Theory and practice of Meditation, The

Meditation is an art and like all arts, it has to be practiced daily, not taken up for a few days and laid aside. It is persistent perseverance that will achieve the goal. However talented a child may be for a musical instrument, there must be a good teacher who, in the case of piano playing, will show the correct position of the hands on the keys and explain that the strength of the arms comes from the erect back which avoids thumping the piano. No scale can be run like rippling water by even the greatest pianists without the daily practice, sometimes, and most likely, for years.

I was privileged to hear scales practiced in this way by the then greatest living pianist (Careneo) and I then realized that scales were the basis of all good piano playing. With a violin and cello, it is the bow that is of paramount importance, and Casals, the greatest cellist, kept a bow especially with which to chastise his pupils’ fingers. All players of wind instruments have to learn and master breath control before the sound is smooth and even. Likewise, when we come to study the art of meditation, there is a correct posture before good results are attained. A few years ago, certainly in the West, meditation was spoken of in a whisper; and anyone known to be practicing the art was looked upon as odd, almost as  “not quite nice.” Now, thank God, with the Age of Aquarius well above the horizon, it is a lifeline for thousands of human beings, and what is fascinating to watch is how the new youth have taken to this art as part of their lives. We are hopeful as regards the future, because now that the contact has been made and understood, Man will go forward into new dimensions of awareness.