Meditation is all about stillness – an inner stillness – that is when meditation begins. When you are stopped inside, when you are still inside – that is where meditation begins. And you can find examples of this in the outside world. When you see a snake poised to strike you can see how still the snake is – that kind of stillness. There is no movement whatsoever. Or the egret when it is waiting for the fish to appear nearabouts so it can strike. If you observe nature there are enough examples of this poise, this stillness. So also through the practice of meditation you arrive at this state of stillness where everything is still inside. And so also the body is taken up and becomes still.

These are some of the stages that you pass through as you advance in your meditation. This is a very important stage in your meditation, when you can stay still for hours. It is an open doorway to mystical experiences and the transformation of your being. And that is when the observer in you becomes easily ‘visible’ – sensible. And if you were to observe your breath, even the breath is still; it is as if the breath has no existence. Ordinarily it is understood that if the breath is not, you are dead. Here in fact it is just the opposite. The breath is as if not there at all. But in this condition it opens you out into another dimension that you have not been exposed to so far in your existence. It is the realm of Yoga; it is the realm of the mysterious in you.

So the breath is connected to the states of your being, and therefore we use the breath to initiate these stages. Breath has been given great importance in the processes of meditation, in the practices of meditation in all the books of meditation because the breath is connected to the state of your being. If you observe throughout the day, the breath goes through variation, as does the state of your mind and your being. So through the breath you can initiate and bring about and open yourself to the realms of meditation. In that condition of stillness it is as if there is no mind. But that is not true, the mind is still, your being is still. And the mind is part of your being. Your emotions are still; it is not true that there are no emotions, that the emotional has no existence in you – it is just that the emotional in you is still. So all parts of your being, including the physical, become still.

So in the Geeta it is said, it is when you have arrived at this achievement, that is when the realms of meditation open out for you, that is when the realms of Yoga open out for you, that is when the realms of the mystical open out for you. Until such time it is the practice of meditation. It is not a manufactured stillness; through the initiation, through the initiative of your breathing you can bring about this state of being. It is not possible otherwise. Or it is in those rare moments when it comes upon you for no reason.

So to be still is to be in meditation. To arrive at this stillness your breathing practices are a great help. To cultivate this stillness is to increase in meditation. The Buddha became still for six days continuously – he arrived at Nirvana. But he could return. Usually it is not so easy to return after six days in that condition. Ramakrishna was in this condition for six months continuously. In both of them there was the inclination to return, so they returned for their work. Many have not returned, because the experience is so radical, the state so sublime, the temptation so great to let go forever. Rare are they who return and they are world teachers.

You can also call it the state of Zen. This state of stillness is self-revealing. It reveals your Self, your inner Self. It reveals the reality; it opens you out to the reality of Self – the reality that underlies all things.

You can enhance this state of stillness by being with it and through the breathing. You can go a long way in your meditation through the use of the breathing. So use the breathing to come to a quietness in yourself. Through coming to the quietness you will arrive at a stillness. These are stages that you reach in your meditation.

Take a deep breath each time before you chant.

Asato Ma Sad Gamaya

Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya

Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya…

From incompleteness reach me to completeness, Oh Lord, this is a prayer

From darkness reach me to illumination, to light, Oh Lord, this is a prayer

From death reach me to immortality, Oh Lord, this is a prayer

Use the breathing to arrive at a stillness in yourself. For arriving at stillness you have to be awake; to be awake you need to be energized – therefore we use two kinds of breathing: the first energizes, the other reaches you to the stillness. The ultimate conclusion of the stillness is the completion in the transcendental, is to transcend the mind, the mental world, the emotion, the emotional world, the physical, the physical world. Although this inclination to transcend will reach you to a complete letting go of the world outside, yet in a rare performance you can integrate both the transcendental and the outside. It is a rare case of mastery; it is a complete mastery. It is a mastery of both, the personal and the impersonal. It is an integration of the whole reality, the complete reality. Life included.

Asato Ma Sad Gamaya

Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya

Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya

From incompleteness reach me to completeness, Oh Lord, this is a prayer

From darkness reach me to illumination, to light, Oh Lord, this is a prayer

From death reach me to immortality, Oh Lord, this is a prayer

You are with the breathing. Use the breathing – through the breathing to arrive at a stillness in yourself.

Arya Vihar

8 April 2002