Have you observed how a flower is structured? Many regard flowers as too simple and ordinary to warrant serious study. In the East, however, the simplest things are taken very seriously; the simpler they are, the more attention they receive.
A flower has a pistil and petals, which usually form a cup beneath it. Different flowers vary, sometimes lacking an obvious cup, but their structures pursue the same idea in different ways. I will not discuss those variations now, but return to the common form: a cup of petals.
Throughout Eastern traditions you can find images of saints and Higher Beings, such as the Buddha or Vishnu, seated in a lotus, at the centre of its cup of petals. Why this arrangement rather than another? What does it mean?
Look at a satellite dish. Does it remind you of something? “A flower and its pistil,” you might say, quite correctly. Waves are concentrated at a precise focal point some distance from the dish. In flowers, this is where the corolla and pistil are found, the sacred centre of pollen, or more precisely the seed, bindu, of future life: a substance as infinitely precious as life itself.
Place a human figure in such a cup, and it will lie within the concentrated energy focused by the cup, especially at its higher centres, the chakras.

I do not wish to discuss this at greater length. I have simply placed signposts along your path so that you may move consciously and correctly. If you ask, “Is this the Grail?”, I will not answer, because words are not yet an answer. Instead, I offer a practice through which you can discover the answer for yourself. I hope it will help you take another confident step towards your own Perfection.
This practice has largely been kept secret from ordinary people because of its immense potential to make eternal what is subject to decay. This concerns not only the body, but even more the energetic and spiritual part of the human being. Treat it seriously, practising with due attention and respect.

Description of the Practice

1. Sit upright, cross-legged, in lotus or half lotus. Rest your hands at the lower abdomen, the right palm upon the left, with the thumb tips touching as shown below. Close your eyes and relax fully.
2. Imagine a small golden bowl in the centre of your chest, at anahata. It is a simple bowl without handles or a stem, like a tea bowl, a concave mirror or part of a sphere.
3. Picture its surface as highly polished, reflecting everything clearly like a mirror on both the inside and outside.
4. Expand it until you are sitting at its centre. As all its dimensions increase, its base comes to rest beneath you.
5. Remain like this for a while, perhaps a minute. Hold the image steady: the bowl is no longer expanding, and you sit within it.
6. Then expand the golden bowl again, to the greatest size you can imagine. As it grows, its base moves farther down. You remain some distance above the base, approximately level with the rim, as shown below.
7. Stop expanding the bowl and hold this position in your consciousness for a pleasant length of time, perhaps 10–20 minutes. Imagine, gradually if you wish, that your whole body is made of gold, like a golden Buddha statue. The bowl focuses energy upon you, transforming your body into a golden substance. I will not specify the energy, except to say that it is of a very high order, such as Spirit, Light or Consciousness. The transformation may feel gradual or very rapid; either is possible and appropriate. Do not specify what supports you or the bowl. Everything is suspended in space, in the Infinite Ocean of Energy.
8. Now enlarge both your golden body and the bowl together, to the greatest size you can imagine.
9. Hold the resulting state for a comfortable time, perhaps 10–20 minutes, then slowly open your eyes and finish.

Notes

• The feeling of being within a golden bowl may remain afterwards, which is good. When going to bed, standing in a queue or elsewhere, you may clearly feel the bowl beneath you. Do not dismiss this sensation; it is a positive result. “Beneath you” always means beneath your body. If lying down, the bowl is under your back, not beyond your feet.
• Some may feel a great surge of energy and peace, accompanied by the purest divine ecstasy. Others may find an excellent connection with the Divine and a way to receive information from Higher Dimensions. In any case, this is a path to Perfection, whatever name you give it.
• Notice your dreams as well. They may become vivid, beautiful and full of light, often involving encounters with Higher Beings.
• I also touched on this subject in the meditation White Lotus , which can be combined effectively with this practice.

Practice given on 8 February 2008.
© Author: Sergey Veretennikov (Om Shanti)

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