Study, meditation, mindfulness and intention all foster spiritual growth.
Study
It is true that each of us has direct access to truth through the higher Self. However, before we can learn to channel that truth to our consciousness, most of us require the guidance and encouragement that we derive from studying the works of spiritual masters of the past and present. The more diverse our sources of wisdom, the better, because no one teacher, no matter how great, has been able to translate spiritual truth into human language perfectly or completely. By studying the ancient teachings of Jesus and the Buddha, Krishna and Lao Tsu, the recent teachings of such masters as Ramana Maharshi, Joel Goldsmith, and Paramahansa Yogananda, the teachings of contemporary masters such as Eckhart Tolle and the Dalai Lama, the interpretations of students and scholars past and present, and the everyday wisdom of the spiritual teachers we encounter daily, we can achieve a holistic understanding that relates the truth to our individual circumstances in a way that no one philosophy or system of thought imposed from outside the self could possibly give us.
Intention
Intention is the will to put aside the promptings of ego and the base urgings of the small self in pursuit of higher truth. Study leads us to this intention as we learn to appreciate the values incorporated in the teachings of the masters. Intention truly forms within the self, however, and is the first evidence of the universal spirit that inhabits the consciousness of each individual. It is the first shoot of the sprouting seed that pushes through its earthly covering and spreads its leaves to the sun. Studying the masters is like providing warmth and water to the sleeping grain of universal consciousness under the surface. That seed responds to truth and blossoms spontaneously into the personal consciousness:
Awareness, dormant in the Soul,
In meditation, or by a guru's touch,
Erupts in spontaneous beauty,
Like a flower.
Meditation
Spiritual consciousness, however, cannot be acquired through study. Study prepares us, provides us disciplines and intentions, that will help us to find the way and keep steadily to the path that will carry us on our journey. But once this foundation has been laid - this roadmap has been opened - a general understanding of the benefits of spiritual truth and the means of accessing it - we must open ourselves to the gifts of awareness that are granted us in meditation. Though meditation can mean many things, here I am referring to the silent practice of emptying the conscious mind and opening it as a vessel to receive the downpouring of Spirit from its universal Source. Here paradoxically we must renounce reliance on the teaching of human masters along with all other mundane practices and wisdom sources. Through the practice of opening ourselves directly to Spirit, we are following in the footsteps of those mystics and masters, whose teachings invariably emphasize the importance of a personal relationship with the Divine. A meditation practice begins with the abandonment of all preformulated beliefs and principles. Sitting in stillness, we are able to contemplate many purported truths that make their way into our consciousness. Many of these will come from our own minds and egos and will not stand up to the light the consciousness casts upon them. Only those that are pure enough to possess their own internal illumination, and to flood the consciousness with the unmistakable brilliance of eternal truth, will we adopt as principles on which to build a new understanding. Over time, meditation will assist us to refine and reformulate these understandings in a dynamic process of polishing our consciousness into an ever more perfect mirror of divinity.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is an essential tool in our practice. Mindfulness can be applied to both thoughts and actions. In meditation, mindfulness enables us to be aware of distractions and to adhere to our intention by setting them aside; and to distinguish the gleam of truth from the glare of desire in the thoughts and images that pass constantly on the periphery of consciousness. In daily life, mindfulness allows us to make choices and take actions that are consistent with our intentions and with the values we have absorbed from the study of great masters and from communion with the Divine. Mindfulness allows us to avoid the unexamined life in which we act based on instinct or reflex (what I call "one dimensional consciousness"), or on habit, on values and behaviors derived from the sometimes polluted environment in which we live ("two dimensional consciousness"), or on the promptings of ego. It provides continual course corrections to keep us on our chosen path. Mindfulness consists of holding each thought, each action to which we are prompted, up to the light to determine whether it is consistent with our highest good and the intention we have formed for our spiritual development. It enables us to choose loving thoughts and actions over selfish ones.
Together, study and meditation, practiced with divine intention and mindfulness, are the essential foundation of a life that is fulfilling far beyond the satisfaction of material desires, a life of loving oneness with the Divine.
Study
It is true that each of us has direct access to truth through the higher Self. However, before we can learn to channel that truth to our consciousness, most of us require the guidance and encouragement that we derive from studying the works of spiritual masters of the past and present. The more diverse our sources of wisdom, the better, because no one teacher, no matter how great, has been able to translate spiritual truth into human language perfectly or completely. By studying the ancient teachings of Jesus and the Buddha, Krishna and Lao Tsu, the recent teachings of such masters as Ramana Maharshi, Joel Goldsmith, and Paramahansa Yogananda, the teachings of contemporary masters such as Eckhart Tolle and the Dalai Lama, the interpretations of students and scholars past and present, and the everyday wisdom of the spiritual teachers we encounter daily, we can achieve a holistic understanding that relates the truth to our individual circumstances in a way that no one philosophy or system of thought imposed from outside the self could possibly give us.
Intention
Intention is the will to put aside the promptings of ego and the base urgings of the small self in pursuit of higher truth. Study leads us to this intention as we learn to appreciate the values incorporated in the teachings of the masters. Intention truly forms within the self, however, and is the first evidence of the universal spirit that inhabits the consciousness of each individual. It is the first shoot of the sprouting seed that pushes through its earthly covering and spreads its leaves to the sun. Studying the masters is like providing warmth and water to the sleeping grain of universal consciousness under the surface. That seed responds to truth and blossoms spontaneously into the personal consciousness:
Awareness, dormant in the Soul,
In meditation, or by a guru's touch,
Erupts in spontaneous beauty,
Like a flower.
Meditation
Spiritual consciousness, however, cannot be acquired through study. Study prepares us, provides us disciplines and intentions, that will help us to find the way and keep steadily to the path that will carry us on our journey. But once this foundation has been laid - this roadmap has been opened - a general understanding of the benefits of spiritual truth and the means of accessing it - we must open ourselves to the gifts of awareness that are granted us in meditation. Though meditation can mean many things, here I am referring to the silent practice of emptying the conscious mind and opening it as a vessel to receive the downpouring of Spirit from its universal Source. Here paradoxically we must renounce reliance on the teaching of human masters along with all other mundane practices and wisdom sources. Through the practice of opening ourselves directly to Spirit, we are following in the footsteps of those mystics and masters, whose teachings invariably emphasize the importance of a personal relationship with the Divine. A meditation practice begins with the abandonment of all preformulated beliefs and principles. Sitting in stillness, we are able to contemplate many purported truths that make their way into our consciousness. Many of these will come from our own minds and egos and will not stand up to the light the consciousness casts upon them. Only those that are pure enough to possess their own internal illumination, and to flood the consciousness with the unmistakable brilliance of eternal truth, will we adopt as principles on which to build a new understanding. Over time, meditation will assist us to refine and reformulate these understandings in a dynamic process of polishing our consciousness into an ever more perfect mirror of divinity.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is an essential tool in our practice. Mindfulness can be applied to both thoughts and actions. In meditation, mindfulness enables us to be aware of distractions and to adhere to our intention by setting them aside; and to distinguish the gleam of truth from the glare of desire in the thoughts and images that pass constantly on the periphery of consciousness. In daily life, mindfulness allows us to make choices and take actions that are consistent with our intentions and with the values we have absorbed from the study of great masters and from communion with the Divine. Mindfulness allows us to avoid the unexamined life in which we act based on instinct or reflex (what I call "one dimensional consciousness"), or on habit, on values and behaviors derived from the sometimes polluted environment in which we live ("two dimensional consciousness"), or on the promptings of ego. It provides continual course corrections to keep us on our chosen path. Mindfulness consists of holding each thought, each action to which we are prompted, up to the light to determine whether it is consistent with our highest good and the intention we have formed for our spiritual development. It enables us to choose loving thoughts and actions over selfish ones.
Together, study and meditation, practiced with divine intention and mindfulness, are the essential foundation of a life that is fulfilling far beyond the satisfaction of material desires, a life of loving oneness with the Divine.
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