Questions and Answers

How does one meditate?

There are two ways to meditate. One way is to silence the mind. An ordinary man feels that if he silences the mind, he becomes a fool. He feels that if the mind does not think, the mind has lost everything. But this is not true in the spiritual life. In the spiritual life, when we silence the mind we see that a new creation, a new promise to God, dawns in the mind. Right now we have not fulfilled our promise to God; we have not totally dedicated our existence to God. When we can silence the mind, we are in a position to please and fulfil God.

Another way to meditate is to empty the heart. Right now the heart is full of emotional turmoil and problems caused by the impure vital which has enveloped it. The heart is a vessel. Right now this vessel is full of undivine things, things that limit and bind us. If we can empty the heart-vessel, there is someone who will fill it with divine peace, light and bliss, which will liberate us. When we empty our heart of ignorance, God's Wisdom-Light will come and fill it.

If a person does not believe in God, can he practise meditation?

If a person does not believe in God, he can practise meditation but he may not achieve anything. Meditation is the path that leads to God. If you do not believe in God, then naturally you will not follow that path.

Is meditation the highest reality?

You can say that for a beginner meditation is the highest reality. But when one becomes an advanced seeker, one knows that meditation only leads to the highest reality. If someone has been living in ignorance, if he has never prayed or meditated in his life even for a minute, for him meditation is naturally the highest reality that his consciousness can achieve. But when he has practised meditation for a few years, he knows that meditation itself is not the highest reality. The highest reality is something he achieves or grows into by walking along the path of meditation.

As one evolves spiritually and achieves realisation, does the focus of his meditation change?

After one has achieved realisation, it is not necessary for him to meditate the way a seeker meditates. When someone has attained realisation, which is oneness with the Supreme, his meditation is continuous. When a seeker has realised God, he does not meditate to achieve something or to go beyond something. He meditates to bring down peace, light and bliss for humanity or to awaken the consciousness of others.