The Secret of Meditation

When man in general sits in meditation or prayer, all kinds of thoughts come, unnecessary, useless, wrong, misguiding thoughts. He sits before his own thoughts. Such a prayer is useless. Such persons have no idea of the existence and presence of the Divine.

When a lover of God sits in meditation he finds himself face to face with the Divine. Suddenly God whom in deep-sleep we experience as timeless silence stands before his eyes. The witness of the witnessing intelligence in him stands before him. Even during our waking-state this witness is always present, watching our thoughts, our intelligence, our feelings. It is the reality of realities. It is the wonderful and only Reality, because it is unchanging. It can be experienced at all times - every time when we sink into this witness in deep-sleep state we experience the same timeless stillness. Mind on the other hand is ever changing and unreliable - thoughts and feelings come and go; they never remain the same.

The spiritual aspirant meditates and reflects upon the true nature of this timeless silence. the witness in us is the Light of lights. Thus he sits before the Light of lights when he meditates. He may imagine the sun before his inner eye to help the intelligence to concentrate. Within this sun he may see the picture of the Divine Mother Parvati, or Shiva, or Narayana and find in this image timeless stillness and the witness of consciousness. This picture is omnipresent, omniscient, all-loving, all-encompassing. It is there in all beings, outside, inside, everywhere. It is there in the soul of water, in the soul of the mountains, in the soul of the grass, in the soul of everyone and everything. Thus even while working the lover of the Divine is always face to face with the Divine and the prayer goes on within.

For the lover of the Divine the Divinity is the Reality of realities, a living presence, a source of constant joy, constant growth in wisdom, a source of constant growth in all virtues. Again and again he observes his attitude towards his surroundings and finds that it is the same attitude he has towards the Divine. Worldly people are very different. They react differently from person to person. There ensues disharmony, hatred, envy, greed, fighting, etc. The lover of the Divine is beyond forms and characteristics of people around him. He is in contact with the witnessing consciousness in all and everyone. he is in contact with the timeless silence and consciousness that is in him and in all. Therefore his prayers and meditations are powerful and render immediate fruits, peace, joyfulness and greater motivation for service.

- Swami Omkarananda