DAILY GURU

Monday, 7 March 2005

To meditate we need at least some ability to concentrate. It does not mean that without proper training in concentration we will not be able to meditate. Even if concentration is foreign to us, we can start practicing meditation. The practice itself strengthens the powers of concentration. But a prior ability of concentration is a great asset that speeds up our progress.

According to the teaching of the Indian philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, there is no separate self, all is One. It is only illusion, Maya, that clouds our vision. If we accept this premise, then we can say that the Absolute Self, the One, or whatever name you give to Absolute principle, "creates" bodies and looks at its "creations" through the body's eyes. This causes the illusion of many selves. The Absolute may be described as One, homogenous whole, but through illusion, delusion, ignorance, and wrong thinking there is the belief in separation, of multitudes of units.

Everyone is very much engrossed in this illusion. There is " I", "You", "She", "They", etc. We believe in separate selves, and identify with a body, a family, a nation, or a race.