VILASINI KUMAR shares the joy and benefits of reading to complement her meditative practice.
Books on spirituality have always held my interest. I have a shelf full of them and have the habit of pulling one out at random.
Is it random? I wonder.
I pick the one that calls me and read parts of it. It is as if something guides me to pick up a particular book that is right for me at that moment and prompts me to open a certain page. I then stay engrossed for a while.
If meditation is direct food for my soul, reading books on spirituality sends supportive vibrations to my core. Reading the insights and experiences of others always takes me deeper within myself. I experience many ‘aha’ moments of supposed realizations. Truly, they open my mind and heart.
Books have a way of transmitting. Don’t you feel a flow of energy just holding them, reading or scanning through them? That is enough to feel a sense of joy, happiness and fulfillment. Reading is like listening; the words of my Guides, who are constantly merged with their higher selves, have a way of radiating and entering my heart. In fact, I have often felt like I am hearing them speak directly to me.
At times, reading reinforces and clarifies my understanding of things. Often I find that the same text communicates different meanings at different times, maybe depending on the state of my mind and consciousness at that point in time.
I have a habit of noting down quotes from a particular book at the end of my morning meditation – those words that communicate the right thing at the right time. For example:
“It is the vacuum in the heart that lets grace flow in. By calming one’s thoughts, a true heart to heart can be established. We can settle in and do our work.”
I read this on a day when my mind was restless and I was not able to go into a deep meditative state. At another time:
“Read again our teachings. With the passing years, you will discover things that had not struck you on the first reading: ‘the truth’ will appear to you. You will be amazed to realize that previously you had missed the very thing that you discover now. You will be able to see from this a sign of your progress and the distance you have come.”
Reading enriches my inner world. Does it for you too?
Article by VILASINI KUMAR
