Journey of Awakening

Your thoughts are not reality; they're just passing clouds in the vast sky of your consciousness.

1. Meditation Anchors You in the Present Moment

Meditation offers a way to quiet the noise in your head, freeing you from obsessive thinking and emotional turbulence. It lets you experience moments of clarity where you’re fully present, free from self-consciousness. These moments, often described as "flow," happen when you let go of ego-driven anxieties and align yourself with the world around you, unfiltered by fear or judgment.

Ram Dass compares the ego to a room with limited windows—your perspective remains narrow and confined to familiar thoughts. Meditation allows you to poke holes in these walls, realizing that your thoughts are not your identity. As these mental barriers weaken, you can step into a larger reality with a clearer view of the present.

One challenge is approaching meditation with ego-driven goals—like finding happiness or enhancing power. Such motives can lead to resistance because the ego secretly craves stability. Yet as you meditate more, a stillness develops within, helping you see your ego for what it is: a limiting belief system that keeps you from fully embracing life.

Examples

• A surfer “catching a wave” feels totally present, much like the state meditation fosters.
• Picturing thoughts floating by like leaves in a stream helps separate identity from passing emotions.
• Ram Dass describes moments of releasing anger or fear as a result of deep meditation.

2. Choose a Meditation Style That Fits Your Personality

Meditation doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach. The practice offers many techniques, allowing you to find one that resonates with your life and sensibilities. Whether you prefer stillness or movement, there’s a path forward. The key is to commit to a method and dive in, setting aside doubts for a trial period.

Some people find sitting meditation challenging because of restlessness or physical discomfort. Incorporating hatha yoga can help prepare the body and mind. Physically active people might explore moving meditations like t’ai chi or Sufi dancing. The focus isn’t the form itself but training your mind to let go of distractions.

Once you’ve chosen a starting point, discipline becomes important. Commit to the practice for at least a couple of weeks. Eventually, you’ll create a quiet practice space where meditation becomes easier. This setup, combined with regular group meditations or extending daily sessions, strengthens your practice over time.

Examples

• Hatha yoga prepares the body when sitting meditation feels challenging.
• Singing or creative movement can be alternatives for expressive individuals.
• Dedicating a room corner for meditation helps foster a peaceful ritual.

3. Concentration Deepens with Specific Techniques

A strong meditation practice begins with understanding concentration—the foundational ability to stay present. You can build concentration from simple practices like mindful breathing or using visualization techniques, such as imagining leaves floating on a stream or following your breath.

Over time, incorporating mantras can focus you further. A simple word like "Ram" or "Aum" serves as both a mental anchor and a spiritual guide. Repeating it rhythmically dissolves attachment to other thoughts and deepens mindfulness. Contemplative reading or studying sacred texts also functions as a valuable mental exercise that aligns daily practice with long-term goals.

Devotion adds emotional strength to meditation, directing energy toward a holy figure or love-filled being. Singing, prayer, or meditative love for someone greater than yourself helps release self-doubt and fosters personal growth. This type of surrender grounds you in childhood-like openness and gratitude.

Examples

• Mindfully observing the physical sensation of air entering the nostrils focuses attention.
• Reading passages from a spiritual book and reflecting on them before meditation adds depth.
• Practicing mantras like "Ram" aligns sound with focus, calming an overstimulated mind.

4. Meditation and Everyday Life Intertwine

Meditation isn’t limited to a cushion or routine; its benefits overflow into daily life. It transforms regular activities into moments of presence, grounding you in awareness during everyday challenges. Ram Dass found walking through bustling New York deeply meditative just by silently repeating mantras and staying present.

This integration of meditation teaches you not to escape problems but to face life with less attachment. Clinging to thoughts about responsibilities creates emotional clutter, but by meditating regularly, you begin to perceive your reactions with spaciousness and clarity. The ability to release attachment to outcomes is transformative.

Even practical distractions from debt or personal issues serve as signposts during meditation. If certain worries repeat, they hint at areas where nurturing change is needed. Addressing them simplifies your mental landscape, making it easier to sustain mindfulness.

Examples

• Repeating mantras while walking in distracting environments helps maintain focus.
• Addressing recurring personal worries strengthens meditation’s clarity.
• Practicing spacious awareness helps calm feelings of fear and anger during conflicts.

5. Ego Traps Can Hinder Spiritual Growth

Moments of ecstasy or insight often occur during meditation, but clinging to them can stall progress. Ram Dass shares how his early focus on recreating past psychedelic experiences interrupted his growth. Only by releasing expectations of specific outcomes did his practice deepen.

Other common ego traps include using spiritual achievements for personal gain, such as manipulating others or bragging about personal growth. Similarly, spiritual pride blinds you to the needs of others and temporarily traps you in judgmental thinking, stalling both compassion and progress.

Even reaching states of bliss can create complacency—comforting plateaus that slow further development. Meditation teaches the art of release: acknowledging emotions, highs, or challenges without attachment, always resuming focus on moving forward.

Examples

• Ram Dass’s pursuit of re-creating intense highs through yoga unintentionally blocked him.
• Spiritual pride erodes compassion by making the practitioner feel superior.
• Clinging to blissful states creates a false finish line in one’s spiritual journey.

6. Change is Disruptive but Necessary for Growth

Growth requires confronting ego resistance and discomfort. Ram Dass describes how spiritual awakening can cause emotional or physical disturbances as defense mechanisms of the ego. For example, surges of energy or doubts often signal breakthroughs, not failures.

If meditation uneases you, it might reflect crumbling beliefs making space for a wider perspective. Recognize changes in identity—such as shifting tastes—as signs of emerging growth and trust the process.

It’s natural for once-pleasurable activities to lose appeal after meditation alters priorities. Embracing simplicity and letting go of old attachments brings freedom, though the emptiness left behind might take adjustment.

Examples

• A patient of Ram Dass felt she was "going mad" but was actually experiencing kundalini energy awakening.
• Feelings of emptiness after removing distractions signal deep personal growth.
• Recognizing a reduced thrill for past indulgences reflects shifting values.

7. Liberation Follows Discipline and Adaptation

Meditative journeys resemble climbing a mountain: they start with excitement and ease, grow challenging, and culminate in profound transformation. Many stop at comfortable stages along the way. Only a few brave the narrow, steep paths leading to spiritual liberation.

Conquering your most stubborn attachments is part of redirecting your growth. Facing temptations or confronting emotional triggers like anger or jealousy allows you to undo remaining ego patterns, building endurance and clarity.

At the peak of this transformation, spiritually evolved individuals often return to help others find the path. Becoming the light for those still climbing completes the journey.

Examples

• A dedicated climber pushing through fatigue mirrors the persistence needed for awakening.
• Actively confronting anger teaches self-restraint and deeper self-awareness.
• Returning to help emerging meditators connects humility with new wisdom.

8. Spiritual Practice Needs Faith as Much as Strategy

The spiritual path will require moments of introspection, self-trust, and acceptance that the work evolves with time. Keep studying meaningful teachings to maintain faith. Faith reassures during doubt and nurtures the patience to endure through setbacks.

Spiritual awakening demands self-reliance—allowing you to lean on inner wisdom in uncertain moments. Combining faith in the unknown with steady tactics eventually builds absolute trust in yourself and the process.

Examples

• Using prayer or devotion cultivates steady, unshakable strength during setbacks.
• Reading another yogi’s life story offers glimpses into shared struggles or guides forward.
• Understanding that setbacks require neither guilt nor urgency affirms individual pacing.

9. Awareness Becomes a Lifestyle

In later meditation stages, you’ll see no separation between formal meditation and daily routines. Every moment feels like part of your practice, heightening awareness in small acts like eating or speaking. Uniting life with liberated awareness creates purpose.

With awareness unbroken by ego interruptions, life feels less burdened by fear or judgment. Detachment grows, letting struggles coexist peacefully beside joy, without over-identifying with fluctuating emotions.

Examples

• Practicing reflection after conversations helps clarify intentions or what matters next.
• Viewing every activity, like eating intentionally, as conscious meditation deepens practice.
• Avoiding over-attachment to setbacks ensures progress remains consistent.

Takeaways

1. Experiment with various meditation styles until you find one that truly resonates, but give each method a trial period before moving to the next.
2. Devote time to simplifying your life by addressing distractions or attachments that consistently interrupt your mental clarity.
3. Study the lives and techniques of spiritually advanced practitioners to inspire and guide your own meditative practice.