Forms of Meditation

The above excerpt is from page 237 of Meher Baba's Discourses and it was only after reading Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now that I realised that Baba is describing an approach that is the same as the one that Tolle is recommending. In his book (available for download here), Baba describes many different forms of meditation that he divides into two categories: personal and impersonal. Personal meditation relates to a person whereas impersonal meditation relates to aspects of human personality or things that are beyond the realm of human personality. He describes four forms of personal meditation:

• meditation on the divine qualities of a Master
• concentration on the form of a Master
• meditation of the heart
• meditation of action

These four forms in practice represent a continuum in which the spiritual aspirant's initial meditation on the one of more of the Master's divine qualities, such as egolessness, leads to a focus on the physical form of the Master that in turn leads to the release of unrestrained love for the Master (meditation of the heart) and a life of selfless service to the Master (meditation of action).

The eight forms of impersonal meditation that are described are:

• meditation on all forms of life
• meditation regarding one's body
• meditation on the formless and infinite aspect of God
• quest for the agent of action
• considering oneself as witness
• writing down one's thoughts
• watching mental operations
• making the mind blank

In the first type of meditation, the goal is to acquire the constant habit of regarding all forms as equally the manifestations of the same one all-pervading life. The second type of meditation aims at creating detachment from the hypnotic identification with one's own physical body so that it is seen as just another form of life. Both types focus on finite forms of life and are a preparation for a shift in focus to the formless and infinite. Some symbol of infinity is commonly used, such as the ocean, but the focus is firmly within. It is reinforced with mental suggestions such as "I am as infinite as the ocean within".

These first three forms of impersonal meditation are predominantly concerned with the impersonal objects of experience but the other five types are more concerned with the subject of experience. One such important form of meditation consists in ceaselessly pressing the query "Who is it that does all these things ... who is this 'I'?" This is the quest for the agent of action and is logically connected to considering oneself as witness, writing down one's thoughts, watching one's mental operations and making the mind blank. It is these final five of the eight types of impersonal meditation that Ekhart Tolle and Barry Long are connected with in their teachings.

Meher Baba admits that making the mind blank is one of the most difficult things to do but interestingly he describes a possible method involving:

an alternation between two incompatible forms of meditation, so that the mind is caught between concentration and distraction. Thus the aspirant can concentrate on the form of the Master for five minutes; and then as the mind is getting settled on the form of the Master, he can steady his mind for the next five minutes in the impersonal meditation in which the thought is "I am infinite". The disparity between the two forms of meditation can be emphasized by keeping the eyes open during meditation on the form of the Master and closing the eyes during impersonal meditation."

I've recently been trying this (with Meher Baba as the Master) and have experienced quite positive results but I need to build the practice into my daily routine and not just make it something that I do intermittently.