Aspiration: concentration, meditation and contemplation
United Nations, 15 September 1976Aspiration: concentration, meditation and contemplation
I wish to speak on my most favourite subject: aspiration. Aspiration is divided into three parts: concentration, meditation and contemplation. Concentration, meditation and contemplation are the three branches of our aspiration-tree. Concentration is a beginningless reality. Meditation is earth’s illumining and Heaven’s satisfying reality. Contemplation is the ever-transcending Reality.Concentration says to the seeker, “My child, I have come to awaken you. I have come to inspire you. I have come to conquer your lethargy and your ignorance-sleep. Don’t be lethargic; don’t sleep. You have slept enough. It is high time for you to get up and look around. I have come to help you. I have come to guide you.”
Meditation says to the seeker, “My child, just come to me, that’s all! I have kept for you boundless Peace, boundless Light and boundless Bliss. All that I have, I have kept intact for you, for you alone. Just come and claim your divine wealth, your supreme property.”
Contemplation says to the seeker, “My child, you live in your tiny ignorance-hole; I live in the sea of infinite Light and Delight. Let us come out of our respective homes. Let us meet together and become good friends. I shall give you all that I have and all that I am, and you also shall give what you have and what you are. Your precious wealth is your ignorance. My precious wealth is my Delight. Let us barter, let us exchange our most precious possessions. Then let us walk, march, run, fly and dive together. Let us become Oneness-reality.”
Concentration is the speed of power and the power of speed. When we use the power of speed, we reach the farthest length, the highest height and the deepest depth. When we use the speed of power, we see the Source, the Source of everything that was created, that is now being created and that shall ever be created. We see the creation with its past Source, present Source and future Source. We see the Source of the past reality within us, the Source of the present reality within us and the Source of the future reality within us.
Meditation is the wisdom of light and the light of wisdom. When we use the wisdom of light, we give up the desire-life — the life that binds us, the life that strangles us, the life that offers us constant frustration and dissatisfaction. When we use the light of wisdom, we lead a life of aspiration and inner cry. We see all in the One and the One in all. We are one because our Source is the universal Oneness. We are many because the transcendental Oneness wanted to enjoy its Reality in multiplicity.
Contemplation is satisfaction in perfection and perfection in satisfaction. Satisfaction in perfection is our continuous progress in the world of God’s Vision and in the world of God’s Reality. Each time we make progress, that is our satisfaction in perfection. Perfection in satisfaction is our conscious, constant and cheerful oneness with the reality that is constantly growing and glowing in us and for us. To have perfection in satisfaction we must accept all that we have and all that we are as our supreme fulfilment. If we can accept what we have and what we are consciously, constantly, cheerfully, soulfully and unconditionally, then that is the supreme form of perfection in satisfaction.
Concentration says to the seeker, “My child, I am working so hard for you. If you do not listen to me, if you do not listen to my dictates, if you do not abide by my divine decision, then I am going to close my heart’s door and I shall not allow you to enter. I have come to help you, to serve you, to illumine you, but if you do not listen to me, I shall keep my inner door closed indefinitely.”
Meditation says to the seeker, “My child, if you do not listen to me, if you do not abide by my request, if you do not fulfil the divine within you the way you should fulfil it, then I shall keep my heart’s door closed for a short time. I am sure that you will feel inner pangs for what you are missing and what you will forever miss if you do not listen to me. I am keeping my heart’s door temporarily closed so you will value me, so you will miss the things that I have decided to give you. Precious beyond measure are the things I have for you. So try to listen to me. If you listen to me, I don’t have to keep my heart’s door closed.”
Contemplation says to the seeker, “My child, even if you do not listen to me, I shall keep my heart’s door open to you, for I know that once you accept earth-reality, ignorance-night envelops you and ignorance-sea swallows you. It takes time to listen to me. But if you are fortunate and if I am fortunate, then you will listen to me even now, and forever you will continue to listen to me. If you are not fortunate, if I am not fortunate, if ignorance-sea and ignorance-night play their destructive roles inside you, then it may take countless years, eons, for you to see who I am, what I stand for and what I have for you. But I shall keep my heart’s door always, always open to you. It is up to you either to enter into my heart or to remain outside. If you enter into my heart, you will fulfil the real in you, the divine in you, the Supreme in you, the oneness-vision which you have and the satisfaction-reality which you eternally are. I shall always keep my heart’s door open to you. You will determine your own earthly success and your heavenly progress by virtue of your eagerness to see the Light, to feel the Peace and to grow into the Delight infinite.”
Finally, concentration tells the seeker, “Be great, my child. I want you to be great.” Meditation tells the seeker, “Be good, my child. I want you to be good.” Contemplation tells the seeker, “Be one, my child. I want you to be one, universally one, eternally one, transcendentally one, immortally one — one in your universal Reality, one in your eternal Reality, one in your transcendental Reality and one in your immortal Reality. Be one, be one.”
