Mediteren

Ramana Maharshi (1879 – 1950) is een groot leraar in de Advaita Vedanta. Dit weblog Garden of Silence is door hem geïnspireerd. Hoewel hij zijn inzichten vooral overdroeg door middel van de Stilte, is ook een aantal van zijn antwoorden op vragen van bezoekers vastgelegd. Hier twee vragen en antwoorden over mediteren:

Vraag: How to meditate?
Ramana Maharshi: Being aware of the Self is the real meditation. When the mind gives up its habit of choosing and deciding, it then turns towards its own real nature. At that time, it gets into the fundamental state. When the ego gets or stays more powerful, entry into this state does not take place.

Vraag: Which is better for me, to gaze at your eyes or your face? Or, should I sit with closed eyes and concentrate my mind on a particular thing?
Ramana Maharshi: Gaze at your own real nature. It is immaterial whether the eyes are open or closed. Everywhere there is only the One Presence, so it is all the same whether you keep your eyes open or closed. If you wish to meditate, do so on the "I" that is within you. It is Atman (the Self). Because it has no eyes, there is no need either to open or close the eyes. When you attain Self-Knowledge, there will no longer be any ideas about the world. If you abide in the state of Reality, it is all the same whether the eyes are open or closed.