4.1.4 How do ‘I’ meditate in a one-pointed manner?

By successfully completing the exercises in chapter 3, you have developed the capacity to experience the inherent peace and stillness of mind in its natural state. This is a state of pure awareness, transcending and embracing the thought process. You are now going to learn how to use the thought process to explore the nature of reality, while retaining awareness of the mind’s inherent stillness.

This you can do because you have developed the ability to bring the mind to a single focus. You are now able to focus your awareness on one object for sustained periods. After a sufficient period of sustained one-pointed meditation on each object, your intuition will provide you with a direct understanding of the true nature of each object of meditation.

The first set of objects for your meditation are a series of questions. Tackle them patiently, one by one in the order given. Do not proceed to meditate on the next question until you understand with intuitive certainty the current object of your meditation.

Do not be tempted to rush these exercises. They will teach you the true nature of individual experience. Allow the process whereby ‘your’ mind remembers its own nature to unfold at its own pace.

One-pointed meditation is conducted in two stages. When you have mastered the first stage, you will find your awareness moving spontaneously on to the second stage. Simply let the process unfold in its own way and in its own time.

The first stage of absorption in one-pointed meditation is when awareness is focused on the outer form of the object. That is to say, one experiences an unwavering concentration on the object, while at the same time thoughts about the object rise and fall in awareness. Although these thoughts can reflect any aspect of the object, they are irrelevant distractions and awareness should not be allowed to settle on any particular thought.

The second stage of absorption in one-pointed meditation is when awareness is focused on the inner form of the object. That is to say, one experiences an unwavering and undistracted concentration on the object. When the mind is settled and still, awareness moves from the distractions of the thought process to direct intuitive experience of the object itself.

How do ‘I’ begin the meditative process of distinguishing between this as understood through the limiting and illusory sense of ‘I’ and this experienced directly through the absence of the sense of ‘I’?

To assist you in this process, the first meditation of this set will be discussed in detail. Once you have successfully experienced this first one-pointed meditation, you will find that the others follow the same pattern. Be clear: you are not engaged in a process of accumulating information or facts about the nature of reality – rather, you are learning to experience this in an increasingly simple, direct and intuitive way.