18 March, 2013

ONLY THE MYSTICS - Website Resource

SATSANG COMPANIONSHIP - Sharing Resources

We recently completed a series of SIX POSTS on the topic of Mystics.

The complete series is available as a pdf document by visiting the pages of the local Satsang Website


You will find it in the document section under RESOURCES



02 March, 2013

Theme 6 - The Importance of Meditation

      ‘Only The Mystics Will Survive ‘

Theme  6     Responses to Question Part  Two   -
                     Developing a Mystical Consciousness
The Importance of Meditation

Acknowledgement :- I would like to acknowledge the support and companionship of my Anam Cara ( Soul Friend)  - my wife Angela. Her encouragement,sharing and wisdom help to inform the content of all SIX POSTS in this series.

I merely collate and compose the material from the wisdom of Sister Ishpriya, my sharing with Angela and my own experiences. Now to conclude this series of Mysticism.


Preamble  This reflection opens with the following quote concerning the state of Meditation. 


Dyana - Meditation is This!


‘We cannot wake up (mystically) by ourselves. God has to wake us up from within’

What is Meditation ?     In this talk, which was Part 2 of audience questions; Ishpriya carried on the theme of Mystical Consciousness but focused particularly on Meditation and Meditation Practice. She reminded us that We cannot wake up (mystically) by ourselves. God has to wake us up from within’.  However, as in any relationship, we too need to play our part in this ‘awakening’. She then reminded us that meditation practice IS Not the same as the actual state of mystical consciousness called meditation. However, our meditation practice can lead to this state of transcendence. – But it is ultimately gift or grace.

In our Meditation Practice we are invited into a deeper relationship with God, Ultimate Reality. We enter a period of practice ( or silent prayer) which involves us in reaching deeper levels or states of silence. Ishpriya often reminds us that our meditation practice  is ‘an invitation to follow the sounds of our life into the inner silence’.


A dictionary definition of  "meditation"  states  that it means ‘to reflect upon, ponder, or contemplate’. It can also mean a devotional exercise of contemplation in either  a religious or philosophical context. The word meditate comes from the Latin meditari, which means to think about or consider.

Our meditation practice is a gateway into the actual meditative state. In both Hindu and Buddhist spirituality , these two states have distinctive names and outcomes. Whilst I am not an expert in either Tradition, I am a little more familiar with Hinduism. Let us look at Hinduism and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.  Here we find the two stages or states more clearly outlined. The quote below gives us some ‘clues’ to both Meditation and Meditation Practice. Let us start with the latter.

Sitting Meditation

Even as fire without fuel

finds peace in its resting-place,

when thoughts become silence

the soul finds peace in its own source.

Maitri Upanishad



Dharana – Concentration      Patanjali’s 2nd Sutra suggests that our practice is meant to lead us to a quiet or still point. When that point is reached when the mind becomes quiet. This mental stillness is created by bringing the body, mind, and senses into balance.  This process or state is referred to as dharana, the art of concentration and precedes the actual meditative state.

Meditation - dhyana,     The actual meditative state is Dyana . This  is defined more specifically as a state of pure consciousness. It can also be referred to as a state of transcendental bliss. The quote at the beginning of these reflections is one used by Ishpriya to introduce her CD of Meditation ( see the ISA Website for further details) . Its words are a classic definition of both stages – firstly Dharana – concentration and then Dyan – Meditation.


How can we best prepare for Meditation Practice ?     To prepare ourselves we need to prepare at the physical and psychological levels. The body position or posture does not matter.  Although it is helpful to sit with a straight back, as this assists regular and deep breathing, the  most important thing is to feel comfortable.

The practice can be done in a variety of ways. It can be Zen Walking or Kinhin, Sufi dancing or the classic  Hindu, Buddhist or Christian sitting meditation. But , whatever method or practice we intend to do then we have to prepare ourselves for this. Ishpriya, commenting on the classic ‘sitting meditation’  remarked  that We cannot simply park our bodies like we park a car’.  We need to find a way to be still and to bring the body and mind to an  attentive inner stillness. Then through our meditation practice we can open ourselves up to developing our mystical consciousness.


The above is not merely a matter of (necessarily) changing our lifestyle but it demands we change the way we are alive. In the speed of today’s changing world – any practice that helps us to come back to the Unchanging Reality helps us and all those whom we meet and relate to. This requires us to learn to live with the sense of an Unchanging Security. In this way we can remain firmly rooted in today’s rapidly changing world.   This is not just a matter of physical and psychological awareness of our environment, us and others. It requires us to access our own sense of the Mystery and our own mystical quality. The mystic feels totally at one with nature, the environment and all creation. So therefore, mystics care for the environment because ‘God’s life is there in the environment’ and they also care for all of creation because they are more fully aware of the role as a co-creator.

Ishpriya warns us that our society is losing touch with its mystical inheritance and is being destroyed by intolerance, fear, greed and panic. It is important that we regain a sense of dignity for what it means to be human. The dignity of the ordinary and unique human being is paramount and we need to re-discover this. The only way this can occur is if we discover this sense of unique dignity in ourselves. Meditation practice is one way of creating an opportunity to do this.

 ‘The world does not need more oil, it needs more wisdom’

Our Quest for Oil

Ishpriya spoke about the rapid increasing globalisation of Industry, Finance and Commerce. This was driven primarily by a focus on accumulating wealth and power. This ‘drive’ has led many on to a path which involves the incessant pursuit of wealth. This has resulted in  ‘work’ being  seen  by many as the most important aspect of life. Using the example of the globalisation of the oil industry, its importance for almost  every aspect of modern daily life and our frantic search for more oil, she reminded us  that ‘The world does not need more oil, it needs more wisdom’.   

Now wisdom is the ability to read the signs of the times and use discernment to make wise choices  and ‘reading the signs of the times’  is a central aspect of Sister Ishpriya’s teachings.

Therefore we all need to develop our capacity for mystical consciousness which alone can lead to wisdom.  It has long been known, that one good way of achieving this is through meditation practice ( dharana - concentration)  which can lead to the state of  meditation ( dyana).   We all have a responsibility to prepare for this and this alone highlights the importance of each opportunity for meditation practice. She suggested we approach each meditation practice with the above in mind.

These series of reflections have focused on some of Sister Ishpriya’s teaching and on her reflections concerning the importance of developing a mystical consciousness. The following reflections will attempt to draw together the main strands of Ishpriya’s teachings.

Seeing Life in Two- Dimensions

Knowledge i n books
In life we gather information in many ways through pictures, TV, the Internet, newspapers, magazines and books. We are also aware of how pictures, books etc merely present a 2-D image of life.  They are not the reality. They are helpful and a very good guide and a useful, and sometimes necessary, 1st step in getting to know something. 

However, they are not essentially ‘real’. In order to more fully experience life we need to add an additional dimension and we call this the 3rd dimension . Furthermore, the spiritual journey leads us into a spiritual dimension – in other words a 4 D ‘world’ .

However, very often people can fall into a ‘trap’ whereby the place too great a store in 2 D knowledge and ignore their own real experience in our 3 D world and sometimes are seemingly unaware of the true nature of the spiritual dimension.  This has implications for many aspects of life and particularly for those who follow the spiritual path. There is a danger of becoming and 2D or Armchair spiritual seeker. The following   story illustrates this ‘danger’.

The Armchair Explorer

Map of the Amazon
"The explorer returned to his people, who were eager to know about the Amazon. But how could he ever put into words the feelings that flooded his heart when he saw exotic flowers and heard the night-sounds of the forests; when he sensed the danger of wild beasts or paddled his canoe over treacherous rapids?

He said, "Go and find out for yourselves." To guide them he drew a map of the river. They pounced upon the map. They framed it in their town hall. They made copies of it for themselves.

And all who had a copy considered themselves experts on the river, for did they not know its every turn and bend, how broad it was and how deep, where the rapids were and where the falls?"

It is said that the Buddha  refused to be drawn into talking about God.  He was probably familiar with the dangers of drawing maps for armchair explorers.

Anthony De Mello, in 'The Song of the Bird'


We are all part of this Evolutionary Journey of the Cosmos and a journey in search of the Mystery.  We are all spiritual pilgrims and explorers and we are co-creators of this ever evolving and expanding creation.   We are programmed to search, to seek and to relate with each other, our environment ourselves and the Mystery we call God.

But we do not need search blindly; we have our own in built quest for this Mystery. We have our own experiences, the experience of other seekers we meet and of those seekers and mystics who have gone before us. We also have the Sacred Texts and Scriptures of our common Universal Inheritance and a large amount of literature from a variety of experts. Finally, we have the guidance of the Indwelling Spirit. Hence these enigmatic words of God the Mystery:  ‘I let you find Me so that you might seek Me’

Spiritual Mystics are those who have had the courage *, tenacity to answer the inner call and thus have touched the 4th dimension and experienced something of the Fullness of the Mystery. * Courage comes from the French for heart; those who possess courage have an open heart.

Finally, we leave these reflections with some comments from Sister Ishpriya and some key extracts from each theme:

The first challenge was and is our need to acknowledge and recognise the challenge and risk facing our human family and the world. Will we survive the global change – the greed and destruction facing our Planet and necessary the quantum leap is our awareness and consciousness ? Physically the quantum leap has happened. We, as a species, have left this planet and looked back. We have 'left our house and walked out into the garden of space'. We are watching creation unfold as science discovers more about our cosmos , its make-up, its beginnings and its unfolding evolution.

Ishpriya suggests that in this search for the Reality, for a different relationship at every level of being, the word ‘GOD’ could be a block. This was certainly true for many of the young generation, who were inclined to reject the ‘God Concept’ as it was being presented by both the formal Religions and the older generation. This was also true for many of us. Many of us have become too used to the God word.

As we journey and mature it is inevitable that the answer to that 1st question (Who or What is God) will keep changing because the ‘entity’ we so glibly refer to as God is so immense and unknowable, that our sense and vision of this entity changes.  Similarly, it is hardly surprising that our 'image' of and our answer to the Who and What of God will grow and shift as they are informed by our direct experiences of the Ultimate Reality.

Mystics are people who are not at war with anybody, they live in peace, justice and respect for others. They are prophets, who do not set about forecasting the future, but can ‘read the signs of the times’. In addition they possess great humility and this leads to great wisdom. Ishpriya reminded us that,’there is a tendency (certainly in Christianity) to be more concerned with the doing than the being … and also    ‘It’s not what I have done but how I have lived’.  She reminded us of the richness of Buddhism and its Universal Wisdom and how Zen Buddhists have an approach which starts with the basic ethos that it is a mistake to try to do something with our life instead of living it. ‘Life is for living’ is a well known Zen saying.

Our understanding of who or what ‘God’ by whatever name we call it; is extremely important in our efforts to make sense of ourselves, our environment, creation and the cosmos. This then prepares us to be open to the signs of mysticism in our life. Ultimately, the more we begin to realise and know about the Mystery , we so easily call God, the less we either can or want to say. Ultimately, our mystical journey leads us into silence and solitude.

Certainly, in the vastness of the Cosmos and the remarkable diversity of our planet – Mother Earth-   we are small but not we are not insignificant beings. We have the amazing gift and ability of self-reflection. This demands that we reflect seriously our co-responsibility for the on-going evolution of creation, our planet and the Cosmos. We now have the technology and capacity to influence who or what survives.  Therefore, every individual has some responsibility and we cannot opt out of this responsibility with an immature attitude that we can ‘just leave it to God’.   We have to face the challenge and opportunity that our role as Co-Creators in this continuing evolution of Creation brings to us.

Our gift of self-reflection is unique. She reminded us of the many ‘influences’ and ‘tyrannies’ ( consumerism, globalisation etc)  that have a bearing on the quality of life and to challenge these our world needs ‘prophets’  to help us to make good choices. We all bear a responsibility for the quality of life we pass on to our children and grandchildren. . Selfishness was a block but as she reminded us ‘If you have lost your fear of the differences   and your security is in the permanent and not in the impermanent, then you are not going to be selfish’ In this respect – i.e. the quest for the truly permanent- we need to realise that religion, culture, possessions etc cannot be relied upon – we all have a personal responsibility which we cannot abdicate.

Now mystical consciousness goes beyond the personal, the physical and the psychological to a much deeper and more truly ‘permanent’ level. This is the level of consciousness that we all need to develop.  Because, as we do, eventually we develop an awareness that is beyond the ‘psyche’. This leads to further levels of human consciousness – and eventually leading to a collective consciousness.  As people we have lost that sense of ‘connectednesses towards the environment and each other. This is something we urgently need to re –discover. This was the next ‘Quantum Leap’ for humanity; it was a leap within, into the centre of our being. It was a leap that could take us into a new consciousness.

Ishpriya warns us that our society is losing touch with its mystical inheritance and is being destroyed by intolerance, fear, greed and panic. It is important that we regain a sense of dignity for what it means to be human. The dignity of the ordinary and unique human being is paramount and we need to re-discover this. The only way this can occur is if we discover this sense of unique dignity in ourselves. Meditation practice is one way of creating an opportunity to do this.

If you are interested in the spiritual teachings of Sister Ishpriya and the spirituality of the International Satsang Association then visit these websites.


“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me;
My eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, and one love.”

Meister Eckhart (13thCentury Christian Mystic)