(Meditating in Nature)

 

 In the presence of danger the tortoise draws itself into its shell completely.

Just so, concentration for us is to draw oneself in,

To feel the presence within,

To be with the quietness within.

 

You can take the body to be the shell.

So just as the tortoise, the turtle, the terrapin,

In the presence of danger so quickly, so immediately, so easily,

Draws itself in completely,

Into the protection of the shell,

Concentration is to feel the presence within,

Drawing oneself within,

Being with the quietness within.

 

Your mind may not allow you to do so,

So go with the mind for a while,

Do not struggle with the mind.

You can be the silent observer of the mind.

Allow the mind its wanderings for a while –

There is no need to struggle with it.

You observe the wanderings of the mind.

After a while it will be easy to relax once again,

To draw yourself inwards,

Or you can go with the sounds outside,

The sounds of the birds,

Just being with the environment,

And relax.

 

Then will come a moment to draw oneself within.

There the feeling to draw oneself in will come, follow it.

The mind may start acting up again,

Continue to remain centred for a while.

Then after a while allow the mind some relaxation again.

And when the urge is strong enough again to draw oneself within, follow it.

 

We talked about contemplation, contemplative meditation.

For example being with the breeze in the forest.

So also you can be with the waters of the streams or the waterfall –

The sounds of the streams or the waterfall.

Being with the sound, being carried by the sound of the water,

Just sitting quietly by the stream or a waterfall and listening.

Listening to the flow of the waters.

Being with the sound,

Being with the breeze –

Feeling the breeze.

 

So also with the sound of the streams and the waterfalls,

You can feel with the listening, and let the waters carry you –

Nowhere, Everywhere. 

The waters of the streams are delighting in themselves,

And you too will delight in yourself in this way.

It is meditation.

 

So there is this concentration,

Wherein you draw yourself into yourself.

Like the tortoise, like the turtle, like the terrapin,

In the presence of danger,

Drawing themselves into their shell,

You draw yourself within,

You are resting within,

You are free of the outside.

 

 

So on one side is this concentration,

And on the other is this being one with the outside,

The breeze, the streams, and the movement of the trees,

The leaves, the sounds of the birds.

Being in the here and now, just going with it.

Feeling the breeze, being one with the breeze,

Listening to the flow of waters and the falling of the waters,

And being one with it,

Feeling the waters as you listen –

There is no effort in listening.

 

You are just being with the waters and the sounds will come through,

And you are carried by the waters.

And when they carry you,

They will reach you to a delight in yourself,

For they are delighting in themselves.

 

So you can take off by yourself in the forest,

And be by the streams and the waterfalls.

Feeling them, being with them,

You will loose all sense of time –

You will arrive at eternity.

You will have arrived at meditation.

 

It may require a little practice to begin with,

Or you may connect with it immediately –

Or it may take a while to get the hang of how to be one with the outside,

While the inside is.

 

The streams gurgle with delight,

As they mingle through the rocks and the streambeds.

Just allow yourself to go with them,

Through a listening, through a seeing.

Follow them, just allow yourself to be with them.

It is extremely soothing.

You are in harmony with the surroundings,

You are one with the streams.

Why should there be struggle?

Just be one with them and they will carry you to yourself.

For there is harmony in nature and you are that harmony.

To be in harmony is to be in meditation.

When there is meditation there is only harmony within and without.

You are yourself and you are one with the environment.

You rejoice in it and it rejoices in you.

 

So be with the waters of the streams and the waterfalls –

Try it out.

When you are being with them you are being with yourself.

Everything is so distinctly clear –

A tremendous clarity you arrive at.

Your perception of everything,

Whether it be of sight,

Whether it be of sound,

And even so of taste –

It sharpens.

 

So intense, intensely clear everything becomes,

It is then that you are yourself.

The sounds are so distinct,

They become part of your awareness –

Part of your consciousness.

They are one with you.

There are the sounds of the birds,

The movements of the leaves, the trees,

The sounds of the streams and the waterfalls,

They are not in opposition –

They become one in and with your awareness.

You have arrived at oneness with all things –

You are in harmony.

 

There is no more any sense of time.

You are living in eternity.

You are in the here and now.

There is no thought of time –
There is only this moment –

The eternal moment.

There is nowhere to go for you are everywhere.

 

Then you shall find flowers blooming in the heart.

You become a friend to all – Maitreya.

Friendship awakens in your heart – friendship with all things.

There is no fear, there is only friendliness.

Tremendous feeling of love,

Love that embraces all, and without discrimination.

 

Even the stones respond to this kind of love.

They are touched by your touch,

They feel you and you feel them,

For they feel your friendship.

They feel your love and they respond.

Then a tremendous beatitude comes upon you.

There is this tremendous feeling of peacefulness.

You have arrived at the face of the Buddha.

 

Then when you move, you move in love.

Love follows you; love precedes you and your love lives in you.

Each step that you take is a step taken in love,

For you are at peace with yourself and with all things.

And when you are at peace with yourself and all things,

You are in love.

Love and peace live together.

This is the beatitude of life.   

 

Then there is gentleness about you and a softness.

Your every move is gentleness.

Your every touch is gentle love.

For it is one with what it touches.

 

The touch is not one of a craving, or a need, or a hunger or a taking,

The touch is of freedom, the touch is of oneness,

The touch is of love being offered unto itself.

In that offering of love,

Both, the one who touches and the touched are exalted unto eternity.

Everything starts to follow you then,

For they would like to feel your touch.

So love, beatitude, peacefulness, and joy,

They all live in yourself, as yourself, as your freedom.

 

So live in oneness, be in oneness,

And it is easiest experienced in nature.

So be in harmony with yourself and harmony with the outside.

This is meditation.

When you have arrived at a moment such as this,

Know that you have arrived at meditation.

Until such time you are reaching to it, you practice it.

This state of harmony is called “Sahaj”,

The state of utter simplicity.

Some also call it the natural state, your innocence.

 

Meditation can only be when you are at peace with yourself,

When you are in harmony with yourself –

That is where meditation begins.

Until such time you are reaching to it, you are preparing for it.

So prepare for it with a longing in your heart.

Seek it more than anything else.

Let meditation be the priority,

Let the awakening be the priority,

Then all things shall be added unto thee.

Live your life for meditation.

Then when you have it,

Your life can be an extension of that meditation.

Then life will be lived in and through that meditation.

 

So when in concentration go deep in yourself,

To find those infinite treasures that abide therein.

Then when you are with the outside – be one with the outside.

This one can learn from the breeze of the forests,

The waters of the streams and waterfalls,

The sounds of the birds.

 

In this state of meditation,

You can watch things so closely, so clearly,

You can hear things so clearly, so closely,

You can taste things so clearly and intensely.

And when you touch, you touch so deeply –

So intensely and yet so gentle.

To touch is to make love for there is love in your touch.

The touch is an offering to that which is touched, a love offering.

You are making love with what you touch –

Everything becomes intense, deeply intense,

And yet so gentle.

 

Passions are one thing, love is another.

Sex is a passion, a need, a hunger.

To love is an offering.

From passion to love,

Meditation brings itself to a self-offering.

Let your passions be ruled by love,

Let your passions be transformed into offerings.

Through meditation life can be a loving passion –

Passion of love. 

 

So seek for this meditation.

Seek the harmony of your Self.

And let life unfold in all its love –

In all its loving passions.

When you live in meditation,

Your passions are in harmony,

And your every act is a love self-offered.

 

When you live in meditation you live in beauty.

For beauty is where harmony is.

And harmony is where meditation is.

 

In our sittings we practice and prepare for meditation.

Meditation can come upon you when you least expect it,

As a result of your sitting or even while you sit.

And meditation is not just in your sitting.

Meditation is in your every act.