Return within
by Abhishiktananda, Swami (Henri Le Saux)English version by H. Sandeman (?)
Original Language French
Return within,
to the place where there is nothing,
and take care that nothing comes in.
Penetrate to the depths of yourself,
to the place where thought no longer exists,
and take care that no thought arises there!
There where nothing exists,
Fullness!
There where nothing is seen,
the Vision of Being!
There where nothing appears any longer,
the sudden appearing of the Self!
Dhyana is this!
 | -- from Guru and Disciple: An Encounter with Sri Gnanananda, a Contemporary Spiritual Master, by Swami Abhishiktananda / Translated by H. Sandeman |
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Return within...
A powerful description of deep meditation. (The word dhyana in the last line means meditation.)
There where nothing exists,
Fullness!
Abhishiktananda keeps mentioning nothing and nothingness, but each time that nothingness is entered into, we are greeted with fullness, the vision of Being, and ultimately, the appearance of the Self.
In the practice of Advaita Vedanta, everything is recognized as the Self -- which a Catholic might recognize as the purified sense of being that is utterly identified with God until only God remains. When the thinking mind is brought to deep silence ("the place where thought no longer exists"), and we get so quiet that we allow the spacious stillness to wash over us, clearing away everything, including the ego-self, that is the place "where nothing exists."
But, in that place "where there is nothing," that is, nothing that feels like a thing or an object, not even the personal self-thing, we then discover an unexpected flood of life and fullness and bliss.
There where nothing is seen,
the Vision of Being!
Perception shifts and everything is seen as a radiant Unity, the Vision of Being
There where nothing appears any longer,
the sudden appearing of the Self!
One's very identity changes. What one was has ceased to exist, swept away in the vision of vastness. One's sense of self is no longer a collection of qualities and habits and social projections. Instead, everything is found within and that Self has no boundaries!
Dhyana is this!
That is dhyana, true meditation.
Recommended Books: Abhishiktananda, Swami (Henri Le Saux)
