Part IV
ASSIMILATION OF THE DIVINE TRUTHS
SECTION A
Modes of General Meditation
THE beginnings of spiritual life are marked and helped by general meditation, which is not concerned exclusively with selected specific items of experience, but which, in its comprehensive scope, seeks to understand and assimilate the Divine Truths of life and the universe. Limits of free philosophical meditation When the aspirant is interested in the wider problems of the ultimate nature of life and the universe and begins to think about them, he may be said to have launched himself upon such meditation. Much of what is included under philosophy is a result of trying to develop an intellectual grasp of the ultimate nature of life and the universe. The purely intellectual grasp of Divine Truths remains feeble, incomplete and indecisive owing to the limitations of the experience which may be available as the foundation of the structures of speculation. The philosophical meditation of free and unaided thought does not lead to conclusive results. It often leads to diverse conflicting systems or views, but philosophical meditation
is not without value. Besides leading the aspirant to a certain extent in the realm of knowledge, it gives him an intellectual discipline which enables him to receive and grasp Divine Truths when he happens to come upon them through those who know.
The more fruitful mode of general meditation consists in studying the revealed Truths concerning life and the universe. This mode of understanding and assimilating the Divine Truths can start from hearing or reading expositions of the Divine Truth which have their source in the Masters of Wisdom. Study of the revealed truths The discourses of living Perfect Masters or the writings of the Perfect Masters of the past are a suitable object for this mode of general meditation, because the assimilation of Divine Truths, revealed through them, enables the aspirant to bring his life into line with God’s purpose in the universe.
The Divine Truths are most easily grasped and assimilated when they are passed on directly to the aspirant by a living Master. Such personal communications of the Master have a power and efficacy which can never belong to information received by the aspirant through other sources. Value of hearing The word becomes alive and potent because of the life and personality of the Master. Hence many scriptures emphasise the need for hearing the Divine Truths directly through the spoken word of the Master (Gurumukh). The mode of general meditation which depends upon hearing expositions of the Divine Truths is undoubtedly the best, when the aspirant has an opportunity to contact a living Master and listen to him.
It is not always possible, however, for the aspirant to contact and listen to a living Master. In such case meditation through reading has some advantages of its
