When we sit for meditation –

what we are seeking within ourselves

is a space of deep silence –

and to be able to remain with it,

but relaxed.

You can feel for that silence in yourself,

that which is beyond thought.

 

So there may be moments that come upon you,

of this silence –

stay with it,

deepen it,

by reaching deeper in yourself.

 

It is the silence of the Buddha.

It is the silence of the high mountains of Kailas –

It is the silence of Shiva.

 

There can be a feeling in that silence,

a profound feeling.

 

It is a seeking of a deep valley in your heart,

a silent valley.

 

To be able to stay still,

in that deep silence of your being –

That is the state of Zen:

complete in yourself, totally content;

a state of perfect harmony,

a state of samadhi.

 

Samadhi means to be resolved

and complete in yourself;

to abide in a complete state of poise,

wherein there is no effort, no struggle –

a state of profound equanimity.

There may be strong winds, a hurricane,

but you remain untouched.

A state of depth, a state of silence –

The profundity of the Self.

 

Imagine a deep lake, a calm lake, very deep.

If you have ever sat by a deep, calm lake,

it is that feeling: feeling of depth,

and of tremendous calm –

this abiding silence –

because of its depth,

because of its completeness.

 

So if you have not had a chance,

to ever sit by such a lake –

Do so.

Sit by the lake you find and feel the lake –

then see if you can find that lake in your heart:

the lake of a profound silence,

of a profound depth.

 

It is a very solid and substantial feeling –

it’s a solid body of water.

If you feel the lake –

you feel this solid body of water, very powerful –

and yet so sublime, so calm,

so profound,

so silent.

 

There is the rush and the torrent –

of a running mountain stream,

and there is the calm,

a profound calm –

and the deep silence of a deep lake.

 

In Pushkar –

and in Maneri by the dam where the lake is formed,

you can get this feeling –

it is a big lake that is formed,

and deep calm…

And when there is no wind,

there are no ripples.

 

So when the mind is quiet,

when there are no ripples of the mind,

then you abide in yourself,

you rest in yourself –

and there is tremendous energy,

tremendous power in that moment.

 

So when you have a chance to be by a lake,

you can feel that power –

although there is no movement in the lake,

because the lake is at rest.

It is resting in itself…

And yet there is this feeling of solid power,

tremendous energy.

All this energy comes from the Self:

it is resting, abiding in the Self.

 

So in meditation when you sit,

this is where you have to reach:

where everything is a fit

and nothing is amiss –

you are in harmony, you are complete,

you have arrived at samadhi –

and yet you are aware

of all.

 

Vast and deep is this rest –

there is no better place to rest

than in yourself.

 

You have arrived at beatitude:

the sheer beauty of that moment is indescribable.

Then you are the Buddha,

you are the Shiva.

 

So there is a quality to running waters

which can be very meditative –

just listening to the running waters,

the running brook, the running stream –

listening to its movement you are brought to yourself.

 

Then there are calm waters,

calm waters of the deep lake –

being there with the calm waters of the lake,

feeling the body of water ever so calm…

 

So tomorrow we will go to a lake – Nachiketa –

according to legend that is where Nachiketa of Upanishadic fame,

spent his time in meditation and so the name –

It is not such a large body of water,

but it is very calm,

and we can spend time feeling

this calm of the lake.

 

Then you can spend time

being with the lake,

a calm body of water,

and with yourself.

 

The day before we were by the running stream –

Tomorrow we will be by the calm waters of a lake.

So when you see the lake,

you will know what samadhi is,

you will know what  satori is –

you can feel what samadhi is,

you can feel what satori is.

Even if it be for a moment –

That moment is eternity.

 

It is a state of tranquility.

 

There is tremendous power in this state of your being

because everything is together,

because you are present in the moment,

and that moment is complete.

 

With that power you can move mountains.