Would you like to be able to withdraw from the daily hustle and bustle whenever you choose and return feeling calm, centred and in tune with the universal flow? It’s perfectly possible. Millions do it every day through meditation. Meditation used to be regarded with suspicion in the West, but nowadays people from all walks of life are discovering the benefits for themselves. Meditation and prayer are two sides of the same coin.

Prayer is talking to our Source; meditation is listening to it. No one can grow in awareness or spiritual power without them because they allow our Higher Selves to assume a progressively greater role in our lives. As the Buddha said, ‘Meditate and be mindful, and all else will follow.’Take daily time for quiet reflection. Focus on the Power within you and let the universe inspire you. Then you can return to your everyday activities renewed. When you’re whole and centred on the inside, your life is complete on the outside too.

217 The Busy Mind Is Like A Muddy Pond

Deep inside us, at our very core, is a place of absolute peace and stillness where we become aware of the loving Presence at the centre of our being. But first we have to clear away the foolish thoughts and emotional fog which obscure it. Thinking too much is like overeating – it brings a kind of mental indigestion which creates needless anxiety and stress.

The busy mind may be compared to a muddy pond. When agitated, mud rises from the bottom, the water becomes cloudy and light barely penetrates beneath the surface. When the pond is still, the mud settles, the sun shines through and the pond becomes visible right to the bottom.

Similarly, when the mind is still, thoughts settle down and Higher Consciousness lights up every nook and cranny. Then we are receptive to an inflow of spiritual energy which uplifts and inspires.

218 What Meditation Is

Meditation means ‘to focus one’s thoughts’ or ‘engage in contemplation or reflection’. It differs from guided visualisation, in which a group leader suggests thoughts and mental images for others to follow, usually reading from a script.

Sister Jayanti of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, a respected teacher, defines meditation thus:

219 The Purpose Of Meditation

The purpose of meditation is to cultivate inner peace and find the spiritual guidance available to us from within.

There’s a Buddhist parable about a young musk deer that becomes aware of a beautiful aroma. He searches the earth for its source without success, only to find it emanating from within its own body.

Similarly, when you go within, you become aware of the Presence and are enriched by the wisdom and power it can bring. As your experience of meditation grows, rays of truth flow through you like radio waves passing through the walls of a building.

220 Benefits Of Meditation

The benefits of meditation are available to anyone who genuinely practises with an open mind. Meditation:

• rejuvenates the body, releases tension and improves sleep and vitality;
• improves concentration;
• brings freedom from anxiety, fear, guilt, anger and other harmful emotions;
• makes us more accepting, tolerant, forgiving and loving towards others;

• puts us in touch with our true purpose;
• brings greater awareness of self and others;
• heightens intuition and creativity;
• keeps us centred in the here and now;
• allows us to detach ourselves from emotions and thoughts and observe them as if happening to someone else;
• brings a feeling of connectedness with all things.

221 Mindfulness

Mindfulness is closely related to meditation. Mindfulness is paying attention to what you are doing and your thoughts and feelings right now. When you practise mindfulness, everyday activities become more meaningful and enjoyable – even eating a chocolate is more pleasurable when you give it your full attention. Being present helps us slow down, accept what is happening and appreciate ourselves and the world around us. We’re often so busy ‘doing’ that we don’t have time to ‘be’.

In his book Zen in the Art of Archery, Eugen Herrigel describes how an archer shooting with mindfulness becomes one with the bow and hits the centre of the target with every arrow. If you ask how he did it, he can’t put it into words. The same also applies to sports such as tennis and golf. Worry about your game and you’ll make mistakes, but if you master the core skills and then allow mindfulness to take over, you enter a state known as ‘the zone’. This is how champions perform at their peak.

Mindfulness is powerful. When you concentrate any form of energy, including mental and emotional energy, you intensify it. Pay full attention to what you are doing in each moment. If your mind wanders, slow your breathing and bring it back. After a while it becomes so automatic you don’t even have to think about it.