Online StoreAchieve Success Through Meditation
Honestly, I have never had the desire to meditate. Possibly because I didn’t really know what purpose it would serve. I thought I was already accomplishing stress relief, and learning to live in the now through yoga. It had been suggested in my yoga classes and I thought I should try it. Emphasis on the word should because I still didn’t WANT to do it. Easwaran’s book opened my mind and heart to the idea. One paragraph grabbed me. It was about taming your inner demons or quieting the ego mind. I had been on that journey for about 2 years, and felt stuck for the past two. I thought “maybe this is the answer”.
Easwaran does such an amazing job of explaining things in a very down to earth and yet moving manner. I felt comfortable with the whole idea for the first time. His examples, symbolism and way of teaching new concepts in a way that I could understand were incredible. I was actually moved to tears a few times. I related to his stories of his grandmother. And, excepting the one comment about organized religion being a way for us to feed our egos and relate to people who seem like us, the ideas were familiar and rang of truth to me. I think he was making the case for studying ALL great mystics.
Chalk it up to my ignorance on the subject, but I was surprised when he suggested meditating on a mantra or prayer. I thought that the whole point of meditation was to clear you mind of all thought. I was actually relieved when he said that is virtually impossible, as I have never been able to do it.
I was inspired to learn more about other great spiritual leaders in history. I have always believed that truth is and always will be truth. Those who seek shall find, whomever they may be. It is interesting to me that great minds throughout the ages come to nearly the same conclusions. They do have a slightly different twist on their teachings in my opinion due to culture, circumstance or time in history.
I was a bit leery of venturing out of my own comfort zone. I thought that chanting a mantra may be considered worshiping idols or something. However, I have also had an open mind as someone who was taught great truths by a parent who was not only non-religious, but alcoholic and somewhat abusive. My point in sharing this is that when the author suggested:
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
as one of his staple mantrams, I ignored it initially because of it’s relation to the Jewish faith. I just thought it was contradicting my Christian beliefs. But, after learning the meaning of the words broken down into syllables, I too thought it to be beautiful. I have found that English just doesn’t do feelings justice in so many cases. Those three words mean: Oh Lord who has stolen my heart, I cannot rest until I find Him. He ceaselessly, ceaselessly, draws me unto Him, and is the only source of true joy.
There are so many truths that I knew but gained a better clarity on through this book. Some of which are: Our bodies are only a type of clothing; we “shed” our bodies at death; when you recognize illusion, it evaporates; lose yourself, and you shall find yourself; slow down in order to speed up; depth, not breadth; the senses can be trained and therefore magnified;discipline is freedom.
I would suggest to anyone seeking for truth, enlightenment, knowledge or freedom to buy this book and refer to it often. Thank goodness for Amazon, as it is now out of print. Even with no great insights, meditation will provide moments of peace in trying times, clarity in confusion, and time to listen. To my friends who are a bit skeptical of the mystical as I was, I say meditation is taking the time to listen for answers to prayers.
