We should always remember that the truth of the Self is the same, but when presented to you through words and forms and modes, it may appear in different ways to suit the individual or the trend of the age. That means rituals can be modified, language can be modified. But the truth can never be changed because truth is always the same. ...That is why, whatever be the scripture, whether from the East, West, South, or North, the basic truth should be in agreement. Satchidananda, page 13
I feel the urge to tie three recently learned streams of thought together: The mantra I have been practicing again, what I am learning from Vivekananda, and what I listened to today and yesterday from Michael A. Singer. Do they line up ? Absoultely. It is so uncanny how these things have been lining up.
A few days ago, for some reason I returned to the Buddhist meditation mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum". Not sure why, but I felt pulled to it. I have since been reading up on its meaning, "The jewel of the lotus." Waht is teh jewel of the lotus? Enlightenment.
Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.The Dalai Llama
That very same day, I came across this from Vivekananda's, Meditation and Its Method: You Cannot Know God Until You Know Yourself . ( A book I have been reading for the last week or so) :
Imagine a lotus upon the top of the head, several inches up, with virtue at its centre, and knowledge at its stalk. The eight petals of the lotus are the eight powers of the Yogi. Inside, the stamens and pistils are renunciation. If the Yogi refuses the external powers he will come to salvation...Inside of the lotus think of the Golden One, the Almighty, the Intangible, He whose name is Om, the Inexpressible, surrounded by effulgent light. Meditate on that. (page 14)
It was like wow! Not that I am trying to make this into something mystical or magical but sometimes things, like teachings, line up in a very serendiptious, non-scientifically explainable way for me. Can't help but say, " I guess I really am suppose to meditate using this mantra."
This connection between an ancient Yogic teaching and a Buddhist one reminded me of this line I always recite to myself, from Swami' Satchidanada's translation of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Truth is One; Paths are many. My writing and learning has been based on that line. I have spent the last 25 years trying to connect the paths.
In my practice, I am also not looking for what Patanjali referred to as Cittis...those yogic powers that can be attained through samadhi, that can be visualized as the petals surrounding the center of the lotus flower. I am looking for enlightenement, a "merging" with this OneTruth, Self, God. I am focusing on the center, the jewel of the lotus, when I meditate or when I practice in every way I practice. I am renouncing the powers surrounding enlightenment for enlightenment.
So what does that have to do with Michael A. Singer's teachings, crazy lady?
Well, he began by explaining that all the true paths to truth are taking us to the same place. The title of his podcast is, "Many Paths-One Destination". What is that destination he is referring to? He was not speaking about going or getting somewhere. He was speaking about not leaving. about falling back into what we always were, what was always there: God consciousness, the highest vibration, merging with Self...like a drop of water falls into the ocean and becomes absorbed in what it is. He was speaking about the need to rest in the Seat of consciousness and then fall back into that consciousness. The intended path for the Yogi, is to stop pouring this precious energy of consciousness down and out on little me's dramas. It is about going in and up to Who we always were. It doesn't matter how we do it it...as long as we are going in and up.
In his podcast, Singer explains Patanjali's meditation steps: Pratyahara (premeditation, withdrawal of the senses), Dharna ( focused or single pointed concentration), dhyana( focusing on consciousness itself) and Samadhi...where the merging happens. This is what I read last night from Vivekananda's book:
- There are three stages in meditation. The first is what is called [Dharana], concentrating the mind upon an object. I try to concentrate my mind upon this glass, excluding every other object from my mind except this glass. But the mind is wavering....
- When it becomes strong and does not waver so much, it is called [Dhyana], meditation...
- And then there is a still higher state when the differentiation between the glass and myself is lost-[Samadhi or absorption].
- Meditation means the mind is turned back upon itself ( page 15)
Singer kept stressing over and over about the importance of this higher state of consciousness focusing on consciousness. Attempting to go there...or better put...not leave there like we tend to do when we are pulled down and out into our distractions....is the One True Spiritual Path.
Wow! I just see all these teachings lining up so perfectly for me in what seems like coincidence. But something tells me, it is more than coincidence. As somewhat of a Jhana Yogi by nature ( I do think that is the natural path for me on my way back to this destination I never left) I am being guided a bit by something I do not understand. Not saying it is mystical woo-woo...just something I can not see or explain...a vibration, maybe. Maybe, all so called coincidence is purposeful vibration?
Yogis, centuries ago, have come to see all of Life as a vibration. They have been aware of the quantum field a lot longer than scientists have. Science is slowly catching up. Instead of doing what the yogis did...exploring consciosuness directly and firstly before examining the world outside, however,...scientists are making their way from the outside in.
Just a different path, maybe, to the same Truth.
All is well.
Dalai Llama (2002) Om Mani Padme Hung. Shambala Publications. https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/om-mani-padme-hum-dalai-lama/
Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe ( March 15, 2024) Many Paths-One Destination. https://tou.org/talks/
Swami Vivekananda (2019) Meditation and Its Methods. New Delhi: General Press (Kindle Edition)
Patanjali/ Sri Swami Satchidananda( 2011) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Buckingham: Integral Yoga Publications.
No comments:
Post a Comment