Meditation Techniques From Eastern Philosophy

On August 31, 2010 in Uncategorized

Hermetic philosophy represents the mind by the symbol of air. It is invisible, all-pervading, and life-giving. It reminds us of the difficulty in working actively in this area. It gives us a clue if we should seek to explore our own minds. When we wish to use and control the power of air, we confine it within a space. When we wish to use and control the power of the mind we must confine it within a space; this is the basis of all meditation techniques in use today.

It is difficult enough to grasp the nature of the personal mind. It is quite impossible to grasp the nature of the Divine Mind. Sacred texts universally recognize this fact. We are lead towards the contemplation of a prime creative source through symbol, allegory, parable or other representation. Metaphysical philosophy has always recognized a dilemma: what can man really say about the nature of God? We can know nothing except indirectly through creation and perhaps through the lives of those we come to accept as mediators.

In Hindu philosophy the absolute source of creation is called Brahman. The word is derived from a root which means ‘to expand’. This prime reality is described as having two aspects. The first is called the Supreme Brahman. It is beyond all comprehension. The Supreme Brahman is designated only by what is not, ‘Neti, Neti’, ‘Not this, Not this’. The Inferior Brahman is described as He ‘whose body is spirit, whose form is light, whose thoughts are true.’

The two levels are part of the same reality. The Qabalah offers similar teaching on how to meditate. The absolute level of reality is referred to as Kether. It can be symbolized by the image of an ancient bearded King in profile. We only see one side of the face. In the same way, we can never see the dark side of the moon but we know it exists. We also know that the Absolute exists.

Meditation in its highest form is intimately connected with the relationship between the individual mind and a greater mind. Christianity, Sufism and Hinduism perceive this greater mind in terms of a Godhead, Buddhism in terms of a Void. This term can be confusing to the Western faithful who have been brought up with the idea of a personal Godhead. The concept of sunyata reminds us that we can know nothing of this level of reality and cannot presume to do so. It does not carry the usual meaning of emptiness, for in Buddhist thought, ‘Form is Emptyness, Emptyness is Form.’ Such riddles are beloved by Eastern philosophy.

Paradox stops us in our tracks and makes us think in a new way. Both schools of thought envisage a return to a state which is unknowable yet essentially real. The goal of every spiritual path is to touch, no matter how briefly, the greater level of reality and to consciously merge mind into Mind. This is the real quest of the meditational path.

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