Often times when we bring up a word like meditation,
again it's a word and there's just different meanings
and connotations and people may think of sitting.
Or sitting in a particular posture or breathing a certain way or a certain technique.
Maybe transcendental meditation or there's so many crea, so many different kinds.
And, when the topic of the Holy Instant comes up in the Course,
it's described in very different terms than meditation terms.
In fact, Jesus says in the Course, "you cannot prepare for the Holy Instant without placing it in the future."
It's an amazing sentence. It's such a deep profound sentence.
You cannot prepare for the Holy Instant without placing it in the future.
So when you open up to the topic of meditation,
you can see there's some time ideas that can try to come in even though the point is to still the mind.
To come to the present moment, to feel the Presence of God's Love.
And all meditations have that as the goal.
But, there's some time ideas and form ideas that get mixed into the, they're all thrown in the mix.
So, what is helpful is, Jesus says; that you...
the only thing you can really do with the Holy Instant is desire it.
That you will bring it into your awareness by your desire.
That's helpful, too.
OK, now you're telling me I can't prepare for it without placing it in the future.
So, I'll miss it if I try to prepare for it.
And, you're telling me that I need to desire it in order to experience it so that's helpful, too.
So, it's giving you a way to go into it and experience it in a way that you're gonna avoid it.
So, that's where it's very much like empty your mind.
Because, as long as you have your meditation kind of in the context of a preparation,
as long as your meditation is on the time line,
which in most cases, in most books, in most traditions it's definitely described on a time line.
Like when people say, I'm going off to my bedroom to meditate.
A good answer would be, hmm, do your meditations have starts and stops.
That's the time part of it.
You see it's assumed to have a beginning, I'm going off to my, like it's an activity.
I'm going into my room to meditate.
Well, OK, it's an activity, huh? That's what it is.
Meditation in it's reality is not an activity.
It's not like eating or sleeping or taking a walk, oh, I'm gonna go meditate.
You're REALLY objectifying it, you're really putting it on the time line
when you're describing it in those kind of time terms.
And, what you really want to do, to go into the Holy Instant is to start to realize
that hmmm, I need to really focus on the DESIRE.
I need to really release all time component aspects even of preparation.
So, some people would say, well that's kind of a contradiction or isn't that a paradox?
Why would you have A Course in Miracles with three hundred and sixty five lessons,
and all these instructions and everything like this
if the whole point is to desire the Holy Instant?
It's almost like that' all wrapped around like a package
that's it's all wrapped in, but it's not really it.
So, I think it's good that you bring that up as we are opening to a silent retreat.
Because, you can give yourself more over to the desire for it.
And emptying your mind of everything else but the desire for it.
The more you, we would say the more you desire it, the more you bring it closer into your awareness.
But as long as we think of it in terms of actions and activities of the body,
and formulas and techniques and so on so forth.
You can see those are all, actually when you get right down it, those are defenses.
Whenever someone tells, here I'm gonna give you the formula to eternity
you can say, not this.
I don't want that, I don't want the formula to eternity.
There IS NO formula to Eternity when I actually let go of that.
I love quotes of the Course that just zoom right into the core to the desire.
There's one quote from the Course that I just LOVE,
and it's just, you can just take it as your torch
into the silent meditation.
"The Peace of God is my one goal, the aim of all my living here, the end I seek,
my PURPOSE and my FUNCTION and my LIFE, while I abide where I am not at home."
WOW, what a sentence.
Boom
My goal, function, purpose, life.
You know, it's all whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
While I believe I'm a body where goals are meaningful,
if I believe I'm not at home in Heaven, where I believe I'm on earth where I abide when I a not at home.
Then, you see how the peace of God, the very thing you brought up,
the peace, is peace the goal? OH, YES!
It's the goal and the purpose and the function and my life and everything.
He throws it all in one sentence and says, yeah that's right, go for it, desire it.
Desire it above all else.
Don't let your desire get scattered out.
Splintered out into the wind of the world, you know, zoom into it.