Watching silently, as raindrops danced across the pond’s surface, I was transported to an inner world of peaceful reflection and contemplation.
The rain reminds me how quickly life changes. Blink, and the fresh face of youth, with all its hopes and aspirations, is gone. Those in their fifties and beyond know this only too well. We look in the mirror and find a face we don’t recognise.
Life is fleeting, passing, transient. Everything changes. Nothing remains the same. Yet amid all these changes, one thing remains changeless: a permanent presence that is the core of our being.
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The Permanent Present
The present is that impossible moment between the past and the future. Most of us miss it because we’re stuck in our rambling minds, either worried about what happened yesterday or anxious about what might happen tomorrow.
The present always seems masked by the mind’s longing for some imaginary point in the future, as if the future promises more happiness than anything can offer now. Or we relive the past as if the past matters more than what’s happening now.
What is Contemplation?
Contemplation is focused, reflective thinking on higher knowledge and higher values. The best time to contemplate is first thing in the morning, before sunrise. If you wake up later, you’ll miss it — because contemplating later in the day just doesn’t cut it.
According to ancient philosophy, the spiritual time of the day is between 4 and 6am, when your mind is relatively calm. At that time, there are no distractions. No worldly thoughts coming in to disturb you.
Getting up at 4am is not for the fainthearted, but for those genuinely interested in self-development. To begin with, a practice between 5 and 6am works well.
Gain your inspiration from spiritual books such as Vedanta Treatise: The Eternities, the Bhagavad Gita, or The Upanishads.
Read a paragraph or two and question what you have read. Ask yourself how it applies to your life. During this time, use your intellect to keep your restless mind focused on what you’re reading and thinking about.
Contemplation Versus Meditation
Many people have tried “meditation” and found that it doesn’t work. This is because meditation is the final spiritual discipline, not the first. To meditate effectively you need proper mental preparation, which comes through the practice of spiritual disciplines. One of those disciplines is contemplation.
The meditation practised today, even with all the apps and guided sessions, is like plunging your hands into a moss-covered pond and separating the moss. No doubt you gain a glimpse of your reflection but, before you know it, the moss of anxiety and stress moves back and covers the pond again. That’s why you need to repeat the exercise of “meditation” over and over.
To quieten your mind effectively, you need to remove the moss of agitation little by little. This is the preparation. Taking a handful of moss and putting it on the shore is akin to taking in a little spiritual knowledge and contemplating it.
Slowly, but ever so surely, you will see your reflection (Pure Consciousness, Divinity, God). Thereafter you gain permanent Presence, lasting peace and bliss.
Till next time, Be Well, Meredith ∞ The Elder Sage
thankyou meredith - fully agree with your article as i experience this when trying to meditate-the contemplation is the groundwork! even as babies we need to walk before we can run - love "remove the moss of agitation, little by little" a very valuable practice to learn:_)