About Priorities in Life

There is always time for what you really want to do. 

God made the world in six days. On the seventh day he and the guys were hanging out congratulating themselves on a job well done – they had a sign up: Mission Accomplished! They were reminiscing about some of the cool moves - mountains, rivers, the seas, the oceans. And then, coolest of all, the people - a work of art, in his own image. 

Some way into the proceedings one of the girls looked up at God at the head of the table and said, 'So, what’s it all for?' 'What do you mean, what’s it all for, it’s great,' said God. 'Yeah I know, but I mean, what's the point? Why bother? Everything was stable, in equilibrium when it was unmanifest, so why shake the balance?' God started to think about this and after some time he said, 'Yes, that’s a good point, there has to be a purpose. If there's going to be choice in the world then there has to be something that motivates a good choice from a bad one.' 

So a silence followed while all the guys started thinking what could be the purpose. Well, pretty soon they realised what was needed was a search for something, a trial, a quest - something like the holy grail or the golden fleece - and the prize would be the Ultimate Truth, the meaning of it all. Okay that much was clear. 

Next they began to think where to hide it. Now this exercised them a bit more. There were suggestions like the bottom of the deepest ocean, the top of the highest mountain, the middle of the hottest desert, Antarctica, and so on. But God dismissed all suggestions. 'Too easy,' he said. 'I mean we gave these guys an adventurous spirit and they’ll soon get to all these places. No, it has to be somewhere they’ll never think of.' 

When another longer silence had fallen on the group, one of the older boys, a gnarled old fellow who hadn’t participated much in the general discussion, made his way round to God's side and started speaking in his ear. As he did so God began to smile. 'Yes,' he said, 'I think you got it. I know where to hide it'. The old boy at his side was sniggering away, hardly able to contain himself. 'Okay, I’ll tell them,' God said, 'We’ll hide it in every single heart. They’ll never think of looking for it there. Because, if they do, they’ll think it can't possibly be the real thing if everyone can have a go at it.'

You are pure consciousness - oh yeah?

There is absolutely nothing preventing anybody from having a direct experience of the Truth. Of course, as a general principle we may well accept this, but why then is it so difficult? 

Changing the Inner Dialogue

There was once a wise man. He had been visiting for some time the city of Asyufindit. In his time there he had seen everything and observed it all impartially, but knowingly. One day the wise man left the city. He was a traveller by nature, and by travelling he met many people and learned many things. When he had been going for some time he met a traveller coming in the other direction. They stopped and chatted a while as travellers do. 'Tell me,' the traveller said, 'I have heard many things about Asyufindit'. 'What have you heard?' the wise man asked. 'Oh I’ve heard it’s a wonderful place. That the people are welcoming and friendly, that business is honest, play is joyful and sport is fair.' 

The wise man was watching the other man carefully but discreetly for a few moments. 'Yes that is true,' he said, 'you will enjoy your time there very much. And if you decide to settle there I’m sure you will be very happy.' The traveller was very pleased to hear this and smiled happily. 'Here, let me offer you some food, I’m sure you must be hungry. I was fortunate enough to be given a package of food in the last village.' 'Yes I’m not surprised,' the wise man said somewhat enigmatically. They shared the lunch, and, both well-fed, they said their goodbyes and went their respective ways.

Further on down the road, the next day, the wise man met another traveller coming in the other direction. They stopped and greeted one another. 'Tell me,' the traveller said, 'I have heard many things about Asyufindit'. 'What have you heard?' the wise man asked. 'Well I’ve heard that the people are not very friendly. In fact you can’t trust anyone and you have to take great care, particularly if you do any business, they’ll rob you blind. And as for…' 

And while the traveller was talking the wise man looked him over carefully, and when he had finished speaking, the wise man said, 'Yes what you say is true. You will find the people unfriendly and you will have quite some difficulty in having honest dealings with anyone.' The traveller was actually gratified to hear this, just as he’d heard, he thought, and being forewarned is forearmed too. Just then the wise man said he was hungry and asked if he had a little food he could spare. The traveller said he was afraid he had just enough for himself and could not spare any. The wise man said he understood completely. And so they parted and went their opposite ways. 

Taking out the Trash - A Way to Forgiveness

For three months earlier this year I was in southern India effectively living in solitude. Meaning that I did not talk to anyone except for the essentials of maintenance. For many days I would hardly see anyone nor speak when I did. It becomes a state of mind eventually. Within that I was practising my meditation every day. I’d practise between maybe two and four hours each day. I did not have a specific routine because I discovered the enormous benefit of solitude. That is the feeling, knowledge, experience of continuity that went on unbroken all the time. So I sat when I felt like it, which was usually three to five times a day.

I might be working on a project from time to time, but in the background, unbroken and undisturbed by the activity, was the awareness of a thread that ran from one meditation sitting to the next. That tended to level out expectation and increase faith in an ongoing process that was looking after itself, if only I did not disturb it. Sometimes I would wait before sitting because I could feel something coalescing and I would have a notion of what direction the next sitting would take and let it take clearer form - because awareness is intelligent, in a different way from my intelligence. Watching for the direction is not the same as expectation, but expectation can be mistaken for awareness. Think about that.

When the Past is Too Much in the Present

Meditation has always been about self-knowledge, not self improvement. It’s as well to understand this because in the end meditation will come down to self-knowledge, and as the mind opens up that can come as a bit of a surprise if not prepared for it. But paradoxically if meditation is practised with self-knowledge as the purpose, then self-improvement automatically follows. Whereas if self-improvement is pursued for its own sake, that does happen but not so easily or spontaneously. 

It's like if you have to climb a mountain, but to get to the mountain first you have to get over a hill. The hill is no obstacle because the mind is set on the challenge of the mountain. Whereas if the aim is only to climb the hill, the mind has a different attitude. The hill becomes a greater challenge than if it were just something to handle on the way. While being realistic, the higher the goal the greater the personal achievement. And there is no limitation on anyone anywhere being able to discover more about themselves and benefitting immensely from that. 

To know ourselves more deeply, to understand ourselves more fully, we have to turn away for some time from the world out there and find a way into the complete, infinite and mysterious world within. That inner world is with us all the time but we just don’t seem to pay that much attention to it and, even if we want to go there, we may not know how to do it. There are four conditions for successful and satisfying meditation experience: voluntarily detaching from the magnetism of the active outer life for some time; knowing how to turn inward; knowing what to do when you get there; and facing up to it as you begin to discover yourself more and more.