OUTER ACTS OF DEVOTION ARE NO SUBSTITUTES FOR THE REAL JOY OF MEDITATION

Three ladies die and meet St Peter, who is sitting behind a desk on front of the gates of heaven, getting ready to start his day.
"May the first person come," he says.
"Hello, St Peter," says the first lady.
"State your name and tell me how you spent your life," he says.
"Oh, St Peter, I am a nun, who spent my life helping those in need, and serving the Lord."
"Here, take this golden key, it will open the Gates of Heaven."
And off goes the nun.
"Next," says St Peter, turning to the second woman, "How did you spend your life?"
"I spent my life like a normal human being," the second woman says. "I told some lies, white lies here and there. But nothing serious."
"Here I give you a silver key. It is for the purgatory. You may go now," and sends her away.
"Next," he turning to the lone woman. "Tell me, how did you live your life?"
"Oh St Peter, my life was spent on parties I loved dancing, drinking, and having a different man every night. You might call me a creature of the night," says the beautiful girl.
"Here is a key made of copper," he says.
"Is that the key to hell?!"
"No, this is the key to my apartment."

Whether you are in heaven or in hell, in the market place or in the monastery, in the pub or in the purgatory, the human mind is constantly whirling with ideas of the world -- power, sex, recognition, and all the cravings that haunt humankind. And the saints are no different. You blurt them out and seek a release, while they suppress them in the name of discipline, and put up a proud facade to the world about their unflinching celibacy. But, dig a little deeper, and you will find their desires safely tucked away in the interior core of their being. What more, they are dangerously alive and kicking. They are the celebrities of the spiritual world, whose holier-than-thou attitude is meant to put them on a high pedestal, away from the floatsam and jetsam of society. No wonder, then, that celebrities have a common bonding with the so-called spiritual leaders and go seeking their blessings. Not because they want to change, but because the spiritual leaders know exactly how to make the celebrities, who considers them to be their alter egos, go after their cherished goals.

Spirituality or meditation is not about leading a disciplined life, and definitely not about achieving goals, but about leading a life of awareness. Because awareness brings about such a miraculous quality to our being that all the falsities dissolve of their own leaving us with a nothingness -- an empty space. And from that nothingness a pure joy springs forth. And it is such a simple thing, that it is impossible to believe that one can achieve miracles with the simple art of meditative awareness.

Yes, it is difficult to sit down for an hour everyday, because all the thoughts that have been safely ensconced in the back of our minds from our childhood come rushing in to seek our attention. We feel guilty, especially for the wrongdoings we have committed during our lifetime, which pop up during our meditation hours, that we just can't continue any further for fear of turning mad. So, we take the easy way out of visiting churches, temples, mosques, or a spiritual guru near our homes, so that we don't need to make any effort to change our inner being. And continue to fool ourselves that we are immune from all the vicissitudes of life. What a sham!

We are so used to our restless way of life that sitting silently is indeed a difficult task. And not advisable too. So the Zen tradition speaks of active meditations to prepare the body to endure the silent sitting. And it is very simple. Do every activity that you undertake, with a meditative spirit, whether it is sweeping, or driving a vehicle, or even eating. Slowly, the meditative spaces become bigger, and your being is enveloped in silence, that you become a lake of godliness.

I have been a strong advocate of active meditations. And the trio -- running, cycling and dancing -- have been my ways to enter the meditative spaces. However, I must admit that I have not been on a long bike ride for many days now. For one, it has been raining, which is a lame excuse, and two, I've been busy with blogging. But despite my busy schedule, I have never given up on my active meditations. I bike 20 kms a day to and fro from office, go for jogging in the park, and do a bit of sitting meditation in the night. But, still, there is scope for doing better, what say you?