Meditation

The Secret of Secrets

This is continued from the previous Secrets of Meditation post …

In Quantum Physics, everything is only atoms, a wave function, just energy. There are striking similarities between Quantum Physics, Vedanta, Yoga and the Art of Meditation.

Adi Shankara said, ‘All that you see doesn’t exist’. One of the top scientists of our times, Dr. Hans-Peter Durr said, ‘I studied matter for the last 35 years, only to find out that it does not exist! I have been studying something that does not exist’.

With such knowledge, one can experience a state of meditation. Everyone is interested in the secrets of meditation.

In the Occident, anything that is shameful is kept a secret whereas in the Orient, anything that is sacred is kept a secret. There is a startling difference between the two. In the Orient, if you say something is very secret, it must be very sacred. A shameful act is never kept a secret, it is always confessed. But one's mantra - a sound - is always kept a secret.

Why is it kept secret? It is said that mantras are like seeds and seeds sprout in secrecy. You put the seed under the ground and cover it with mud, then the seed sprouts and becomes a tree. The ancient concept of mantra is that a sound which is kept secret grows and resonates within you. Any secret that you keep to yourself does not leave you but it takes you deeper to the subconscious layers.

The same principle works for confession. Why do you confess? To ensure that it does not go deep into your consciousness. A mistake or sin leaves you once you say it out. It does not remain within and bother you. But the mantra, a sound which has been given, and that too by one who is deep into meditation, one who has mastered it, helps you go deeper.

The sound (mantra) is given to another person, a student saying, ‘Keep it to yourself, it is your personal mantra, and let it grow.’

Here the meaning of the sound is not important, just the vibration is important. Understanding the meaning is superficial compared to the vibration of the sound. It could be the same sound which everybody knows.

In olden days there used to be four days of celebration to give a mantra. They would call all the relatives and friends when the child was to be initiated. They would bring horses and put the child on the back of the horse and have a procession.

This was the ancient way of doing it.

Spiritual journey is considered very sacred, very personal and yet a matter of pride. You are getting a secret sound and that is a big pride because it is sacred.

Based on a series of talks entitled ‘Secrets of meditation’ given by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on April 21, 2012, California, these talks have been made into knowledge sheets.

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