Meditate Like Christ
One day a Canadian man arrived for his first visit with Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji). He didn't know much about Maharaj-ji but had heard about him. Maharaj-ji didn't give lectures or formal teachings; didn't write books; and, as far as I know, didn't formally initiate people. He just kept shining like the sun. Flowers don't need to read a manual on how to bloom in the sunshine. So when Maharaj-ji asked this man why he'd come and what he wanted, he was unsure how to respond. Finally, he replied, 'Can you teach me how to meditate?'
"Maharaj-ji's response was: 'Meditate like Christ. Go. Sit in the back of the temple with the other Westerners.'
"The guy came to the back, and we asked him about his darshan. He told us that Maharaj-ji had said to meditate like Christ. At first we were surprised. 'What! Meditate like Christ! What does that mean?' But then we thought about it. We were always trying to get Maharaj-ji to tell us what practice to do, but he'd never give us any specific instructions about yoga or meditation. Now he'd said this. If he said it, he must know how Jesus meditated. We decided to ask him about it. We were so excited — we were going to get the secret teachings at last!
"Later in the day, when Maharaj-ji came to the back of the temple to hang out with us, [one among us] broached the subject that had us all buzzing. 'You said to meditate like Christ. How DID he meditate?'
"It seemed as if Maharaj-ji was about to answer, but instead his eyes closed and he sat there completely still, completely silent. It felt like he'd totally disappeared. In all the time I'd been with him, I'd only seen him sitting motionless like this a couple of times before. It was extraordinarily powerful, as if the whole universe had become silent. Then a tear came down his cheek. We were in awe. After a couple of minutes, his eyes half opened and, with great emotion, he quietly said, 'He lost himself in love, that's how he meditated. He was one with all beings. He loved everyone, even the people who crucified him. He never died. He is the atman [soul]. He lives in the hearts of all. He lost himself in love.'
Once again, Maharaj-ji had gone right to the heart of it all. I was stunned. There was nothing I wanted more than to be able to lose myself in love, but there was nothing that seemed farther away. As Kabir once said, "It is easy to bear the heat of fire and likewise it is possible to tread the edge of the sword. But to sustain an unchanging love is a most difficult business."
--Krishna Das, in Chants of Lifetime
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does meditating like Christ mean to you? How can we sustain an unchanging love? Can you share a personal story of a time when you lost yourself in love, or were touched by someone who had lost his/her self in love?
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86 Past Reflections
On Jan 31, 2024 Ty wrote :
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On Jan 18, 2020 Susan wrote :
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On Sep 19, 2019 Carol wrote :
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On Feb 9, 2017 dale a. edminster wrote :
On my third time having the one touch blessing for a very small moment the Christ mind came into my conches mind. I felt totally loved and loving. It was the most wonderful feeling I'd ever had in my life.
I am trying to find out how I can have this happen again.
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On Oct 3, 2016 Sumit Chakrabarty wrote :
yesterday night i was pondering on the meaning of Neem Karoli baba's saying that Christ meditated like as if he lost himself in love... I remebered when we as children use to play games and be lost in it.... this feeling of loosing oneself applied to my mediattion. i felt as if i m radiating love for god from my spiritual heart and simultaneously became aware of my breath, i felt that love at the heart centre and i tried to loose myself in it, I think after half hour i am feeling positive, peaceful and a connection ....... i don't know but I am at it....May be it will help me or not????
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On Apr 30, 2015 Julio Alvarado Jr. wrote :
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On Sep 27, 2013 d wrote :
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On Sep 22, 2013 Conrad P Pritscher wrote :
I meant to say "aware" rather than unaware as in: Being yourself in an aware manner is what meditating like Christ means to me. Sorry for the error.
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On Sep 20, 2013 Lakshmi wrote :
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On Sep 20, 2013 Rajeev wrote :
It is an exercise in futility to debate/argue with a creation that thinks it can be the Creator. Moments of silence...fleeting moments of peace, calm, happiness here in this world are not divine. For man/woman to be GOD, the Creator (one with Him/divinity) is still the sin that the adversary so skillfully traps us all in (hasn't changed much form the garden of Eden :)). I would rather pray in love for all my friends here, to know Jesus Christ, his life, death and resurrection...pray that He reveals himself to all on here. With much love (very conditional...indeed :))
In Christ,
rajeev
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On Sep 19, 2013 Pius Thekemury wrote :
As I meditate like Christ,I see him opening up to divine love,which invades his innermost being. This love sets him free from normal human limitations, and releases his INNER FOUNTAIN OF LOVE. This love flows towards all beings, especially the most in need. This movement meets with opposition, egoism, personal and collective, which condemns him to death. But a selfless soul cannot be killed. He lives in the souls of all who open up to love.Christness is awakened in me whenever I feel love and take even a small step to love.
1 reply: Amy | Post Your Reply
On Sep 19, 2013 Thierry wrote :
Dear Rajeev, I did not mean righteousness as regards to sin but as regards to the assertion of one's faith. For instance I never quite understood the split between Judaism and Christianity nor their mutual antagonism. The bible scholars I mentioned have helped me see through it. So have the words reported to be of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas ( logion 43, if you care to look it up).
A beauty of the Indian tradition is to acknowledge that people have different inward complexions and that what is right for one is inadequate for the other. This is why there are different types of Yoga to suit different types of people and help them progress on their way, none being exclusive of another.
1 reply: Amy | Post Your Reply
On Sep 19, 2013 Pius Thekemury wrote :
I like to meditate looking at Christ. He closed the doors of his senses and went deep down into the cave of his heart to be one with the Divine. being united with the source of all beings, he opened his eyes and saw that someone's hunger was his hunger; someone's thirst was his thirst; someone's homelessness, his own homelessness. Melting in Love, his life was a life of creation, (seeing goodness in every one and helping him or her to bring it out) and of identification (identifying himself with the need of each one).
1 reply: Amy | Post Your Reply
On Sep 18, 2013 j wrote :
Just earlier today, two women (of a certain faith community) stopped by (for what seems, their monthly visit) to talk and drop off literature.
Today, they wondered if I had any questions related to "hell". My response, "In my husband and my marital communication, there are "words" we neither discuss or acknowledge (as they would relate to us). When I commune with Jesus, "hell" is a place He has NEVER taken me. If Jesus isn't "going there", neither am I.
There are spiritual forces all around us. In this, I choose Christ.
He takes me to places, without Him, I couldn't go.
Tucked in the Heart of Jesus
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On Sep 18, 2013 Thierry wrote :
What you say of Jesus son of God and son of Man is beautiful. But nothing can defeat one's faith better than feeling self-righteous about it. The history of religion has taught us that much and many have turned away from their native creed for exactly that reason. Actually, I owe to some of those modern gurus and thinkers to have re-discovered the great value hidden inside the perenial teachings of Jesus who spoke through symbols, as was the use in his time. Two very enlightening 'gurus' or rather scholars I would like to recommend are Bishop Spong, an Episcopalian scholar, and Andrew Harvey, author of Jesus Son Of Man, two persons whose faith cannot be questioned.
28 replies: Rajeev, Amy, Jon, Pius, Joe, Jon, Joe, Jon, Joe, Meg, Jon, Lakshmi, Joe, Meg, Meg, Lakshmi, Lakshmi, Joe, Lakshmi, Joe, Joe, Jon, Joe, Jon, Joe, Jo, Meg, Lakshmi | Post Your Reply
On Sep 18, 2013 Rajeev wrote :
In Christ,
rajeev
1 reply: Meg | Post Your Reply
On Sep 17, 2013 Tamilyn wrote :
beautifullyl put cody .. be yourself.so simple this quest,, yet illusive
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On Sep 17, 2013 Thierry wrote :
What I find interesting in this testimony from Krishna Das is that his teacher found a way to demonstrate that meditation does not center in one's personal suffering or discomfort. But rather that meditation encompasses the whole process of suffering in its impersonal dimension, is inclusive of all the suffering both inflicted and suffered by sentient beings since the beginning of time. Raja Yoga would have one inquire into the causes of suffering and one's participation and responsibility to bring one to realize the personal/impersonal dimension of suffering. While I understand this teacher to have a more devotional yet no less effective approach.
I have been touched by someone who did sustain an unchanging love for all beings but whose teachings might appear more abstract at first view. His concern for the world and its fate was immense.
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On Sep 17, 2013 Jakkula David wrote :
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On Sep 17, 2013 Sury wrote :
If it is love, it never changes. There is no such thing as unchanging love. Love is a constant.
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On Sep 17, 2013 MG MORE wrote :
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On Sep 14, 2013 david doane wrote :
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On Sep 13, 2013 Conrad P Pritscher wrote :
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On Sep 13, 2013 Kristin Pedemonti wrote :
Beautiful. To allow ourselves to connect unconditionally to others to love them fully, flaws and all is Powerful. I have felt this both in giving and receiving several times; I cannot truly explain How it happened, it simply seemed to Flow. It was an overwhelming feeling of joy, love, happiness and sorrow/suffering all in the same moment. Bless us all as we seek to LOVE fully without constraints. As always, thank you for sharing and allowing us to share too. Hug from my heart to yours. Speaking of hugs this just brought to mind several deeply emotional experiences I've had in sharing FREE HUGS; there have been encounters where afterwards I felt as though I was at ONE with the person I was hugging; somehow our Hearts completely connected and I could feel their pain/joy all at once. I suppose a big part of this is allowing ourselves to be completely Open and Vulnerable and Present. <3
1 reply: Sam | Post Your Reply
On Sep 13, 2013 jon madian wrote :
What's most meaningful, beautiful, and scary to me is the tear. Itt unites transcendence with empathy, cosmic love with individual suffering, bliss with grief. What a beautiful expression.