Meditation

Interview with OM, October 2023

What is Meditation – and what is it not? 

OM: Meditation is the natural, inward state of a person, where awareness is immersed in the SELF. Generally, however, meditation refers to an inner, silent practice that cultivates essential inner virtues of concentration and self-observation, bringing the thinking mind to rest.

What are the pitfalls of practising meditation? 

OM: If the inner intention is impure, the practice of meditation can be misused as a means to escape inner conflicts or as a form of self-numbing.

In your book ‘Intelligence of Awakening‘ you refer to Richard Baker Roshi's statement that the practice of meditation cannot produce enlightenment, but it increases the ‘probability‘. What role does the practice of meditation play in your teaching? 

OM: The practice of meditation, as the cultivation of silent introspection, has its natural place in conveying the inner teaching. However, the transmission I received from Sri Poonjaji was: 24-hour meditation. Ultimately, it is no longer about a practice confined to specific postures, times of day, or other conditions.

How can I practise meditation in a way that is truly conducive? 

OM: By dropping every intention and entering into a state of unintentionality. The inner posture of meditation is like daily bread for the soul, as natural as providing nourishment to the physical body. It happens by itself.