1
Although everyone must begin by making meditation
something to be practised at particular times only, he must end by making it an
essential background to his whole life. Even under the pressure of inescapable
outward occupation, it ought to be still continuing as the screen upon which
these occupational activities appear.
2
Keep on remembering to observe yourself, to watch
yourself, to become aware of what you are thinking, feeling, saying, or doing.
This is one of the most valuable exercises of the Quest.
3
Whatever one is doing, to stop suddenly at an
unarranged moment and in an unforeseen position becomes a useful exercise when
repeated several times every day. It is necessary to hold the whole body rigidly
fixed in exactly the posture which had been reached at the very moment of
command. Even the expression on the face and the thought in the mind must be
included. This is one of the "Awareness" exercises; they are performed when
sitting, walking, working, eating, or moving.
4
This exercise of self-vigilance is a daily and hourly
one, for the intrusions of negative moods and destructive thoughts are daily and
hourly, too.
5
Walking meditation: The practice of meditation
can be continued even while walking. This is done in a slow dignified way,
starting with the right foot and the heel touching the ground first, on the
expiring breath. Then continue rhythmically, slowly, a measured pace -
without haste and without turning the head right and left. The monk I saw was
walking with head down, and looking at the ground. He was in Thailand.
6
In the end, he will make no separation between
everyday ordinary routine and the period of meditation - for the whole of his
life will become one continuous meditation. His actions will then take place
within its atmosphere. But in the beginning he must make this separation.
7
As you go about your daily work in your ordinary life
and in relations with other people, in hours of toil or pleasure, or indeed at
any period of your life, remember the Overself.
8
The Way of Mindfulness in Buddhism, of deliberately
being conscious of each physical action quite apart from the action itself,
produces a different state from that of the ordinary person who may outwardly
perform the same action. It develops concentration and an awareness which
ultimately leads to the awareness of the being himself who practises the
exercise. The ordinary person is lost in the action itself, in the thought
itself, in the speech itself, and has no separate awareness of them. Practice of
mindfulness gives a conscious responsibility for what is being done, what is
being thought, and what is being said quite apart from what is observed and
heard. It lights him up from within with intense concentration. This is a mental
discipline practised daily by the Buddhist monks and useful to other seekers.
9
By means of this exercise in mindfulness, whatever he
is doing and whatever he is working at is no longer the mere work or action
itself. It is also a part of his spiritual training, his self-discipline, his
concentration practice, and ultimately his separate awareness and responsibility
for himself.
10
A housewife wrote to me that she found herself too
busy with her duties to sit down and meditate; but by thinking about spiritual
subjects as she went about her work, she found with time that this not only
lightened the drudgery but also developed into a kind of meditation itself.
11
A valuable exercise is one which practises
transferring awareness to the body as and when it is being used. This is done by
moving across a room, a courtyard, an open space, with slow-walking feet, as
slow as he can make them. The physical movement must be accompanied by a
deliberate effort to know what one is doing, fully mindful and
concentrated on each step forward.
12
This practice of persistent recall does more good
to help a man not only in an inward uplifting sense but also in a practical
manner by its prevention of falling into bad courses.
13
Responsibility, according to its measure, cannot be
shrugged off. "Our thoughts are ours," as Shakespeare says.
14
He will give, and he ought increasingly to give,
more attention to scrutiny of the kind of thoughts which occupy his mind. And he
will take the opportunity following every such scrutiny to cleanse, correct,
improve, or uplift these thoughts and thus bring them under some control.
15
He can use books as a preliminary guide to working
on himself. The study and observation of his conduct, the analysis of his past
and present experiences in the light of his highest aspirations, the attempt to
be impartially aware of himself in various situations, will open the way to more
direct guidance through intuitions from his higher self.
16
It is true that the space of time during which he
tries to gain control of his thoughts every day is a short one, whereas his
habitual carelessness in the matter continues for the rest of the day. Some
critics have asked what is the use of this control if it ends with the
meditation period?
17
Even while he is acting in a situation, he trains
himself to observe it.
18
The practice should also be continued at mealtimes.
When eating anything, keep in mind the idea, "The body (not my body) is
eating this food." When taking particularly appetizing food, hold the thought,
"The body is enjoying this food." All the time, watch the bodily reactions as an
impersonal but interested spectator.
19
Bangkok monastery meditation exercise: The
monks paced around very, very slowly, slowly lifting a foot and consciously
deliberately putting it down again for the next step. All the while they tried
to keep the mind empty. The eyes were cast downward.
20
The intenser the longing for enlightenment, the
easier it is to practise recollection.
21
Emotional ecstasies are not or should not be the
final goal of meditation practice. They may be welcomed, but the quest ought not
be pursued so far and allowed to end with them. Better the Great Peace, the Self
melted in Divine Being, the mind enlightened by Divine Truth, the result a
return to the world with the heart suffused by a Great Goodwill. Such is the
philosopher's goal. It does not depend on meditation alone. To those struggling
in and with the world as it is today, it may seem inaccessible, utterly beyond
one's ambitions.
22
The higher purpose of meditation is missed if it
does not end in the peace, the stillness, that emanates from the real self.
However slightly it may be felt, this is the essential work which meditation
must do for us.
23
The cultivation of a tranquil temperament promotes
the practice of mental quiet. The cultivation of mental quiet promotes the
attainment of the Overself's peace.
24
The bored or gloomy silence of some old persons is
not at all to be mistaken for the sacred silence of a true mystic.
25
If he practises mental stillness until he masters
it, he will benefit proportionately. For in its deepest quietude he can find the
highest inspiration.
26
It is partly because the Overself waits for us in
silence that we have to approach it in silence too.
27
The belief that meditation is only an exercise in
quiet reflection is a half-true, half-false one. It may begin like that, but it
must not end like that. For when it is sufficiently advanced, thoughts should be
dropped and the mind emptied. This will not be possible in a few days or months,
but if one sits for it daily, regularly, this utterly relaxed state will
suddenly be realized.
28
It is also an affair of waiting, waiting for the
repose to settle on his being. The doing is simply to brush off intruding
thoughts, to hold attention in a concentrated manner.
29
In those moments when a mysterious stillness holds
the heart of man, he has the chance to know that he is not limited to his little
egoistic self.
30
If the mind could but listen to itself, and not to
its thoughts, it might get closer to truth.
31
To renounce the self in meditation is to sit still
and let the ego listen to the Voice of the Overself.
32
It is the calm which comes from profound
reflection, the repose which repays adequate comprehension.
33
If we can train the mind to be still, it will clear
itself of muddy thoughts and let the Soul's light shine through.
34
What ordinary thought cannot reach, pacified
thought can. This happens when mental quiet is fully and successfully entered,
even if briefly.
35
There is the silence of the mentally dull and
spiritually inactive. There is also the silence of the wise and illumined.
36
God will not enter into your heart until it is
empty and still.
37
But why must the mind be stilled, it will be asked,
to know God? Because God moves in and through the universe itself so silently
and in such stillness that atheists doubt whether this divine power is really
there. In the state of rapt mental quiet, the human mind approaches the divine
mind and, as the quietness deepens, is able to make its first conscious contact
with it.
38
It is not easy for a man to believe that a greater
wisdom may be received by his mind if he keeps it still than if he stirs it into
activity.
39
What they do not know, and have to learn, is that
there is a false silence within the mind as well as a true one. The one may
resemble the other in certain points, and does - but it is a psychic state, not
a spiritual one. It can deceive and lead astray, or reflect earthly things
correctly, but cannot let them hear the voice of the Overself.
40
When the brain is too active, its energies obstruct
the gentle influx of intuitive feeling. When they are extroverted, they obstruct
that listening attitude which is needed to hear the Overself's gentle voice
speak to the inner silence. Mental quiet must be the goal. We must develop a new
kind of hearing.
41
If he is really deep in meditation, not a single
muscle of his body will move.
42
With most people a completely thought-free mind may
be impossible to attain in their present situation, but a tranquillized mind is
possible.
43
Meditation may begin as a dialogue between the
meditator and his imagined higher self; it may pass beyond that into a real
dialogue with his Overself. But if he is to go farther all dialogue must cease,
all attempt to communicate must end in the Stillness.
44
As mental agitations and emotional dominations fall
away through this patient waiting, a hush falls upon the inner being. This is a
delicate, gentle, and important state, for it is approaching the threshold where
a new and rare kind of experience may be near.
45
Mental quiet, if fully attained, frees the
time-bound consciousness, which then floats all-too-briefly into Timelessness.
46
He is to keep absolutely still during this period,
letting no movement of the body distract the mind; because of the interaction of
these two entities, the one influencing the other, the mind will become
increasingly still too.
47
The layman of the West is just beginning to learn
the art of mental quiet, but he has not yet penetrated deeply enough; he has far
to go.
48
The "natural" (returning to one's true nature)
condition of consciousness has not only to be attained but, by unremitting
practice, also retained.
49
The bustle of the world's activity and of personal
preoccupations must be inwardly silenced before the knowledge of what underlies
both the World-Idea and the ego-thought can reveal itself.
50
It is good practice to put one's questions or state
one's problems before beginning a meditation and then to forget them. Unless the
meditation succeeds in reaching the stillness, the full response cannot be made.
51
Mental silence is what is ordinarily called yoga in
India. From the philosophical standpoint, it is valuable, but still not enough
where it is mere mental inactivity. The ego, or the thought of the ego, has also
to be overcome so as to allow the higher power, the higher self, to take
possession of the mind thereafter.
52
Because thinking is an activity within time, it
cannot lead to the Timeless. For this attainment, mental quiet is necessary.
53
The clearness of mind which pervades this state is
extraordinarily intense. It lights up every person and every incident coming
into the area of thought, but even more - himself.
54
To sit with another person for several minutes in
complete silence yet in complete ease is beyond the capacity of most Occidental
city people. The Orientals still have it but, as the West's way of life makes
its inroads, are beginning to lose it.
55
It is only when this emotional calm has been
attained that correct thinking can ever begin.
56
Chou Tun-Yi (eleventh-century Chinese philosopher):
"The Sage makes stillness the ruling consideration."
57
There is an air of venerable dignity about a figure
sunk in meditative quiet and withdrawn from earthly concerns.
58
As the mind's movement ebbs away and its turnings
slow down, the ego's desires for, and attempt to hold on to, its world drop
away. What ensues is a real mental quiet. The man discovers himself, his
Overself.
59
He sees into himself as he has never known himself
before.
60
How far is all this utter emotional stillness and
grave mental silence from all the noise of religious disputations, from all the
tension of sectarian criticism, from all the puerilities of textual
hair-splitting!
61
It is when the mind is still that high spiritual
forces, be they from God or guru, can reach a man.
62
The body becomes strangely still, the sinews quite
relaxed, the breathing greatly subdued; sometimes even the head droops.
63
Only the regular deep breathing shows that the
spirit has not withdrawn from the body.
64
The quietness uncovers the essential being.
65
A mind filled with thoughts about things, persons,
and events, with desires, passions, and moods, with worries, fears, and
disturbances, is in no fit condition to make contact with that which transcends
them all. It must first be quietened and emptied.
66
Thoughts flicker across the screen of consciousness
like a cinema picture. Who pauses to see what this consciousness itself is like
and what it has to say for itself? Has not the time come for Western man to
learn the art of mental quiet?
67
The effort to hold thoughts back, to touch their
calm source deep deep below them, must be made.
68
The way his body moves, works, walks, behaves,
reveals something of the inner man, the ego. But non-movement, sitting quite
still, can reveal even more - the being behind the ego. However this remains a
mere unrealized possibility if the man is without knowledge or instruction.
69
"To be in Mental Quiet is to observe the mind's own
nature," wrote Lao Tzu.