The Way of Meditation

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Chapter One

Spiritual unfolding is a process of transformation and enlightenment. We grow from darkness toward light, for ignorance to wisdom, from frustration to fulfillment. Who we are in our essence, our spirit, is already enlightened and free. Our true nature is already awake. Yet something holds us back from this realization. We ourselves obstruct our light. In the words of the twelfth century mystic, Saint Brendan of Ireland, “You yourself are the veil hiding the happiness you seek.”

This leads to the metaphor of “the path,” the inner journey of development that leads to enlightenment. The “path” is really the removal of the blinders in our thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that block our own inner light. This is a journey of development that all human beings are on, whether they know it or not. And though we each take a different path up the mountain, we all one day arrive at the summit. The practice that helps us remove the obstacles in our minds that obstruct realization is meditation.

Spiritual development is the path of character building that opens us to our own inner light. It is both an inner practice and an outer journey of work in the world. Only through contact with others can w test our development. From India comes a story of a monk who lived for years in a cave alone, practicing strict disciplines and techniques of meditation. Believing he had reached a high level of realization, he descended from his mountain cave into the marketplace, whereupon someone stepped on his foot. Enraged, he nearly struck at the offender. He realized then that he had gained little from his practice, for he was unable to demonstrate the fruits of his realization. This story is a reminder that meditation practices are most fruitful when accompanied by real life experience and work “in the world.” This leads to psychological balance and genuine character transformation.

Our souls are unfolding in the manner of a flower, each petal revealing a different facet of our inner self. The lotus is an ancient symbol of the soul's growth because it is an emblem that reflects the human condition. Out of the mud the shoot extends upward, pushing through murky depths until it reaches the clear water at the surface of the pond. Finally, it bursts into the pure air and blossoms beneath the brilliant beams of the sun. The lotus is a symbol of the soul that grows through experiences of earth (physical experiences) water (emotional life), and air (intellectual experience), until it bursts forth into the light, blossoming in the radiance of the sun that represents our divine spirit.

When the time is right and the conditions for enlightenment are fulfilled, our souls open and we experience the flash of illumination that is really a simple awakening to the truth of our being. Why is it that so few people have this experience? Perhaps because they have not created the conditions for enlightenment or inner awakening to take place. Creating these conditions is the process that evolves through time in the manner of a flower unfolding.  A newly planted rose seed does not blossom into a fully developed rose over night. The activity that leads to inner awakening is the practice of meditation. 

Beneath our ordinary thoughts and feeing the deepest mysteries lie hidden.  As we alter our perceptions and our habitual thoughts, opening ourselves to love, kindness and beauty, we discover our own inner light. The greatest moment in our evolution as souls is when we realize we live in the eternal light, freed from darkness. 

The first step in meditation is simply to become aware of what is going on in your consciousness. Simply become aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings. Think of thoughts and feelings as a river, a river of consciousness. If the current is muddy, that is, if your inner life is coarse and unrefined, you cannot see to the depths. Our practice begins by simply becoming aware of the inner stream of our mind, our thoughts and feelings, and gradually elevating our inner life so that the stream becomes clear and light-filled. We increasingly become aware of the mystery of awareness itself. We become aware that we are aware. Conscious of our own consciousness. 

In meditation we look inward to the source of our own light. The realization arises that we are more than our thoughts. We are pure awareness. Awareness itself. Slowly the sun of illumination arises within us, and we behold the source of the inner light that cannot die. We discover the truth of our own immortal nature, the ultimate reality of our being. – Emory Michael