Meditation as Inner Communion

Nayaswami Devi shares this deep inspiration during her Sunday Service talk at Ananda Village, May 22nd 2022. You can find the complete talk here.

Transcription

I remember the very, very first time in this lifetime that I tried to meditate. And I just was surrounded, filled with this sense of peace, and expansion, and joy. And we walked out of there. And I just said, "It's all inside yourself!"

Any little bit of meditation will awaken within you a sense of peace; a sense of this divine love; a sense of the silence—that all of these are God.

And Swami speaks—and it's a wonderful term, and I like it better than the term worship—he speaks of inner communion, where your soul is joined with the God within you; and in inner communion, all things are given.

So often in meditation, we're distracted, aren't we? We're thinking about what we need to do that day or whatever. And then we say, "Oh, my God, I'm not meditating! I have to focus; I have to focus!" But this simple little phrase: as long as our attention is focused elsewhere: it's a great guide. Just say, "Oh, my attention has wandered." We bring it back gently, but with conscious effort.

Don't beat yourself up when the mind wanders: that's what the mind does. That's all it knows how to do is to be restless and to wander; and just say, "Okay, but I want my attention to be focused, focused elsewhere." Focused on what? Focused on God: on His love, on His peace, on His silence, on His joy—all of the attributes of God; and then gently bring the mind back. Don't let it wander, but keep it focused where it should be.

That's all meditation is. It's just letting the mind kind of quiet down and focus our attention. And in that—that's when inner communion starts. In inner communion, when we feel the love, and the peace, and the joy, and the divine silence, we know what we worship; we know it's real.

And so true worshiping is knowing that God is within us, that He loves us unconditionally, no matter...you know, so often, "Oh, I did this mistake. And I did that." And we think, "I'm not worthy; I'm not worthy of God's love." God doesn't care. God's love for us is unconditional. And the more we know that, the more we can accept that we are loved; and we know that we are loved.

That's the beauty of the spiritual life step by step: We know what it is we are worshiping. Not at first—at first we don't; we have to kind of go through the form and outer activities and training. But little by little, "Oh, I know: I know what it is, I know who You are. And I know that You love me." And in that knowing, "'Be still and know that I am God.' I know what it is I worship."

They're telling us that that knowing is ours to be had! if we just reopen our hearts up and say, "I want this; I want to love You. I want to hear You, I want in the silence. I want to love You through the beauty of this world around You. I want to hear You in the silence." With every breath you breathe, it can be a worship of God, within you and around you.

So Master said, "The time for knowing God has come." Let us worship Him in spirit, in truth, in joy, in love. And let us be channels for that to all the world.

God bless.