May/June 2004 Spirituality
The Discipline of Meditation
A message from Amma, Sri Karunamayi

While the world continues to pursue the ever-elusive goal of peace by fighting wars and endless political negotiations, spiritual teachers for thousands of years have always spoken of peace as a state that must first be attained inwardly if we are ever to see it manifested in the world.

Meditation needs a method and a discipline. There must be determination to do it. Just closing your eyes for a few minutes is not meditation. You must follow some kind of process. You have to take the instructions and carry them out accordingly. Only then can you achieve something in meditation.

You may have many problems in your daily life, and you have to face them. However, you can face any problems or obstacles very bravely just by relying upon God. You should always pray to God. Prayer is very important! Your prayer may be from any religion, or the deity of your choice—because God is One only. Don’t think that Amma wants you to be bound to one religion or one God. You have to work on that. You must not be bound by religion! You must overcome every limitation. Always have this in mind: God is One only. The bird which has lived in a cage is full of freedom when it is released. It feels peace when it flies in the vast open sky. Likewise, you must come out of this worldly bondage.

The soul in your body has been restricted, just like a fish in a small tank of water. The whale is the biggest animal in the ocean. It is very large and very long. How would it be if it were caught and confined in a small tank of water? How would it feel? It has always been in the vast ocean, but we have captured and put it in a small glass aquarium. Similarly, your soul has been trapped in your body and become limited. But you are not the ordinary person you think you are. You all are like very great whales, and you must always be in the ocean of bliss!

As long as you are in bondage to your body, to your country, to your city, to your children, or to your husband or wife, as long as you have these bondages, you will always be limited. And when you are limited, you are just like a bonsai plant. The bonsai, if planted in the open ground, can grow and become a very big tree, giving beautiful fruit or shade. But when it is confined in a pot, when the roots are cut off and stunted, it remains small. In the same way, when the soul is confined in the body, its growth is restricted. So, when Amma comes to you, She does not want you to be like a bonsai plant. She wants to take all of you from the small pots and put you in the open ground. She would like all of you to be full of freedom and liberation.

You must also be full of wisdom in this spiritual life. You must have full liberty! Go wherever you want to go. Listen to whatever you like. Have full freedom in this, for there must be no bondage in spiritual life! Permeated throughout Indian philosophy is spiritual wisdom and freedom, which is why it is praised as a universal philosophy.

My dear children, Amma wishes that all of you should wake up early in the morning before sunrise and meditate. Give up sleep. Try to overcome sleep. When you practice meditation in this manner, all of mankind will benefit. Not only will you attain peace but, by your meditation, you will also be giving peace to all humanity.

You have to sit in deep meditation for a long time. You will not get this kind of an experience just by doing meditation for five or ten minutes! Amma would like all of you to do sadhana, spiritual practice constantly and without fail. Only then will you achieve the main aim of life—Self-Realization.

When a strong wind blows an ordinary particle, it will just fly away. But a large rock will not be moved even by a gale. When you meditate, you will have immense spiritual power in you, and you will become like a very great mountain. Then, when you face any obstacle in this world, you will be undisturbed—firm as a huge boulder in a strong wind.

The great spiritual masters who have come to this country have not come to give you spoon-feedings such as you might give to a small baby. They have given you immense wealth. They have given great treasures to you! You must not waste them. You must practice constantly, and you must lead a very high spiritual life. The holy Ganges River in India is held as very sacred. But Amma says meditation is holier than the holy Ganges. It is the greatest of all spiritual disciplines. There is no spiritual practice greater than meditation, and there is no sacred river as great as meditation.

Amma would like all of you to practice sitting at least for a few minutes to start, and then—slowly and gradually—to improve your meditation. It will surely give you peace.

Peace is Nowhere But Inside Yourself. Hari Om Tat Sat.

Bhagavati Karunamayi Sri Sri Sri Vijayeswari Devi, more familiarly known as Karunamayi, "Compassionate One," and affectionately called Amma, "Mother," will be visiting Portland, OR from India May 27th thru the 31st, 2004. She has been traveling to the West each summer since 1995 to help people attain higher consciousness and universal understanding. On May 26th at 7:00 pm, Amma will have public program at Unity Church of Portland, 4525 SE Stark St., Portland. On May 27th, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, Amma will give individual blessings at the Unity Church of Portland.  All programs are free. Visit www.karunamayi.org For more information, please E-Mail: Bharatyoga@comcast.net, or call 503-591-0984.