What is Meditation ?

There are many misconceptions and misunderstandings about the nature of meditation. Because the mind thinks in terms of form consciousness, we think of it as a particular way of sitting or a particular way of focusing the mind. And although meditation may, from the outside, look like a particular form, that is not the essential nature of it at all. The biggest problem to begin with is the idea that it is" doing" something. Another obstacle to true understanding is when people meditate, they are looking for some type of special mystical experience, or state of enlightened consciousness. This is just another trick of the mind that it plays on you, in order to keep you trapped in illusion. The essence of meditation, in whatever form it takes, is to rest in being aware of your natural state of existence. In other words, to look inward at your natural state of being, or state of pure unconditioned consciousness that you were born with as a baby, and continues to be you, who you truly are at the deepest level of your mind. As you meditate in whatever form you choose, it is the process of separating your awareness from form consciousness or things consciousness, into the state of pure consciousness beyond form. It is to be the witness of the various forms in your life both physical , mental an emotional. It is to be aware that your essential identity of who you are is that witnessing consciousness. This is what Jesus meant when he said to live in the world but not be of the world. He also said" I have overcome the world" meaning he had developed that witnessing consciousness to the fullest degree ! Meditation can be done in many ways. The traditional method of sitting quietly and focusing on something , the breath ,a candle, a mantra etc.a physical sensations and so forth and so on, is just one way. You can also be in a meditative state with all the activities of your life if you continue in that awareness that you are the witnessing consciousness and not the form consciousness. There are also ways that are the opposite of sitting quietly called active meditation. Things like dancing, shaking, reading, breathing, holding your breath, pushing your breath out, screeming, simply becoming alive so that you get a full awareness of the life energy within you. This period of activity and intensity is usually followed by standing still or lying still on the floor as you become aware of that point of stillness at the center or core of your being. When you can find that stillness, this is the place where the witnessing consciousness lives. It Is not dependent on anything. It is a place where you truly separate yourself from form consciousness into the peace and bliss of no thingness. This is the ground of the unmanifested. It is the ground of essential life energy and pure consciousness. the place where all the forms of the world are born out of and return to when they inevitably dissolve. I think it is so funny when people talk about immortality on a physical level. Why would we want to remain trapped on the level of form, when the world beyond form could be so much more beautiful and ecstatic. It is this addiction to form, and the illusion of security it creates, that blinds us to ultimate reality. In meditation we began to get a glimpse of that ultimate reality which is our home and resting place, the source of who we are.