“If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes things worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things — that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more.” -Steve Jobs
I started meditation about 8 years ago. And now I can confidently say that meditation changed my personality. There was not much of a difference in the first few years but I continued as a part of my daily routine to add a “tick” in my “To Do” list. My personality started changing once I started reaching deeper into my consciousness level. Yes, meditation changed my life forever. The state where you are not aware of yourself as a part of your body but as a part of the superconscious entity. The state where “Thoughts” do not have any place to tell you the difference between the good and the bad of this relative world. The state where you are a part of the absolute and do not relate to the consequences of the changes of this relative world. Once you become used to entering that state regularly, your personality changes drastically. You become aware of the fact that if thoughts are not there, every living being in the world is the same. There is no difference between any two living beings in the state of super consciousness. Everybody becomes a part of the absolute. Somehow, I am feeling a bit awkward using the word “Super Consciousness”. It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. I don’t know why. Hence, I will prefer to call it, the state of altered consciousness.
The first change that it brought in my personality was the submission of ego. I, no longer enjoy ego massage and I, no longer notice people manipulating their personalities in order to prove themselves different from others. I do not fight my ego, I do not suppress my ego or I do not control my ego. For me, it is not a trait to react. I just don’t feel its presence. For me, the ego is neither a negative nor a positive trait. It just doesn’t exist for me.
I do not carry any burden or stress in my day-to-day daily life because, although I know that I am a part of this relative world, still I see all the action as a third person and enjoy the whole action as if I am watching a movie. Even if I am living in this relative world, I always subconsciously know that I am part of the absolute.
Fear of death has completely disappeared. Because I know that I am not this body. I am using this body as a vehicle only. Fear of death has transformed into the curiosity of knowing what awaits after this life.
Finally, let me write about the sheer experience of being in the meditative stage. I will give you an example. I normally do my meditation in my library which is not part of our house but it is on the other side of our back garden. Normally the area is quite peaceful and when I am alone at the library, I hardly hear any sound. As I start my meditation, all of a sudden the quietness appears to be disappearing, and the sound of the wind, chirping of the birds, etc. gets amplified. I started noticing these sounds which I wasn’t just a few minutes ago. Further, as I slip into deep meditation, the place resumes quietness again. All the sounds surrounding me start to disappear again. Although, we know that our surrounding mirrors our state of mind, its real manifestation is quite fascinating.