Inter-  Faiths  Dialogue

Spiritual Practice > Meditation

22 quote(s)  | Page 1 / 1




F inite and transient are the fruits of sacrificial rites. The deluded,
who regard them as the highest good, remain subject to birth and death.

Living in the abyss of ignorance, yet wise in their own conceit, the del-
uded go round and round [on the wheel of death and rebirth], like the
blind led by the blind.

Living in the abyss of ignorance, the deluded think themselves blessed.
Attached to works, they know not God. Works lead them only to heaven,
whence, to their sorrow, their rewards quickly exhausted, they are flung
back to earth.

Considering religion to be observance of rituals and performance of acts of
charity, the deluded remain ignorant of the highest good. Having enjoyed in
heaven the reward of their good works, they enter again into the world of
mortals.

But the wise, self-controlled, and tranquil souls, who are contented in
spirit, and who practice austerity and meditation in solitude and silence,
are freed from all impurity, and attain by the path of liberation the
immortal, the truly existing, the changeless Self.


quote 4391  | 
Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.7-11 




T hose who aspire to the state of self-discipline should seek the Self in
inner solitude through meditation, controlling body and mind, free from
expectations and attachment to material possessions.

Select a clean spot, neither too high nor too low, and seat yourself firm-
ly on a cloth, a deerskin, and kusha grass. Then, once seated, strive to
still your thoughts. Make your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your
heart will be purified. Hold your body, head, and neck firmly in a
straight line, and keep your eyes from wandering. With all fears dissolv-
ed in the peace of the Self and all desires dedicated to God, controlling
the mind and fixing it on Me, sit in meditation with Me as your only goal.
With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with
the Self within, an aspirant attains Nirvana, the state of abiding joy and
peace in Me.

Arjuna, those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or
sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temp-
erate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of
sorrow through meditation. Through constant effort they learn to withdraw
the mind from selfish cravings and absorb it in the Self. Thus they at-
tain the state of union.

When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a
lamp in a windless place. In the still mind, in the depths of meditation,
the eternal Self reveals itself. Beholding the Self by means of the Self,
an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfilment. Having at-
tained that abiding joy beyond the senses, revealed in the stilled mind,
he never swerves from the central truth. He desires nothing else, and
cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow.

The practice of meditation frees one from all affliction. This is the
path of yoga. Follow it with determination and sustained enthusiasm. Re-
nouncing wholeheartedly all selfish desires and expectations, use your
will to control the senses. Little by little, through patience and
repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self.

Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satis-
faction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self. Abiding
joy comes to those who still the mind. Freeing themselves from the taint
of self-will, with their consciousness unified, they become one with God.


quote 4389  | 
Bhagavad Gita 6.10-27 




C ommune with your own heart upon your bed, and be silent.


quote 4385  | 
4.4 




L et the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.


quote 4383  | 
19.14 




W ithin the lotus of the heart he dwells, where the nerves meet like the
spokes of a wheel at its hub. Meditate on him as OM. Easily may you
cross the sea of darkness.


quote 4381  | 
Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.6 




V erily, from meditation arises wisdom. Without meditation wisdom wanes.


quote 4380  | 
Dhammapada 282 




W hat sort of illness awaits us tonight, what sort of death tomorrow? While we have life, not to practice Buddha's Law, but to spend the time in sleep is the height of foolishness. Because of such foolishness Buddhism today Is in a state of decline. When it was at its zenith monks devoted themselves to the practice of sitting in meditation (zazen), but nowadays sitting is not generally insisted upon and consequently Buddhism is losing ground.' . . .

Upon another occasion his attendants said to him, 'The monks are getting overtired or falling ill, and some are thinking of leaving the monastery, all because they are required to sit too long in meditation. Shouldn't the length of the sitting period be shortened?' The master became highly indignant. 'That would be quite wrong. A monk who is not really devoted to the religious life may very well fall asleep in a half hour or an hour. But one truly devoted to it who has resolved to persevere in his religious discipline will eventually come to enjoy the practice of sitting, no matter how long it lasts.


quote 3970  |   The Shobo Genzo
From the Shobo genzo zuimonki pp. 50-2, translated by Wm. Theodore de Bary, in De Bary (ed.), Sources of Japanese Tradition, op. Cit., Pp. 253-4 




B y deep meditations, let him recognize the subtle nature of the supreme Soul (1), and it presence in all organisms, both the highest and the lowest.


quote 3963  | 
VI, 65, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10 

(1) Brahman




W hen a seeker merges in the beatitude of samadbi, he does not perceive time and space or name and form, the offspring of maya. Whatever -is within the domain of maya is unreal. Give it up. Destroy the prison house of name and form arid rush out of it with the strength of a lion. Dive deep in search of the Self and realize It through samadhi, You will find the world of name and form vanishing into void, and the puny ego dissolving in Brahman-Consciousness. You will realize your identity with Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.


quote 3877  | 
Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 28 




W hile still alive, be therefore assiduous in practicing meditation. ... As your self-reflection grows deeper and deeper, the moment will surely come upon you when the spiritual flower will suddenly burst into bloom, illuminating the entire universe.

This is the moment when you can transform this vast earth into solid gold, and the great rivers into an ocean of milk. What a satisfaction this is then to your daily life! Since this is so, do not waste your time with words or phrases, or by searching for Truth in books; for the Truth is not to be found there. ... They consist of mere words, which will be of no use to you at the moment of your death.


quote 3750  |   Szu-hsin Wu-hsin
in Suzuki, 1970; pp. 23-24 




B y meditation on Him, by contemplation of Him, and by communion with Him, there comes in the end destruction of earthly delusion.


quote 3604  | 
Svetasvatara Upanishad, VI 




W ords cannot describe the joy of the soul whose impurities are washed away in the depths of contemplation, who is one with the Atman, his own Self. Only those who experience this joy know what it is.

... As water becomes one with water, fire with fire, and air with air, so the mind becomes one with the infinite Mind and thus attains Freedom.


quote 3601  | 
Maitri Upanishad, VI.19-23; based on Mascaro, Juan, 1965 




N ot even through deep knowledge can the Self be reached, unless evil ways are abandoned, and there is rest in the senses, concentration in the mind, and peace in one's heart.

... When the wise man rests his mind in contemplation on our God beyond time, who invisibly dwells in the mystery of things and in the heart of man, then he rises above both pleasures and sorrows.


quote 3598  | 
Katha Upanishad, II; based on Mascaro, Juan, 1965 




T he delighted intellect delights in the light of the Lord when, free from concepts, it enters into the dawn of spiritual knowledge. By continually denying itself, it advances from the wisdom necessary for the practice of the virtues to an ineffable vision in which it contemplates holy and ineffable things. Then the heart is filled with perceptions of infinite and divine realities and sees the God of gods in its own depths, so far as this is possible. Astounded, the intellect lovingly glorifies God, the Seer and the Seen, and the Saviour of those who contemplate Him in this way.


quote 3381  | 
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 185, text 131) 




W hen there are no fantasies or mental images in the heart, the intellect is established in its true nature, ready to contemplate whatever is full of delight, spiritual and close to God.


quote 3377  | 
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 178, text 93) 




M ake your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your heart will be purified… With all fears dissolved in the peace of the Self and all desires dedicated to Brahman, controlling the mind and fixing it on me (God), sit in meditation with me as your only goal. With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with the Self within, an aspirant attains nirvana, the state of abiding joy and peace in me.


quote 3236  | 
BG 6:12-15, pp. 105-106, The Bhagavad Gita. Trans. Eknath Easwaran. Tomales, CA.: Nilgiri Press, 1985. 




B rahman is the first cause and last refuge.
Brahman, the hidden Self in everyone,
Does not shine forth. He is revealed only
To those who keep their mind one-pointed
On the Lord of Love and thus develop
A superconscious manner of knowing.
Meditation enables them to go
Deeper and deeper into consciousness,
From the world of words to the world of thoughts,
Then beyond thoughts to wisdom in the Self.


quote 3220  | 
Katha Up. Part 1, 3:11-13, p. 89 in The Upanishads. Trans. Eknath Easwaran. Tomales, CA.: Nilgiri Press, 1987 




A n hour of contemplation is better than a year of prayer.


quote 2922  | 
Hadith, Essential Sufism, by James Fadiman & Robert Frager, Harper SanFrancisco, p.92 




I n deep meditation aspirants may
See forms like snow or smoke.
They may feel a strong wind blowing or a wave of heat.
They may see within them more and more light:
Fireflies, lightning, sun, or moon. These are signs
That one is far on the path to Brahman.

Health, a light body, freedom from cravings,
A glowing skin, sonorous voice, fragrance
Of body: these signs indicate progress
In the practice of meditation.


quote 2649  | 
Shvetashvatara Upanishad, translated by Eknath Easwaran, 1987; Nilgiri Press, Tomales, California 




I n dark night live those for whom
The world without alone is real; in night
Darker still, for whom the world within
Alone is real. The first leads to a life
Of action, the second to a life of meditation.
But those who combine action with meditation
Cross the sea of death through action
And enter into immortality
Through the practice of meditation.
So have we heard from the wise.


quote 2635  | 
Isha Upanishad, translated by Eknath Easwaran, 1987; Nilgiri Press, Tomales, California 




F ear, anger, hatred and pride; these are purified by study and meditation and that, too, must be attained gradually and not instantaneously.


quote 2598  |   The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch VII, p.326, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible 




N ow, this being the case, in this method, what is meant by sitting in meditation? In this method, to sit means to be free from all obstacles, and externally not to allow thoughts to rise from the mind over any sphere of objects. To meditate means to realize the imperturbability of one's original nature. What is meant by meditation and calmness? Meditation means to be free from all characters externally; calmness means to be unperturbed internally. If there are characters outside and the inner mind is not disturbed, one's original nature is naturally pure and calm. It is only because of the spheres of objects that there is contact, and contact leads to perturbation. There is calmness when one is free from characters and is not perturbed. There is meditation when one is externally free from characters, and there is calmness when one is internally undisturbed. Meditation and calmness mean that external meditation is attained and internal calmness is achieved.


quote 2307  | 
Hui-neng, in the “Plateform scripture” (liu-tsu t’an-ching), in Wing-Tsit Chan, Chinese Philosophy, Chapter 26, 19 



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