THE ROYAL SEAL – MAHAMUDRA
CHAPTER 3 – EDEN – YOGA AND MEDITATION – PART 3
This chapter on the yoga of meditation is in three parts because I humbly wanted to present three profound practices in meditation that have benefited me over the years, aware that everyone has their own unique path and not everyone is suited to the same techniques and methods.
The first part is on the stillness and silence of the great saints like St Teresa of Avila and St Therese of Lisieux, the second part is on the power of that stillness and silence applied to Yogananda and Babaji’s Kriya Yoga and this third part is on the tantric practice of stillness and movement of mind from Mahamudra which I found deeply profound when doing the rituals of the Kalachakra Tantra with the Dalai Lama, through Metatron and Guan Yin.
Of the many lineages I have studied, one of the most beautiful is the Mahamudra, a set of meditation teachings and practices belonging to the Highest Yoga Tantra, and unique in its practice of clear light, wisdom and emptiness. It is authentic tantric spiritual practice and very practical in its instruction, incorporating many of the same principles of stillness and silence that St. Teresa of Avila’s prayerful meditation and Yogananda’s Kriya Yoga uses.
When I first started practicing Mahamudra I was sitting in a Zen garden and I started to perceive all the surrounding trees, birds, wind and sunlight as emanations of Guan Yin. Then some time later when I was doing the Kalachakra Tantra with the Dalai Lama, “I” vanished into Light and was Nameless and Timeless in Pure Presence for 3 days. I spoke to Her about this
“Divine Mother, you told me to meditate on the innate divine essence within, and mediate is what I did. It so happened that meditation and meditator simply vanished. There was no-thing after the meditation to maintain.”
At the time in my diary I described it as follows,
“Divine Mother has given me a gift, the gift of healing. My gift manifests as the simple act of devotion to My Divine Mother. As I write tears fill my eyes. It is as simple as that. Anything I offer to you is Hers. Any miracle manifested is done by Her Hands, any friendship we share is a Divine Friendship given by Her. So my day and my night and every waking thought is devoted to Her. I will share a Sacred Vision she gave me. My Mother Guan Yin was working her divine magic in and through me in this healing process. I received a simple, yet profound message. LOVE. I was meditating by a Zen rock garden under a Sakura tree. Listening to manifested sounds of the Pyramids of Giza from the Source. When my eyes were opened My Mother Guan Yin gifted me with a sacred gift. Not a pearl this time (in the past a deep ocean pearl manifested out of the heart of a statue of Guan Yin for me) but a Sacred Vision. As I walked in the gardens the wind became Her Voice, the petals Her Skin, the light Her Face, the water Her Tears. It was truly sublime. She walks the paths with me. My Divine Mother and I are not separate. It made me think about how the gifts of healing we receive are like the Petals of the Flower of Life. Pure and Precious Divine Consciousness manifesting through us. Love You Dearest Blessed Mother. Thank you for being beside me every moment of my life.
Every person, animal, nature and thing from the crowds gathering to the rock to the sky and beyond was immersed in the Universal Mother Love. Thank you again from every part of my heart.”
The Mahamudra, the heart of the profound true meaning, works with the Source through mindful knowing, stillness and presence, and was composed by an emanation of Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava. It has some basic guidelines. The following are presented as a beginning only.
MEDITATION
1. If you are determined to accomplish in a single lifetime the fruit of enlightenment on the basis of self realization in the ground of being then you should practice meditation regularly.
The Inconceivable Secret Sutra says “Bodhisattvas who wish to attain the unsurpassable perfect enlightenment should not devote themselves to words. Those who want to learn the path to enlightenment should devote themselves to practice. Through words enlightenment will not be gained in an eon, yet by realizing the truth, liberation will be gained in an instant.”
Even if meditation has not yet dawned on you, merely to have the intention to gaze at the mind is significant. To think “I must look at the mind” is deeply meaningful as it has the power to instantly cleanse all impurities and through such observation to receive all the blessings of the buddhas.
PHYSICAL POSTURE
2. Known as the seven points of the Buddha Varochana, these are especially important and were ones that Yogananda also emphasized. A straight spine, for example, so that energy can flow up and down the inner astral spine of light, and keeping the eyes still. It is said “the eyes are the windows to the soul” and in Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If the eye is single then your whole body is filled with light” and in Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God”. Still eyes lead to I AM Presence and full realization of the Light Body. From this the natural power of the channels, winds and energies in the body arises.
Amazingly, the latest research in ‘quiet eye’ amongst elite athletes and also a technique used at Juilliard School of Music for its top musicians, identifies a secret in the way people see the world, noting that they have long steady gaze at critical periods of success.
Embarking on a PhD at the University of British Columbia, a student named Vickers began to suspect the secret lay in the way that elite athletes see the world. She hooked a group of professional golfers up to a device that precisely monitored their eye movements as they putted their balls. She found an intriguing correlation: the better the player (as measured by their golfing handicap) the longer and steadier their gaze on the ball just before, and then during, their strike. Novices, by contrast, tended to shift their focus between different areas of the scene, with each fixation lasting for shorter periods of time.
The general idea that you should ‘keep your eye on the ball’ is well-known, of course – but this suggested something more intricate, with the precise onset and duration of the gaze correlating with an objective measure of sporting success.
I was contemplating this when thinking of the Buddha and how he saw the world. He saw it with deep presence and mindful-heartful awareness. I was watching a group of shoppers at the supermarket and how their gaze shifted constantly between this need and that, this distraction and that. I then proceeded to shop with slow deep awareness taking time to connect with each section and be fully aware of what was all around me and within me. I often practice seeing the supermarket as a pure buddhafield or Christgrid peopled by buddhas and Christs or deities. It is the perfect place to practice as it is loud and busy with few pockets of stillness.
THE VOICE
3. When the Buddha was practicing austerities by the river for six years he remained in samadhi without moving his body or uttering sounds with his voice. Ultimately to remain silent in the Lord’s Presence Within is the greatest of all prayers and mantras.
THE MIND
4. When three of us look at a painting, each of us can see it in a different way. So it is with the world. We see it in many ways. Water can be seen as a drink, but also as our environment when we go scuba diving. They are all perceptions of our mind. We have exchanged one body for another countless times but the mind has existed from timelessness without beginning. The mind experiences happiness and suffering, and is the root of all samsara and nirvana, all illusions and heavens. When you meditate, and your mind is distracted and forgets, you wander in illusion. When you purify yourself and recognize your original face and remain in your natural state, you awaken to buddhahood and the Christ Within. The root of all paths, the crucial point of all teachings, is the mindful knowing, nurtured within, that keeps the mind present. Be still and Know I AM Presence.
Be still and Know God.
Love and Blessings
Altair and Mother