June 20, 2023
After a while the analytical approach to japa becomes a search, a research. You go deep within and try to locate the sound. Analytically you cannot possibly solve the riddle as to how the sound is produced. Therefore one abandons the logical, rational approach, and engages oneself in inquiry, which is the next stage of meditation. "Where is the sound arising? Where is it heard?" In this search the direction is inward, the mind is one-pointed, and the distraction is ignored.
With intensity of concentration, no distraction of attention is possible and all obstacles fall away. The mind is quiet and peaceful. In that complete mental tranquility, there is an experience of great bliss and joy. This happiness is comparable to what happens in sleep, but one's consciousness is fully alert.
Even Om gets merged with "I am". The Om sound has merged in you and just the feeling "I am" is there. Not very difficult to experience. "Who is this 'I'?" Even the mantra is forgotten. The mantra becomes one with you, part of you, and the inquiry into the self is pursued. "What is experiencing the 'I am-ness'?" The individual has no help at all but through enlightenment, the 'I' explodes and the wave subsides into the ocean. God's grace lifts you out of all this into the ocean of oneness. And that is the end of the quest!