Turning off the external stimuli and going within we become aware of the All, the Oneness of which we are a part which is the ground of our being. In all our efforts to separate ourselves from our Divine Source and enhance an ego apart from the ground of our being we have forgotten that of which we are not only a part but which is essential to our conscious existence.
The experience of this Oneness is deep bonding and connection with existence. It has been called bliss and some call it Love. In A Course In Miracles, it is written, "The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is you natural inheritance."
The practice of mediation can be described and taught in many ways. The best description is the removal of the blocks to the awareness of love's presence.
In Unitarian Univeralism we covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles the seventh of which is "respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." I would rather say "love for the interdependent web of all existence..." Meditation is about the awareness of love at the base of our being which we often forget as we go about our busy, daily lives.
In our contemporary times, the word that keeps arising to describe the phenomenon of mediation is "mindfulness." In the various contexts in which the word "mindfulness" occurs, the meanings change with subtle distinctions. Most often "mindfulness" means watching, or witnessing our functioning physically, emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally. Practicing mindfulness or witnessing our functioning is very helpful for our overall wellness but is not the same thing that the mystics mean when they describe meditation for meditation is a step beyond mindfulness where even mindfulness does not exist since the ego to watch no longer exists.
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