OCEAN OF SILENCE

 Have you ever jumped into a large body of water like the ocean or a swimming pool? Water closes around and you are encased in a world of silence. In the same way, meditation is a tool you can use to immerse yourself in that ocean of silence regardless of what is happening around you. Actually, your self is already immersed in and inundated by that ocean of peace. It is the busier parts of your mind that don’t allow you to experience it. What is the difference between sleep and meditation? In sleep the conscious mind is asleep. The unconscious mind or the deeper layers of your mind never sleep but now the conscious mind is in dream land and cannot perceive the knowledge and insight lying in the deeper layers. In meditation the conscious mind is awake and perceptive. Approximately ten times in the span of a normal persons life he or she will see into the unconscious mind and experience profound insight. For example, a parent suddenly understands that their child on the other side of the planet is in danger. My teacher tells us to “illuminate the unconscious mind with the radiance of your own soul.” Let me try a little experiment, which will only take a few seconds. Sit comfortably and close your eyes, think the words, “I exist,” now before opening your eyes, think the words, “I know I exist.” The first ‘I’ is the ego, the one that gets things done, but is also the one that surrounds itself with pride and vanity, etc. and keeps us engaged throughout the day with thoughts of me and mine. The second ‘I’ the ‘I’ of I know I exist, is the unadulterated self, the passenger in our vehicle, simply taking an objective view of whatever our vehicle passes by. And who is the driver? The driver is discriminating judgment, the ability to see what will bring us closer to our goal and what will lead us away from it. Finally, we have the ‘science of driving’ called the intuitional science or meditation. It is an individual practice. We can all experience that state of peace and silence in the mind, but how to make it a part of our lives is the question. A teacher is needed, to learn biochemistry a teacher is also needed. How much more important is the science of the soul, the science of knowing what we are about here. Selecting the proper teacher is vital but on the other hand, beginning somewhere is better than not beginning at all. This is such an important thing to learn, can we go to the corner bookshop and find out what we need to know? Can we put down some money and get what we need? The teacher must be someone who understands the subtlety of your soul. How to find such a one? Don’t worry. There is an ancient saying “when the disciple is ready the Guru appears.” The Guru is not a person and He may appear to you in the form of an urge to go down to the corner bookshop where you put your hand on the book that opens up a whole new world to you, or suddenly you decide to attend a lecture on meditation. There must be a reason that you have read so much of this article.

 Bon voyage,