Meditations on the Mahāvākyas

This meditation is from Deepak Chopra’s the secret of healing, meditations for
transformation and higher consciousness. There’s only one secret to healing, and that
is enlightenment.

Enlightenment means going beyond your ego-encapsulated identity and realising that
you are the universe, manifesting through a human nervous system and becoming self-
aware.
When you feel unbounded and free, you will begin to heal yourself.

The word healing is related to the word holi,

healing is the return of the memory of wholeness.
When you are whole, you are holi, and you’re healed.
When you are whole, you also lose the fear of death because you recognise that death
is a creative opportunity to recreate yourself, so the secret to healing is actually the
secret to enlightenment.

The wisdom traditions say the best way to reach enlightenment is through yoga, the
yoga of meditation. This particular meditation is for you to recite the Mahāvākyas, which
means big ideas, or cosmic ideas. (At first you may not understand them, so may need
to read them over again.) According to the great wisdom traditions of the Vedanta, as
you recite these ideas they cause a shift in your consciousness and everything
changes.

These sutras activate self-repair mechanisms, because they’re revealing to us their true
identity. Self-regulation and self-repair is healing. Very spontaneously the way you think
changes, your emotions and feelings move to a higher level, your personal relationships
move to a higher level. There is greater power of intention and everything that you
intend becomes much more powerful. There is more freedom of choice, more
creativity, we also find ourselves experiencing loving kindness, compassion, joy,
equanimity or peace of mind. All this happens very spontaneously, because we’re
getting in touch with that part of ourselves that is inseparable from all that exists.

As you recite the sutras, put your attention in your body, be aware of your heart, your
heart centre, or put your attention anywhere in the body where you need healing. Keep
your eyes soft and just listen to the words. You recite and listen to these sutras
regularly, because what you’re doing is seeding your consciousness with words that
come from the universal domain and even though you may not understand these
words in the beginning, they are seeds in your own inner being and when seeds are left
alone in that inner being, they wait for the right season and they blossom into
manifestation. In every one of these words is the promise of thousands of forests. So
take it easy, put your awareness inside and listen.
Sutra 1

I am space
I am the sun
I am the directions
Above and below
I am the gods
I am the demons
I am all beings
I am darkness
I am the earth
I am the ocean
I am the dust, the wind, the fire
In all this world
I am omnipresent

How can there be anything but me?

Me, the spirit
You will rise beyond joy and sorrow

The world exists in me

The self
The infinite consciousness
Even as a reflection seems to exist in the mirror
I am the fragrance in flowers
The radiance in light,
Even in that radiance, I am the experience

Every mobile or immobile being that exists in this universe,

I am their supreme truth, or consciousness
Free from conceptualisation

I am the very essence in all things in the universe

Just as liquidity exists in water
Even so, as the energy of consciousness,
I exist in all that exists

When we are established in being,

The mind, body and senses are play things
Purity, total fulfilment of all desires,
The absence of cravings, friendliness to all,
Truthfulness, wisdom
Tranquillity and blissfulness
Sweetness of speech
Supreme magnanimity
Lustrousness
One-pointedness
Realisation of cosmic events
Fearlessness
Absence of divided consciousness;
These are the constant experiences of one who is established in Being

Sutra 2

They see the truth who sees there is no division at all

between the self and the other
and that the one infinite light of consciousness exists as the sole reality

Whatever is in the mind, is like a city in the clouds

The emergence of this world is no more than thoughts manifesting themselves

Be firmly rooted in the non-existence of your ego-self

It came into being through ignorance and delusion
When we lose this false identity,
We will realise our essence as the supreme being, or infinite consciousness
and we will be freed from all conditioning, all limitations

The universe is but a long dream,

the ego sense and the fancy that there are others
are as real as dream objects
The sole reality, is the infinite consciousness
Which is omnipresent, pure, tranquil,
Omnipotent

He sees the truth who sees that the non-dual consciousness which dwells in all beings
is omnipotent and omnipresent
When bondage is non-existent, surely liberation is false too

All these worlds are no more than modifications of consciousness

In the infinite consciousness, we have created each-other, in our fancy
We create worlds, as the natural expression, of our own being

Hallucinations become reality when experienced by many

Even as a statement made by very many people, is accepted as true
When these are incorporated into our own lives, they acquire their own reality
After all, what is the truth concerning the things of this world, except how they’re
experienced in our own consciousness?

Enlightened beings, though they are constantly engaged in activity, do nothing

The enlightened being’s inner state is;
Even though I’m constantly engaged in activity, I do nothing;
All happens, living happens,
There’s nothing to cling to, or grasp
Nothing to renounce, or run away from
Sutra 3

What is the duration of a lifespan in eternity?

This lifespan of ours is but a trivial moment
Eternity stretches before and after it
Existence is the infinite unbounded consciousness
A life span, is just a single thought in that consciousness

That which is known as a person is nothing other than the self-experiencing of the
infinite, in truth it is the magnificent and infinite ocean of consciousness,
in which numerous universes appear and disappear, like ripples, and waves

Just as the silk worm spins its cocoon and is caught in it

So do humans, weave the web of their own concepts
And are caught in them

When we turn away from the notions of high and the world, we are liberated
The notion of I am this, is the soul bondage here

If the mind is elsewhere, the taste of food that is being eaten is not really experienced
If the mind is elsewhere, we do not see right in front of us

The suns are born of the mind, but not the other way around

When the mind ceases its agitation, the good and noble qualities blossom
There is peace and purity of heart
We do not fall into doubt or error
There is friendship, which promotes the happiness of all

Worries and anxieties dry up

When the darkness of ignorance is dispelled
The inner light shines brightly

Mental distractions and distress, cease

just as the ocean becomes calm, when the wind ceases to agitate its surface
Infinite consciousness alone, shines

Just as space is unaffected, and untouched by the clouds that float in it

This infinite consciousness is unaffected and untouched by the universe that appears in
it
Just as light is not seen except through the refracting agent,
even so the infinite consciousness is revealed through these various bodies

It is essentially nameless and formless

but names and forms are associated to its reflection

When many candles are kindled from one another,

It is the same flame that burns in all candles
Even though the one absolute truth appears to be many,
When you contemplate the unreality of this diversity,
You are freed from sorrow