Ghosts!

I learned about meditation over 20 years ago by noticing a flyer on a pole and deciding to go to the talk. I was fascinated, and started learning hatha yoga almost immediately after. Hatha yoga improved my health, posture, body stability, flexibility, concentration and focus. The main focus of hatha yoga was on improving ones health and flexibility.

After studying Hatha Yoga for years with the group I was with, I realized I couldn’t make maximum progress on this path without becoming like a monk. People on this path who continued eventually gave up all signs of outward “pleasurable” attachments, such as physical intimacy, pursuit of money and families. This outward renunciation did not suit me so after a few years I continued my search and happened upon “Surat Shabd Yoga”, where the renouncing was more inward. This is where I truly learned to “Love.”

The nickname for Surat Shabd Yoga or yoga on the Inner Sound and Light was “The Royal Path.” It did not include any difficult postures, austerities or outward renunciation. In the olden days, Royalty who wanted to study spirituality, would travel the Royal Path and retain their kingdoms. An exception, to this was Buddha who decide to renounce his kingdom, and study spirituality only.

Surat Shabd Yoga is very simple and natural. You can practice it sitting, or laying down and it is very comfortable. Surat Shabd Yoga is meditation on the Inner Sound and Light, which we all have within us. This Inner Sound and Light, which is always there, has always been there, is something we can tap into. It is actually our Higher Self.

Even though Surat Shabd Yoga, or meditation on the Inner Sound And Light, is very natural and feels very comfortable, we still have our minds to conquer. We sit in meditation and the mind literally says: you need to do your shopping; you need to pick up the kids at 3:00; you have to take Johnny here; you need to take Mary there.

Slowing down the mind is like slowing dow a speeding train. Difficult but not impossible. As we practice, Surat Shabd Yoga gradually we get more and more control over it until one day, it becomes the servant to our Soul it was always meant to be.

There are three main ways to practice Surat Shabd Yoga meditation. I will talk about two of them here. The third is a more advanced practice. Repetition of warm, loving words or a word is the first practice. This repetition is designed to engage the mind and give it something to do. Focus on the Inner Sound and Light is the second practice, which is a little bit more advanced than the repetition.

Repetition of the word or words gives the mind something to do. It focuses the mind. We do not say the word or words out loud. We repeat the silently, to ourselves, with our mind only. The words should not make us think of some worldly event. They should not make us think at all. The goal is to train the mind to stop thinking except when we command it to do so.

I love meditation. People ask me how can I sit and meditate. It gives me a break from all that’s going on. It is very peaceful, very warm, inviting and loving. I personally don’t feel anything hectic, fast or mean when I am in meditation. Because it feels so warm and inviting, and I feel so much love, I enjoy it.

The ultimate aim of meditation is to allow us to experience more love in our lives. The Inner Sound and Light is the Source of Love and when we tap into it we become one with that Source. We start realizing that that Source is within all living things, and we begin relating to and identifying with that Source everywhere. “Love” in our life increases because we finally realize that the same source within us is within our very neighbor.