The word “experience” means to “go through to completion” and end a matter not to carry it forward with you. Real meditation begins when an experience is followed to its completion and ends some distortion so the mind is free of the experience. They don’t pile up and continuously distort one’s vision. Undistorted, the mind is able to observe itself clearly. This means what is going to come up is a brand new experience never before known.

In my own case I was taught a “method” for meditation that when followed repeatedly brought a certain peace I was not used to and I liked very much and was grateful for it. And yet, I was plagued by a thought that often within minutes after I ceased the practice I would explode at somebody or something and return to my ordinary behavior prior to ever even trying to meditate. Why do I lose it so easily? I had to wonder. Then a night came when I finished my practice at a gathering place of other meditators with the question and there came from my mind a direct, simple answer: “It has always been up to you.” I then asked myself, “well, tonight, I wonder if I can keep this peace for as long as it takes me to drive home”. When I arrived home having remained in my peaceful state the whole long ride I sat in my car a few moments in wonder at the peace and asked, “I wonder if I can keep this up until I get to bed and fall asleep”. My family was awake and there would likely be plenty of opportunity to lose what had been gained. It happened I did remain at peace until I fell asleep. Something brand new had arisen. Up to then I had begun every meditation practice with a distorted notion that the practice I was taught would give me peace in my life. The surprise was “It has always been free of circumstances.”! Real meditation begins at the point of natural, undistorted mindedness. A newborn has it!

It is not at all “spiritual elevation” or any of that nonsense. Enlightenment comes into consciousness when no image made by thought is present seeking it. It is silly and vulgar to spout out nonsense like “I pray for enlightenment for all sentient beings”. Duh.

 CHILDREN OF THE SMUG

Smugness. What is it? Dictionary meaning is “excessive pride in oneself or one’s achievements”. The source of it is insecurity. Is that a surprise? The source of insecurity is a limited and broken psychological state that makes a fella or gal imagine stupid things to escape the feeling. Inner conflict or fragmentation of the inner being weakens a human terribly. Such people are definitely affected by flattery and insults from others. Each of these flatteries or insults has been recorded permanently in the brains of these people as knowledge based on experience. A whole human being takes no thought of either flattery or insult. A wholistic life is secure. 

A close and sensitive knowledge of a tree brings instantly an understanding there is no such thing as a separate “tree” or a “not tree”. Touch one and give your complete attention to the sensation. You are the tree and the tree is you. Roots of the tree are your roots. A broken psychological state has been mended. A new human is awake suddenly. Smugness has vanished completely. The new human knows only a communion which has no opposite.

Once the writer met a young woman about to graduate from a major university with a 4 point average. We had several conversations over a few days. She told me she was troubled about what to do with her life after graduation. Without asking questions I told her “go sit under a tree nearby and ask the tree what to do and wait patiently for the tree to answer and tell me next time we meet what you learned from that tree”.  I was surprised she followed the directions and the next day she told me with great excitement “the tree told me to stop taking myself so seriously. I have felt much better since and I thank you . I believe I have learned more from you in a few conversations than I learned in the entire four years I spent in college”.