Ivan Antic - Meditation: First and Last Step - From Understanding to Practice (Existence - Consciousness - Bliss Book 2)

MEDITATION

First and Last Step

From Understanding to Practice

Ivan Antic

SAMKHYA PUBLISHING LTD

London, 2020

Translated by

Milica Breber

Book cover design by:

Zoran Ignjatovic

https://ignjatoviczoran.weebly.com

This is the second book in the Existence Consciousness - Bliss series.

Copyright: 2020 by SAMKHYA PUBLISHING LTD

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9781795159173

Table o f Contents

PART ONE

THE CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF MEDITATION

MEDITATION AND REALITY

We shall use the term 'meditation' for one obvious reason only, which is: it is generally and widely accepted, even though the proper term for our subject is 'contemplation'. The word comes from the Latin contemplatio , which etymologically denotes an act of attaining a higher place ( templum ) that provides more objective and accurate vision. It is made up of the prefix con, which denotes connection or synchronization, and templum , a temple or sacred place where connection with the divine becomes possible, and receiving messages from the divine becomes a reality. Since it is not the external temple, but rather the inner experience, that the word 'contemplation' denotes, practically it means reaching the inner sanctuary, a state of exaltation in ones own being, that enables the merging with a higher, divine consciousness of the soul, in an attempt to harmonize with it. This brings forth the transition of consciousness to a higher level, a changing of ones own being in order to become a temple of the divine presence. With such practice comes the most objective consciousness possible in man, which serves to connect his individual consciousness with objective reality, or the divine consciousness which enables everything, and here it will be addressed as 'meditation', because that term is generally accepted, even though the word 'meditation' literally means mindful thinking. However, it is not wrong to use the word 'meditation' here, because this discussion is about making sense of contemplation. This is a meditation on contemplation, an understanding of contemplation - for only through proper understanding it can become possible.

Meditation or contemplation is a method which awakens a man to the comprehension of reality, in an accelerated way; or more precisely, a method by which the illusion of time, during which we imagine that we are something else, and not what we truly are, is removed. In meditation man harmonizes with reality. Harmonizing with reality is the lesson and the practice of meditation.

When a man is born into his physical body, he is not truly and completely born, because he still has not properly begun his existence. By being born into a physical body, the exact opposite of origin actually occurs: the limitation and collapsing into a far lower state of consciousness than the one we had before birth. Man uses birth into a physical body as an option for presence in existence. But even then, his existence does not become complete just by birth of the body itself; instead it opens new windows of opportunity for mans existence in physical reality. When it is born, the physical body is still conditioned; it has only replaced the narrow environment of the uterus with the wider environment of the world it enters. This world is far wider, and enables more movement and greater perception, but that wideness and apparent freedom of movement and action should not deceive us into thinking that with physical birth we begin to exist as a free and a self-conscious being. All the conditionality and suffering which we experience, all the conflicts and misunderstandings, are proof that we are not truly free and completely our own. They are the consequence of our lack of awareness and conditionality consequent of the wider environment.

Meditation is a method by which man becomes completely realized and present in existence, in all its dimensions, and even in physical reality - truly unconditioned and authentically himself. Only with meditation does man start to truly exist, and free himself from the illusion that he started to exist by the mere act of the physical birth, and from the illusion of the physical body. In this way, he brings consciousness of his soul, which he possessed before birth, to his existence during his physical lifetime. That is the aim of meditation. In this book, all of the details of this accomplishment will be presented.

All of life is a process of being born into the spirit, into consciousness of the soul. The act of physical birth is only the beginning; to be more accurate, it is only one phase of the long process of birth of the spirit. But why do we even bother with birth of the spirit, and with the physical process? What is the purpose of life in a physical body? It surely has to be part of some wider context. Surely the goal of meditation is also to recognize this, to get to know the purpose that surpasses our life, all of our lives. That goal cannot be shown here; it is not something which has an answer, instead we have to reach it individually, by way of self-realization. However, we can give a hint, so that the purpose of meditation and the nature of reality become a lot clearer to us. After all, were it not for a hint of this kind, no one would be inspired to meditate, as the practice of meditation often brings many temptations and renunciations to beginners.

Meditation is the act of merging consciousness of the soul, which we had before our birth, with the body; and, likewise, the soul we will have after death of the body. It is so attractive to people with mature souls: the fact that even the slightest insinuation on well-being that meditation offers, however unclear, gives enormous energy and inspiration for progress, for further practice. There are a great many meditation practitioners in the world, who do not completely understand what meditation is and what it does, but they are nonetheless fascinated by it; and then there are those few who do understand it. This is the power of the attraction of the soul. Everyone who meditates correctly realizes the purpose of meditation with experience and time, but at the beginning it is invisible. This is understandable, because it represents the change in the state of consciousness. It starts with the lower state, which does not enable a clear vision of the higher realms that become accessible to us only with disciplined practice. Those who are able to clearly see the purpose of meditation have, by perfecting the practice, automatically achieved the end result - to meditate correctly. Meditation is practiced only until its correctness is achieved; once it is achieved, it is complete, because correct meditation conveys true compatibility with reality. Therefore, every practice of meditation before that final moment is inherently imperfect. Meditation only exists as a more or less successful attempt to perfect oneself through diligence and discipline. The very moment it becomes perfect, it disappears, because it is no different from the highest divine reality, from everything which is, here and now, from the essence of existence. The meditant also disappears at that moment, because there is nothing in the world but the highest divine reality. Only it exists, and nothing more. In the same way, the meditant who upon achieving the full realization of the divine reality disappears into it, as the divine turns into itself and becomes what it is - itself. With meditation, time as an illusion disappears, and leaves open space for the truth: that man is nothing but the most supreme divine reality and its universal presence.

The highest divine reality is the source of consciousness, according to which everything that there is exists - the entire universe, and all universes.

The divine consciousness is the essence of everything, and even our essence, our soul.

All the consciousness in us comes from consciousness of the soul.