“When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.”
– Stephen Richards
 
Kabir – The couplet
सुमिरन किया तब जानिया, तन मन रहा समाय ।
आदि अंत मध्य एक रस, भुला कबहु न जाय ||

Transliterated:
Sumiran Kiya Tab Jaaniya, Tan Man Raha Samaay |
Adi Ant Madhy Ek Ras, Bhula Kabhahu Na Jaay||

Translation:
When I meditated right, I found, a state where body and mind were dissolved |
Beginning, end and the middle were all the same, a bliss I will never forget||

My understanding:

As we begin meditation, the intrusive self immediately begins its process of disturbing the concentration – with the simple repeated question – “Am I there”? But the question deserves a response, even if the disturbance is unwelcome and distracting. How do we know we are there – that we have achieved the purpose of meditation?

A first crossroad we arrive at – light or darkness – tends to confuse us with the thought that this is our destination. If we move on, concentrate further, we are then presented with other distractions such as pleasant flavors, pleasing scents and delicate textures. Further down, we may even be treated to intensely captivating music. All of these are but distractions, side effects of starting the journey on the right path.

If the side attractions are thus, how much better can the goal be? It is indeed much better. For at some point the sense of “me” (ego) dissolves completely, and all senses merge into a formless pool of nothingness. Here there is no beginning, end, or now – there is no time, and there is no direction. There is no cause or result. There is just the sense of being, of existence at a very different space. There is only bliss (not joy, but true bliss). Not something that can be explained, only experienced.

So gently, gently, stay focused, knowing that bliss will come.