All life forms one perfect tapestry. The life cycle in nature is an example of perfect interconnectedness. Water from the seas evaporates and turns to water vapor. In this process, impurities and minerals are left behind. Vapor forms into clouds, and as clouds meet cool air, water condenses into droplets, which pour down as rain or snow to nourish life.
For countless ages this cycle has brought water from the abundant oceans to the land so that animals and people can have fresh water to drink and so that plants needed to provide food can grow. Green plants convert sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into food and oxygen so that the earth receives a fresh supply of oxygen, necessary for life, and an inexhaustible store of food. There is a perfect design in nature. Even death brings life. When plants and animals die, their decomposed bodies provide essential minerals for crops.
The soul’s journey to its Source
Like nature’s cycles, there is also a cycle of the soul. The soul’s journey began with the creation of the Universe and has been in motion ever since. As a spark of God, it is the enlivening force behind all life forms. Our soul has, however, forgotten its true nature and forgotten that it yearns to return to its Source, to complete the cycle that God intended for it. The knowledge of our true self lies buried in the deepest recesses of our innermost soul, like a diamond buried deep within the earth. We need to tap into it to uncover our greatest resource, and we can do so through meditation.
Meditation, put simply, is inner concentration. It can be practiced by anyone of any age. In meditation, we withdraw our attention from the outer world and focus it within ourselves to have a direct experience of the divine. We tune out from the world outside, from our body and our thought processes, so we can become conscious of the soul.
To understand this process better, we need to understand the nature of our attention. Our attention is the outer expression of our soul. It is currently scattered throughout the body and exits into the world through the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Through these senses, we enjoy the world outside and remain focused on the outer world. To become conscious of our soul, which resides within us, we have to withdraw our attention from the world outside, and focus it at the seat of the soul, between and behind the two eyebrows. This point is referred to as the third eye and is the gateway into the inner worlds. As we withdraw our sensory currents, our attention begins to collect at the eye-focus. In the darkness around us, we perceive inner Light, not through our outer eyes, but through the inner eye. It is at this point that we become conscious of our soul. As we connect with this inner Light, the current leads us from physical consciousness into higher consciousness. How?
The Light we perceive is a manifestation of God. The other manifestation of God is the Sound. This Power of God flows out from God and also returns to God.
When the soul connects with this current, it can ride on it back to the spiritual realms from where it originated.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
