared meditation or other group activities. The clock we follow on communal retreat is an aspect of our respect for others, our readiness to accept the collective qualities of spirit, the bonds of joyful responsibility that we share with our fellow retirees. An essential part of being on retreat is solitude, amid an atmosphere of quiet, and this is the third and most important benefit. When we are alone and silent, the conditions are exactly right for us to renew the most intimate knowledge of ourselves, to delve deep into the core of spirit, and perceive, with modest gratitude, our innermost qualities of purity, peace, love, truth and happiness.
Meditations performed on retreat are particularly rewarding. We begin to feel that we are making the right internal connections once again, and we feel ourselves becoming stronger, more self-sufficient, and more able to give to others. Any temptations we might have felt fall back into perspective, as unworthy and harmful distractions to our true purpose in life: they lose their lustre and wither in our hearts.
Organized retreats are increasingly popular, and the settings for such organized sessions are often beautiful in a way that can help to promote tranquillity. Certainly, a degree of silence is necessary for a refreshing retreat, and this is often found in rural surroundings. However, the company is just as important as the aesthetics of the place. We might look forward to arriving at a hilltop hideaway or wooded paradise; but if we can arrange to be among spiritually aware souls, sharing the power of each other’s silence, honouring each other’s individuality, we can help one other to awaken our spiritual power that has laid dormant for some time. The power of the gathering is both a blessing and a gift, no less because we can add the subtle but significant contribution of our own presence.
A retreat, like a meditation, can take place anywhere. You can even go on retreat in your own home, if you are able to be mostly silent for a day or so. You might decide to ignore the phone during the day, then pick up messages in the evening or leave them until the end of the retreat. You might rise early for a dawn meditation. The fruits of retreat, organized or private, lie within reach of us all. By harvesting them, we are reminded of the most valuable truths of the spirit, we are refreshed by all-enveloping calm, and we are energized in our spiritual growth for the future.
According to the neuroscientist Allan Hobson, the mind is sometimes externally orientated (while awake), sometimes oblivious (during sleep) and sometimes “so remarkably aware of itself [during dreams] that it recreates the external world in its own image.” Others go even further, claiming that “wakefulness is nothing other than a dreamlike state”, modified by input from the external world. This is why we talk about spiritual “awakening”: the life we lead in the physical world appears to have a dreamlike unreality, not least because we eventually emerge from it into the more lasting reality of the awareness of our own eternity.
And if tonight my soul may find her peace in sleep, and sink in good oblivion, and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower, then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
•
D. H. Lawrence
(1885–1930)
For centuries, dreams have been invested with spiritual importance as a source of prophecy, visions, insights, and visitations from the divine. Carl Jung believed that interpreting dreams for their symbolic meanings could lead to the discovery of a repressed religious instinct in the dreamer – a longing for spirituality stemming from the collective unconscious, the pool of our deepest, most time-honoured intuitions. In dreams we might occasionally encounter an archetype (universal image) known by Jung as the Wise Old Man, who might appear as someone we know or as a stranger. Look out for such elderly, authoritative figures in your dreams and heed their messages, bearing in mind that you may have to use inspired guesswork to arrive at an interpretation. Dreams of infinity, or flight, or dazzling illumination, can also have a spiritual meaning: if these dreams have a mood of elation, treat them as reservoirs of spiritual power revealed within yourself, and try to tap into this power in your meditations.
Dream interpretation does not suit everyone, but undoubtedly fascinating themes for contemplation and analysis can be generated when our dreamlife is subjected to scrutiny. Even though the meanings we impose may not have been “intended” by the dreaming mind, there can be value and truth in self-analysis that uses dreams as raw material. What we are really asking is: If this dream is meaningful, what meaning is consistent with the most important truths we know about ourselves? Those who find dreamwork rewarding can proceed from dream interpretation to lucid dreaming, a set of techniques that give the dreamer the power to make conscious decisions while dreaming (say, choosing a path at a crossroads), while retaining some elements of surprise. People who have mastered lucid dreaming say that they gain a sense of peace and focus in their waking lives, too. Taking some command over dreams may be valuable practice for learning to control the everyday delusions, attachments and pointless fears that may inhibit spiritual growth.
But let us return for a moment to the notion of sleep as an unenlightened state. In Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote: “For some must watch, while some must sleep; thus runs the world away.” But proverbs often refer to habit, and we have seen that habits are seductively comforting attachments that prevent us from realizing our full potential. We all have the capacity to watch rather than sleep, to awaken to the reality of spirit (who we are) and offer our energizing power to all those who slumber around us. In doing so, we pass on the gift of ‘awakeness’ which is the very foundation of awareness, the red thread of our entire spiritual journey.