You Asked (9)

Before answering this question, let me give a little personal background to the subject. There are"ways", or "how to meditate" beyond numbering, as there are teachers. Sixty plus years ago, around the age of twelve, I used to rummage through the shelves of "Old Book Stores" searching for many unanswered questions. During those early formative years, I came across a Seven volume set of books entitled The Teachings Of The Masters From The Far East, written by Baird Spaulding. That spoke about the value of "Meditation" and there were other books such as; A New Model Of The Universe by Ouspensky, At The Feet Of The Master by Kristramurti. Cosmic Consciousness by Bucke. Most of the words from these books have faded with the years. But the "spirit" that I caught then has never left me nor will it. I believed then and I still do that Meditation is the key to open the Door; so one can pass through on their way back into the "Void", the Absolute Body of Love from where they started. This personal passage to the "beyond the beyond" for me, has always been accompanied with the words; "Be still and know". They have been my wake-up call down through the years. I know the value, the power and the sustainability of these words.

Simply put; Meditation is about entering the "Sea Of Silence", and "Be still and know". It is about "posturing" and "attitude", a"right-mindedness and yet it is none of these words. The same as it is not how one; sits or stands, the folding of ones' hands or touching ones' fingers together. Or in attaining a special breathing rhythm or staring at a "Mandela" or in the repeating of a "Mantra". Meditation is an experiential "Happening" that embraces many ways or no ways. One needs to inquire, investigate, seek, knock and ask. Meditation needs to become a"way of life". It can be done in absolute silence; standing, sitting, walking or running.

Where does one start? One starts with a passionate desire, a ceaseless commitment and a determination to know.. If one is in earnest, he or she will become a "learner" in the truest sense. Within the context of "self-knowledge", "self-understanding", "becoming"and "being. "Meditation" can be the catalyst. But once again a word of caution; no teacher, method or words {descriptive or otherwise} will take you to the " peak". You must enter the "Sea Of Silence" it is there that you will find what you need to know about yourself. What you need to die for? What you need to "incarnate", to embrace, to taste. to become and be your own "flesh and blood".

Are there external Teachers, "Yes"! But none can compare to your own "inner guide", the"Teacher"within. Such words as; Observer, Watcher and Witness have been used to define the inner essence, this "inner guide".

Out of Infinity comes these words of Wisdom; "Know Thyself" and the "Kingdom of God is within". If you can come to an understanding of these words and never allow them to leave. You will walk the path "less traveled". And you will see "what you are not", which will lead you to "what you are".. For we are, what we finally see.

On entry into the "Sea Of Silence", I never know what will come to the surface. But I do know when the "Offering" comes; it comes from the "Source of All and Everything". Also; I am aware that as long as my mind is limited by time and space, the "impressions" which surface during meditation are filtered and fragmented. Because the mind like the body is temporal and highly susceptible to the limitations which are inherent within the externals of the World. Also, I am aware that I am "in the World, but I am not of the World" in the final analysis.. This point of reference allows a "knowing and an understanding" that reaches beyond the subjective and the objective posturing. For as an "Observer", a "Witness', a "Watcher" I am neutral, not unlike the neutron that is neither a proton or an electron but rather a neutralizer. In this Neutralization, my consciousness is one with "All and Everything". Beyond the Beyond.

In the evolution, the growth process of an individual, the "Observer", the "Watcher neutralizes both the subjective and the objective point of view as it sees both at the same time. The Watcher is watching the Watcher watching. The Watcher is detached, favoring neither the subject/object, positive/negative ,(yang or yin) during Meditation

This moment is not limited by either time or space. I instinctively and intuitively "know" a "truth" has risen out of the depths of the "Sea Of Silence". And my steps towards the "Source" {"All and Everything"} have lessened, as has the distance. I also sense the gathering of the "shadows" and silently I whisper; "Not yet, please not yet".

Before writing about the exercise; allow me to answer the question; once again? "Who" and "What" is the " Self", {Absolute Self, Ultimate Self}. For many names have been given to this "Something" inside each and every one of us that looks from within to that which is outside. This "Something" inside looking out. When the awakening begins the "Self-remembering" journey for some. Is the remembering of the "Self" as it was intended, as it was in the Beginning, before the "Great Separation". The return of the self" to the "Self",which it was created or intended to be. This "Journey" back to end the "Separation". "The Separation" that causes the many "arrows and slings" of the World" and our own misfortunes.

You need to know and understand that death is but a breath away. And that it is not your enemy but a friend. It is said: "To gain life, you need to die daily". Are you not in the midst of the "beat" between death and rebirth each day? And do you not eat all manner of recycled matter? That which is dead, whose life was cut short so you might be sustained. The "air" you breathe "in and exhale" is it new or has it been recycled? All the waste and the former forms of every living creature in the air, on land or in the sea are they not returned back to the earth and renewed, reborn into different "forms" and "shapes"? Or the vast "Food Chain" with matter absorbing matter in the "taking" and the "giving" of life. It is not to absurd to say: "we eat the dead,so we might live". All "forms and shapes" of life "above" and "below" are food for "something" or "someone". One should never forget that we are nourished and sustained by the "lesser of the less" and the "higher of the highest". By, the animate and the inanimate, the tangibles and the intangibles. In light of all this "coming and going","entering and exiting "one should not fret or fear their departure. For if you do not depart,you surely cannot arrive.

And this is true for the "Now" and beyond the "Now". Does not the "Phoenix" rise out of its' own ashes? If this was not so, nothing could be manifested and most of all, that of the "human species". There is a question in this discussion that needs to be asked? Does anything really die? Or is it merely "transformed', just reshaped? In a sense the "mulch", the compost of the World is but one very large "holding pattern", a waiting zone for a re-entry at a different level of materiality. So many think of death as an "exit of no return". That we live, we die and that is that! But is that all there is? On the other side of the coin, we have many who believe that death is not the final answer. That there is much more to life, than just existing and dying.

But again, we need, we must say that words create words, do not be mislead. Words are not the vessel by which we go "beyond the beyond". Our return to the "Absolute Reality" from "relative reality" is predicated on the Will, our conscious decision and effort to seek, knock and ask? The path "less traveled" will appear and your return assured. As some say; "Don't knock it until you have tried it". Or "just do it', you might like it."

If you have decided on meditation and are committed to learn of it. I leave you with three words, the "impressions" about these three words will come to you later. They are; "contemplation, "concentration" and "meditation" while just "sitting", or "standing", or "walking", or "running" "in Silence". If you will inquire about, investigate the meaning of these words for you. Making them your own, you will find your answer. But remember when the fruit arrives, the blossom always falls away.

In ending, I will not put a period, only a comma because "Meditation" is an ongoing process that centers in the "Now. Neutralizing the past and the future as it brings together the Absolute, that is the "Essence" of all there is. And the "Relative"; the manifestations of all the phenomena of the World as they meet in the "Now" which is beyond time and space. It is at this point of intersection that the duality of the Relative and the Absolute is resolved. The permanent and the transient are neutralized. And the Void becomes aware to us, as we stand in the midst, "knowing" we are home at last., The pilgrimage is nearing the end, as the "far country" slowly fades from sight. I am "Homeward Bound"