Meditation as an Art of Life is not a momentary process but a continual living, a continual sharpening of the mind.

 

Pages from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden (1871-1920)

Meditation as an Art of Life is not a momentary process but a continual living, a continual sharpening of the mind.

And in the very process of sharpening, the mind spontaneously ceases to be as it is.

Then the mind is no longer creating images, visions, fallacies, illusions; and only then, when the mind is completely still, silent, is there a possibility of experiencing something which is not of the mind itself.

But this requires not just one day of effort, or a casual observation, or attending one talk, but a slow maturity, a deepening search, a greater, wider, totally integrated outlook, so that the mind which is now driven by many influences and demands, inhibited by so many fears is free to inquire, to experience.

Only such a mind is truly religious—not the mind that believes or disbelieves in God, that has innumerable beliefs, that joins, agrees, follows, or denies; such a mind can never find out what is truth.

That is why it is very important for those who are serious, for those who are concerned with the welfare of mankind, to put aside all their vain beliefs and theories, all their associations with particular religious organizations, and inquire very deeply within themselves.

To ask philosophical questions in a meditative-existential way.