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THE DYNAMICS OF MEDITATION
touch the vessels. Why? It is the deep guilt and feeling of sin, the idea that sex is unclean and evil. We are taught we are guilty of what is called "original sin.” For thousands of years these kinds of thoughts have been hammered and nailed into our minds. You may try to come out of it, but it is in the air, on the radio on Sunday morning. It is deep in our minds, so it is very difficult to get away from it.
Eventually, we lose respect for ourselves, and we come to fear joy, bliss and enlightenment. Recently one of our students was meditating very deeply for many days. Going deeper and deeper, there came a moment when he began experiencing bliss and a deep merging with himself. Bliss was engulfing him, it was embracing him, and all the tension and fear and sadness were melting. Then the fear of bliss overcame him. He was so shocked that he got up and said, “No, I don't want this.” It was a unique experience. He thought, “No, I am not ready."
In meditation there is a new moment, a new learning. The learning is this: you realize that all these beautiful things which you see in someone else are your privilege too. You are equal to them. It is not only Christ, the Son of God, or Mahavira, the Blessed Prince. It is not only Buddha, the Enlightened One. We all have the same potential. Again and again you must tell yourself that happiness, bliss and immortality are your birthright.
** It is like the story of the musk deer. It has a gland at its navel which secretes musk and gives an enchanting scent. Catching its own smell in the air, the deer begins to run, seeking the source. Eventually it runs blindly into the desert, where it is very hot and there is no water. Its quest drives it into the wilderness where it becomes exhausted
