“Understanding how meditation works can help a good deal in understanding all the little ways in which it can be improved,” Easwaran begins in this week’s article, “Stages in Meditation,” on pages 21–23 of the new Fall 2021 issue of the Blue Mountain Journal. Let’s read that short article along with two other short pieces: the opening comments from Easwaran on page 3, and the passage “A Prayer for Meditation” on page 43.
What is Easwaran telling you about the workings of your own mind? This week, use this new understanding to get some cooperation from your mind when it is being uncooperative. Tell us how it goes!
In this week’s reading, Easwaran writes, “When you meditate on the Prayer of Saint Francis, going through the verses as slowly as possible, bringing your attention back every time it wanders, you are learning to drive your mind in one and the same lane: the lane of love, patience, and forgiveness.” What is one small step you can take to keep your mind in the lane of love during your meditation this week?
For a spiritual treat, here is an eight-minute video of Easwaran speaking on absorption in meditation.