Meditation is not elsewhere, meditation is in the here and now. So in any condition, in any state, one must have the centre – to become aware of the conditions, the state, the situations one finds oneself in and to be aware of oneself as the centre. This is the preparation for the moments of profound experiences. To remain centred and poised in any condition, to be aware of one’s centre, of one’s being in any condition one may find oneself in. Not to lose one’s self to the moment but to find oneself in the moment. The practice must continue for the being is always present in any situation but there is always an inclination for meditators to think that meditation is elsewhere.

Then those profound moments appear as experiences to begin with, but the being, the centre must be sought and reached each time. There may be moments that are easy, there may be moments when it is not so but if you want the whole of your being to be enlightened so to speak, open and free, then every moment is important for every moment is the moment of your being. In each moment must be the moment of meditation, the moment of awareness; to begin with – to remember, to be with it and to be centred, to develop one’s awareness through remembrance and as we further ourselves on the journey, open out.

If we give in to happiness that is conditioned, we give in to unhappiness that also is conditioned. Helpless in these situations; would that one could be a master in any condition! This is a process – process of finding this truth, this awareness, this reality which one is. So one passes through many regions. Many-sided is the play of that Reality. To be aware of it, to remember to be aware of it, to remember even so the past moments that were different and the ones yet to come as also the moment which is present. When we weep, should we lose ourselves to that weeping or should we find ourselves in that weeping? We can have relief in our expressions but then there is more than relief in our expressions; there is not only a momentary release and relief for these moments repeat themselves. When there is pressure, when there is tension one may through expression have release and therefore relief. But through all this, the being remains – the freedom of permanence.

So from relativity to that which is absolute in us. We are the relative, no doubt, but we are also the permanent. To find this completeness is the objective of meditation: to find the Truth, to unfold the Reality, but now you only see the relative. Now you are the relative completely and absolutely – there is no other experience. But there are those who have realized it and therefore they lead the way. In all that is relative there is that which is beyond all relativity, the permanence which is the support of all that is relative: the Master, the Master of movements, the Master of relativity for whom all that which is relative is a finding of expressions and not losing of oneself.

Of course you are on the way so you have to pass through all those moments of losing yourself. Can you be aware as you continue to reach for this true freedom, this true finding, this truth of the Reality? When something happens, when someone says something, if it is pleasant to our experience it brings happiness while if it is unpleasant to our experience it brings unhappiness, reactions: one or the other. Sure that is all part of the play of life and one can lose oneself in this play but there is a position of freedom where one can experience all this, respond spontaneously and yet live in the joy of Truth, relative and yet beyond relative, relative and yet absolute.

What a tremendous freedom – it is not a denial of life; it is a finding of life in another way, in the true way. It is a life of freedom, not a life of slavery, either to the pleasant or the unpleasant. They come, they come for you to respond and find your freedom, not for you to be lost to your true self. Of course having been lost you have to journey to find through the losing – if you remember, you will find.

So in each moment reach within yourself to open and unfold the Truth that abides therein in seed. When there is something unpleasant don’t hide from it – feel it, watch it to be aware of all of its unpleasantness, watch the response that comes from within you, the reactions, feel them, experience them. If you were to look straight at them you would see that there is something more and beyond, a space of self-awareness, the centre of the storm, so the centre you must find. It is when we have lost the centre that we lose ourselves to the storm. When you are centred, when you have the centre, you can move with the storm or change it, transform it, for then you have the power – you are found and not lost to the storm. You can go with the storm, feel the storm and yet there is the centre.

In the centre there is perfect calm even when there is storm raging outside if you are sufficiently centred. From that centre you can reach out into the storm and when you have the centre you can carry all that is there to the outside. So when the storm happens, feel it, watch over it, be aware in yourself and even so in those moments reach for God within so as to find God even in the storm. Then you will hear music, not only outside but even inside. There are spaces and they shift but all these spaces are supported in one existence – to be able to experience this support, this existence wherein are these shifting of spaces. In the storm to find one’s freedom. When we are in the storm we are always looking elsewhere for we would not like to be in the storm. But to go beyond the storm, for the storm to lose its hold on you, you have to feel the storm, be with it, become aware, self-aware of that existence which is the centre of the storm, the centre of your being, then from there everything can be done. Then you are in grace.

When we have not the centre, when we know not of the centre, we have this condition of helplessness and seeking for support in the outside. These are only temporary conditions; we can have our supports in the outside but ultimately you must find that support within yourself. When you are completely with the storm, when you are feeling the storm, you start to go beyond it, it loses its importance – it can be gradual or immediate for you can become self-aware in those conditions. And amazingly you will find this happiness, this joy within, hiding just behind all this confusion, right there with it. Then the storm has lost all its sting, its hold, and there is no more the helplessness.

The storm is relative, you are the absolute for the storm appears this moment and then passes away while you remain in a different space, changing scenario, but ordinarily you do not experience the change from where you are for you are fixed to one or the other. And it is this freedom that must be reached through all this, the shifting spaces like the changing patterns of a kaleidoscope. And while we are on the journey, of course, to help ourselves in these conditions of helplessness. Because we are helpless, we require help whether it be a method, a technique, a Guide and ultimately a self-help must be reached. So as we find ourselves we seek for help in one form or the other, even so diversions at times, but remember to be centred even in those diversions, remember that you have taken a diversion. You have put aside something for a while and when help is sought remember your centre as you seek for help. We can seek for change, we can change the situations but remember the centre. Can we find happiness in an unhappy situation? To be able to do so is to go beyond unhappiness, to go beyond unpleasantness. To find that happiness beyond unhappiness, you have to find your centre. We are not talking about unhappiness or happiness that is the condition of the mind, what we are talking about is the natural state of your being.

So let us sing for a while. We will have a spell of kirtan. You are welcome to take up the tools of music if you like, ultimately the tools of your centring.

Arya Vihar

22 Jul 1997