| A Second Life |
|---|
| — This Is Your Last Chance — |
Through "reflection upon the mother" and "reflection upon external dependence," once you begin recognizing the immense energy you yourself have continued releasing into the world, you will gradually come to understand why you were born.
And at the same time, you will begin feeling within your heart the kind of state from which you came into this life.
When you begin reaching that stage, it is time to move beyond the earlier pattern of reflection and enter a new form of reflection through meditation.
By doing so, what you have already begun sensing through your previous reflections will become even clearer.
If you continue practicing meditation — and especially correct meditation — then without fail, this clarity will deepen, and you will begin quietly feeling the joy of simply existing here and now.
Certainly, it is good to spend joyful time together with irreplaceable family members and trusted friends.
It may also be wonderful to enjoy a wide variety of hobbies within a comfortable and stable life.
Reasonably good health can expand your world, and moderate stimulation may invigorate your spirit and create a positive rhythm in life.
And indeed, many people genuinely feel they are savoring the joy of life within such circumstances.
That is perfectly fine.
But it is not the highest thing.
Because through such experiences alone, one can never truly understand why one was born, nor from what state one received this physical body.
As long as this remains unknown, the joy one believes oneself to be savoring cannot truly be called real joy.
To speak plainly:
When I say, "Life is joy," the word "joy" does not refer to something so small.
Instead, I would ask you to set such things aside, at least for a while, close your eyes quietly, and spend time reflecting upon the thoughts and feelings you have uncovered through your ongoing reflections.
Especially, quietly recall the feelings you directed toward your mother.
As you do so, your mother may begin appearing within your mind.
What kind of expression does she have?
Is she scolding you?
Does she look frightening?
Or perhaps…
Is she smiling gently at you?
Is there not a warm and gentle mother there — one whose presence makes you want to call out "Mother," one you wish to run toward?
And what about yourself, calling out to her?
Perhaps you have returned to the time when you were held in her arms.
And as you rest there peacefully, perhaps your heart feels something like this:
"There is nothing here…
and yet somehow, I feel happy.
Was this what it felt like when I was a baby?"
Please try creating moments like this within your daily life.
The mother who physically gave birth to you may now feel distant within your memory.
Perhaps you have long since surpassed your mother in terms of life experience or social achievement.
Perhaps you are now at an age where you yourself have children and grandchildren, and only now are beginning to understand the greatness of your mother.
Holding such thoughts gently within you, continue practicing the simple act of quietly closing your eyes and thinking of your mother.
If you have even faintly begun recognizing that the thoughts and emotions you have uncovered through reflection are the very energies that have moved your physical life, then by continuing this practice, you will gradually begin seeing that no matter what kind of mother stood before you, it was ultimately you yourself who had been mistaken.
You yourself who had been foolish.
By quietly closing your eyes and reflecting — in other words, through meditation — the reflections you have practiced until now begin truly coming alive.
And precisely because of that, many things begin revealing themselves within your heart.
Meditation means closing the five senses and beginning to feel the world of consciousness within yourself.
It means learning to trust the world resonating within you without relying upon the eyes, ears, and other physical senses.
For people accustomed to living with their senses constantly directed outward, simply closing them inward may already feel difficult.
But if there is even a part of you questioning how you should truly live, then please approach this practice sincerely and positively.
However, there is something extremely important you must understand here.
What I am describing is fundamentally different from what society commonly calls meditation.
That is why I deliberately call it:
Correct Meditation
It is entirely different from meditation for relaxation, meditation for attracting power, or healing practices.
And this distinction is precisely the point most people struggle to understand.
The word may be the same.
But the substance is not.
So what is different?
At this point, please remember the framework presented earlier.
Its conclusion was this:
I am heart.
I am feeling.
And the essence of human beings is consciousness.
Yes — the true nature of humanity is consciousness itself.
Human beings exist as energy, as vibration.
And energy has both positive and negative forms.
Likewise, vibration can be bright or dark.
Human beings are constantly emitting vibration.
Constantly releasing energy.
However, humanity currently exists based upon the world of form rather than upon the world of consciousness, which is our true nature.
And because of this, we exist within a profound contradiction.
Where contradiction exists, the energy becomes negative.
The vibration becomes dark.
Therefore, the vibrations flowing from human beings who base themselves upon the world of form are dark, and the energy they emit is negative.
Then what kind of energy lies behind meditation for healing, meditation for attracting power, or spiritual healing practices?
What kind of vibration flows from those worlds?
Ultimately, everything depends upon what kind of energy one is connected to and what kind of vibration one is emitting.
Yet at present, very few people pay attention to such things.
Since most people have not even realized that they themselves are energy and vibration, naturally they do not question what kind of energy they are connected to or what sort of vibration they are producing.
Most simply think:
"Oh, meditation? Yes, I have tried meditation before."
And that is all.
Similarly, I have heard that some religious groups also practice what they call "reflection upon the mother."
Though I do not know the details, it may involve touching the deep love of the mother, shedding tears, and apologizing for one's foolishness.
But here again, the same issue arises.
What is meant by "mother"?
What is meant by "self"?
And what serves as the foundation?
That is the crucial point.
Perhaps people cry, feel emotionally cleansed, and experience temporary relief.
And if the heart truly became bright and free from obstruction, then naturally the vibration flowing from it should also become bright.
Yet why does darkness remain?
In reality, almost no one examines this point.
That is why caution is necessary.
Even with all these cautions, meditation remains an extremely important practice.
No — in the end, nothing remains except meditation.
And not merely meditation, but correct meditation.
Without correct meditation, truth cannot be known.
And without it, the true nature of oneself can never be understood.
Because people do not know this, humanity continues endlessly directing its heart outward.
We constantly seek something outside ourselves to provide joy and happiness.
Because this exists…
Because that person exists…
Relying entirely upon the five senses, we have become incapable of living any other way than continuously seeking fulfillment outside ourselves.
This does not mean, however, that meditation is about entering some state of complete emptiness or thoughtlessness.
In truth, such a state does not even exist.
Human beings are constantly emitting energy.
Therefore, the inner world of every person must always be connected to some form of energy.
Even when people claim to be "empty," their hearts are still directed somewhere — whether toward a god, a Buddha, cosmic power, or something else.
Their consciousness remains connected to some world of consciousness — and more specifically, to energies of external dependence.
That is why what matters is not meditation itself, but correct meditation.
Meditation in which the direction of the heart is aligned properly.
And what, then, is the correct direction?
It is nothing mysterious.
It is the warmth of the mother that you come to know through "reflection upon the mother."
It is the world you entrusted yourself to as an infant in your mother's arms.
A world of peace.
A vast, warm, gentle world that embraces everything.
There was nothing there.
And yet within that nothingness, you felt the happiness of being able to entrust your entire being completely.
You absolutely remember that world — that world of vibration.
Even if your memory does not, the consciousness that is truly you remembers.
Therefore, if you stop interfering with your own heart's ability to turn in the correct direction, that world of vibration will begin resonating within you.
It is a bright vibration.
And everyone has known that bright world before.
Because we were born from our mother's womb while feeling the joy of existing within it.
And yet humanity has fallen so deeply that people can no longer even distinguish vibration itself, mistaking dark energies for healing or power.
Through "reflection upon the mother," fallen consciousness finally begins recognizing how it has continuously rejected the world of warmth.
And gradually it becomes clear that the more warmth was rejected, the greater the loneliness became — and that this loneliness then attracted even more energies of external dependence.
A tragic cycle.
If you calmly examine where your thoughts are directed throughout daily life and what kind of feelings you continually use, then this structure becomes unmistakably clear:
The heart that rejected true warmth became filled with loneliness, and in order to soothe that loneliness, it began seeking false warmth through negative energies.
I do not need you merely to understand these things intellectually.
I need them to resonate within your heart.
Otherwise, this cycle cannot be broken.
Originally, we existed within bright vibration.
Why, then, have we become beings capable of emitting only dark vibration?
There is only one way to discover the answer:
Continue reflection and correct meditation until your own heart reveals it.
That is why we are born.
So then —
Do you still believe that irreplaceable family members, trusted companions, comfortable living, hobbies, and moderate health alone can bring true joy and happiness?
Can you honestly say that such things alone allow you to truly savor the joy of being alive?
Please begin recognizing how shallow such happiness and joy actually are when one declares: