Is meditation important for spiritual growth?

Can we progress spiritually if we don’t meditate?

Yes. There’s not one person on this planet that is not progressing spiritually. Just to be alive, you’re progressing. Now the bit that can vary is—how fast do you want to grow?

And how fast has nothing to do with comparison or competition. It’s not a sport. In the history of this planet, spirituality has never been a sport where there’s competition. It’s just a solo, individual wish to grow at a certain rate and remember who we are, our true Self.

Now, if our wish is to grow fast, then meditation is a must, because our true Self is meditation. Not a meditation technique, but the meditation state. Meditation techniques are tools to help bring us to the meditation state—the present moment.

What is spiritual growth?

When we say ‘grow fast’, what does that mean? We know what it looks like when a seedling grows into a big tree, but when we talk about spiritual growth, what are we growing towards?

Well, we tend to identify ourself as the body and the mind, which is very limited. It’s very boxed up—it’s like living in a mansion but you only hang around the bathroom and never use the whole house. But if you ‘grow’ spiritually, your knowledge of yourself expands. You become more open and loving, and start to use more of your potential.

The highest expansiveness is called the meditation state or the supreme state. And if we’re not trying to be in that state, how are we going to grow from the limited body and mind? So the meditation state is critical for spiritual growth.

Meditation and practices important for spiritual growth

Meditation techniques are tools to help bring you to the meditation state, but even if you’re using these tools, there’s no guarantee you are going to experience the meditation state. On the other hand, there are people who use no meditation techniques at all, and they just go directly to the meditation state.

It is not just sitting down and closing your eyes that you can call meditation. Prayer, mantras, and other spiritual techniques are all ultimately to help bring you to the meditation state, or your true Self.

Selfless service is another very powerful method to bring you to the meditation state. Because if you’re kind to someone, it’s going to make you feel beautiful about yourself, and when you feel beautiful about yourself your mind will stop. That chattering that speaks garbage all the time will stop.

So it’s important to strive to be in the meditation state. Every meditator out there should be asking, “Am I in the meditation state when I am meditating?” And, “If I meditate for half an hour, how much of that half an hour am I actually in that meditation state?” You should know that if you want to progress spiritually.

Advice for beginner meditators

Some sage, I think in China, said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” And I know Sir Donald Bradman was not a legendary cricket player the first time he walked onto the pitch. Be clear about that.

So, there’s hope for all of us! Don’t ever feel that you can’t meditate.

It doesn’t matter where you’re at, it’s where you’re going that counts. You could be the worst at something, in any field, but if you keep on taking one step at a time, one step at a time, you could be an expert at it in no time. You’ll be amazed.

It’s like—once I was walking up a local mountain and it seemed to take forever. There were so many steps, you just never got to the top. But I knew if my legs kept on moving, I would get there.

Occasionally when someone was on their way back down I’d ask, “How far is it to go?” They might say, “Oh, probably half an hour.” So then I’d go back to one step at a time, one step at a time. You’d be amazed—suddenly you see, “Oh, I’m nearly there.” As long as you keep walking.

That’s it. There’s no secret.

And what makes us walk? Because we want to get there. We want to get to the top of the mountain to see the panoramic view. We want to have—not a bird’s eye view, but God’s eye view. We want to be on top of the world and see what the world looks like.

Is it important for an advanced spiritual seeker to meditate?

It depends on how advanced. Is it one day before enlightenment? Is it one year before enlightenment? How much self-knowing, how much mind control, does the person have?

There is a point in the meditation journey where present moment awareness—or the here and now, the meditation state, emptiness of mind—becomes very natural in everything you do. It won’t be every second of the day, but it becomes very natural in everything you do. So it doesn’t feel like formal meditation, but it’s still meditation.

In that sense, the person will still do meditation. It just takes a slightly different form—slightly less formal practice, and more mindfulness, awareness, alertness practice.

But a sincere seeker who seriously wants to attain enlightenment will practice all the way until they reach the goal. They will not take the risk. When a marathon runner sees the finish line, they will still push their legs to make sure they keep on kicking forward. They’ll never stop until they cross the line.

Advice for advanced meditators

There are two important things that advanced seekers need to remember. Keep on practicing and keep on checking your progress. You don’t want to be somebody who’s practicing for 20 years and the ‘before and after’ shot is the same. You don’t want to do that.

You should always check.

In our life, we do this kind of checking all the time. When I used to drive from Sydney to Melbourne it often seemed like I’d never get there, and I was always checking the kilometres. Every 20, 30, 50km there’s a sign by the road that says how many kilometres left to Melbourne. So I’d think, “Oh, I’m getting closer.” But I always checked.

So make sure you’re moving forward.

You should practice and check. Make sure that you feel more calm and peaceful. Make sure that when someone is rude to you, you’re more relaxed and calm about it—you’re improving. Make sure that when life doesn’t go your way, like relationship or health problems, you don’t feel down all the time.

Summary

We are all progressing spiritually, but if we want to grow fast it’s important to practice to be in the meditation state.

When you grow spiritually, this means your knowledge of yourself expands. You become more open and loving, and start to use more of your potential. The highest expansiveness is called the meditation state or the supreme state. So the meditation state is important for spiritual growth.

The meditation state can be achieved through various spiritual practices—such as meditation, prayer and selfless service—that help your mind to stop. When your mind stops, you’ll feel peaceful, and when you feel peacefulness you’re in the meditation state.

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