What is the ultimate question a mind can ask? A question that turns the mind back upon itself, drawing it inward towards the very source from which all questions arise. In this essay, we discover that the desire for knowledge and the love of God are revealed to be the same quest, and that at the heart of both lies a single, sacred inquiry.
This week we continue with pages 82–85, completing our exploration of Chapter 8, ‘The Essence of Meditation’. Here we follow the mind’s inward journey as it sinks, like Tennyson’s star, beyond the bounds of human thought – and discover that to be awareness knowingly is both the essence of meditation and the art of life.*
*(The page numbers indicated here each week refer to the original publication of the physical book – they may vary slightly from more recent versions, owing to the publisher’s design modifications.)
The Relaxation You Mistake for Effort
We have seen that meditation is not an activity the mind undertakes but a relaxation of the mind’s habitual activity. Yet when we first hear this teaching, something curious happens. The mind, accustomed to achieving its goals through effort, tries to make an effort to be effortless. It attempts to relax – and in the attempting, remains tense. It tries to stop trying – and in the trying, perpetuates the very movement it seeks to end.
Read more
