Styles of Meditation
Meditation
Q: What should one focus on in meditation?
A: There are three basic styles that can be described that are effective and fruitful. The first could be described as psychological insight or self-examination. The second is through the thought field, and the third is the simplest by which to bypass the thought field.
—I’m going to skip the first two, as they don’t relate, and you can look it up if you’d like.
Style 3: Bypassing the Mind
Whereas Styles 1 and 2 are educative, Style 3 is purely subjective/experiential and not mental, psychological, emotional, or conceptual. It is the most rapid and basic and consists of a simple ‘doingness’. The steps are very simple: relax completely and deeply; close the eyes; witness the visual field and merely focus on what is witnessed. Within the darkness, notice numerous tiny bits of dancing light phenomena (called ‘phosgenes’). Become at one with the lights (thoughtlessness ensues), and merge with the visual field. In due time, the context simultaneously begins to shift and deepen. The seeming separation between the witness and the observer disappears. One ‘becomes’ the phenomenon sans a localized observer.
Eventually, only awareness itself prevails, and all is spontaneous and nondual. The mind is bypassed and surrendered to Mind, which is autonomous. With practice, the capacity to be ‘at one’ with the silent, thoughtless state can be maintained with the syes open. One then lives within the silent state.
In the beginning, the state is lost when it is necessary to return to functioning or necessary mentation. With practice, however, even that distraction can be transcended, and the silent state prevails even though the persona goes about relating and acting to the world.
Eventually, the inner state prevails and selfless action operates spontaneously and autonomously. It is the karmic ‘wind-up toy’. It can eventually even think and respond to the world without interrupting the state of silent peace.
The persona is perceived by the world to be ‘you’, whereas it is only a linear functionality. It is like the ripples or waves of the ocean. As with contemplation, the sense of Self moves from content to context. One then abides in the silent awareness that Ramana Maharshi termed turiya, or the “fourth state”.
Discovery of the Presence of God, David R. Hawkins, Page 83
