A meditation pastiche

Meditation is not esoteric, it's simply your mind in effortless focus, as when you're enjoying a cup of coffee or a favourite ice-cream.

Spiritual meditation is indeed esoteric as it is effortless focus on an infinite object, which does transform us.

Spiritual meditation is difficult to practise only because our minds are habituated to effort-ful thinking. Like trying to sleep when wired up mentally. Yet, instead of taking a pill to dull the mind, one can relax by regular practice.

The natural mental state is that of lightness, simple observation, and purity. Our habitual, even obsessive, overuse of the mind creates unnecessary layers of biases, complexities, and heaviness or grossness. Use, not abuse, is needed. 

Bringing the post-meditation state into normal life is more important than just spiritual meditation. An exercise of deliberate transition like Daaji's AEIOU helps immensely. 

A lot of mental activity that drives our behaviour and thinking is subconscious. Meditation, and more so, Heartfulness cleaning, bring up its contents to our conscious awareness. Letting go of what comes up in a detached way clears our subconscious. But we must then deliberately fill our subconscious with positivity. This is easily done in Heartfulness by inviting transmission. 

The superconscious must be experienced, not read about. It is my innermost self, so the only thing blocking its awareness or experience is my self-created mental layers. Repeated meditative experiences expand my understanding of the Infinite. But the joy of meditation lies in the ever-new, ever-fresh, effortless experience.

A slightly different perspective

Meditation is effortless focus on an object. Every normal human being meditates every day, when they do something as simple as drinking a nice cup of coffee or tea. Their minds are in a natural state of flow, resting without strain on what they are doing. This can be extended to any activity that one likes to do. Going for a walk in a nice park. Petting a dog.

It's easy to meditate, or think easily, about a concrete, physical object. Normally, one's attention is naturally drawn easily to something that one likes (and perhaps even more easily to what one dislikes!)

But what about a subtle object of thought?

Something non-physical?

That is generally thought to be tougher.

Yet, here is the paradoxical basis of meditation as relaxation. The subtler the object, the gentler the effort. Straining or tightening the mind makes it difficult to grasp or accept a subtle idea, especially one that changes your conceptual frameworks or exposes your biases.

Babuji said that it's like using a crane to pick up a needle.

Going from activity - to thought - to idea - needs lesser and lesser effort, lesser and lesser energy.

That implies letting go of complexities, which stop us from:

• seeing the forest for the trees, 
• seeing underlying patterns in the myriad details of daily incidents, and
• letting go of negativities or impurities or veils or biases in our images, of others and of ourselves.

Strangely, relaxation takes more time and willpower than activity. We have to go against our training from birth to think, actively and incessantly; to keep the mind eternally busy. It is easier to give a higher priority to an external activity.

Learning something subtle, something new or different may require skill and effort, diligence  and patience, but it need not be emotionally stressful. Then it becomes abuse of the mind.

Daaji said that pausing [while doing spiritual work] is very, very important. I think it helps us to understand that unremitting activity is not necessary. It also allows you to work deliberately, and carefully.

As simple as possible but no simpler*

Possibly the simplest conceptual model [0] of spirituality.

Start from what is self-evident - the physical body and things in the space outside it. Science and spirituality [1] have no quarrel thus far.

Now consider the complicated world of consciousness, mind, intellect, five-fold sheaths, three-fold bodies, layers, and what-have-you. Stripped down to its barest essentials, it is something that is not the physical body, but has definite relationships with it. [2] Science agrees, but considers the non-physical part to be created from or by the physical body.

Spiritual paths generally agree that there is something beyond this non-physical part, beyond the mind and intellect - infinite, un-graspable/unknowable, beyond time and space. It can yet be experienced - in a limited way - inwardly. Those who have experienced the Unknown have given some descriptions or analogies [3], especially using a series of increasingly subtler physical ones, and then negating or transcending each one. E.g., from earth/solidity to water/liquidity and so on to space/immanent and transcendent.

 The simple model looks something like this:

UNKNOWABLE/INFINITE/DIVINE

======================

NON-PHYSICAL PART

==============

PHYSICAL BODY

===========

OUTSIDE

One explanation for the non-physical part is that it is an interface between the Unknowable and our physical body. [4] The interface has two sides, one adjacent to the Unknowable, and the other next to the physical body. Limited and contextual descriptions of the Unknowable say that it is pure, simple, and subtle or light. Naturally, the interface should also have similar qualities on that side. The physical body's qualities normally appear in stark contrast to those of the Unknowable and such is also the interface next to it.

A naive idea would be that the interface is very thin. But usually, there is a gradient from pure, simple, and subtle to impure, complex, and gross, as one's mind or non-physical part (NPP) "moves" from the Unknowable to the physical body. Put differently, from the "inside" to the "outside".

The simplest explanation for our present state is that the focus of this interface has become weighted towards the outside. So it ignores or is unable to receive, let alone process, impulses or signals from the inside correctly. All spiritual practice is about moving the focus inward for longer times and with greater stability until the interface is permanently weighted towards the inside. Paradoxically, this needs less effort than going outward because purity, simplicity, and subtlety were the original and natural states. [5] Yet another paradox is that the inward journey of each individual's NPP is reported as commonality and unity, even transcendence, [5] while the outward journey leads to differentiation and separativeness, competitiveness and groupism.

Much spiritual jargon comes from complicated, incomplete, and inconsistent explanations of spiritual experiences or reports thereof. I have not considered the focus or movement of the NPP laterally, across human beings. But such focusing may be done more effectively once the inward focus is settled and it becomes easier to see patterns, or in other words, keeping in mind the forest while dealing with individual trees.

NOTES

* Ascribed to Einstein, Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simpler
gives a detailed history.

[0] A more "structural" details of model in Two bodies or what do we really know?

[1] Some spiritual paths consider the objective or material world outside to be unreal or at least unimportant.

[2] E.g., reading these words requires you to process them physically as well as non-physically. Understanding, vocabulary, memory, intellectual processing, etc. uses physical energy and time, as well as abstract or non-physical processing.

[3] Given the differing times and cultures, these descriptions have differed. Garbled and misunderstood communication of the descriptions caused further confusion.

[4] See Mind Sandwich for a similar perspective.

[5] According to spirituality. Since science has no measurable proof of the Unknowable, and considers the NPP to have originated from the body, it logically considers numinous or transcendental states to be later developments of the NPP.

[6] Trying to describe something that is simultaneously immanent and transcendent is a major preoccupation of the early Upanishads.

You - I - We

Interdependence was popularised by Steven R. Covey in his "Seven Habits ..." book [1]. Basically, it means that human beings (as well as organisations, and nations) need each other to thrive.

From You to I to We.

First is dependence - the ‘you’ phase, where the child looks to others for its safety, wellbeing, and pleasure. If someone withholds, the child is deprived. With caring others, the child thrives.

Second is independence - the ‘I’ phase, where the child develops into adolescent and young adulthood. If all goes well, the young adult develops independent traits - taking responsibility, making sound decisions, and becoming self-reliant.

Third is interdependence - the ‘we’ phase, where the independent adult chooses to increase their circle of concern, to include ever widening groups of people.

Interdependence is the recognition that people – and the social system within which they exist – are mutually dependent. We cannot function alone, we need social cohesion and the work of others to thrive.

And for the group or social system to be viable it needs us to make our contribution. Only independent people can choose to be interdependent.

(Paraphrased)

While this staging is neat, real life is messier. Children may be more independent as toddlers than as teenagers, and teenagers more interested in looking after their peers and the world at large than adults. But, in general, yes, adults are expected to care about others and themselves - it is a sign of greater emotional maturity.

Compare with Vidura Niti in the Indian/Mahabharata context.

NOTES

[1] Covey, Stephen R. 2004. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People : Restoring the Character Ethic [Rev. ed.]. New York: Free Press.

Occam's Razor (PoP) and turiya

In scientific research there is an old [1] idea known as Occam's Razor or the Principle of Parsimony. Basically, it says choose the simplest conceptual model that explains all the data. Mathematically, prefer the equation with the smallest number of terms to describe something. E.g., E=mc^2 describes the maximum energy present in a mass 'm' using just one other term 'c'.

Similarly, the elegance of Advaita lies in its theoretical notion of everything in the universe arising from just one single thing. Unlike Einstein's equation, though, it is not possible to test, let alone prove that through "objective" experiments. A bit like the Big Bang theory! [4]

Advaita, while parsimonious in its axioms of initial (or eternal) state, does end up resorting to earlier concepts from Sāṁkhya (which has two foundational entities) to explain our world. Thus Māya is practically the same as Prakṛti, and Ātma, or Jīvātma, the same as Puruṣa. 

In Sāṁkhya, consciousness and non-consciousness are eternally separate and so it is easy [2] to understand that states of mind (a non-conscious thing) are different from a state [3] of consciousness. Thus, jāgrata, svapna, and suṣupti - all mental states - are different from turīya. Or they are orthogonal to turīya. Turīyātīta, posited as another state of consciousness, subsumes easily into turiya in combination with a different mental state.

NOTES

[1] Traced back to Aristotle per Wikipedia.

[2] Sāṁkhya is a realistic philosophy which does not deny the existence of anything, including mental states.

[3] Strictly speaking, consciousness, or Purusha, in Sāṁkhya is absolutely non-interactive. So there is only one state.

[4] But see first comment below - at least one prediction of the Big Bang theory has been tested and proven, and so it is more valid than, say, the steady-state theory. In general, though, it is not theoretically possible to prove a theory - it can only be disproven.

Anonymity and other spiritual rules

Anonymity

Spiritual practice, especially work done for others, must be done without fanfare, in fact, even without acknowledgement.

Perhaps this is to imitate Nature. Nature works - creates, maintains, and destroys - automatically and without fuss, because work or dynamism is its inherent nature.

Some other, little-known, rules:

Generosity

One who gives, gets more and more - to give.

E.g., one who gives money to others gets more and more money, but to keep giving, not to hoard.

Generosity opens up one's heart.

One definition of spiritual progress is large-heartedness. Another is soft-heartedness.

Work

(Corollary to previous rule)

One who works efficiently is rewarded - with more work.

So how does one avoid the management principle "Work going to the most efficient worker multiplies until he drowns?"

Teach others how to do your present work and keep working on new things. Also see Rest.

Work efficiently, and with interest. Try to improve in terms of energy expended, especially emotional energy, and reduced strain.

Rest

    Change of work is rest.

Chariji [1] was a wonderful exemplar.

Change

Change is constant. Accept or tolerate it, at the very least. At best, welcome it.

There is an intriguing paradox though. Spiritual progress is sometimes assessed by how boring or routine one's life is. Such a life gives ample time and opportunity for spiritual practice. Those who lead exciting or complicated lives seldom think about going inward. On the other hand, spiritual masters who lead busy lives, though, have gone through their periods of boredom or internal focus to acquire a solid base of emotional stability.

Constant Practice

(In the midst of constant change, unremitting spiritual practice is the stable foundation and background.)

Do the practice for the long-term. 12 years is a magic number.

Do with interest, and yet light-heartedly - without frowning or a "castor-oil" face. [2]

        Observe patterns in practice over the short, medium, and long-term.

If the effects are stagnant (and you are convinced of the practice, its practitioners, and its propounder), then you are not following the steps correctly. Re-read, or get clarified, the introductory material. Reboot, in other words.

Depth in practice is accompanied by increasing subtlety and lightness. Often thoughts are fewer and decision-making clearer.

Courageous thinking

Think freely, unmindful of emotional pressure. Act, once convinced, fearlessly. Accept mistakes.

Yet, follow rules aimed at maintaining peace and routine. Yet again, abusive people need not be encouraged.

Serious disciples understand the spirit of the practices in a system and can respond positively to hints or unwritten rules.

Notes

[1] Chariji, Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari of Chennai, was the third guru in the Sahaj Marg tradition. He was famed for his indefatigable and unflappable workstyle, often working continuously without rest for a very long time while switching between different tasks.

[2] Swami Sivananda of DLS, Rishikesh used this phrase often to mock those who did their spiritual practice with a frown. (People who regularly drank a dose of castor oil, for health, generally puckered up their faces at its taste.)

Stalactites and separation

Think of a cave.

A limestone cave.

A cold climate.

Water seeps in from the ground above and covers the ceiling.

It freezes into ice.

Water keeps seeping in, and the layers and projections of ice start to descend.

They lengthen as icy water keeps flowing inside, and each stalactite grows, separated from the others.

Now, imagine the water in a stalactite coming alive. It wants to fully experience its original unity, its commonality, with the others. Resisting gravity, it returns to the ceiling and the flowing water beyond.

Next, imagine your mind, weighed down by its identification with your body. It seeks its original lightness, balance, understanding, and expansiveness. It wants to become subtler and relaxed, but has to strive against its own habits of painful effort, of experiencing and expressing itself grossly, through the body, and against others.

Thinking and meditation

(from Daaji - mostly verbatim)

Meditation as an act is resting the attention on something effortlessly.

Every human being does this activity multiple times every day, especially when doing something enjoyable (such as eating ice-cream).

This also happens during work, business, planning meals for the family, etc.

Spiritual meditation is effortless focus on an infinite object.

(based on Daaji's talks & writings; paraphrased and extended)

Meditation training using one's own mind is about effortless focus on something that is not immediately enjoyable.

In Sahaj Marg meditation, one places one's attention on the divine light in one's heart. The source of that light then pulls one's attention towards itself.

The source being infinite, one's mind cannot grasp it and has trouble resting stably in the heart.

When attention has drifted away from the light onto another object, and one becomes aware of that change, one should simply relax the attention, the mental grip. It will naturally glide back to the previous object, the heart and the light within.

Learning to focus effortlessly for a long time on an object means using lesser and lesser energy to deal with the movement of attention. [1]

One should also understand that attention is one's mind gripping something, consciously or subconsciously. Relaxing is all that is needed to un-grip, not yanking it away or cutting it or anything else needing more effort.

Progress in meditation may be defined as the ability to focus on subtler and subtler objects for longer times. But in Heartfulness meditation, the object of meditation stays the same (being already infinite and deliberately undefined) but our understanding becomes subtler.

(My speculations)

Cleaning is a way of returning to the condition (of our heart, mind, and body) received, or gifted to us, by our morning meditation.

Prayer meditation, along with going over the day's activities, is introspection; so as to change ourselves with the help of that which is inside our own hearts, as well in the heart of each and every human being.

NOTES

[1] Daaji writes that after thinking - effortless focus - on the object comes feeling the object - without words or thoughts, and after feeling comes being the object. The Yoga Sutras put it differently - the object alone stays in conscious awareness, and awareness of meditation and meditator are lost during that time.

Daaji also says that after being there is becoming and then one goes beyond. These two are subtler states leading to the next level.

The important point, though, is thinking is only one of the many activities of the mind.