Meditation Is the True Practice of Religion

Meditation Is the True Practice of Religion

The true practice of religion is to sit still in meditation and talk to God. But you don't get to that point of intensity, you don't concentrate enough, and that is why you remain in delusion. To teach the value of long, intense concentration on God, I instituted an all-day Christmas meditation just before Christmas each year. t At first the devotees feel only how long it is, but as they go deep they become oblivious of time. Most churchgoers can't sit still for an hour unless there is something going on all the while to divert their minds.

To be in the consciousness of God is entirely different; it comes when you sit quietly and say: "One by one I close the doors of the senses, lest the aroma of the rose or the song of the nightingale distract my love from Thee. And as you go on saying that with deeper and deeper concentration and devotion, you will see after a little while that you have forgotten all distractions; before your inward gaze a light appears, or saints appear, or you are engulfed in a deep peace or divine joy.

Any spiritual activity does good by keeping the thought of God alive, but what is ultimately necessary is this intensity of effort to know Him. There should be centres of meditation all over the world, where devotees come together to commune with God. When I come to the temple it is for one purpose: to be with God and to tell you of God. And you come here for my words and to try by meditation to feel His presence.

One moon dispels the darkness of the heavens. So is one soul who is trained to know God, a soul in whom there is true devotion and sincere seeking and intensity; and wherever he will go he will dispel the spiritual dark­ ness of others. Those who are even thinking of God shine a little, but they are not able to give light to the world. Ordinary religious people are like stars, giving only a tiny light.