By: Jim Ryan
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.sundayguardianlive.com/19-january-2025/
Dated: January 21th, 2025

Meditation – the inner pilgrimage to God’s unlimited ocean   

Water has long been worshipped and revered, prayed to and used in ritual and rites in all beliefs to bring benefit and blessings. As a result, it has been given the ultimate epithet of a divinity, a provider and changer for all man’s needs.

It is probably no surprise then, when we discover that 80% of the Earth’s surface is water and that our bodies are 66% water, that it plays such a dominant position in our attempts at understanding ourselves and our world, especially through analogy and story.

Over time, it has been recognized that man has dislocated himself from his subtle, spiritual form and nature and become embroiled and trapped in the world of materialistic form and physical identity. As a result, he has found himself stranded on the stony shores of limited spiritual experience and awareness, discovering that most solutions that are attempted, are just empty and meaningless.

So it was to the natural worlds, especially, to the flowing waters of seas and oceans, rivers and lakes that he turned, reminding and reviving the dormant memory of the lost spiritual worlds and experiences of the past.

The calm stillness of the placid lake, subtly drawing the mind back to its former nature of peaceful tranquility. The flowing royal river, bringing upliftment, a help to bring newness, enthusiasm and new attitudes. And finally, the great ocean vast and mighty, triggering memories, reminding us in so many ways of the unlimited form and power of God.

It is through meditation that we can encapsulate our experiences, helping to make sense of these spiritual echoes. More than most, the limited, physical ocean reminds us of the subtle, unlimited ocean that is God. A fullness, a power, an energy so immense that the soul in connection is able to be cleansed and purified of all its artificial forms, negative natures and attitudes. Thus, through God’s pure vibrational power, the soul is empowered to know itself and others in their true forms and ultimately, to experience the close relationship of God’s pure and unlimited love.

Jim Ryan has a background in education.
 He is an author and a Brahma Kumaris Rajyoga teacher,
 based at the Global Retreat Centre, Oxford, UK.