In Buddhism there is a phrase, “There is one ground.” The statement refers to the one ground of Awareness.
- Realizing that Awareness is the only true ground,
- one realizes the source of one’s reality,
- and realizes the foundation for all conditioned or non-conditioned states of being.
This precious image of a young meditator levitating is displaying that he has realized this one ground, has understood that he IS this ground, and thus has chosen to create a reality that accords with awareness. Levitation, be it factual or a metaphor for the ability to rise above lower mind and emotion states, is possible because the person has shifted from an identification with density and circumstance to the liberated state of a non-limited identity.
Meditation is the path of dis-identification, an incremental and self-chosen diligence regarding how one interacts with seeming reality, including the reality of one’s self. Meditation does not necessarily say that mundane reality is “wrong” or “of less value, but instead invites an ongoing contemplation of true and lasting value of word, action, things, people, and one’s self as currently perceived. Meditation training, then, peels away the outer appearances and seemings by training the practitioner to come inside, to quieten the emotion-mind complex, and rest all reactions. In time, and with practice, magic – represented by the metaphor of levitation – happens.
Little by little one’s perceptions really do change! Little by little, meditators find that that which was coarse or dense or distracting or unimportant have no appeal. Harsh words are replaced with listening and responsiveness. Impatience falls away, as do other self-centered, self-focused behaviors. One discovers that, not only are people around one happier and feel genuinely met, but the meditator is generally happier too. Consistently. She or he has discovered the One Ground of Awareness.
Welcome back to the Intermediate Practice of Living Awareness!
Downloadable: Intermediate: Levitation