In English
Three stages of meditation upon a Form
Some persons use a (lamp) as a basis for meditation. The lamp reveals the oneness that is the basis of the Unity or the Divine as well as the multiplicity that reflects the manifestations of the Divine. In this method, the experience of bliss does not come quickly. There are three stages in this type of meditation: (imagining the Form), (experiencing the Form) and (seeing It as a Reality). For instance, if one wishes to meditate upon , he first tries to imagine with the dosed eyes the figure of as seen by him earlier. This figure vanishes within a few moments. In experiencing the figure, the process is longer and the impression also lasts' longer. In this process, one starts envisaging the figure from head to foot and from the feet upwards. Gradually, by this process the picture of gets firmly implanted and becomes an inner reality. While the imagining process gives only a momentary glimpse, the experiencing method leads to the complete identification of the seeker with the Divine Form. Awareness of the Divine results in oneness with the Divine (). When we are experiencing the Divine Form, what is happening to our mind? The mind experiences every part of the Lord from head to foot and ultimately becomes one with the Form. It is the process of identification of the mind with the Divine form that constitutes true meditation. Meditation is not merging the Form in the mind. It is merging the mind in the Form so that the mind as such does not exist.