TO EXIST, IN YOUR NATURAL STATE, IS TO EXIST IN MEDITATION

In the last post, I mentioned, that ours is a state of behoshi or unconsciousness or of the mind and hence, our current state, in spiritual sense, is a state of asleep, whereas coming awake, in real sense, is only, when you exist in your natural state i.e. you exist in your nature or reality, all the time. So, the important thing about awakening, is to exist in one’s natural state and to exist, in one’s natural state, is to exist, in meditation, as well. 

So, the question arises, as what’s our natural state, which we are striving, to attain to, by practicing meditation. Will explain, now. Natural state means, to exist in one’s nature. Nature, means that, which is intrinsic and integral to your existence, without which, you can’t even think of, your existence, without which, your existence, is not possible. 

Now, in, the last post, I talked about deep sleep, which, in yogic parlance, is known, as sushupti. Deep sleep, is your natural state, because, in deep sleep, nothing else, but your nature alone, does exist. In deep sleep, all, what you know, as ‘me’ (your body n mind) n ‘mine’ (your physical possessions) n others (world) etc, don’t exist in your experience and yet you exist and you exist fully, because, in deep sleep, you remain alive. In deep sleep, thus, what really exists, is the absolute, which exists, of its own accord and needs no context, no reference and no relation to others, to exist. Only, because of the presence, of this absolute, you remain alive, in your deep sleep. Only, because of this presence, your breathing happens and all your vital organs, too, function well and you, thus, remain rooted, in your body, in your sleep. 

Thus, in, deep sleep, all which is not intrinsic to your existence, all which is external or from outside, doesn’t exist and only, that, which is the truth or the existential, which can’t be separated from your existence does, really, exist. Consciousness, is the only, existential and natural thing, and hence, alone does exist, in your sleep. In that sense, though deep sleep, is your natural state or a state of meditation and yet this can’t be considered, a state of meditation because, it’s a state of unawareness, whereas awareness is key to meditation. 

So, those who looked at deep sleep, they wondered, if, one can exist in total silence, total peace i.e. in one’s natural state, then, why can’t, one exist in the same state, i.e. in peace and silence, in one’s waking too? Why one is disturbed, in his waking, when the person is the same? So, taking a cue, from deep sleep, they started mimicking the deep sleep, and made attempts to exist, in total peace and silence, in their waking, too and this, is how, the closed eye practices, which we traditionally know, as meditation began. 

So, what we know, as meditation is nothing but a conscious sleep (jagate hue sauna hai) which, fundamentally, means that you close your eyes, as you close your eyes, in your sleep and you exist in your waking, as if you are asleep, as if you are, in deep sleep. But this conscious sleep, is with one fundamental difference, which is that, though, you sleep, externally but internally you remain fully awake, fully conscious. So, in a state of meditation, you exist, as if, you are asleep i.e. you are not doing anything externally, at the level of your body and mind but internally you are fully awake and fully conscious. 

Meditation, thus, is a state of total consciousness, of total awareness and hence, your natural state, because, in awareness or consciousness, there’s nothing external but only, that which is intrinsic to your existence, alone does exist in your experience. So, what really exists, in a state of meditation, is just your nature or the presence or awareness, which is intrinsic, to your existence and nothing else. And to exist, in one’s nature, is to exist, in one’s natural state or in a state of meditation.

Meditation, thus, is dissolution of mind, into consciousness, in your waking, unlike the deep sleep, in which, the mind only disappears temporarily into unconsciousness but the same remains alive and does not get dissolved. However, coming awake, in real sense, which we traditionally know, as enlightenment or awakening is only, when you transcend, your mind, and that’s what being Buddha is. Buddha, means, the one, who goes beyond his mind, and becomes an expression of his nature, the consciousness and no longer, he is an expression of his mind.