Day 9 - The Empty Mind

Today's Tarka Practice
On of the reasons that we practice meditation is to empty the mind. An empty mind is a clear mind. An empty mind allows us to see reality as it is, to connect to our higher sense of self, to become one with God, Self, Nature,Universe, Reality or the Atma within the Brahman.

The first step to an empty mind is to use a meditation technique to focus the mind. Meditation practitioners around the world use a variety of techniques - they use a catch word or phrase, they use the breath, they use an object of beauty, they watch their thoughts, they use a mantra, etc. There are many techniques to choose from. Do not get caught up in the technique. The technique helps us to focus the mind but that is not the goal. The goal is to allow this focusing technique to empty our minds of all other thoughts. Eventually, with practice, you will become completely focused on this one thing. However, you should not stop there.

It is when you are so completely focused on the now that you are no longer concentrating that you have acheived the goal. All time passes away, all thoughts pass away and everything becomes completely effortless. It is at this point that you will truly experience the peace and harmony of an empty mind.

In your journal, write down a list of all of the different techniques you have tried. Out of that list, pick the one that works the best for you. The one that helps you get as close to this empty mind, this one-pointedness that you can possibly be in this moment. Now, practice only this technique for the next 40 days. See what happens and record any changes you experience in your journal.

Day 12 - The River of Life

Today’s Tarka Practice
I have one more story to share with you this week. This story is taken from Goswami Kriyananda's Beginner's Guide to Meditation.

"Once upon a yogi time there was a man who owned a little donkey. For many years, the donkey carried huge baskets of salt that weighed him down and made him tired. One day, by accident, the donkey slipped at the edge of the river and fell in. When he emerged, he realized that his burden was greatly lightened because most of the salt dissolved in the river. The man was angry but accepted the loss of the salt as an accident. The next day the donkey passed the same river and remembered how light his burden had been made the previous day. So he threw himself into the water and came back out, his load greatly lightened. This went on for a few days until the man realized what his donkey was doing. But he said nothing. Some days later, the man stacked huge piles of cotton on the donkey and together they started their trek. Coming to the river, the donkey thought himself very clever and again fell in. But this time the light cotton quickly soaked up the water, and when the little donkey emerged from the stream his legs buckled under him, and he understood the ways of the river of life."

While there are many different levels to this story and many things to reflect upon, today we will focus on only one of those themes.

For today's journal, think about your misconceptions about life. It is easy to think that once we take care of the problem, life will run smoothly. However, this is not the way of life. Life can be easy sometimes and challenging sometimes. We can solve one problem, have a break, only for another new set of problems to begin. Write down your expectations about life. What you expect to happen and what actually happens may be completely different things, so it is good to be aware of the nature of life, particularly, the nature of your life.
Shanti

Day 21 - The Beauty of Silence

Today's Tarka Practice

This is one of the most important spiritual practices that you can work into your life. The more you can incorporate periods of silence into your life, the stronger your spiritual practice will grow. Being silent helps you to learn to become a better listener. You will be able to better hear your own internal dialogue and you will be able to better hear others and what they are really saying.

 

Silence will also help you to slow down your thoughts and work towards an empty mind. The more you can be silent, the more present you will become with others. Your own mind won’t be running amok and so you will be able to really hear and observe what is going on around you. You will become more sensitive and more compassionate.

 

It can be very difficult to be silent, particularly if there are others in your life that think that your practice of silence is because you are upset with them.  In order to avoid this problem, explain to your loved ones that you are practicing silence and ask for their support. It can also be difficult to bring more silence into your life because you are afraid of the silence. Some people fear silence because they are afraid to slow down, take a breath and see who they are or see reality exactly as it is. So, be aware that when you first begin your practice of silence, you may encounter some obstacles with yourself and with others. This is good. It will help you grow and you can record all of this in your journal.

 

To begin to incorporate the practice of silence in your life, you may want to just start with an hour of silence each day. You can easily achieve this by waking up before everyone else or going to bed after everyone else. This is the easiest method. If this is not a possibility in your life, look at your schedule and see when you might be able to work silence into your life. Even an hour a week will benefit your spiritual practice.

 

In your journal today, write down when you will practice silence in your life, for how long, and when you will begin the practice. Set a date and make a commitment. When you practice silence, record how you feel about this practice in your journal. Do you feel relieved? Nervous? Fearful? Peaceful? Record everything you experience and you will begin to have a better understanding of what the practice of silence means in your own life.