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What I am about to say represents my own beliefs. I trust you to see it as opinion, not absolute truth. I honor you and your way, as you honor mine, for the "I Am Presence" lives within each of us.
— Drunvalo
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The Darkness Within
We close our eyes, and we are engulfed in darkness. Our inner world seems to be a vacant, dark world blocking out the everyday experience we believe to be the Reality. When we close our eyes, our inner world seems to put the outer Reality on ''pause'' — but it doesn't appear to be more than that.
But we know that there is more because of our dreams. When we initially close our eyes, we enter into the same, familiar darkness. But when we sleep, our consciousness changes, and we begin to see images. These images can become so real that we believe, while the dream is happening, that the dream is Reality.
So we do know that there is ''something'' behind or within the darkness of our closed eyes. But what is it?
Humankind has probably studied meditation from the beginning. You can just feel those ancient eyes looking into the darkness, searching for a meaning and a connection to the outer world. In this simple way meditation was probably born.
Today, as in ancient times, a human being automatically begins to search for the purpose of life and the reasons that things are the way they are. This searching is innate. It seems to be created right into our genes.
But this natural searching can very often be squelched in the child as he or she begins to explore, and when this happens, the mind and the heart shut down in fear. The reasons that parents and mentors shut down the inner searching in children are varied — and perhaps the reasons don't really matter. But the result matters. The result on Earth today of this shutting down of our inner searching is that most people have no idea of the true nature of the world that we live in.
When we begin to interpret what is happening in our lives, and the inner images and the colors we see begin to interweave with the everyday scenes (also images) within our lives, meditation is born. It is all so simple. Are we not simply trying to understand ourselves, where we live, and why we are on Earth?
But there is, of course, much that is hidden behind the images.
Many Interpretations
As the practice of meditation grew around the world over a period of thousands of years, it became differentiated by its various teachers. Each teacher mapping the inner landscape of consciousness found different pathways to be more important than others. And so today there are many ways to explore the inner self. In most cases, each meditator believes that his or her way is the best, and sometimes the only, way to God and to Enlightenment.
I believe, however, that all choices — especially when it comes to exploring your own spiritual life — are best left up to you. As convincing as any path may be, truth only comes through direct experience.
In this issue, we will offer for your contemplation several of the ''paths to God'' — an incomplete selection, to be sure, for the subject is so vast.
On the other hand Shiva, a Hindu tradition, believes that there are exactly (and only) 113 forms of mediations in the world, and that even if you made up a brand new one, it would still fall into one of the 113 forms. Interestingly, 112 of these forms are male, and only one — either the first or last — is female. The first eight male forms are breathing forms, and the last 104 are unique. The one female form (if it is a form at all) has no form. It cannot be told to someone how it is done. It can only be experienced.
Self-Realization
After deeply experiencing the inner worlds, one realization that all teachers and students of meditation everywhere in the world arrive at is that there is a relationship between the inner and the outer worlds. What most have found is that everything is alive and everything is connected, including the inner and outer worlds. And what many have found is that what seems to be the outer world of everyday life, is really part of the inner Self. This leads to Self-Realization where, in time, it becomes clear that you and God are intimately connected.
Naturally, there are those who believe the exact opposite, and give their power away to another person, place, or thing outside of their direct experience. Doing this creates problems, for the truth cannot be found except within.
The Higher Self
In many of the spiritual traditions of the world, there is a belief that the human spirit simultaneously exists on other levels of life besides this three-dimensional Earth. In these cases there is a reference to what is called the ''Higher Self'' or a term very similar such as the ''High Self.'' It is believed that we live this human life, but that there are other levels or parts of us that are living other kinds of lives, such as within the Angelic worlds.
In some traditions it is believed that we are merely connected to these higher worlds, but not actually part of them. In the Christian tradition, for example, it is believed that we all have a ''Guardian Angel'' that God has ''given us'' who invisibly looks over us and protects us while we live our ordinary life here on Earth. Some people think this is fantasy — and from a pragmatic viewpoint, it would seem that way. But even from a pragmatic viewpoint, one must question why such a ''fantasy'' has survived even into this modern world with such power and frequency?
In my tradition, and from what I have found in meditation, there are parts of me that live in other worlds and — in truth — in all other worlds, and communication between these parts. And, once communication is established, a way of seeing the interrelated aspects of nature become clear.
Further, I have found that there are Higher Selves connected to Higher Selves connected to even Higher Selves all the way to the Creator and the Source of all life.
Perhaps you believe a different way, and this is why I began this discussion by saying this is my opinion. But no matter what you believe, if you truly go deep enough within your own self, I feel you will discover the beauty, the grandeur, and the truth of who you really are, the Mighty I Am.
In love and service,
Drunvalo
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