The true meaning of meditation is pulling back from the world a bit and going inside to gain a larger perspective. To disconnect a bit from the ego/mind part of our brains. Which is constantly chattering on about what’s in front of us and what the goings on mean. Instead, settling into the present moment, out of a sense of time, where the past and the future are less concerning.
Our Master Teachers have all pointed to going “within” as the way to find a higher road of life experience and mastery. Buddha would say it is a way to transcend the mental suffering we all have over the meaning of this frantic world we live in.
Jesus said, don’t look for meaning over here or over there for “The Kingdom of Heaven (Enlightenment) is within you”. Suggesting that to find the experience of the Divine, Higher Consciousness, we must go where that Divine lives. Inside of us where that experience is most available. Within.
Your Best Guide is NOT Your Human Mind
This pulling back also means that it’s our Soul is our Guide in this lifetime rather than our minds. It turns the modern world of mind centrality upside down. Soul’s job is to be our companion, our confidante. That which “goes before you to make the crooked places straight.”
- Ego/mind’s job is not to lead. It’s to follow. To follow the lead of our consciousness in conjunction with your Soul.
- Instead, the ego/mind thinks its job is to keep us safe. It does this by using fear to generate solutions to problems that don’t work very well. Because that’s not its job. Not knowing any better, that’s the job we’ve given it. This is the crux of the suffering that Buddha said we are all party to.
- Yet we do this over and over, generation after generation. We do this out of ignorance. Ignorance doesn’t allow us to see the truth until it is pointed out to us. So, I’m pointing it out. For myself as well as you. I’ve worked with this idea now for a while, yet I still forget. I get caught up in my ego/mind’s dead end. However, I now recognize the pattern. And know how to transcend it. Through meditation. The more often I do this transcendence, the more I remember. Fear and ignorance have less of a hold on me.
- It’s your Soul that will keep you safe, secure, functioning, and peaceful. That’s its job. That, and being the conduit through which Spirit can flow into your life. To energize it and allow you to shift into an elevated existence.
- As you shift your awareness and your allegiance over to Soul, you become a new person. You are reborn, in effect, as the Eternal Being that you always have been. This conscious shift allows the ego/mind to go back to doing its job of being an organ of perception. Your true priorities click into place and every part of you begins to function on all cylinders. Each system doing its job to help you have the expansive experience you were meant to have on this planet. Not the contracted, fearful one we inherited by default.
Meditation Means a Different Way to Look at the World
For example, for eons, God has been thought of as “out there” somewhere. A being who had to be placated in order that we be rewarded. In fact, no such God exists. Instead, to find God, which I like to call The ALL, we must seek it where IT is found and experienced. Within.
What better way to have this experience than meditation. And preferably, a meditation process that is designed specifically to go straight to the experience of the Soul. Pure Awareness. In my cornerstone book, The Meditation Book, I offer such a process.
Many contemporary meditation practices focus on trying to wrestle the mind into submission. And miss out on the Experience of Heaven altogether unless the practitioner reaches Illumination. Experiencing Heaven is not that hard. The Within place is such an easy, natural place. It is the real essence of who we are. Just waiting to be discovered. This is the answer to the question, “What does meditation mean?” It means a path to Self-awareness.
What’s to be Found “Within”
By going Within and staying Within for a while, Heaven here and now can be reached. And then a greater challenge confronts us. Maintaining the experience. Or returning to that experience while engaging in day-to-day life. To maintain this State of Mind while driving a car, brushing your teeth, or dealing with a cranky child is hard.
However, I have found that by going Within frequently throughout the day, my ability to do this gets easier. That’s what mindfulness exercises are for. Take a pause and said to yourself, “Peace be still” or “I am an Eternal Being”. And voila, there you are. It’s like lifting weights. The more you do it, the stronger you get. Over time I have learned to maintain enough of my State of Mind that I don’t get quite so caught up in the allure of my humanness. The allure of this very compelling outer world we live in. (See The Mindfulness Book).
The second step, therefore, is to go Within and stay Within. And be “there” longer. Growing in the ability to stay “there” for longer periods of time. Luxuriate in the Now. To have being “there” become your “new normal”. This is what I’m experiencing these days. Longer and longer periods of time in Illumination. It helps me cope with life’s challenges from a calmer, more secure, more creative place.
Conclusion
So, what does meditation really mean? It means turning your attention inward, quieting the mental chatter, and connecting with the deepest part of yourself. Your Soul, your Higher Consciousness. The divine spark within. It’s a journey of self-discovery. A path to inner peace. A way to transcend the limitations of the ego-mind. It’s about finding your true purpose. Unlocking your full potential. Living a life of greater meaning, joy, and fulfillment. Are you ready to begin your journey within?
When you are ready:
- Learn to use the “Higher Consciousness Meditation” process in The Meditation Book to get quiet enough to allow Spirit to flow
- Check out “using your Sacred Senses” in The Mindfulness Book.
Blair is an author, poet, YouTubist, and ordinary mystic. His 5 award-winning book series are available at Amazon Books, and his YouTube videos at Blair Abee Higher Consciousness Channel.