Moving Beyond the Meditator

The second aspect of True Meditation is meditative self-inquiry. Meditative self-inquiry is the practice of introducing a question—a spiritual question of power and significance—into the meditative state of mind. We are not just asking any old question; we are asking questions of real worth, questions that have the power to penetrate through layers of conditioning to reach our essential nature. The most powerful question we can ask is simply, 'What am I? Who is the meditator?' This question undercuts all the ways the ego tries to control experience. It asks, 'Who is controlling experience? Who is meditating?' One of the essential reasons for meditating is to go beyond the meditator—to go beyond the ego or mind. As long as the meditator is in control, there is very little possibility of moving beyond the mind or ego. This is why, in True Meditation, the practice is to let go of the meditator. The very first instant of meditation is an invitation to let go of control and to allow everything to be as it is. This practice disengages the meditator. If the meditator is doing anything, it's simply letting go of control, letting go of trying to change anything.

When I say 'meditator,' it is important to realize that the meditator is the one who is controlling. The meditator is the one who is trying—the manipulator, the one exerting effort. And in most forms of meditation, the meditator is very much engaged. The mind is getting something to do and something to master—and the mind loves having something to do! It loves having something to master, because then it gets to remain in control. But for a form of meditation to be relevant in terms of spiritual awakening—in terms of awakening to the true nature of who and what we are—we must go beyond the meditator, beyond the controller, beyond the manipulator.