Sleeping Beauty is a popular fairy tale. Parents often read aloud the story of the enchanting beauty who fell into a deep slumber and the handsome prince who awakened her with a kiss.
We too are sleeping. Sleeping Beauty slept for a hundred years, but we have been sleeping for eons. She was sleeping at the physical level, but we are sleeping at the level of the soul. As a woman saint of India, Sahjo Bai, has said in a verse: "O Sahjo, the trumpet of our breathing sounds day and night./ The fool is lost in deep slumber while those who are/ awake do not rest even for a second".
Our soul is like that of Sleeping Beauty, lying dormant for ages. It requires the kiss of a prince to awaken us. That kiss will not awaken us at the level of the mind and body, but it will rouse us spiritually.
What does it mean to be asleep spiritually? We presume that awareness of this physical world means that we are awake; but even scientists and doctors are recognising that there is more to creation than earth and other planets, and the stars we see through a telescope.
They are discovering that our soul can enter into realms that are teeming with life and experiences that we never dreamed existed. As long as we remain unaware of them, we are asleep. Our soul is awakened when it experiences these inner realms.
How can we wake up?
Fortunately, experiences of the Beyond are not limited to those who have near-death experiences. There are easier methods like meditation, contemplation and prayer. To learn this technique, we need someone who has journeyed into the Beyond who can teach us how to try it ourselves.
Those who have journeyed into the Beyond have left records of their experiences. These inner universe travellers are saints, mystics, masters and prophets. They have shown the way.
Meditation is concentration. It can be practised by anyone of any age. We withdraw our attention from the outer world and focus it within to get in touch with God. The light and sound of God leads us from physical consciousness to higher consciousness.
Saints and mystics describe the soul as a drop of God. By bringing the soul to the point of the body called the seat of the soul, it contacts the streams of light and sound, the creative vibration that emanated from the Creator, and brought Creation into being.
It created the physical universe, earth, human beings and all forms of life. The Sikhs call it Naam, the Muslims refer to it as Kalma, the Sufis call it Baang-e-Asmani, the Greeks call it Logos, the Hindus call it Nad, Bani, Jyoti or Sruti. The process by which the soul is brought into contact with the current of light and sound reverberating within is called meditation.
Meditation is taught to us by a living master. He helps us focus into the Light and Sound of God. He helps us focus our attention at the seat of the soul, thus enabling our inner eye and inner ear to open, so that we see the Divine Light and hear the Harmony of Harmonies within. He shows us how to rise above body consciousness and explore the regions of Light.
It is the Living Master who awakens us to God. We are all Sleeping Beauties until this awakening takes place.