How to Meditate for Spiritual Awakening & Enlightenment?
What is the Nature of Meditation ?
Meditation, contemplation, or practice of the presence, is by nature divine union and realization of one’s own nature as pure undifferentiated consciousness. The method for achieving this, is to withdraw oneself from the five senses (the mind), in disidentifying oneself from the body and the person, to dwell into the formless, and to forget oneself in God, until merging, by the living knowledge that only God is, nothing else, nobody else, neither meditation, nor meditator, nor object of meditation, only God, pure Being, pure Consciousness, pure Grace.
that I am God.”
one abides in one’s own true
nature as a flame of jnana,
this state of being is termed
sahaja sthiti [the natural state].”
“Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God,and
there is no other.”
What is Spiritual Enlightenment?
First we need to remember, that enlightenment is not a state to reach, for it is our natural unconscious state, our true nature. As pure consciousness, we already are enlightenment, the light of the world, children of lights, light in the Lord. In that perspective, nobody get enlightened, except the mind, which is the tool that helps to shape our reality, and whom identification with, creates ego or personnal sense to be somebody in the world.
While Self-realization is instantaneous, spiritual enlightenment of the mind is a process which consist in the clearing of vassanas (tendancies) and samskaras (subtle impressions of our past actions) by abiding in the Self. This is what St Paul called “dying daily” to crucify the old man” or “to be renewed in the spirit of our mind”, or losing one’s (personal) life to gain eternal (impersonal) life. For this, we need to detach to everything we have identified with by ignorance, starting with the person we believe to be, and all the memories, belief systems and repressed emotions stored in it.
"Through Meditation Practice, we actually want to
Merge our Unconscious Mind with our Conscious Mind, through the Gradual Purification of our Subconscious Mind, which acts as a Barrier between Both. This Whole Process is called Spiritual Enlightenment. "
the Father, and I, the son, are one,
and that we are able to look at all humanity in the same way, we die to
the “man whose breath is in his nostrils”, and we are reborn of the Spirit.”
“To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and to put on the new self, created
after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Guided Spiritual Meditation to Raise your Vibration in 10 Minutes
Meditation is a powerful spiritual practice that has been used for thousands of years to prevent the mind wandering, to stay in the present moment and ultimately to merge with the Self. Here are some basic steps, including body scan meditation and spinal breathing, which will help you to raise your vibratory state and attain this non-doing state of inner stillness and surrendering, which is a prerequisite to go from the form to the formless and experiencing Self/God :
Find a quiet and comfortable place to sit. It is important to eliminate as many distractions as possible, so put your phone on airplane mode. for exemple I like to add river natural sounds as background music, it will help you to easily relax, particularly if you live in a noisy environment.
Sit in a comfortable position. You can simply sit in a chair with your feet planted firmly on the ground. Keep your back straight to promote good posture, great energy flow and a clear mind.
Close your eyes and begin to take a deep breath and start your scan body meditation, by feeling each parts separately of your body, put your awareness on your feet toes, then when you feel tinglings, heat or energy in this area, put your awareness on the whole feet, then progressively go up through each part, legs, knees, thighs, pelvis, chest, arms, hands, neck, up to the top of the head, until the body becomes one mass of pure undifferentiated energy.
Continue to breathe deeply and steadily, and let your mind be cleared by simple observation of thoughts. Arrived at this stage, start to breath slowly from the perineum to the third eye, with a count of 7, seeing energy flowing through the spinal cord, like through a very fine thread. On the out breath, see the energy returning back through the spinal cord, down to the perineum, with a count of 7, continue to gently witness the energy slowly going up and down, while keeping your attention on the third eye as your anchor point.
After 10 minutes, you will be in a quite high vibratory state, so simply rest for several minutes, and surrender to this ocean of pure energy, until there is no longer any difference between you and this ocean.
After your meditation, take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on your experience. It is also helpful to keep a journal to document your progress, feelings and any insights you may have received during your session.
“Happiness lies inside, and to
attain it, we need to turn within.
The inner Self is filled with bliss.
It is to experience the Self,
to come close to the Self,
that we practice yoga
and meditation.”
What is Our Natural State?
Basically, our natural state is pure consciousness, eternal truth, inner stillness. It is the infant state, which is lost before two years old, with the developpement of the brain/mind/ego, and the identification with the body’s picture in the mirror. Whereas there was originally only one state of pure undifferentiated consciousness, we now have a “me” with a name and a body, living in the world, in relation to other “me” with names and bodies.
Imagine that the baby has litterally no mind, no concepts, no ideas, no name, he is pure awareness, pure field of supreme joy and bliss, crossed by different bodies and objects which are all part of himself. He lives beyond any concept of time and space, and although he has no concept of the body, his body is his very own omnipresent and formless awareness. When the baby look at a tree, he’s really looking at itself, as there is no difference between the seer, the seen object and the act of seeing.
“I have no name, I am but two
days old. What shall I call you?
I am happy. Joy is my name,
Sweet joy befall you!”
The Lost of Our Natural State
Our natural state of innocence is symbolically represented by the garden of Eden, the state of perfect unity, just before Eve (shakti/energy/consciousness) bites the apple of the tree of knowledge, and is expelled outwards, creating duality (separation from it’s source) and illusion of the material world (Maya) in the sphere of the five senses. In the same manner, during the mirror stage, pure indifferenciated consciousness (our true nature) identifies and merges with the picture of a baby’s body in the mirror, out of love for its own creation, until it forgets itself completely into this mental picture, to become a separate me.
“When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will know that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you will be in a state of poverty, and you will be the poverty!”
What is the Mirror Stage Theory?
The mirror stage is a term invented by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. During this stage, children begin to understand that the image they see in the mirror is a representation of themselves, separate from their mother. Before the mirror stage, infants have no sense of self, do not differentiate, and do not recognize themselves in a mirror. However, after the mirror stage, infants start to recognize that the image in the mirror is themselves and begin to understand that their actions and movements are connected to the image they see.
“Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them, for the
kingdom of heaven belongs
to such as these.”
Why Are We Meditating?
The need of meditating, of going inside, finding eternal and unbroken peace, in only a unconscious call to return to our true natural “I AM” state, existing prior the mind and therefore before the creation of the world and of the person, which are only appearing as objects in the mind.
Whether we call it retrieving union with God, unity consciousness, spiritual awakening, enlightenment, moksha, or liberation from the cycle of birth and death, our unconcious goal is to retrieve this sense of unity which is always deeply impressed in our cellular memories. Through meditation, our secret goal, is to merge our conscious wakefulness state with our unconscious deep sleep state, for this the subconscious wall must be dissolved and become a transparency for the works of God.
This process is facilitated through the acknowledging that we are already the one pure formless consciousness, luminous and existing by itself, always pure and changeless, without quality, without imperfection, of the nature of bliss. It can also be helped by the compagny of self-realized people and also by receiving satsang, shaktipat or darshan.
before Abraham was, I am.”
I individually, and as you step back
just a few inches, you will begin to
see God shining through. Otherwise,
you will give birth to yourself, and ultimately give death to yourself.”
“But who say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him,
you are Blessed, for flesh and blood
has not revealed it to you, but
my Father which is in heaven.”
Samyama: Meditation with Affirmations
Another way to meditate is to choose one spiritual verse in the Bible, Bhagavad Gita (or other spiritual book or spiritual teacher) to focus on it, until you feel the truth of it, and you merge with it. It is called Samyama by Patanjali, and this practice consist to use the focus of the mind on affirmations for meditation, until absorption (samadhi).
Spiritual Verses are Pointers to the Self
For this choose the most vibrant and exhalting passage you can find, for exemple every declarations of God the Eternal, or from Jesus, generally starting with “truly, truly”, or with “I AM” are gateways to the Spirit, to the unchanging Self, they are vibratory pointers that lead directly to the source of your own being which is the unique life, the unique self, the unique being of God.
Don't Try to Understand, Feel it!
So, by connecting and merging this way with a statement of Nisargadatta Maharaj or any realized spiritual teacher, will allows you access to the same state of consciousness where it has been written or declared. So don’t try to understand these spiritual verses, bur rather feel them and merge with them as states of consciousness, until it become your natural state.
How to Meditate for Spiritual Enlightenment?
In the Bible, God asks us to be still and to realize that what we called “I” is literally HIM, not ME, and to remain in this truth, until the salvation of the Lord comes. In other words, we are invited to withdraw our attention from the 5 senses (extremities of the world) to make it turn 180 degrees towards itself, in the acknowledgement that God is one, and if there is only one, “I” can only be that One.
How to Meditate to Awaken Kundalini?
By turning the consciousness towards itself, the practice of the Presence of God will naturally activate the inner fire of the kundalini, which will begin the return of the prodigal son (shakti energy projected through the five senses for worldly desires) to the Father’s house (crown chakra), and for that purpose gradually dissolve all that we have accumulated out of ignorance and which does not belong to us, in order to reveal our true nature which is pure consciousness, pure presence, pure Being.
Why Should I Meditate Daily?
If you want to progress faster in your spiritual journey, you must integrate meditation in your daily life routine, which means getting into the habit of detaching yourself from the form, to dwell in the undifferentiated formlessness. For at least 30 minutes per day, or by little touch throughout the day, in order to entertain a sense of deep devotion for God, and to maintain a constant feeling of his presence in you, through you and around you, in order to transform body-consciousness into Self-consciousness. The more you return to it, the more supreme devotion will appear, and the meditation will become easier, aswell as the very highlight of your day. In the end, you will no longer be the one meditating, but rather you will be the one meditated upon by God and effortless meditation will become your natural state.
What Spiritual Books for Spiritual Awakening?
In order to maintain the spiritual elevation you will obtain in the practice of meditation, I highly recommend the reading spiritual books written by realized masters, such as of Ribhu Gita Ch.26, as recommended by Ramana Maharshi, Avadhuta Gita and Ashtavakra Gita, aswell as “Master of Self-Realization” by Siddharameshwar Maharaj. If you have a more Christian vibe, I recommend you “The Impersonal Life” by Joseph Benner, any books by Joel S. Goldsmith and naturally the Gospels.
How Meditation Can Change your Reality?
Meditation is like the TV show “Prison Break”, we want to get out of the prison of the mind, which has made us prisoners of duality, in order to gain our freedom in Christ which is the realization of the Self or return to the Father’s house. For this we can only use the tools available in our cell, and the only one available is our own intellect and its faculty of discrimination. So we are going to use the same tool that has been used until now to build a wall between us and God, between us and Life, to dismantle in a systematic and methodical way this same wall, brick by brick, until the full enlightenment of the mind.
bars closed behind me forever!
But You raised my life from
the Pit, Lord my God!”
we call human experience, the tomb
of the mind and body, and if we are
to experience the Soul, we have
to break out of the limitations
of the body and mind.”
“I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will appoint you
as a light to the nations, to open the
eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners
out of the dungeon and those sitting
in darkness out from the prison house.”
"IF YOU ARE IDENTIFIED WITH THE MIND: YOU ARE
SEPARATED FROM REALITY! WHEN YOU WITHDRAW
FROM THE MIND, YOU BECOME REALITY ITSELF!"
The Parable of Lazarus Resurrection
It is always the same story that we find in the Gospels, but expressed in different forms. Like in John chapter 11, where Lazarus was sick, then died (asleep to his true nature) and is now buried in his cave or tomb (the mind). Jesus (the Self) arrive to resurrect him from the dead, and to give him eternal life. It is the same parable used with blind men, paralytics and possessed. Here, waking up, being resurrected, saved, healed, made whole, believing in him, losing one’s life for his sake to find it, or confessing that Jesus is the Son of God are all synonymous with Self-realization, that is to break the hypnotism of identification with the body/mind/ego, to realize our true eternal nature in Christ/Self.
fallen asleep. But I am
going that I may awaken
him from sleep.”
grace, the great Shakti Kundalini
awakes within him that man
arises from his sleep.”
“Then He came to the disciples
and found them sleeping, and said
to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? And He came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open.”
How to Meditate to Merge with the Self?
Detach Yourself from the Mind to Abide in God:
Realize that all that is seen, all names and forms are not real (but products of the five senses), the body is not real, the world is not real, and that in reality everything is only Brahman, life energy, pure consciousness, pure indifferenciated light. Realize that all visible forms, all that is manifested is only God, and that there is nothing else, no one else, only God, and remain as that, as pure consciousness, until you feel the truth of it vibrating throughout your being.
the last, and beside
me there is no God.”
Him there is no
darkness at all.”
“Everything that is made
manifest is light.”
Be Nothing and Let God be God in You:
Realize that there is no “person”, no “me” that exists outside of God, that does actions, thinks thoughts or says words, and that all actions, thoughts, words happen spontaneously by themselves, that everything happens directly by the grace of God the Father, for the glory of God the Son, that all activities of this body are the activities of God. Then when you feel the truth of these words vibrating in your whole being, rest in this state of surrendering.
and Father of all, who is over
all, and through all, and in all.”
man, then shall you know that I am
he, and that I do nothing of myself,
but as the Father taught me,
I speak these things.”
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son
can do nothing of himself, but what
he sees the Father do: for what things
soever he does, these also does
the Son likewise.”
Question: What is the purpose of teaching that one should meditate, through the “I am He” thought, on the truth that one is not different from the self-luminous Reality that shines like a flame?
Ramana Maharshi: The purpose of teaching that one should cultivate the idea that one is not different from the self-luminous Reality is this: Scripture defines meditation in these words, “In the middle of the eight petalled Heart lotus which is of the nature of all, and which is referred to as Kailasa, Vaikunta, and Paramapada, there is the Reality which is of the size of the thumb, which is dazzling like lightning and which shines like a flame. By meditating on it, a person gains immortality.” From this we should know that by such meditation one avoids the defects of the thought of difference, of the form “I am different, and that is different”, the meditation on what is limited, the idea that the Real is limited, and that it is confined to one place.
If one meditates for a long time, without disturbance, on the Self ceaselessly, with the “I am He” thought which is the technique of reflection on the Self, the darkness of ignorance which is in the Heart and all the impediments which are but the effects of ignorance will be removed, and the plenary wisdom will be gained.
Meditate ever on that Which is beyond the reach of the mind, Allowing no refuge for the mind. The joy that is attained in abundance in that Self, That is beyond all verities and complete.
Know that whoever meditates on that supreme void, and becomes established in it by virtue of constant practice, will definitely attain the great state which is beyond birth and death.
Keep the mind pure; with keen intellect, resolve all that is objective into the Self and always meditate on the Self as clear and single like ether.
This is to be done by firm abidance in the one indivisible Self in the Heart and by meditating on the unceasing experience of knowledge of the unity of Brahman and Self thus: “I am not the ego. I am the unceasing perfection of Brahman experienced as I, the witness of thought forms.” This meditation must be persisted in until the ego sense is completely rooted out from the body without a vestige, and the world of individuals appears like a dream. He who meditates has no work to do except to beg and perform his natural functions. He must never forget the Self by giving room for worldly speech and sense objects.
“The Self in the form of Brahman, witness of all finite beings, self-effulgent, shines eternally as “I”. Being experienced as “I”, it shines as the true form of the Self, the direct experience of the great texts. Fix your Heart constantly on this Brahman, which is the goal. Let the senses remain in their centres, keep the body steady by remaining indifferent to it; and practise the meditation “I am Brahman, Brahman am I”, allowing no other thoughts to come in. Gradually still the mind by practice of the unbroken flow of beatitude. Realize the identity of Self and Brahman and drink the nectar of Brahman Bliss in eternal joy.
A man must make every effort to see with the eye of realization and with the mind in a state of perfect peace to see his own Self as Brahman, as the truth of non-duality shining as the Self of the whole universe. He must meditate on this and concentrate ceaselessly on the Self. Then he will enjoy unbroken experience of essential Bliss and this alone will satisfy him.
Question: All masters advise meditation. What is the purpose of meditation?
Nisargadatta Maharaj: We know the outer world of sensation and action, but we know very little about our inner world of thoughts and feelings. The first goal of meditation is to become aware of our inner life and to make it familiar to us. The ultimate goal is to reach the source of life and consciousness. Incidentally, skill in meditation profoundly affects our character. We are slaves to what we do not know, but masters of what we do know. Whatever vice or weakness we discover and whose causes and ways of acting we understand, we overcome through knowledge; the unconscious disappears when it is brought into the conscious. The dissolution of the unconscious releases energy, the mind becomes adjusted and and becomes quiet.
Question: What is the use of a quiet mind?
Nisargadatta Maharaj: When the mind is quiet we come to know ourselves as pure witness. We withdraw from experience and the experiencer and we stand apart in pure awareness that is between and beyond both. The personality, based on self-identification, imagining itself to be something “I am this, I am that” continues, but as a part of the objective world. Its identification with the witness ceases.
Question: What is meditation, and what is its purpose?
Nisargadatta Maharaj: To see the false as false is meditation. This must be done at all times. As long as you are a beginner, formal meditations or prayers can help. But for the seeker of reality, there is only one meditation: a rigorous refusal to harbor thoughts. To be free of thoughts is in itself a meditation.
Question: How do you practice it?
Nisargadatta Maharaj: You begin by letting the thoughts flow by looking at them. The simple observation slows down the mind until it stops completely. Once the mind has calmed down, keep it calm. Don’t let this peace bother you, be in it, go deeper into it.
Question: In meditation, who meditates, the person or the witness?
Nisargadatta Maharaj: Meditation is a deliberate attempt to rise to higher levels of consciousness and ultimately go beyond. The art of meditation is the art of the focus of attention to ever more subtle planes, without losing one’s grip on the previous planes. In a certain sense, it is like exercising control over death. The ultimate stage of meditation is reached when the sense of identity goes beyond the “I-am-someone”. It is beyond the “I-am-that”, beyond the “I-am-only-witness”, beyond the “there-is”, beyond all these stages into the pure impersonal being. But if you devote yourself to meditation, you must be energetic. It can never be a part-time occupation. Limit your interests and activities to the needs of yourself and those who depend upon you. Devote all your energy and time to break down the wall you have built around yourself. Believe me, you will not regret it.