Ancient wisdom states: “The terrestrial thoughts must fall dead in front of the doors of the temple.”

In that statement lies the key to great success that can come from the practice of meditation.

It’s not uncommon that when the meditation practice becomes a routine, we enter it as if we are always ready for it and always know exactly what to do. Though it happens that this assurance can be used against us by the ego and the personality, if we are not careful. That’s why it is important to evaluate how is the practice of meditation going, are we discovering new things, are we going deeper into the levels of consciousness; is the practice leading us closer to the goal that we have, or has the practice became the goal in itself… A routine and self-assurance can bring about self-deception, and hence wasting a lot of time.

Before sitting down in meditation, it is useful to reflect what is the goal we want to achieve, why we are doing this practice, and then asking the inner Being, the higher self, and/or an angel or a guide that we have connection with, to help us go deeper.

Once we sit down and are about to do the practice, we can apply the ancient wisdom:

“The terrestrial thoughts must fall dead in front of the doors of the temple.”

To achieve this, we should first be aware of the mental state we are in, but not just aware of it at the same level as when working to eliminate the ego-thoughts from moment to moment, but acknowledging the wider picture of it. This means to see the mental state not bound by time, but in a more holistic way. Having such approach will give us cognizance of the overall theme of our thoughts of that day, and possibly also of a larger scope of time. Observing this gives us comprehension of that theme, perhaps even of the recurring thought patterns in the day. However, this should be a short acknowledging, and not a practice of analysis of an ego.

Once we thus reflect on our mental state and see the overall theme, we can just let go of all that thoughts and the mental state itself. Intention is the key in doing this. Consider that the practice of meditation that you are about to enter is like entering the temple within yourself. We can even say that the consciousness, by being spiritual in nature, is like a temple in which we make contact with the soul and the Being. We can see that this has a great value. It is of importance to the Being that we use the time allocated for meditation in a way that will be useful to both us and the Being. Just like stopping by in a physical temple while jogging would be out of place, so it is out of place when we enter meditation out of routine, when the mind is immersed in the terrestrial thoughts and sensations of the day.

“The mind that is a slave of the senses, makes the soul as much of an invalid as the boat that the wind leads astray on the waters.”

Living the day in the service of the Being is to be always dwelling in our spiritual nature, in the essence, always acting from there. This helps to be more detached from the mind, and thus to cognize our mental state at the start of meditation and letting it go with more ease. We can let it go with the exhaling breath and enter the temple of our soul, ready to meet the Being.

HDP, January 2022