Ladder of Abhyasa (Practical Guide to Meditation)

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The Journey Within

Which is the most exciting journey you have ever undertaken? Some of you would recall memorable trips to a hill- station, a seaside resort or a historic location.

Some of you, who have traveled more widely, would think of adventurous journeys to exotic, for off places-may be the Great Barrier Reef, may be the African Serengeti, may be Hawaii or Honolulu, Scandinavia, Corsica, Bali or Tibet …

I would like to talk to you about a for more exciting journey that all of us can undertake at will; we don't need a lot money - so all us can try it! Passports, visas, fight and train bookings are not needed - all we need is the desire, the determination, and the focus to go to our destination!

I can hear some of you asking, "We're ready! Just tell us where we are going - and it had better be really exciting!"

Again, some of you might say, "I am not really interested in getting to one of those popular destinations I am fed up of crowds and queues!"

Some of you may even add, with a dose of world-weariness, "Look, there are hardly any places I have not been to - so this had better be good!" My promise to all of you is that destination is going to be totally new, unexplored territory with the most exciting possibilities. I assure you that will find it exciting and fascinating - for I am going to takes you on a journey WITHIN.

Have you heard of Jules Verne? He wrote wonderful novels in the nineteenth century, about thrilling voyages and trips: Around the World in Eighty Days, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Evan today, these books are hailed for their vision and insight into future.

How about a journey to the Centre of your Consciousness? Have you ever considered the possibility of undertaking such a journey inward?

Perhaps at this stage, some of will feel a distinct sense of disappointment: "Inward? Within me? But today, people are booking passages on space flights to explore the Universe …"

True, man has progressed far in the study of the world outside; but what about the unexplored realms of the world inside?

Friend in Chennai tells me that every day hundreds and hundreds of villagers from the interiors of peninsular India arrive in the city for sightseeing. The tourist buses take them straight to Chennai, famous Marina beach and they get they their first glimpse of the sea-and they are enthralled! Eyes round with astonishment; mouths wide open in sheer amazement they stare at the vast expanse of blue waters before them-for they have never seen anything like this before!

"Oh really", you may protest. "Wherever you are in the world you only have to travel a few hundred miles and you will be in sight of sea or ocean. So what' s the big deal?"

True even landlocked interior Russia or central Europe if one traveled for a couple of days one could get to the seaside. But do you know there are people who simply have not made that effort for one reason or anther?

An American writer speaks about a native Indian tribe living barely thirty miles away from the Western Coast of the U. S. Some of them did not know of the existence of the pacific Ocean, when explorers first discovered their settlement in the early nineteenth century.

Why hadn't these people walked twenty-odd miles to see one of the most breathtaking sights of North American?

There was a rational explanation for that; too. A high ridge separated them from the coast. The valley they lived in was thus 'cut off' from the world outside, and they found no reason to look beyond the mountain to explore what lay ahead.

The Chinese proverb tells us that even the longest of journeys must begin with the first step. So the starting point is obvious: we have to take the first step!

Back of the book

Do you value inner peace, harmony and serenity? Do you wish to improve your powers of concentration? Perhaps you would like to enhance your creativity; or simply create more time for yourself, by avoiding stress, tension and hassles in all that you do.

If your answer to any of the above is YES, It is time you starred on leader of abhyasa', as Dada J.P. Vaswani describes it. When you read Dada's lucid exposition on the art of Meditation, you will realize that it is not Just for Hermits, renunciates and initiates: meditation is for all of us.

Today, meditation is regarded as one the most powerful tools of healing by medical experts the world over. It alters the activity of the nervous system in such a way that the creative energy of the individual is recharged. In short, meditation quickens your sympathies, sharpens your perception and helps you perform your work with greater efficiency. Through meditation, Dada tells us, we can contact a source of tremendous power that is within each one of us we can contact a source of tremendous power that is within each one of us- but of which many of us are unaware!

Follow Dada's simple and effective directions - and discover a new world within you!

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