If you were to sit all day without movement and outer stimulation, your mind would eventually slow down. You might find the prospect boring compared with the allure of the outer world. But when I was young, I wanted to discover what lay beyond the twice-a-day, 20-minute limit prescribed by teachers of Transcendental Meditation.
I became adept at stopping my thinking during an occasional three-hour meditation in the middle of the night. When conditions were right, I’d lie prone in bed and focus intently on my mantra. After a while I would bask in the clear light of a quiet mind. Sometimes, early in clear-light mode, a thought would start to intrude, and I knew intuitively to nip it in the bud, preferring the Light to anything my ego mind could conjure.
The clear light is the origin of life, including our every thought and action. Above all, it provides the impetus for a holy life, since the origin can be none other than goodness, truth, and love. In this regard, our thinking ego mind is not only a distraction, but it can also lead us astray. Having been raised a Christian, I’m aware, for instance, of avoiding thoughts that lead to suffering through the seven deadly sins. But that’s only half the story, because the spiritual project is fundamentally one of aligning our behavior with the flow of spiritual power emanating constantly from the light within.
This alignment process is one of life’s most important skills. It requires the impetus of a leading thought, a discerning mind, and a willingness to obey when the mind is also presenting myriad reasons not to comply. Compliance: there is the rub. For few people are willing to give up the illusion of agency. We think we are free to choose, and, of course, we do choose between right and wrong, good and bad. But going with the flow is not usually so cut-and-dried. Rather, it’s an on-going process that can become habitual as one recognizes the leading thought and the distractions that follow.
“The present is where the richness of life resides because the present is real, where the past and future are not so real.”
The difficult part of forming an in-the-flow habit is the ability to act with alacrity on the initial leading thought. This is where meditation plays a role by slowing the mind down to the point that you realize what’s happening internally, even in the throes of a rapidly evolving external situation. Remember, also, that the ego mind is not who you truly are, but only the part of yourself that thinks about things: pro and con, right and wrong, yes and no; it will go on about its business, unabated, unless you stop it through willpower and by directing your attention to complying with the leading thought.
The required effort needn’t be onerous. In fact, it should never exceed a relaxed level. In other words, pressing ahead or forcing a desired outcome is generally a tell. For, pressing indicates the compulsion attending a gaining idea. Whereas the clear light never asks more of you than can be gleaned from the pleasure of the present moment.
Remaining grounded in the present means you’re on the right track, instead of on rails. The present is where the richness of life resides because the present is real, where the past and future are not so real. Even routines and mundane moments harbor richness, for they harness the spiritual power capable of launching further fruitful action.