Part 2: The Observer Itself

So who is this Observer who is such an essential part of meditation? 

The Observer is the identity of the one who is aware. Awareness as we know is the one guaranteed constant in meditation practice. Of course at first it seems that the awareness is just a part of the mind trying to observe itself. And of course this sounds absurd, as absurd as the example often given for this:

Imagine that there is a thief. And it is necessary to identify and catch the thief. Who is assigned to catch the thief? It's the policeman. Naturally the policeman will catch the thief. But in this scenario - which is the mind being aware of itself, also the mind - the policeman is the same person as the thief. He's trying to catch himself! Now the thief is a thief. He has all the natural deception of a thief. But the policeman is also still a policeman, he believes in justice and upholds the law. So you can see the natural dilemma if the policeman is assigned to catch the thief who is himself. And the mind watching the mind also reflects the different aspects of any individual which leads to a divided personality.

Part 1: Experience, Experiencer and Observer

Something simple but very practical that actually works in meditation:

Be the Observer of both Experience and the Experiencer

Everything that takes place in life can be called experience. Experience goes on all the time through the senses. Usually we only call it 'an experience' when it leaves a particular impression. But even in moments of stillness, experiences still continue whether they are acknowledged or not. This is the first point: Experience. 

The Heart of the Matter

What we often try to say is not always in the words themselves. Sometimes you have to go through strange stuff to get to the heart of the matter, which is always different from the point of departure - to take something and look at it from every angle with a quiet dispassion, which allows the space for something you don't yet know to emerge that is greater than the sum of the parts.

Meditation and the Mind - Part 2

So we go in, what then?

In meditation, by whatever technique, we disassociate from the senses and the outer world, and enter the inner world - a state known as pratyahara. But pratyahara is really only the frontier of a new inner world that has remained largely unexplored. What happens when we get there? What do we do? What’s the point?

Meditation and the Mind - Part 1

Two worlds

We live and experience life in two dimensions at the same time; two worlds if you like, an outer world and an inner world. Although they are both there, for the most part we are experiencing only one of them at any one moment. We are either awake or asleep, and the other is unknown to us. When we are awake we live in the outer world; when asleep we are in the inner world, but most of the time completely unaware of it. The exception is meditation.

There is a kind of trade-off between these two worlds – inner and the outer. They are like trading nations, but with no real understanding of each other’s culture, beliefs and motivating forces. The dimension of experience is different in each. Sometimes communication breaks down, relations get fraught, ambassadors are recalled and there is conflict for some time. Thinking they are separate, sometimes we are just not at peace with ourselves.

If we consider the outer and inner worlds together and the relationship between them, you can see that there is nevertheless something constant to both of them, along with the differences. Recognizing this helps us in meditation practice, and some of the experiences it brings.

Welcome to meditation in all its aspects and mystery

Fellow Spiritual Seekers, Brothers and Sisters

Something like meditation should be approached in the spirit in which it is practised. Practical aspects and techniques can be outlined, but the essence of it can’t be described intellectually. In order to understand meditation, the meditation-mind has also to awaken and listen, because the voice that describes meditation can never define so completely that there is automatic understanding. 

It's like having something precious and wonderful and holding it up to the light and turning it and seeing it reflected from different angles in the changing light. One moment it looks like this, another moment it’s different, and looks like that, and yet in essence it is always the same. So how to describe it? We build a picture from different images which come gradually more and more into focus as our observation and understanding increases.