Discipleship of the Atma - A Guided Contemplation

Then what we'll do is use our Atma Darshan Samadhi (ADS) prayer a few times, five to ten times, so that we use the prayer to just settle ourselves, to come to our heart, and we truly ask for the Atma to guide us in this contemplation so that the depth, the beauty, and the instruction of it reveals itself to us. For those of you who are new, you can find the prayers on the channel, but today you can use 'Ram' if you want.

For the first few times, we'll use our breath. We will take the incoming breath with 'Lord Ram' (or 'Lord Shri Ram'), the outgoing breath with 'Incarnation of God.' Then the incoming breath 'Have mercy on me,' the outgoing breath 'A sinner.' Incoming breath 'Bless my heart,' outgoing breath 'With the light of spirit.' It will become natural; don't worry. As you learn the prayer, it will become natural to you. Then incoming breath 'Ram Ram Ram Ram,' outgoing breath 'Ram Ram Ram.' Like this, we just center ourselves with the prayer and truly request for our heart to be blessed with the light of Atma. We can do this a few times.

Very good. Keep your eyes closed and just invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit, the presence of Atma within. Carry an intention to behold its presence and to be open to its guidance. The Atma is His presence; it is the presence of God Himself. Let's request the Atma to guide us in this contemplation. We must be very simple in our words; we must not get into any drama or any fanciful Shakespearean ideas. Just simply talk like you are talking to your best friend.

A very beautiful part of the contemplation is to allow the Atma to guide us to a holy guide—either itself, because all holy guides are a representation of the Atma itself, or the Atma could bring us to communion with God Himself or any representation of God. It could be Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, Hanuman. You will be guided in your heart to make a request to any of these, or any of the saints and sages: St. Teresa of Avila, Tulsidas Ji, Mirabai, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Invoke their presence. Feel that they are with you, sitting right there with you in your heart. Taste their presence with the innocence of a child.

If your mind is distracting you, gently return to your heart, to the holy temple in your heart where this contemplation is happening. No forcing, just gently. You'll get used to this process. Request the sage, request the form or formless God—whatever the spirit has sent as the holy guide for this contemplation—request their guidance to understand what it means to 'Stay with me,' to stay with God, to remain with Him, and to 'Watch and pray.' If any of the phrases are particularly confusing or attractive to you, focus on that. Make the request: 'Please make this possible, that I can stay in God's presence, I can remain here with Him, I can watch and not get distracted, be vigilant and pray.' This is contemplative prayer. We remain here in the holy presence of God, guided by an aspect of God or the formless presence itself. For five to ten minutes, just remain in this communion with your presence.

During this time, you may be guided to a deep silence. It may seem like the mind has stopped. Don't try to answer the question; don't try to make your request forcefully. In that quiet, in that silence, everything is taken care of. Or you may find that your prayer is repeating itself; that is also completely fine. You just have to remain in the holy presence of your guide. If answers or revelations are coming, then that is good too.

Very good. Now bring your attention to a deep, deep gratitude. A deep 'thank you' from your heart to your guide, to the Atma within, and to God Himself. The Satguru presence, the Atma, is the Satguru. Thank Him deeply for this opportunity to contemplate. End again with a few rounds of the ADS prayer with your breath. Incoming breath 'Lord Ram,' outgoing 'Incarnation of God,' incoming 'Have mercy on me,' outgoing 'A sinner,' incoming 'Bless my heart,' outgoing 'With the light of spirit,' incoming 'Ram Ram Ram Ram,' outgoing 'Ram Ram Ram.' Repeat this a few times.

Some of you may find that you're in 'no-mind,' and some of you may find that you're in a deep Samadhi. Don't rush out of it. Just when it feels natural, then you can open your eyes. Then what you can do is just take a few minutes and, if there are some reflections coming on the contemplation, you can make a note of them in your notebook. Your notebook can be very private to you. Your writing process is also part of the contemplation, so allow yourself to be guided by your heart, by the spirit. In my notes, I usually call them 'heart-speak,' but you can pick whatever name you like.

So, you're getting a sense of the process. Start with the ADS, invoke the presence of the spirit, the guidance of the Atma. If you feel the Atma is guiding you towards a guide that you revere, then request their help. Just feel their presence is with you in your heart. I know the mind may resist this very strongly, but trust me on this: in this discipleship, guided by the holy guide in the light of the Atma itself, your divine classroom is taking place in your heart temple. You are communicating with God, attempting to behold the presence of God and to be held by Him.

Then, end the process with gratitude. Have no judgment about what happened—whether the mind was too active and you found it difficult, or it was blissful, or you were in a deep Samadhi and you 'left the world.' The outcome is not important; it is the gratitude which is important. Be grateful for this opportunity that God has created for you to be closer to Him. Then end with a few rounds of the Atma Darshan Samadhi prayer. The breath can act like the connecting fiber between both the realms, the inner and the outer. You use it to go within, and you use it as a bridge to come out as well. That is contemplative prayer. All of these things are the same, where you are guided by the Atma within. Is the process clear? Any questions, feel free to ask.