prayer

For the next few weeks these posts will be devoted to the topic of prayer. Meditation leads to surrender; surrender leads to prayer. For now, let's define prayer as remembering the Divine (God if you prefer that term).

The first thing to note about prayer is that we are always in prayer.

Our thoughts and hopes are always directed toward something; it may be hoping that our job situation will improve, that we might lose some weight or that we might become a better person. Some of us are locked into what I might call "negative prayer" ... that is, putting our focus on the negative aspects of life.

Worship is defined as love and devotion to something. Wanting things like a better job, more money, and such things is, in fact, an act of worship. Of course, we worship that which we believe will bring is happiness and peace.

In spiritual circles worshiping things is called idolatry

So now the question (because we are always in worship) is: " What are you choosing to worship"?

Think about this .... ok?

bob

Meditation is, at the root, a profound surrender of everything we think, feel, and experience. It is a willing and loving submission to the Unknown.

So ... during our practice periods we simply sit in stillness and let that which is not seen guide us ... guide us Home.

Empty yourself utterly,

bob

why effort in meditation practice is important

Unless you make tremendous efforts, you will not be convinced that effort will take you nowhere. The self is so self-confident that unless it is totally discouraged it will not give up. Mere verbal conviction is not enough. Hard facts alone can show the absolute nothingness of the self-image. 



Sri Nisargatta Maharaj

surrender

Meditation is the practice of being at peace no matter what is presenting itself.

Most of us live in the dream of "how things ought to be" rather than in the actuality of the present moment. In other words. we are "playing God".

The habit of continually seeking for things to be other than they are can be broken. The key to breaking this habit is repeated surrender.

One of the things I admire about Muslims is that they pray five times each day. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you surrendered to "what is" that often every day. Here are some comforting words about the power of surrender from the Quran (2:186):

When My servants ask you about Me, I am always near. I answer their prayers when they pray to Me. The people shall respond to Me and believe in Me, in order to be guided.

The path to truth is surrender ... come on in ... the water's fine,

bob

surrender

Meditation is surrender. During practice we surrender our beliefs, aspirations, and troubles. Once we have surrendered these we then surrender the surrendering and join The Living One.

It's the straight path...

Bob

mistakes in meditation practice

Meditation is sitting in silence and simply noticing what is presenting itself right now ... when we do this we notice that which has always been true: that life is free from a separate 'you'. Here are four common mistakes that we make in our practice that dull this insight.

• expecting certain results

• trying to “do it right”

• getting lost in “small-self” negativity

• trying to have some particular “spiritual experience”

bob

the make up of prison bars

My wife and I went to see Shakespeare's play Hamlet this weekend. If you are wondering what life looks like to the awakened then read Shakespeare and see. Here's a snippet from a conversation between Hamlet and two of his friends from college (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) about Hamlet's depressive state ... meditate on this: it's all you ever need to know about the real prison.

HAMLET

Denmark's a prison.

ROSENCRANTZ

Then is the world one.

HAMLET

oodly one; in which there are many confines,

wards and dungeons, Denmark being one o' the worst.

ROSENCRANTZ

We think not so, my lord.

HAMLET

Why, then, 'tis none to you; for there is nothing

either good or bad, but thinking makes it so: to me

it is a prison.

ROSENCRANTZ

Why then, your ambition makes it one; 'tis too

narrow for your mind.

HAMLET

O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count

myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I

have bad dreams.

GUILDENSTERN

Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very

substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

HAMLET

A dream itself is but a shadow.

see ... bob