The Difference between Meditation

and Contemplation

In the East - it is clearly pointed out here in
the west, it would appear that meditation and
contemplation are construed to be the same
thing but they are not.  Meditation is the 
dissolving of the me-sense by stilling the
personal mentation by not thinking about all 
the human foibles that are about and quietly,
quietly, quietly allowing that mind to be still
and to allow the One Mind, the Divine Mind,
that Mind which is in Christ, which is the 
Christ Light of it, to announce Itself.  I can say
this very quickly about meditation - meditation
to me is not a void in which no thought 
occurs.
  
Meditation has, for me, become the means by which the still small voice, Divine 
Menentation has, for me, become the means by which the still small voice, Divine Mentation,top-down mentation is clearly heard without all the anguish of a personal or an ego trying to say, "this is what I want, this is what I like, and this is how I want life to unfold, and this is how I want my affairs to be, and I want to be able to do what everybody else does and I want to not be a nothing  I want to be something and all that sort of thing, which is 
self-flagellation, and totally unnecessary, but 
self-flagellation is quite necessary to the 
me-sense because the me-sense must destroy 
itself and it's about the business of doing it. 
 And all we have to do is, as Awareness, just 
view the antics of tangible humanity and what 
it does.  It's about the business of destroying 
itself.   

******

Note:  The above was extracted from a talk 
given by William Samuel.  He drifts off into 
another topic and does not return here but I 
thought the above was noteworthy.

(Excerpt from "A Guide to Awareness and 
Tranquility":
  

TAKE NO THOUGHT: BE STILL AND KNOW – 

ABOUT MEDITATIONS

QUESTION: What is meant by meditation, 

“practicing the silence,” and what is its 

importance?

ANSWER: Many things we read and study, 

many philsophies and teachers of the tell of 

the wonders of meditation and of the benefits 

to be reaped from “practicing the silence”. 

Throughout history we have heard the many 

admonitions to “take no thought”, to enter 

into the silence, to meditate in quietness and 

to “be still and know.” Judging from the letters 

I receive and from the comments of those with 

whom I talk about this matter, many feel that 

they have failed and feel guilty because they 

find themselves unable to “exclude thoughts 

from consciousness.” Many say to me, “To 

take no thought means that I am to become a 

mindless blank—a vacuum! How in the world 

can I stop thinking?”

Understand this: Even though to “stop think-

king as a personal thinker” (as a possessor of 

Life) appears mandatory, nonetheless it is 

effortless! And it does not mean that we must 

become a mental blank. Not at all!

A story has been written that will make this 

clear. It is about a prince who was raised as a 

poor woodcutter, unmindful of his kingly 

identity. For many years, the prince laboured 

and toiled, felling the huge oaks of the forest 

one after another, cutting them into kindling 

to see at the market place. Despite the 

magnitude of the toil, he was barely able to 

provide for his family. The fervent prayers that 

came forth from his agony went unanswered. 

Then one day, in the midst of a great despair 

over his hopeless situation, the lost prince 

was found by his father, the king, who told 

him of his royal identity and kingly heritage. 

AT first, the prince didn’t believe it; it was 

simply beyond his comprehension. But then he 

was taken up into a high mountain by the king 

and shown the entire kingdom that was his 

very own.

There, on the mountain top his heart 

whispered, “It is so!” and finally the prince 

believed. With this, he received the mantle 

and sceptre and was told to commence his 

reign. Then, in great relief, he threw down the 

heavy axe and shouted aloud:


"I have sought Truth all my life, but lo...

 That that I seek, I am!

Every tree in the forest is mine!

And every forest in the land is Thine, oh Mind 

that is Me!

The borrowed axe was borrowed from Myself;

The acres leased were rented from Myself;

The wood was cut for Me alone."

With some reflection, this story should serve 

to make clear that one does not have to stop 

thinking and "empty out his thoughts"  before 

he is enabled to assume the rightful identity.
  
Just as quickly as the prince recognized his 

honest identity and accepted it as his own, he

instantly and effortlessly stopped thinking as

 a woodcutter. But he did not stop having 

thoughts!  He did not become a blank!  HE 

thought consciously as the king, not the 

woodcutter.  His thoughts were effortlessly 

kingly.  He stopped thinking limitedly

narrowly, improverishedly, hungrily, greedily,

angrily and desirously.  Such woodcutter-

thinking was let go without hesitation.  Why?
  
Because he was the prince and always had 

been, not a woodcutter.  Furthermore, it was

 immediately apparent to the prince that

 thinking and acting, as the misidentification

 had resulted in the misidentification's trials 

and tribulations!So what do we do?  We 

accept the assume our rightful heritage,

task because Identity is an already-fact.  But 

we can assume this heritage only as we stop 

playing the role of the woodcutter.   We cannot 

continue to keep consciousness full of 

woodcutter plans and continue to keep 

consciousness full of woodcutter plans and 

calculations, woodcutter fears and phobias, 

woodcutter judgments and thoughts.  How can 

we do that and simultaneously be the New 

Identity? We cannot serve  both.  We must 

"choose this day" one or the other.  Really, 

there is no choice in the matter.  Identity is 

established.  It exists outside the influence of 

a phanthom's personal choice.



So the "silence" we practice is the silence of 

the woodcutter's thinking; a silence of worry 

and concern for what appears to be going on  

in the woodcutter's affairs; a silence from the 

plans and calculations the misidentification in 

order to establish peace where peace already 

exists.  We practice silence from fault finding 

and judgement.

 
This is not to become a mental blank.  This is 

not to sit in a chair and attempt to push out 

every thought, erase every image, silence 

every sound, negate every emotion.  Not at 

all!  Our silence is to sit loose and simply be 

the thoughts of Deity, the thinking of the One 

Mind, the Awareness of beauty and harmony 

which assuredly includes more wonderful 

thougts,  ideas, images and emotions than the 

world has dreamed of!

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