'A kind of waking trance I have frequently had quite up from boyhood, when I have been all alone. This has generally come upon me through repeating my own name two or three times to myself silently till all at once, as it were out of the intensity of consciousness of individuality, the individuality seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being and this is not a confused state bur the clearest of the clearest, the surest of the surest, the wisest of the wisest, utterly beyond words, where death was a laughable impossibility, the loss of personality If so it were) seemingly but the only true life. I am ashamed of my feeble description, have I not said the state is utterly beyond words.'
This wakefulness Tennyson had by remembering his own name two or three times, quite calmly; this was, as it were, dipping into his own self, the soul. If we but dip in our source - God - buy constant remembrance, losing our own selves into the whole, how much greater consciousness and wakefulness full of intoxication we would have. We can well consider all this. Thank you for your patient hearing."
(Kirpal Singh. "The Way of the Saints - Simran". Sant Bani Press 1976/1993. Pg. 131)
This short comment by Kirpal Singh is a wonderful illustration of how Simran - repetition - is not confined simply to practitioners of Sant Mat, or any eastern meditation. Rather, it is something we all do, because we are all constantly engaged in inner dialogue. And here, Kirpal shows us how a great western writer like Alfred Lord Tennyson understood this basic principle. By simply taking control of his inner dialogue and one-pointedly focusing it on his own name, his attention coalesced into single-pointed focus and took him into a waking trance where his temporal self disappeared and he was immersed in higher consciousness, merging into the over-consciousness.
This is actually a very good exercise any of us can do. So I suggest that today, find some time where you can sit quietly and simply repeat your own name a few times - slowly, with your eyes closed, your attention focused gently forward into the eye center - and see what happens. Relax and allow your attention to first focus, and then expand into the Overself and the Spiritual Current. Remain in this state for 15-20 minutes, paying gentle attention to anything you see, feel or hear, and then proceed throughout your day and evening.
I hope you have a beautiful day,
In the LightSong of Eternal Love,
Michael Turner
http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org - Blog