Deepening Meditation: Who Am I?

                        So first relax and allow your body to relax.  See your pleasant face and tell your mind you are taking some time for yourself.  Then you feel veerum on your breath and build the rhythm of your breath within you.  Slow down and the do brim and let the energy come up.  The energy, Which was accumulated and engaged at the lower desires, is lifted upward.  Your attention is raised to higher levels.

             Then you are ready to begin to use the mentram Kobe,  Ko means “who” and bum, means “I”.  To remove pretension, ask kebum, “Who am I?” very gently and slowly with a relaxed feeling, you ask this question.  Probe into yourself.  It is an investigation, a confrontation with yourself.  Try to see who you really are.  Ask yourself if you are what others think you are.  Examine what you think you are.  See if that is not projection of what you want to be.  Ask,  “Why do I want to be that?  Is it my idea or someone else.

             Then you repeat kobum.  Let the investigatin within yourself continue.  Don’t repeat it over and over without pausing to ruminate.  Tell the mind to come here and  find out who you are. 

             Man’s mind can take him everywhere.  You may be sitting for meditation and your mind will take you to the Eiffel Tower for tea.  It also takes you around your own environment: do you have the right job?  The clothes you like? The right place to live?  The mind drags you through all your different hang-ups and feelings.

             You must ask,  “For what am I living?  Is there really happiness in the things I live for o r am I putting the happiness in?”  Objects don’t hold happiness.  You put your happiness in them.  It is a sugar coating, which you have applied, it is your imagination.  Because of your imagination the things appear sweet, without it they appear bland.  When you go into kobum meditation, you are not just imagining, you are knowing.

             Two things happen in this meditation.  In the first stage your mind will investigate.  When it becomes tired, it will become calm, quiet; it will give up the race.  This is the second stage, when you are able to reach your real self.  To be with yourself is bliss.

             When your mind starts working for someone else, worrying about the job or the boss or an old friend, or longing for something youdon’t have, then say kobum.  Who am I?  I want to be with myself under all circumstances.  Whatever comes let it come.  You are open for beautiful gifts.  If they don’t come, it does no upset you.  Still you are you.  You are not shutting off the world of friends, but you are not always craving or running after things and you are not unhappy because you don’t get those things.

             You begin watching every moment.  You don’t let anyone distrub your peace.  You watch so that your words don’t disturb anyone else.  Watch so that no one takes your precious time in vain and you don’t waste anyone else’s time.  Don’t allow anyone to put negative thoughts in you and watch so that you do not put negative thoughts in anyone else.

             Meditation makes you so aware of yourself that you feel your own words; you hear the sound, the tone, the gesture, the impact.  If you hear that your tone is harsh, ask yourself:  “If someone spoke to me that way, would I like it?”  That person is a human being.  You are creating pain for someone.  Do you have some human feeling for the other person?

             With this approach our relations become sweet.  Many friends will come to you because they will see that your eyes, words, feelings and actions are very peaceful.  They will see that when someone tries to hurt you, you don’t take notice.  You say, “I don’t want your abuse,” and you leave it behind.

             This wayyour whole life changes.  You become true to yourself, you have no pretension.  If you don’t like something, you have the right to say,  “No,  don’t like this.”  But you say it politely and gently, not in a curt way.  There is a no need to be a hypocrite; simply say,  “Thank you, but for me it does not build harmony or peace.”  Your words are not harsh because they are not in reaction.

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