3.3 How do I make the transition from the basic meditation to the advanced meditative practices?

Your experience in the periods before and after attaining the first stage of enlightenment was one of ever deepening understanding. To every question, it seemed you were given an answer. It was a time filled with wonder and meaning – a time when your inner awareness seemed to go through a total transformation.

Then, as the days and weeks became months, gradually and imperceptibly, at first, the rush of understanding slowed down. The days began to drag a little. One day you looked back and realised that somehow, without your quite noticing how or when, the sense of excitement, wonder and immanent, pulsating meaning had become dull, a faint echo of its original power.

Be comforted: this is all an important part of the process. Although it is unsatisfying to experience, your loss is more apparent than real. What has been happening is that the whole process, both your psycho-physiological organism and conditioned existence, is delicately, and without overt indicators, re-aligning itself for the enormous transformations to come.

Accept as necessary this slow, unfulfilling period in your life. Realise that you still have the power to transform your understanding and your life. Then you are ready to begin the advanced meditative practices.

You have probably learnt, since attaining the first stage of enlightenment, that you are able to abandon the practice of counting the breaths during meditation. Until you gain familiarity with the advanced meditative techniques, it will be best to restrict your practice of meditation to sitting in your favourite posture. At all times, during meditation, ensure that the teeth are lightly clenched and the tongue is touching the roof of the mouth.

Be clear: the full, final and absolute function of meditation is to realise and sustain a state of undistracted alertness. This is a state of mind free of, and transcending, the apparently endless tyranny of the thought process. This is true tranquillity of mind, when the mind’s inherent stillness is realised through the mind abiding in its natural state.

From this point onwards, you must be completely committed to realising the fruits of meditation in your everyday life. Accept, without reservation or doubt, that there is no part of your life which is separate from the lessons you learn in meditation. If you forget this lesson, your spiritual efforts will prove fruitless. Remember the lessons taught in The  beginner’s guide to enlightenment, chapter 6: you cannot progress in meditation while refusing to forgive someone who has wronged you or someone you love. You cannot progress along the spiritual path while pursuing selfish aims. You cannot move towards enlightenment by taking; progress in meditation can only be made through acts of inner giving.