Meditation

Meditation cleanses the mind of all obstructions and opens the door to the Ultimate Reality that lies within. The various techniques of meditation all have in common the restricting of the body and sense stimuli, controlling the mind’s wandering thoughts and feelings, and finally attaining a pure state of stillness where the true self-nature can reveal itself.

While most of our scriptural sources on meditation describe its practice in the Eastern religion, meditation is also widespread in Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Mystics, monastics, Sufis, and Kabbalists all developed meditative techniques to raise practitioners to a higher state of communion with the Spirit of God. Silent meditation is often employed as preparation for prayer, as a time of quiet when the mind is calmed and clarified and its spiritual senses heightened before communing with God.

Father Moon values meditation in this context. He sometimes calls it “prayer,” but what he means is a meditative, stilling technique that is an element of effective prayer. The topic of meditation is vast, and one can practice it for a lifetime without getting to the end of it.

Some aspects presented here include quieting one’s thoughts, focusing on the breath, developing intense concentration, the discipline of “mindfulness” of one’s body, feelings, and thoughts, visualization of a divine image, and the shamanistic quest for a supernatural vision.

One-Pointed Concentration

Concentration is unafflicted one-pointedness. Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 437 (Buddhism)

Within the lotus of the heart, He dwells, where the nerves meet like the spokes of a wheel at its hub. Meditate on Him as OM. Easily may you cross the sea of darkness. Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.6 (Hinduism)

Can you keep the unquiet physical soul from straying, hold fast to the Unity, and never quit it? Can you, when concentrating your breath, make it soft like that of a little child? Can you wipe and cleanse your vision of the Mystery till all is without blur? Tao Te Ching 10 (Taoism)

On one occasion a certain monk was seated not far from the Buddha in cross-legged posture, holding his body upright, enduring pain that was the fruit born of former action, pain racking, sharp, and bitter; but he was mindful, composed, and uncomplaining. Seeing the monk so seated and so employed, the Buddha gave this utterance: For the monk who has left behind all karma, And shaken off the dust aforetime gathered, Who stands fast without thought of “I” or “mine”— For such there is no need to talk to people. Udana 20, Nanda sutta (Buddhism)

Arouse your entire body with its three hundred and sixty bones and joints and its eighty-four thousand pores of skin; summon up a spirit of great doubt and concentrate on the word “mu” [nothingness]. Carry it continually day and night. Do not form a nihilistic conception of vacancy, or a relative conception of “has” or “has not.” It will be just as if you swallowed a red-hot iron ball, which you cannot spit out even if you try. All the illusory ideas and delusive thoughts accumulated up to the present will be exterminated, and when the time comes, internal and external will be spontaneously united. You will know this, but for yourself only, like a dumb man who has had a dream. Then all of a sudden, an explosive conversion will occur, and you will astonish the heavens and shake the earth.7 Mumonkan 1 (Buddhism)

As long as I am seated in this meditation, I shall patiently suffer all calamities that might befall me, be they caused by an animal, a human being or a god. I renounce, for the duration of this meditation, my body, all food, and all passions. Attachment, aversion, fear, sorrow, joy, anxiety, self-pity… all these I abandon with body, mind, and speech. I further renounce all delight and all repulsion of a sexual nature. Whether it is life or death, whether gain or loss, whether defeat or victory, whether meeting or separation, whether friend or enemy, whether pleasure or pain, I have equanimity towards all. In [attaining] knowledge, insight, and proper conduct, [the cause] is invariably nothing but my own soul. Similarly, my soul is cause for both the influx of karmas and the stopping of that influx. One and eternal is my soul, characterized by intuition and knowledge; all other states that I undergo are external to me, for they are formed by associations. Because of these associations my soul has suffered the chains of misery; therefore I renounce with body, mind, and speech, all relationships based on such associations. Thus have I attained to equanimity and to my own self-nature. May this state of equanimity be with me until I attain salvation.8 Samayika Patha (Jainism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
There is a reason why people on the path to enlightenment go off to meditate in the mountains. We cultivate external determination based on our internal determination—the confidence that we will not deviate from our course no matter what obstacles we encounter.

We must have the conviction that even if we fall to the bottom, we will support our minds and bodies. Without this conviction, there is no way we can run the race, or even enter the stadium.

Each of us is a racer who is competing in some event; therefore, we should train ourselves with unchanging conviction in order to reach the goal.

The attitude of a devout believer—the attitude of a person walking the path to enlightenment—is like that of a racer competing in a race. You must have this attitude. Whether awake or asleep, you should have a burning desire to accomplish your goal. (7:135, August 9, 1959)

Breathing to the Rhythm of the Cosmic Breath

Undivided I am, undivided my soul, undivided my sight, undivided my hearing, undivided my in-breathing, undivided my out-breathing, undivided my diffusive breath; undivided the whole of me. Atharva Veda 19.51.1 (Hinduism)

Pure spirit reaches in the four directions, flows now this way, now that—there is no place it does not extend to. Above, it brushes heaven; below, it coils on the earth. It transforms and nurses the ten thousand things, but no one can make out its form. Its name is called One-with-Heaven. The way to purity and whiteness is to guard the spirit, this alone; guard it and never lose it, and you will become one with spirit, one with its pure essence, which communicates and mingles with the Heavenly Order.9 Chuang Tzu 15 (Taoism)

Holding the body steady, with the three upper parts erect, And causing the senses with the mind to enter into the heart, A wise man with the Brahma-boat should cross over All the fear-bringing streams. Having repressed his breathings here in the body, and having his movements checked, One should breathe through his nostrils with diminished breath. Like that chariot yoked with vicious horses, His mind the wise man should restrain undistractedly. Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.8-9 (Hinduism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Get up early in the morning and pray. When praying, listen to the sound of your heart. Think of the origin of your heart, imagining that the harmony of heaven and earth is flowing through your arteries and veins. Then, your health will improve. (27:85, November 26, 1969)

How can we experience the heart of God, when He rejoiced upon creating all things? Meditate on Him from morning till evening sunset while sitting in a garden or a mountain meadow.

Be so immersed in your meditation that you lose track of time. Breathe in deeply, and the air of the universe will come to you with life force. Live along with the life force of the universe.

Exhale, and all beings will come alive anew. If you enter a state of deep relaxation, all things will harmonize with you. You will attain the position of an absolute being that can have dominion over all creations… Exhale, and all things receive; inhale, and all things give out. If you reciprocate with the creation centered on love, all things in the universe will interact with each other.

Keep on relating with them and become their center of harmony. Thus you will become a being who resembles nature in all its beauty, like the universe itself. Once you dwell in that state, you will become a center of harmony for the whole universe. (29:133, February 26, 1970)

What does the nose symbolize? With its two nostrils, it represents Adam and Eve, male and female. The right nostril symbolizes the male and the left nostril the female. God breathes through these holes. What does God breathe? He breathes the air of love. The atmosphere of the spirit world is love.

Man and woman were created as partners of love, to be trained in love here on earth and then breathe love in the spirit world. When you have a cold and can only breathe through one nostril, it is like a divorce.

When you can only breathe through your mouth, it is as if God can only breathe through the things of creation but not through man and woman, whom He needs to breathe properly. (118:111, May 9, 1982)

Quiet the Mind and Enter a Calm State, Empty of Self

When all the senses are stilled, when the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not—then, say the wise, is reached the highest state. Katha Upanishad 2.6.10 (Hinduism)

Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self. Abiding joy comes to those who still the mind. Freeing themselves from the taint of self-will, with their consciousness unified, they become one with God. Bhagavad-Gita 6.26-27 (Hinduism)

The wise man should surrender his words to his mind; and this he should surrender to the Knowing Self; and the Knowing Self he should surrender to the Great Self; and that he should surrender to the Peaceful Self.10 Katha Upanishad 3.13 (Hinduism)

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46.10

Block the passages, Shut the doors, Let all sharpness be blunted, All tangles untied, All glare tempered, All dust smoothed. This is called mysterious leveling. Tao Te Ching 56 (Taoism)

Attain utmost vacuity; Hold fast to quietude. While the myriad things are stirring together, I see only their return. For luxuriantly as they grow, Each of them will return to its root. To return to the root is called quietude, Which is also said to be reversion to one’s destiny. This reversion belongs with the eternal: To know the eternal is enlightenment. Tao Te Ching 16 (Taoism)

The Self-existent pierced sense openings outward; therefore a man looks out, not in. But a certain wise man, in search of immortality, turned his gaze inward and saw the Self within.11 Katha Upanishad 4.1 (Hinduism)

The wise, self-controlled, and tranquil souls, who are contented in spirit, and who practice austerity and meditation in solitude and silence, are freed from all impurity and attain by the path of liberation the immortal, the truly existing, the changeless Self. Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.7-11 (Hinduism)

Only after knowing what to abide in can one be calm. Only after having been calm can one be tranquil. Only after having achieved tranquility can one have peaceful repose. Only after having peaceful repose can one begin to deliberate. Only after deliberation can the end be attained. Things have their roots and their branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near the Way.12 Great Learning (Confucianism)

Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be silent. Psalm 4.

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
We need training in the way we think and the way we use our minds. Meditation and prayer are methods for cultivating the mind. (67:178, June 10, 1973)

Zen meditation brings your mind to a level place on the horizontal line. There you lose conscious- ness of self. Consciousness is formed through resonance; in that horizontal state it can resonate with wavelengths coming from the vertical world. (296:203, November 9, 1998)

When we pray or meditate, as when Buddhists practice Zen, we are seeking a state that is void of self. What is our goal in seeking this state? It is to awaken the elements that can become the nucleus of the mind.

If you set that one standard and establish the center of your mind, you will see, hear and cognize everything in accord with the principles of Heaven. Then you can offer a full bow before God and return Him glory. (2:193, May 19, 1957)

We seek the deep ravine of the world of mind. Buddhists who meditate also ask, “What is mind?” and enter the deep ravine of the mind. When you enter the deep ravine of the mind and journey to the state of the original mind before the Human Fall, you will be connected to Heaven.

Indeed, without entering the world of the mind, you cannot make a relationship with Heaven. As long as we are holding on to the world, we cannot contact or attend Heaven.

Human beings are composed of mind and body, yet because spirit and flesh are in opposition, we are unable to attain the original world of the mind in a state of mind-body unity. Instead, the journey to the world of the mind requires that we deny the world of body—deny it one hundred percent.

We have to remove all that the body desires and isolate ourselves from the world. We have to separate from the world and put it behind us. This is the religious path; it is opposite the ways of the world. It seeks that original point to which we should return. (21:37-38, September 1, 1968)

Make your mind taut like a round, air-filled balloon. If you are insecure or self-centered, or if you are approaching things from a personal viewpoint, then your mind is not round but wrinkled and jagged. Therefore, you need to stretch your mind and make it round.

When your mind rolls like a ball, it makes smooth contact with a flat plane. But if it is jagged, only the points make contact. In that case, it will not smoothly stimulate anything but will act against everything. That is when we feel conscience-stricken, and if we continue this way, gradually the standard of our conscience will decline.

Therefore, you need to keep your mind taut like a round balloon. Then upon receiving a stimulus, the whole of it will resonate. Take two tuning forks and strike one; the other will vibrate with the same frequency. A well-rounded mind makes a good resonating vessel. It has the sensitivity to feel the spiritual vibration coming from the Subject Being.

Therefore, when living a life of faith, you need to take time to meditate. Meditate while longing for goodness. When you meditate, open the door of your mind completely and make your mind round. Then, God’s original nature and your original nature will resonate together.

The individual qualities of your mind [e.g., your spring-like personality] will resonate completely with those same qualities of God, uniting you in a complete relationship with the Subject Being. In that state, when you go out to pursue your desired purpose, God will certainly be with you. (40:278, February 7, 1971)

Mindfulness—Awareness of All Thoughts and Feelings

There is this one way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and misery, for the destruction of pain and grief, for winning the right path, and for the attainment of Nibbana, namely the Four Arousings of Mindfulness.

What are these four? Here a monk lives contemplating the body in the body… contemplating feelings in feelings… contemplating consciousness in consciousness… and contemplating mental objects in mental objects, ardent, clearly conscious and mindful, having overcome in this world covetousness and dejection. And how, monks, does a monk live contemplating body in the body?

Here a monk, having gone to the forest, sits down cross-legged, keeping his body erect and setting up mindfulness in front of him.

Mindful he breathes in; mindful, he breathes out. Breathing in long, he knows, “I breathe in long.” Breathing out long, he knows, “I breathe out long.” Breathing in short, he knows, “I breathe in short.” Breathing out short, he knows, “I breathe out short.” “Experiencing the whole body I shall breathe out,” thus he trains himself… And further, a monk knows when he is going, “I am going”; he knows when he is standing, “I am standing”; he knows when he is sitting, “I am sitting”; he knows when he is lying down, “I am lying down”; or just as the body is disposed so he knows it… And further, a monk reflects on this very body enveloped by the skin and full of manifold impurity from the soles up and from the crown of the head down, thinking, “There are in this body: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidney, heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs, bowels, intestines, mesentery, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, saliva, mucus, synovic fluid, urine.”… And seeing a body dead for one day, or two or three, swollen, discolored, decomposing, thrown aside in the cemetery, he applies this perception to his own body, “Truly, this body of mine, too, is of the same nature, it will become like that and will not escape it.”… And how, monks, does a monk live contemplating feelings in feelings? Here a monk when experiencing a pleasant feeling, knows, “I experience a pleasant feeling”; when experiencing a painful feeling, knows, “I experience a painful feeling”; when experiencing a feeling that is neither pleasant nor painful, knows, “I experience a neither pleasant nor painful feeling.”… And how does a monk live contemplating consciousness in consciousness? Here, monks, a monk knows the consciousness with craving as with craving; the consciousness without craving as without craving; the consciousness with anger as with anger; the consciousness without anger as without anger; the consciousness with ignorance as with ignorance; the consciousness without ignorance as without ignorance… And how does a monk live contemplating mental objects in mental objects? Here, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five hindrances. When sense desire is present, a monk knows, “There is sense desire in me,” or when sense desire is not present he knows, “There is no sense desire in me.”… When anger is present, he knows… when sloth and torpor is present, he knows… when restlessness and worry are present, he knows… when doubt is present, he knows… Truly, monks, whoever practices these Four Settings up of Mindfulness for seven years, then one of two results may be expected by him: highest knowledge here and now or, if some remainder of clinging is yet present, the state of non-returning.13 Majjhima Nikaya 1.55-63, Satipatthana Sutta (Buddhism)

Leave behind all phenomenal distinctions and awaken the thought of the Consummation of Incomparable Enlightenment by not allowing the mind to depend upon notions evoked by the sensible world—by not allowing the mind to depend upon notions evoked by sounds, odors, flavors, touch-contacts, or any quali- ties. The mind should be kept independent of any thoughts which arise within it. If the mind depends upon anything it has no sure haven. Diamond Sutra 14 (Buddhism)

Man’s feelings are the evil aspect of his nature. If one realizes they are evil, then this evil will not exist in the first place. If the mind is in the state of absolute quiet and inactivity, depraved thoughts will cease of themselves. Li Ao (Confucianism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
In the mind there is a door, called the door to the mind. God enters through that door. That door does not open only to one direction.

Since the mind is in motion, the door is also in motion. For God (plus) to enter through this door, we should relate to Him as a minus (object partner). Yet if our direction is slightly off, even by just a degree, the door will not open. There indeed exists a door to the mind of each human being.

You can discern it in your prayers. The feeling you get when you pray changes depending upon the time of day. Praying at 1:00 a.m. has a different feeling than praying at 3:00 a.m. T

ry it yourself, and you will sense the difference. If you pray in a deep mysterious state, you will feel different depending upon what time you are praying. The feelings of your prayers in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening are all different.

The same is with the state of our mind. Our emotions change with the seasons, our feelings towards our loved ones change; in such ways the world of the mind is constantly changing.

That is why we need to discover the best time to pray. You need to pray when your spiritual senses are keen, so your sensitivity to God will be high. As you enter deeper and deeper into a state of feeling connected to God, you will eventually reach the door to the mind.

The door to your mind connects with the door to God’s mind. Once it opens, the way unfolds to experience God’s feelings. What should you do to enter such a state? You should cultivate your mind. First, examine the state of your mind. It was originally to be at the zero point, but because of the Fall, its direction has deviated by 180 degrees.

Although your mind is supposed to rest at the zero point, because of the Fall, it behaves randomly and unpredictably. Your first task is to return it to the original point. Since we are 180 degrees opposite the zero point, we should struggle to turn around in a clockwise direction. As we move in this direction seeking the zero point, we will feel a minus-like sensation.

Nevertheless, most people are inclined to go counterclockwise. Yet going in that direction they will not succeed, even if they continue for a thousand years.

Everyone must return to the zero point… If your mind is deviated from the path by a certain angle, you should adjust your mind’s direction by the opposite angle and return it to the proper course…

Each of us has a good mind and an evil mind. You may think that your mind is always good, it is not so. As a result of the Fall, human beings are contaminated by Satan’s realm of evil minds.

We struggle to remain in the realm of good minds. For this reason, what is most important is to find the zero point and reach the door to the mind. Learning how to do this is crucial in our life of faith.

Therefore, you should learn to discern when is the right moment to open the door to your mind and how to match it to the door of God’s mind. (76:127-129, February 2, 1975)

Visualizations and Visions

Fog, smoke, sun, fire, wind, Fireflies, lightning, a crystal, a moon— These are the preliminary appearances, Which produce the manifestation of Brahman in yoga. Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.11 (Hinduism)

Buddha then replied to Vaidehi, “You and all other beings besides ought to make it their only aim, with concentrated thought, to get a perception of the Western Quarter. You will ask how that perception is to be formed. I will explain it now. All beings, if not blind from birth, are uniformly possessed of sight, and they all see the setting sun. You should sit down properly, looking in the western direction, and prepare your thought for a close meditation on the sun; cause your mind to be firmly fixed on it so as to have an unwavering perception by the exclusive applica- tion of your thought, and gaze upon it when it is about to set and looks like a suspended drum. “After you have thus seen the sun, let that image remain clear and fixed, whether your eyes be shut or open—such is the perception of the sun, which is the First Meditation. “Next you should form the perception of water; gaze on the water clear and pure, and let [this image] also remain clear and fixed; never allow your thought to be scattered or lost. “When you have thus seen the water you should form the perception of ice. As you see the ice shining and transparent, you should imagine the appearance of lapis lazuli. “After that has been done, you will see the ground consisting of lapis lazuli, transparent and shining both within and without. Beneath this ground of lapis lazuli there will be seen a golden banner with the seven jewels, diamonds and the rest, supporting the ground. It extends to the eight points of the compass, and thus the eight corners [of the ground] are perfectly filled up. Every side of the eight quarters consists of a hundred jewels, every jewel has a thousand rays, and every ray has eighty-four thousand colors which, when reflected in the ground of lapis lazuli, look like one hundred thousand million suns, and it is difficult to see them all one by one… Lodged high up in the open sky these rays form a tower of rays, whose stories and galleries are ten millions in number and built of a hundred jewels. Both sides of the tower have each ten thousand million flowery banners furnished and decked with innumerable musical instruments. Eight kinds of cool breezes proceed from the brilliant rays. When those musical instruments are played, they emit the sounds ‘suffering,’ ‘non-existence,’ ‘impermanence,’ and ‘non-self’—such is the perception of the water, which is the Second Meditation… “Make the images as clear as possible, so that they may never be scattered or lost, whether your eyes be shut or open. Except only during the time of your sleep, you should always keep this in your mind. One who has reached this stage of perception is said to have dimly seen the Land of Highest Happiness (Sukhavati).

“One who has obtained samadhi can see the Land clearly and distinctly: this state is too much to be explained fully—such is the perception of the Land, and it is the Third Meditation.”14 Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 9-11 (Buddhism) Before I could go on my vision quest, I had to purify myself in the oinikaga tipi, the inipi, the sweat lodge… With the buffalo-horn ladle, Good Lance poured ice-cold water over the red-glowing stones. There was a tremendous hiss as we were instantly enveloped in a cloud of searing white steam… Good Lance prayed. He used ancient words, “This steam is the holy breath of the universe. Hokshila, boy, you are in your mother’s womb again. You are going to be reborn.” They all sang two songs, very ancient songs, going way back to the days when we Sioux roamed the prairie. Suddenly I felt wise with the wisdom of generations. These men, my relatives, sang loud and vigorously… The little hut was shaken as if in the grip of a giant hand. It was trembling as a leaf trembles in the wind. Beneath us the earth seemed to move. “Grandfather is here,” said Good Lance. “The spirits are here; the Eagle’s wisdom is here.” We believed it; we knew it. The pipe was passed… Four times we smoked. After the last time, Good Lance told me, “Hokshila, you have been purified; you are no longer a child; you are ready now and made strong to go up there and cry for a dream.”… Our vision pit was an L-shaped hole dug into the ground, first straight down and then a short horizontal passage deep under the roots of the trees. You sit at the end of that passage and do your fasting, anywhere from one to four days… in my case, it was decided that I should stay there alone without food or water for two days and two nights… The first hours were the hardest. It was pitch dark and deathly still. I sat there without moving. My arms and legs went asleep. I could neither hear nor see nor feel. I became almost disembodied, a thing with a heart and wild thoughts but no flesh or bones. Would I ever be able to see and hear again?… I don’t know how long I sat there. All sense of time had left me long ago. I didn’t know whether it was day or night and had not even a way to find out. I prayed and prayed, tears streaming down my cheeks. I wanted water but kept praying. Toward evening of the second day—and this time is only a wild guess—I saw wheels before my eyes forming up into one fiery hoop and then separating again into bright, manycolored circles, dancing before my eyes and again contracting into one big circle, a circle with a mouth and two eyes. Suddenly, I heard a voice. It seemed to come from within the bundle that was me, a voice from the dark. It was hard to tell exactly where it came from. It was not a human voice;

it sounded like a bird speaking like a man. My hackles rose… “Remember the hoop,” said the voice, “this night we will teach you.” And I heard many feet walking around in my small vision pit. Suddenly I was out of my hole, in another world, standing in front of a sweat bath on a prairie covered with wildflowers, covered with herds of elk and buffalo. I saw a man coming toward me; he seemed to have no feet; he just floated toward me out of a mist, holding two rattles in his hand. He said, “Boy, whatever you tell your people, do not exaggerate; always do what your vision tells you. Never pretend.” The man was wearing an old-fashioned buckskin outfit decorated with quillwork. I stretched out my hands to touch him, when suddenly I was back inside my star quilt, clutching my medicine bundle of stones and tobacco ties. I still heard the voice, “Remember the hoop; remember the pipe; be its spokesman.” I was no longer afraid; whoever was talking to me meant no harm. Suddenly before me stretched a coal- black cloud with lightning coming out of it. The cloud spread and spread; it grew wings; it became an eagle. The eagle talked to me: “I give you a power, not to use for yourself, but for your people. It does not belong to you; it belongs to the common folks.” I saw a rider on a gray horse coming toward me, he held in his one hand a hoop made of sage. He held it high… and again everything dissolved into blackness. Again out of the mist came a strange creature floating up, covered with hair, pale, formless. He wanted to take my medicine away from me, but I wrestled with him, defended it. He did not get my medicine. He, too, disappeared. Suddenly somebody shook me by the shoulder. “Wake up, boy.” My father and my uncle had come for me. The two days and two nights were over. Leonard Crow Dog, Sioux Vision Quest (Native American Religions)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
As you become one with all beings, what phenomena will occur?

You will feel something multidimensional that you have never felt before. It will come mysteriously… Once you enter the door to your mind, you will have intuitions and premonitions.

Maybe as you walk down the street, you see a bird flying. All of sudden, you feel the door to your mind opening. You do not realize what is happening, but suddenly you receive a heavenly inspiration that teaches you a lesson.

Maybe the inspiration will hit you when you hear someone talking. The more you practice, the more often you will experience such incidents. The next stage is to enter a dream-like state, not a dream in deep sleep but a state half dreaming and half waking.

The Apostle Paul experienced three levels of heaven in that state, when he did not know whether it was a dream or reality… Do not let such experiences pass casually. Collect them, analyze them logically, and figure out the direction that God is leading you.

Keep a record of your experiences every day and you will see that your most unforgettable visions actually came true; their predictions were one hundred percent accurate.

Maybe in that dream-like state you were speaking with someone about certain things, and later on you actually talk with that person and the things you discussed actually happen. Maybe in your dream you and a friend were singing a certain song.

Later on that person actually sings it. Such phenomena can take place. What do they mean? You entered a spiritual realm, and there your mind was resonating with everything in that realm. Your mind was like a tuning fork, resonating with the vibrations of the cosmos.

If you have such an experience, treasure it as precious… Where does God appear to us? Not in the sky, but in the [original] mind. For this reason, we know that our self and our original mind are two different entities.

If you do not feel it, it is because your original mind has not fully established its existence. Being often dragged about by the body, it cannot stand. Therefore, once your mind is established in its existence and subjectivity, things will change. Once you reach a higher state, during prayer you can communicate with your original mind. Your prayer will resonate with your mind, and you will hear yourself in your mind.

At this stage you will receive messages or warnings about events in your daily life. Religious people should keep a record of these experiences. Whenever you relate with someone, do not be careless or indifferent.

Think, “What can this person teach me?” Have a hungry mind, eager to learn something new from him or her. Also, you should discern right away whether to relate to him or her as your subject partner or as your object partner… Then your mind will be happy and will be automatically attracted to that person.

This is due to the influence of mind waves. Do you believe that every mind emits mind waves? When you meet a butcher, don’t you smell meat? When you meet a fabric merchant, don’t you smell fabric? Just as you can smell a person’s unique body odor, you can also smell the mind’s odor.

Such phenomena happen. In our body, we have a special sense which strives to reach out to everything. It sends out invisible energy waves to locate its object partners. It is true. Even if our mind wants to go its own way, it cannot.

As the pole of a magnet is attracted to the opposite pole, minus is attracted to plus, and plus is attracted to minus. Therefore, the attitude of believers should be that all beings are related to us. Why?

Due to the Human Fall, we lost all relationships—with God, among human beings and with nature; all were entirely severed. In order for us to reconnect our relationships, we should always strive to make these connections ourselves.

If we do not have the attitude to make connections with others, we cannot improve the environment in which we live. For this reason, you should all have a mind to anticipate new things.

When praying in the morning, you should feel, “Today, something good will happen.” But do not just think that good things will just happen. You have to seek for them. This attitude of seeking should be your life of faith. Experience and continual practice bring relationships to life. Yet it all stems from cultivating a dream-like state in meditation.17 (76:129-133, February 2, 1975)

Sometimes we hold all-night prayer vigils, focusing on God and leaving all worldly matters aside. We do not sleep, but try to enter a state beyond sleep. As we cultivate the mind and repress our consciousness, remnants of our flesh mind sink down and our spirit rises to the surface like pure water.

Then although we are tired, we reach a state beyond sleep—a state where we are half sleeping and half awake. We can hear sounds, but not precisely; we can see things, but not clearly.

Dream-like phenomena unfold, and God can instruct us. We hold prayer vigils to disconnect from carnal desires and unify the spirit. Your spirit will be elevated to the point where God may give you a glimpse of your future.

After many of these vigils, you will arrive at a state where in prayer you see visions and hear voices. Your eyes see events both spiritual and earthly; your ears hear sounds both spiritual and earthly. Then you can direct events in the spirit world and on earth. (91:275, February 27, 1977)

At the next level, we can receive oral directions or symbolic visions. Visions require careful analysis. Directions are directly given, but visions require interpretation, and this is where we meet with problems. Heaven often teaches us by words, but sometimes it is through a vision.

For example, you have a vision of a beautiful spring-like day; a pair of deer drinks at a stream and then looks far off at the mountains. That vision is an excellent sign, and you can expect that something good will happen. This is not a coincidence.

God is working to cultivate the field of your mind. Why so? The field of your mind is not flat like glass. It is rough and uneven. It may appear flat, but look closer and you see that its surface is rough.

When the light of Heaven hits a rough surface, it is not reflected but scatters in all directions. That is why revelations are received and interpreted differently.

Therefore, to properly discern Heaven’s guidance, we need to cultivate the various aspects of our mind, piece by piece. This requires our effort. Beyond the stage of revelations as oral directions or symbolic visions, we arrive at the stage of direct revelations in silence.

Like John in the Book of Revelation, you can have spiritual experiences all day long, journeying into the other world and exploring its mysteries.

Eventually, everyone is to be connected to the spirit world, reaching the realm of God’s heart and feelings. Unless you experience such things in your life of faith, you cannot carry out God’s great will on the stage of your own life.

Therefore, I do not trust believers who have not had actual spiritual experiences. Please understand how important it is for you to have these spiritual experiences for cultivating your life of faith… God works when you pray, sending His spiritual power like electricity.

But since this high-voltage energy is stronger than your consciousness, it will lift your consciousness to feel the supernatural. However, when supernatural and divine emotions come inside you, your body, imbedded with fallen nature, rebels against God’s original divinity.

Fallen people do not naturally harmonize with God’s divine energy, no matter how strongly it tries to penetrate. As a result, the energy does not come all at once. Like alternating plus and minus energies, like a spreading sound wave that is sometimes strong and sometimes gentle, the energy comes as a series of vibrations.

They overwhelm your conscious mind and display their spiritual power. That is how God performs His work. When God is working with you all the time like this, what happens? Your body-centered fallen nature is gradually purified, and eventually it will accept God’s indwelling activity naturally and 100 percent.

Then, when God ceases sending His spiritual power in this way, your own spirituality will exceed God’s work in you. At that point God will be with you, and He will teach you without your realizing it. You should reach this level of total purification, after going through all these stages: the dream-like state, oral directions, revelations, and so on.

At this level, your mind will fully direct you. You may want to chastise someone, but your mind will stop you. You may want to say something sweet, but instead you say words of admonishment. Such phenomena can seem incomprehensible.

You need to learn how to adjust to them, otherwise, you could be regarded as an insane person.

You must absolutely experience something like this in your life of faith. People who experience these things in their life of faith, always testing and experimenting, will become strong.

They have first-hand knowledge and do not need to believe what others tell them. Experience and practice are the most necessary elements in our life of faith. (76:133-136, February 2, 1975)