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Go
Deeper into
Meditation
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The
Right Attitude Toward Spiritual Experiences
In this humorous
story from The Path, Swami Kriyananda, tells how, as a new student,
Paramhansa Yogananda taught him the difference between seeking divine
powers for their own sake, and desiring God's love alone:
Boone [a brother
disciple] told me in February of an experience he too had had after
keeping his mind steadfastly on Master for two days. He was given
a kind of ecstasy in which he was quite unable to feel his body,
even while moving about and performing his daily duties in the print
shop. "I had to pray finally that I'd be able to feel my body
again," he said. "I was afraid I might hurt it on the
machinery."
Well, I thought,
that was for me! More eager for the experience itself, I'm afraid,
than for humble attunement with my guru, I kept my mind on Master
one-pointedly. He was in Encinitas at the time, but after two or
three days returned to Mt. Washington. I met him by the front porch
as he arrived.
"What sort
of mischief are you up to, Walter?" He smiled significantly.
"None,
Sir." Mischief? It didn't seem like mischief to me.
"Are you
sure you aren't up to some kind of mischief?"
I began to understand
what he meant, but was reluctant to accept his definition of what
I'd been doing. As he went indoors, he smiled lovingly. Thinking
the matter over, I had to admit to myself that, while my practice
had been right, my intentions had not been.
"Don't
seek experiences in meditation," Master told us. "The
path to God is not a circus."
Instead of
seeking spiritual experiences, we should concentrate on going deeper
and deeper into the inner silence. Everything then, will take care
of itself, because our intentions will remain pure and loving; qualities
that God will respond to most of all.
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With Change and Stress
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Deepen Your Understanding
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