Meditation Practice

A recent session led by the Warden of Shanti Sadan

What does it mean to be truly awake? The usual meaning of ‘to awaken’ is to be roused from sleep. But there are added meanings and these are to do with insight—with something understood that was not understood before. We may even say: ‘At last, I have awakened to the fact that so and so is the case.’ And that understanding is permanently established in our mind until it is superseded by some greater and more profound insight.

In life we may, if we are fortunate, have several such insights. Each one produces a further advance in our understanding. From our point of view as people interested in meditation, let us consider a key insight—an awakening shaft of light—that can make all the difference to our approach to life. It is the clear realisation that our happiness depends, not on factors outside our self, but on our state of mind.