There are three classic paths that lead towards higher consciousness;
they are meditation, concentration and contemplation.
Even though each path is markedly different,
they all lead to the same final goal - absorption.
Meditation is the great passive art
in which all forms, thoughts and feelings
are simply witnessed exactly as they are.
Over time, this continued witnessing
gives way to the natural arising of great inner clarity,
which culminates in an enlightened view of the nature of reality.
Mediation is rooted in the holistic right hemisphere of the brain.
Concentration, on the other hand, is the path of effort.
Through concentration, you strive with your heart, mind and soul
to reunite your inner being with your true higher nature.
Most mystical systems and all types of yoga
are base on the path of concentration.
Concentration is rooted in the left hemisphere of the brain.
Through a process of gradual refinement,
this path too arrives at an enlightened view of the nature of reality.
Right in the middle of these two paths is contemplation.
Contemplation utilizes aspects of both mediation and concentration.
it is rooted in the corpus collossum,
that part of the brain that unites both left and right hemispheres.
Contemplation involves a kind of cellular digestion.
You take the object of your contemplation
and you concentrate your whole being on it
but without any effort or tension.
In a certain sense you play with your mind,
your feelings and your intuition.
It is as though you are holding
the velvet case of a diamond ring in your hands
and continuously running your fingers gently over it,
enjoying the sensation
and suddenly and unexpectedly discover the tiny hidden catch
embedded in the deep folds of velvet.
All of a sudden the case opens and the treasure is revealed.
-Richard Rudd
Contemplation is something of a forgotten spiritual path.
Unlike meditation, it does not completely bypass the mind,
rather it uses the mind in a playful way
to open new inner pathways inside our brain and body...
we can affect subtle changes in our biochemistry...
contemplation is far more than simply thinking about something.
It is the direct imbibing of a universal truth
at a physical, emotional and mental level.
-Richard Rudd
Meditation, Concentration, Contemplation
