Meditation on the One Life
according to
N. Sri Ram
At the heart of the Cosmos there is One. That One has its sanctuary and shrine in the heart of every human being. Man's first spiritual discovery in consciousness is of this Divine Presence within him, the Inner Ruler Immortal seated in the hearts of all beings. Thereafter, identity with the One Alone, fully conscious absorption "like water in water, space in space, light in light," for evermore in the eternal, self-existent ALL is achieved. This is man's ultimate goal. Regular wisely directed meditation can hasten its attainment.
The first object in meditation is to discover one's own Spiritual Selfhood as distinct from the personal vehicle, physical, emotional, mental, and the consciousness active within them. So we begin with an exercise in dissociation seeking both to realize the distinction between the Immortal Spiritual Self and the mortal changing personality. We then come to realize that the Spiritual Self of man is forever an integral part of the Spiritual Self of the universe, the All-Pervading Supreme Lord. Man is One with God and through THAT with All that lives. We discover that the Godhood within us is One with the Godhood in All, that Man-Spirit and God-Spirit are One Spirit.
Meditation
a) Preparation.
- Body relaxed.
- Emotions harmonized
- Mind alert and charged with will.
b) Dissociation.
- Mentally affirm and realize:
I am not the Physical body…. I AM the Spiritual Self.
I am not the Emotions……… I AM the Spiritual Self
I am not the Mind………….. I AM the Spiritual Self
- Let us first meditate on Life in its innumerable forms and its ever-varying expression. Then on consciousness—which is one with life—and its nature, as we can understand it in ourselves and in others. Then on sympathy; not so much by thinking as by feeling; as though one is blending one's own consciousness with that in another, whether a human being, or an animal or a plant. And lastly the love that arises from such blending.
- Imagine all Life as a vast ocean, of which each individual life is a drop—life in plants, in animals and birds, in human beings of all races, man, woman, and child, of all ages.
- Meditate on Life as conscious and active evolving through every form; Life as divine energy pouring through forms of every sort, omnipresent, surging; asleep in the minerals, dreaming in the plant, partly awake in the animals, fully awake and self-conscious in man.
- Let us think of consciousness as awareness of whatever is before us or around us, as sensation and thought.
- Let us think of consciousness in plants, dimly experiencing, sensing, just beginning to stir. Then in animals, with keener, more varied sensations, aware of their surroundings, just beginning to think. Then of the consciousness of our fellow human beings, experiencing sensation, getting attached to it, thinking with hopes and fears, longings of various sorts, and imagination.
- Let us think of those known to us, identifying ourselves inwardly with them, trying to see as they see, feel as they feel.
- Then extending the thought to others unknown to us personally, try to feel a universal sympathy, with boundless good-will, a longing that every life may find the happiness it seeks, the happiness which we seek for ourselves.
- Try to regard all men and women as brothers and sisters, the learned and the simple. Think of Those who are the flowers of humanity, the finished products of evolution—the Masters, the Christ, the Buddha. Think of their nature as extraordinarily sensitive, pure and compassionate; trying to feel that love and reverence which is naturally evoked as we lift our eyes and hearts to the beauty of what They are.
- Try to look upon All Life as They look upon it, feeling Their love and tenderness to All and Their sense of Unity with All. Dwell in this Unity.
