It was very insightful to meditate on this teaching. Initially, when I tried to keep my mind within “the boundaries of the moment,” it behaved like a bouncing ball—very buoyant and playful, like a naughty child who enjoys running here and there.
However, the moment I focused my attention on the breath, and stopped paying attention to my mind, I started enjoying the breath. Combining breath with the mantra was an even greater idea. Later on, when I checked in with my mind, I saw it had calmed down.
I asked myself, “What happened? And why?” I realized that the energy lies in my own power of attention. Wherever I bring my awareness, that gets energized because the source of energy is within me! When I focused on my breath, it became infused with my energy, and when I combined it with the mantra, the energy was multiplied because the mantra is itself a form of the Guru, charged with the Guru’s shakti. So the mantra in fact energized me!
Thane West, India
I feel so grateful for Baba’s teaching! As I practiced the dharana and focused on my breath, I became more and more absorbed in the “present moment.” I felt all sense of time and space dissolve and experienced an inner expansion into infinity.
I returned to this teaching and my experience throughout the day and again felt held in this vast expansion—the state of the Self.
