Ten Days Journey Into The Self

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: Jain Meditation International Centre

Page 10

Chapter Two - Meditation And The First Of Four Essential
Virtues--Amity
Meditation is purification. We have to distill our essence, which is pure. In meditation, we get rid of the mud, the pollution, and distill pure energy of Light, of Love. To meditate is to purify, to distill the divinity with-in, the active divinity. Natural water is not muddy, polluted, contaminated--such impurities come from the soil of the banks, and from the factories on the shores. The unclean water does not clearly reflect the sun, the blue sky, the green trees, the flowers on the bank; and it may poison the fish, the frogs, and also the people who drink it. In the same way, man's essence can become perverted through his exposure to the world. And then he unwittingly contributes to the pollution and perversion. When we start the practice of meditation, in the first stage each is called an aspirant, in Sanskrit, a Sadhak, which means, "not complacent". As aspirants, we know we are not what we could be. For most of us, the purification that takes place during meditation, even the experience of bliss and in- inspiration, may not be too long in coming. But the purification of a life span, which means building and rebuilding our lives according to what we discover in our meditation will take arduous effort. We are here on a long journey, to share the road to immortality with all living beings. There are many names for the goal--immortality, evolution, salvation or moksha which means liberation. In other terms the goal may be "to get the most out of life". But we will not get the most out of life without discovering our divinity through meditation. And the discovery of our divinity must lead to our finding our mission in life, which means giving up the mundane, going beyond merely making profits and acquiring possessions, beyond identification with our role in buying and selling, beyond our cultivating ease and indolence. We must experience our attunement with all men, even with all living beings, with nature, with the Cosmos. And this attunement implies not only joy but responsibility, the responsibility which compassion engenders. What I have been fortunate in experiencing and practicing, bit by bit, I shall explain to you, so you can move in a similar direction. Many years ago, on a long retreat on Mount Abu, in solitude and silence and meditation, I sought the answer to the question, "What are the minimum virtues necessary for anyone if he is to rightly think of himself as an enlightened person?" The answer that came to me was the four virtues taught by Mahavir, which I put into words and music in what I have called "The Immortal Song". It begins, "May the sacred stream of amity flow forever in my heart, May the universe prosper; such is my cherished desire." First, let us concentrate on amity---and then, later, you will glide into meditation. In concentration, there is harmony between observer and object. The subject observes the object, but there is complete unity between subject and object. In meditation you are in a state in which you have entered the center of energy. You are one with Reality. You have gone beyond subject and object, beyond mind. Amity is the first criterion of love. God is merely an image, the symbol of love. Personified love is called God. Love energy is God in action: to realize God, you have to give love, to be love. Without love, God is not present. The presence of love is the presence of God. Without amity, goodwill, there is no love. With any trace of fear, hate, resentment, possessiveness, indifference, self-centeredness, love is polluted.