when the water is calm, not when the waves are turbulent. Similarly, pure consciousness is only revealed when your mind is calm and still, when the agitated waves of thought and desire cease.
The old materialistic concepts about the origin and composition of mind and matter are dissolving as we learn that matter is nothing but bottled-up energy, a pattern of waves in endless motion. Everything, from matter to thought, is made up of these waves. Physicists are beginning to recognize that intelligence is at the source of all creation. Physicist Lincoln Barnett was perhaps speaking of the connection between matter and spirit when he said, “In the evolution of scientific thought one fact has become impressively clear: there is no mystery of the physical world which does not point to a mystery beyond itself.” Through the science of intuition, or the practice of meditation, you explore these mysteries, discovering the subtle substance from which the universe evolves, which we call infinite consciousness, or Brahma.
There is a hunger for limitless freedom and happiness within every person. We seek freedom from the bondage of time, place, and person. We want to surmount time, replacing walking with supersonic travel; we try to expand our spatial boundaries with instantaneous communication and transport systems, stretching even into outer space. We attempt to surpass our personal limitations with dramas, masks, stories, personal love (trying to merge with another) and with endless attempts to create the “new me.” All these attempts lead to exploration, invention, and efforts at social, political, economic, and sexual freedom. But the only absolute freedom is to go beyond material progress and reach for expanded consciousness.
This reaching, this search for something greater, is our innate nature, our dharma. Everything in the universe has its nature. Dharma is that which maintains the structural integrity of something, without which that entity could not exist. The innate nature of fire is its capacity to burn. The nature of most of the animal kingdom is to eat, drink, procreate, and sleep; various species have their species-specific dharma, such as the honey-making nature of bees.
The most significant quality that sets human beings apart from animals has to do with the evolution of our minds; we can call it our “perfect nature.” We, too, have the animal instincts for self-preservation, but we also have a longing for the Great. It is that part of you that remains unsatisfied with appeasing the animal instincts, that propels you toward fulfillment — the search for infinite happiness. But unending happiness and self-actualization can never be yours by simply fulfilling your desires with material things or intellectual ideas, which are finite. Even personal relationships are temporary; your family and dearest friends will one day pass away. The only way the desire for infinite happiness can be fulfilled is by establishing yourself in the infinite, by merging your consciousness with all-knowing supreme consciousness. Whether you consciously know it or not, this is your goal. This is where your perfect nature is taking you.
THE FOUR PARTS OF YOUR PERFECT NATURE
According to the ancient teachings of Tantra, there are four components of your perfect nature: expansion of mind, vibrational flow, selfless service, and consciousness. Meditation is the practical means whereby your perfect nature can be realized. Meditation helps you, step by step, through specific practices, to achieve that realization.
First you learn the practice of mental expansion (called vistara in Sanskrit). As you go about your day-to-day activities the mind is absorbed in countless objects and sense impressions. No matter how hard you try, you will find it impossible to stop this natural flow of your mind. It is always jumping from one thing to another, often in such a manner as to work itself into a frenzy, creating both physical and mental stress. The Indian saint Ramakrishna once characterized the mind as “a mad monkey stung by a scorpion.” The mind must always have an object; you can use this natural tendency and give it an “infinite object” on which to focus.
The ego, or the part of the mind that can say, “I exist,” is always focused on the external world. The consciousness — the part of you that can say, “I know I exist”— witnesses the ego’s activity. When you meditate, you reverse the outward-going process, training your mind to focus instead on the infinite, beyond form or thought. The ego makes you feel as if you are a separate individual entity. It must have a finite object or thought with which to be involved in order to maintain its existence. Given infinite consciousness as its object, the individual sense of “I” merges with the infinite “I.” It is unable to contain this feeling of infinite awareness within the limited scope of its existence. What evolves from this practice is a state of absolute peace, which is beyond description because it is beyond the busy workings of the mind.
The outward expression of mental expansion is the realization of the oneness of all creation. This universal outlook prevents you from encouraging any division in humanity. You are inspired from within to work for the unity and elevation of all and to remove the barriers that separate living beings from one another. Expansion of mind lends compassion to your outlook and enables you to accept the problems of the world as your own.
The second aspect of your perfect nature can be called “vibrational flow” (called rasa in Sanskrit). This sounds a little esoteric. What does it mean? We know from physics, as well as from Eastern teachings, that everything in the universe is composed of vibration.
According to Tantra, your mind, as well as the physical universe, is made of the thought waves of infinite consciousness. Nothing is truly external. In each being, the combination of all its wavelengths— physical, mental, emotional— is its individual vibration. Each of us, because of our previous experiences, our environment, our desires, and stage of development, has an entirely different vibrational expression than any other being. But infinite consciousness is beyond all of our individual tendencies. Infinite consciousness is the combination of every vibration in the universe; its vibrational flow is the flow of the entire cosmos.
Another important component of meditation comes into play here: “living meditation,” the practice of merging your individual rhythmic vibration with that of the infinite, while trying to keep your mind immersed in that flow at all times. You come to realize that your individual flow is that of the Supreme, and so all of your actions are in harmony with it.
Happiness, attraction, or congeniality results when the vibrational expression of one being is harmonious with that of another. Conversely, irritation, stress, even hatred results when those same vibrational rhythms oppose or clash with one another. You’ve probably experienced a sense of being “in tune” with someone (“I liked you from the moment I met you”) — or the opposite (“The minute I saw him, I knew we wouldn’t get along”). When you are able to bring your individual vibrational rhythms into harmony with infinite consciousness, an inner calm and happiness ensues that is not affected by the finite world. Your understanding of others increases. You are in harmony with the creator of all vibrational expressions, and you are able to adjust your own expressions accordingly. Thus, you are no longer tossed about by attraction and repulsion, but empathy, understanding, and deep love for all creation gives you a pleasure much finer than you have ever experienced.
The third part of your perfect nature is selfless service (called seva in Sanskrit). Service is giving fully of yourself without expectation of reward. It is the result of mental expansion and vibrational flow. The person who meditates regularly eventually gains the expansion of mind to perceive consciousness in all creation. She also gains the harmonious relationship with the universe that enables her to work selflessly for its evolution and transformation.
Service and meditation are like two
