DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

The Types of MeditationPART ITHE NATURE OF MEDITATIONAND ITS CONDITIONSMEDITATION may be described as the path whichthe individual cuts for himself while trying to getbeyond the limitations of the mind. If a man caught up in theMeditation is thepath forged by theindividual whilecontrolling mindtangles of a thick forest tries to get out intothe open, his efforts to break throughthe encircling impediments will leave behindhim the marks of his journey. By the study ofthese marks an observer will be able todescribe the paths which he traversed in his attempt to come outinto the open. The movements of the man who comes out of theforest are different in principle from those of the railway enginewhich moves along rails already laid on the course it is to take. Theman is not following a ready-made path; the path becomesimprinted after he has traversed it. In the same way, the manwho finds himself drawn into deep meditation is really grapplingwith the spiritual problems that he faces. He is not merely tryingto adhere to a rigid line of movement that already exists inhis mental make-up.