Introduction
Meditation is a practice that is increasingly being both used and recommended. Generally, meditation is prescribed and practiced for its health benefits and for countering the debilitating effects of stress, which has become pervasive in contemporary culture.
Yes meditation is originally the most basic and fundamental spiritual practice and historically used primarily with the purpose of spiritual development.
In this brief article, I would like to define (or perhaps begin to redefine) “meditation” within the context that I use and recommend it, and also make some key distinctions as to what types of meditation are not recommended towards the greater goal and purpose of spiritual growth, development and awakening.
What Is Meditation?
Verily, the religion before God is Surrender.
Therefore, if they argue with you, but say, “I submit my being entirely to God, as do they who follow me.” And say to those who were given the Book and to those who are unlearned, “Do you submit yourselves?” And if they submit, then surely they are guided. Yet if they turn away, then your duty is but to convey, and Allah is all-Seeing of His slaves.
— Surah Al Imran (3:19-20)
The Purpose of Spiritual Practice
To address this fundamental question, we must first must clarify what is the goal of actual spiritual growth, development and awakening.
Within a faith-based paradigm, the goal of religion and spirituality is preeminently and ultimately to know God. In other words, the goal of the spiritual path and of spiritual practice is to awaken to Truth and Reality.
The great masters and teachers of humanity from the great prophets of God to the saints who follow in their footsteps have all taught from the first to the last that the means to such absolute awakening is but through the transcendence of the self and liberation from ego-based consciousness.
The awakened and enlightened spiritual masters of humanity have ever taught that the main impediment to the realization and awakening to Truth and Reality is the self and the ego-based consciousness that arises out of self-centeredness, the state of consciousness in which the “I,” the “me,” is paramount, front and center in one’s story.
Thus, self-centered consciousness results in a state of being in which the self is the focus and axis of one’s existence. Thus, seeking to rise above this essential “selfish” nature and state of consciousness is the goal and the means to spiritual development, awakening and enlightenment, ultimately culminating in freedom from and transcendence of the self to the degree that awakening to the Divine Presence of the Eternal beyond time and space becomes possible.
The State of Mind
When one exists and operates in such a state of ego-based consciousness, he or she is in a state and level of consciousness that is both defined and dominated by the mind. It is important to note that it is only in the processes of the mind, in thought, that the conceptual sense of self (the “I,” the “me”) exists. It is this conceptual sense of self is that is often referred to as the “ego.”
When one is operating in and from such a state, there is a fundamental experience that forms the background of all experience: fear.
It is important to realize that the mind is fundamentally based in fear, for its very job is to be seek out and avoid anything that threatens “your” survival. In other words, the mind’s primary goal is self-preservation. Preeminently seeking to survive is literally how the mind is wired by necessity, and so it is how life has managed to survive to the present day.
As a result, the general state of consciousness of human beings becomes by necessity defined and dominated by fear.
Mind = Tension
“Stress” is the physiological response to the persistent and pervasive undercurrent of fear that forms the background subconscious terrain of the common human mind. Sadly, this state is greatly amplified by modern and contemporary culture, which is based in mind and matter at the expense of spirituality and spirit.
When we are in a state of consciousness that is based in and localized in mind, we are by definition operating in state that results in a degree of perpetual and pervasive fear. In such a state of consciousness, we will continually experience at least some level of persistent stress.
The body is but a manifestation of the mind, and so stress results in contraction and tension, and this then manifests in the body. The body begins to manifest resistance due to fear. Physical tension.
This persistent state of tension and contraction as a result of stress results in a strangling of energy and life force that if not liberated will eventually result in illness. To put it simply, persistent and protracted dis-ease in the mind will eventually manifest and result in disease in the body.
Meditation = Relaxation
“Meditation” as I use the word is simply and primarily relaxing and releasing tension from body, and thus from mind. Meditation is but relaxation and rest. The essence and perfection of meditation is but the fundamental, simple and essential spiritual practice of surrender, and nothing else.
Meditation is not the seeking of experiences. Meditation is not a practice to pierce veils and and gleam glimpses of the unseen. To the contrary, the reality of meditation is not seeking anything. Rather, the essence of meditation is in but letting go.
In practice, meditation is the releasing and letting go of tension and of fear. Meditation is the letting go of attachments and thus ultimately leads to the transcendence of the self.
In other words, meditation is surrender. It is important to remember that it is surrender that is and ever has been the heart, soul and essence of religion, and thus the key to real and actual spiritual growth, development and awakening.
Why Meditation is Necessary
Pure “meditation” is but the practice of simply breathing and relaxing, simply allowing the mind to surrender and thus making it possible for the body to relax.
Meditation is a necessity for if we do not learn how to truly surrender and transcend the mind, we will remain as slaves to our selves and to ego-based consciousness. Learning to silence, still and surrender the mind is fundamentally necessary, for if we do not learn to awaken beyond mind and ego-based consciousness, not only will we fail to awaken to our true and divine purpose of awakening to the Divine Presence of God and to our inherent human potential, but we will continue to suffer from stress and its increasingly debilitating state of dis-ease.
We must remember that al-Islam by definition is surrender, and that this state of surrender and submission must be realized both inwardly and outwardly, both physically and spiritually, and both practically and energetically.
We must also remember that it is only when we are both outwardly and inwardly surrendered does religion come to life as well as provide life, and that it is only when we attain to Islam both in practice and in state that faith and religion become real.
The realization of the reality of religion requires the perfection of both the outer and the inner, of both practice and of faith (both Islam and Iman), and that only such perfected balance leads to the ultimate state and realization of spiritual excellence (Ihsan) as described by the blessed Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in what is known as the Hadith of Gabriel.
Currently, the norm has become to reduce religion to but rituals, rules and regulations, yet this comes at the expense of actual development, for when the focus becomes overwhelmingly upon the forms of faith, the spirit inevitably becomes lost.
Meditation is precisely about bringing “spirit” back into practice and thus again breathing life into the forms of faith, for without spirituality which is the essence of religion, its physical manifestation becomes as dead as a body without a soul.
Here, it is important to realize that the key to spirit and spirituality lies within the sacred power of the breath. Thus, “meditation” as I use and define it, is nothing other than simply be-ing and breathing; it is nothing other than relaxing, surrendering and letting go, for by allowing the self (the mind) to rest and to surrender in stillness and in silence, consciousness shifts towards the heart which can then awaken, and thus truth can be experienced.
“Meditation” with a goal other than seeking anything other than surrender and submission is seeking something other than God and other than Truth. Such an approach to “meditation” and meditative practice in which experience and unveiling is sought is not recommended upon the pure spiritual path of al-Islam, the goal of which is nothing other than pure and perfect surrender in the Divine Presence of the Eternal.
To summarize, “meditation” as I use and define the word and within the context of religion, specifically al-Islam, is but the attainment ultimately of a state of complete, total and absolute surrender both inwardly and outwardly. Meditation is essentially a state of stillness and silence that provides deep rest and relaxation, and thus helps actualize and make religion real. Meditation is, quite simply, nothing other than but be-ing and breathing, thus experiencing the most basic and fundamental gift from God: your breath.