Meditation
Meditation, as said by Osho Radjneesh, a great mystic of the last
century, is an art of inner ecstasy.
There isn't much more to be added. The main difficulty in meditation,
as reported by people who have experience, is that it's our natural
state, but we took so much effort to forget about it, that it is very
difficult for us to acknowledge. We developed so many bad habits:
worry, longing, non-satisfaction and constant desire. We still remember
that there are such things as happiness and peace, but we forgot how
to get there and think, that if we make another effort, we'll reach
this happiness, not being able to understand, that the very effort
takes us away from it.
I suggest you doing a little thought experiment: imagine yourself
being a drop of water inside a cosmic station. There is no gravitation
there, and it has a natural shape of a ball. Now, if there are any
tensions inside the ball, its shape will change, become less harmonious.
It's obvious, that in order for it to come back to its original shape,
it needs to free itself from all the tensions, and after a while it
will become a perfect ball again. But the drop doesn't understand
it, it thinks that if there will be a little stronger tension, if
it tries harder, it will come back to the round shape. And, of course,
every effort just takes it further away from the goal.
This is the situation we are in. Imagine now, that there is such a
perfect guy, who managed to become so round, that one can't tell,
if this roundness is natural, or artificial. The problem is that the
real ball can be a ball for however long it wants, when for the artificial
one it takes so much effort, and as soon as they stop trying, they
become something totally weird. Perhaps you have met some people,
who look like nice balls, but one little push is enough to make them
look as a bunch of sausages.
I used to try to look ball-shaped - it's not worth it. I had to stop,
perhaps some sausage-looking qualities are still there, it's usually
easier to see from outside. But I have some experience of watching
those qualities in me, and that's already something.
I have a master, he lives in California, and I don't doubt his natural
roundness. If you want to know more - visit his web site: www.umisatsang.org
Nirdosh.