2
- Concentration and Meditation
Ramadahn Circle
Unto
Thee, oh Thou Great Spirit of power and peace and light - unto Thee,
the great source of tranquillity, we uplift these who come in the
quietude of prayer and silence of thought. They seek an
understanding whereby they may rise out of the old ways of thought
and come to the realisation where they say, in the fullness of power
and peace, "Yes. Yes, I know that I belong to the Eternal and that
the Eternal belongs unto me." Is it not true, oh Thou Great Giver
of Good, that Thy children are seeking and searching through the
myriad ways of earthly thought to discover the means and method by
which they may at last sink to rest in the ocean of Thine Infinite
Power, and in that resting know themselves to be part of Thee and
that Thou art part of them?
In this silence of prayer and quietude of thought, in
this room charged with radiant colours of service, we bring each one
into a unity with the other and into a unity with we who serve and
teach through this medium: and through that into a unity with the
great flow and movement of Thy tides of peace, light and joy as they
flow and move throughout all the universe. We bring them into unity
with Thee and each other that they may know peace for a little while
- the inward peace of the soul, the outward peace of unity, and that
deep tranquillity which comes from their union with Thee, the source
of all good, all power and all peace.
In peace and power and in light we come, bringing them
to Thee in blessing and peace.
* * *
My beloved brothers and sisters, as you come into the quietude of
this room and try to think upon the meaning of the words 'meditation
and concentration', I would say that there is but little
understanding in your mortal realm of the true and inward meaning of
either of these words. As students of the spiritual way, do you not
come to associate meditation with the sitting in quietude in which
the thoughts of your mind may slowly, slowly fall into peace? Is it
not also true that you say: "This time of meditation is the time of
concentration"? Among those who dwell in the mortal world, there is
a tendency to think that out of your meditation you can rise upon
wings of concentration into a higher and higher state of
consciousness. I would say to you, True meditation consists of the
silence and rest which comes unto mind and body and soul when the
true state of concentration has brought the consciousness into that
state in which the real meditation may be achieved.
These two states of consciousness belong to two
differing levels of the mind. If you are to advance upon the
pathway of spiritual knowledge, you must first learn the lesson of
concentration: not confining this habit of concentration to times
of prayer and meditation but training yourself into the habit of a
concentration which enters into every part and particle of your
daily activities, into every single thing which you undertake. It
is true that the ability to meditate comes only when the mind has
been trained and controlled, and taught to think upon one thing and
one thing only with all the power and ability which lies within it.
How shall a mind which is accustomed to leap and dart from thought
to thought in the everyday happenings of life, like a butterfly
flitting from flower unto flower - how can such a mind be brought
into the state of profound peace which is the true meditation of the
soul?
We who watch over you from this spiritual realm and
desire to teach you, we often see the activity of thoughts moving
within your mental aura like swift flashes of lightening; there is
no steadiness, no concentration. Concentration of man's mind should
be like one flame burning - still, constant and enduring
within the inward places of the mind.
I would say unto you that man's mind may be likened to a
room which is dim and grey and dark: if the flame of a lamp or
candle is blown this way and that by differing breezes which move
within the room, how may that which is illuminated by the flame of
the candle be seen? When the flame flickers from side to side in
the many breezes which distort and move it, wherever you may look,
you will have no clear vision of what is to be seen within the
room. But set within the room a candle or taper which burns with a
clear and steady radiance and you may turn your attention this way
and that, you may turn your vision upward and downward and by that
clear steady light you will be able to discern what lies hidden
within this darkened chamber.
It is so with your own inward consciousness. The
darkened room can be illuminated by the clear flame of your
concentrated thought - but the thought must be concentrated, it must
be unmoving, it must be as steady as the flame which burns in
silence, in secrecy and unutterable beauty. It is for this reason
that you must learn the lesson of concentration: for how may the
flame of your thoughts and aspirations, the flame of your prayer,
how may this burn unwinking, steady and unmoved in your time of
meditation unless you have trained your consciousness into the habit
of steady, unmoving thought?
My beloveds, whatever you undertake in the hours of the
day - concentrate upon it, think upon it with a steady mind. If
your labour consists of the drawing of water for the cleansing of
food, then concentrate your thoughts on this drawing of water for
the purpose in which it is to be used; if your labour consists of
the baking of bread for the sustenance of your children, then set
your mind to the baking of the bread - concentrate upon it so that
you may be deaf to the cry of a bird outside the window or the words
that your neighbour may speak. If your labour is to read the truths
inscribed in your ancient books of wisdom, then would I say, Set
your mind upon this task, concentrate upon the words which you are
reading, think upon that which you are doing with a single mind so
that your labour is a labour which is complete.
As the hours of your day come and go in the vast
splendour of light, as hours pass clothed with the golden sunlight
of joy and filled with the glorious shades of aspiration or grey
with the labour of unrewarding work, still set your mind to the task
of the minute, the labour of the hour. Bring your consciousness to
bear like the sharp pointed end of a sword upon that which you do,
that your concentration upon that very task may be complete in every
moment: sharpened and brought to a fine point, trained and trained
again to bring itself to bear in perfection upon the detail which
fills the moving moment which is fraught with the import of the
labour of the day - so may your mind be trained to concentrate.
The man and woman who learns to concentrate the mind in
the minute details of daily life, this man or woman can come at last
to the joy of the meditation hour with a mind that is sharp, fine
and clear in concentration. Their concentrated thought may arise
out of the sea of daily activity like a candle flame pointing upward
into the realm of spirit, to bear in a clear and beautiful
concentration upon things which are eternal and the things which the
soul desires to know.
Out of the effort of concentration upon the details of
everyday activity, the soul may begin to upraise the finger of its
meditative aspiration. Concentrating upon an aspect of the
universal God which it desires to discover, it may hold its
unflickering, unwinking attention upon this idea until the
concentration begins to burn through the roof of that upper part of
the chamber of the mind - pierce it as with finger or sword, burn
through it as with a pure flame - until the encasement of the
consciousness is pierced.
Out of that piercing, the consciousness may begin to
enter into the great ocean of universal peace, universal light,
universal sound, universal power and universal beauty. As the
consciousness comes into this so the time of meditation is achieved,
for meditation means going into the silence, entering into the state
of peace; at last, out of meditation, may come completion of the
concentration and meditation, which leads to contemplation of things
of eternal marvellous import, that which is holy and beautiful. And
from this comes an inflow of peace to saturate the mind through and
through in stillness, tranquillity and peace.
This is meditation - the saturation of the consciousness
with the peace and power of spirit. As it becomes saturated with
this power and because it is thus concentrated, into the
concentrated mortal mind may come an awareness of eternal beauty.
Through the mortal mind may come the interpretation of the 'sublime
beauty of the truth' which is too great for the understanding except
the understanding be concentrated to feel, to know, to register -
that it may translate this which has been cognised in the perfect
silence of the inward soul into mortal language in poem, in beauty,
in healing or in peace.
My beloved ones, I point you upon the way and say to
you, Amidst the many things of your daily life, learn how to
concentrate. Think upon this symbol of the flame burning within the
secret place. Think of your mortal consciousness as being an
encasement like the encasement of a room, and know that your
concentration is simply to pierce through the roof of this room that
you may come unto the vision of that which is great and beautiful.
In the attic garrets of earth, is it not true that if a sword
pierces through the roof, the one who is confined within the attic
room will lift up their vision and see through the open roof the
eternal beauty of the stars burning within the heavenly spaces, or
the mighty vault of blue filled with the infinite ethers of infinite
space? Even so is the symbol in the consciousness of man; he may
symbolise his vision as the vision of 'heaven', he may symbolise it
as the 'universal life'. It is to this vision and this realisation
that each man and woman is tending, seeking, searching and desiring
for the inner soul - and the inward consciousness knows that this is
reality - it is to this that we would point you in this moment of
quiet thought and all other times.
In peace and greeting I bring you unto your questioning
and your times of thought.
Question:
I would like to know how long the process of unfoldment will take
with dedicated meditation?
Ramadahn:
Do you mean, beloved one, how long will the process of unfoldment
take until you become an unfolded healer? There is no measure of
time by which I can answer this because we are not aware of time as
you are aware of it in earthly life; we are aware of expansion and
of the unfoldment of the earthly beloveds. Give yourself
methodically to quiet meditation and then to extending your
consciousness in the radiating of healing. The development will
continue in an orderly fashion; but I cannot tell you in time as it
is measured in the hours and days of earth.
Question:
Can one develop alone?
Ramadahn:
You may develop meditation and you may develop the power of absent
healing when you are by yourself. But it would be better if you
conjoined yourself to a group who are similarly dedicated because
the human mind is very fragile and you may not continue for long to
continually enter into a state of prayer or meditation without the
encouragement of your brothers. If you wish to meditate by yourself
then let your thought be centred within the region of your heart,
engage yourself in a meditation upon the ascent of love and when you
have thought for a while upon the true beauty of lovingness, then
let your heart expand in compassion and in radiating love toward
those whom you desire to help.
Question:
Certain healers can heal
instantaneously, is this not a point in their concentration when
they achieve this perfect meditation while they are healing?
Ramadahn:
It is not only the healer who achieves this breaking through into
the realm of the universal spirit of life and perfection, but the
patient - the one who is sick - is also momentarily uplifted above
the limitations of the mind and body. Like one bird uplifted by the
strength of another, they come together in unity; the two are
upraised in a momentary unity to this great source of life and
perfection, and through this comes the instantaneous healing.
Upon the wings of this thought of love and the feelings growing
within your hearts, we uplift you in this moment of still thought,
uplift you high and clear above your pre-occupation with yourselves,
high and clear above your false pride, lift you high and clear above
the cramping fears which enclose you as with darksome wings. We
lift you high and clear above these things, into the realm of Peace
- that for a moment you may think upon the Great Heart of Love, the
Universal Heart which beats and throbs throughout the universe.
Oh thou great Heart of Love! For a moment Thy children
tune their hearts unto Thine that the littleness of their love may
be absorbed in the vastness of Thine - that vastness which fills all
space, that love which comprehends the need of the little mite
moving within the earth as equally as the seeking which is in the
soul of man, that Love which lights the star on its way and circles
the earth with rivers of joy and starry forms of beauteous Light.
Oh Love Divine! As man tunes his heart unto Thine, may he feel the
beat and throb and flow of Thy mighty Love moving within his being,
may he go forth into the days and years which are still to come
loving, loving, loving all things because he is part of Thee and
Thou art part of him to all the eternities which are still to be.
In love, in light and in peace we lift them unto Thee,
and leave them in unity with Thy Heart from this time unto
evermore.
May love and peace, peace and love abide forever.
Peace, peace and peace.
|
