DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

112 DISCOURSESThe development of meditation can nevertheless beanticipated in outline by those who have direct insight into thepeculiar contours of the mind of the individual, in the same wayGeneral lines ofmeditation can beanticipatedthat a person who has thorough acquaintancewith the details of the constitution of thesolidified crust of the earth may, in general,expect the outburst of a volcano in one regionrather than another. When the surging powers in the bowels of theearth are trying to burst out, they are bound to take the line of leastresistance, and their actual passage will be dependent largely uponthe nature of the surroundings with which they are confronted. Thedifference between volcanic forces and the spiritual urge is that theformer are unconscious, while the latter is a consciousphenomenon. Intelligence plays an important part in the course ofmeditation, and it is this intelligence which is kindled by theMaster by giving to the aspirant a few simple suggestions aboutwhat kinds of things he has to do or expect in his meditations.Meditation has often been misunderstood as a mechanicalprocess of forcing the mind upon some idea or object. Most peoplenaturally have an aversion to meditation because they experienceIntelligent meditationsustained byinterestgreat difficulty in attempting to coerce themind in a particular direction, or to pin itdown to one particular thing. Any purelymechanical handling of the mind is not onlyirksome but is bound ultimately to be unsuccessful.The first principle which aspirants have to remember is thatthe mind can be controlled and directed in meditation onlyaccording to laws inherent in the make-up of the mind itself, andnot by means of the application of any mechanical or semimechanicalforce.