The question of meditation will inevitably arise on the path of awakening. Of course, meditation as a practice for the novice on the spiritual path or the one who is seeking peace, is absolutely vital ... as it provides a view of the gap between thoughts. But I'm talking about the more experienced seeker ... the one who's been meditating for years and yet still is seeking an abiding state of peace or true self-realization and liberation.
We are in the midst of a great reset. A time to pause, even though everything seems to be hurtling at a zillion miles per hour. A time to reflect, even though the world constantly pulls us to the surface. A time to remember, even though we are fragmented by clashing opinions, conflicting information, and violent ideologies.
We are hardwired physiologically to be on alert. This is a necessary protection for the physical vehicle. When we are in a dark alley and we sense someone following us, our nervous system is highly attuned to the possibility of fighting the stalker or running away. Or when we are walking across the road and a car doesn’t slow down, we are primed to react quickly to get out of the way.
But we need to differentiate this functional alertness from psychological reactivity — which is an emotional response that has nothing to do with biological survival.
Many years ago — long before I set out on a spiritual path and long before I began the journey of inner inquiry and long before I had matured into the person I am today — I was spontaneously transported to a future world. Don’t ask me how I knew it was a future world, the knowing was simply irrefutable.
Relationship is a potent medicine.
Relationship invites you to get right up close and intimate with everything that is unilluminated in you. Every ugly emotion and dark feeling that has been pushed away because you’ve deemed them unacceptable becomes unimaginably highlighted in the torchlight of intimacy.
There is a tendency on the spiritual path to focus on the mind-qualities of illumination—such as clarity, insight, and wisdom—and to perpetuate the idea of an all-seeing, all-knowing God-like state as the pinnacle of self-realization. This emphasis on mind-illumination is prevalent in both old and new spiritual teachings of enlightenment. But a great error is made when supreme wisdom is upheld as the most precious prize.
There’s a question that is often bothersome on the seeker’s path …
Does awakening erase the personality? Do all personal traits, tendencies, and idiosyncrasies get wiped away in one fell swoop? Does our astrological imprint become obsolete? Do we transcend our conditioning completely? Do we return to some kind of innocent tabula rasa?
