Is Meditation the Only Way to Realize Divinity?
I am reading a wonderful book called What Really Matters by Tony Schwartz which details his search for wisdom in America. Last night as I read I was stopped in my tracks by one sentence I read. I closed the book and put it down to contemplate the idea that popped off the pages and into my life.
He is quoting Michael Murphy, the founder of Esalen when he wrote, “I was taken most with Aurobindo’s idea that by your activity in the world you could realize divinity.”
You see, earlier that day I was beating myself up – again – because I. Just. Can’t. Seem. To. Get. Myself. To. Meditate. Can’t! I’ve tried silence, I’ve dubbed it my Quiet Time, I’ve used guided meditation, I’ve taken to the swing by the brook but it’s not happening for me.
But the thought that I could, by my activity in the world, come to a place of inner quiet and peace and connect with the oneness which is us kept me awake for some time considering the possibilities.
I have a sense of my divinity when I’m doing a Reiki treatment. When I am in the healing room:
- I experience a connection to something larger than myself
- I feel as if my “team”, as Julie calls it, has my back and is working with me
- I focus on someone other than myself, knowing that my presence will be beneficial
- I trust that even though I do my best, the outcome is not up to me
- I know that the guidance will come
- I feel as if I enter a magical world
I have a mystical experience, always, when I claim the shores of my happy place for myself. I know something of this but there is much more, isn’t there?
I think Aurobindo is talking about awareness or quiet mindfulness like what I experience during a treatment. Maybe this is about cultivating a consciousness that takes everything in, just breathes it in and enjoys it – you know; the way you feel in nature, the way I feel on my shore. Maybe it’s an awareness of our connectedness with others which we realize in personal contact in the offline world when we are out and about town, and here in the Blogosphere.
I’m not giving up on my plan to develop a practice of meditation but it is nice to know that in the meantime there is another way to realize divinity.
Have you mastered the practice of meditation? Where in this world do you feel you connect with your divinity? Do you believe that by our presence in the world we can realize divinity?
Photo credit: Fdecomite