Reflecting the mesmerizing richness of India’s religious lore, there are many twists and turns in Mircea Eliade’s Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.[1] For example, he goes through myriad forms of yogic meditation. The same holds for the chapter dedicated to yoga techniques in Buddhism. It is thus a joy to come across the following quote concerning the highest achievement in meditation described in an ancient Buddhist treatise. As an adept reaches the summit of consciousness, the following thought comes to his mind: “To be thinking at all is the inferior state. ’Twere better not to be thinking.”[2] And so the adept abandons all thought. Enchanted by the unexpected twist in the narrative, I almost shout with joy. As it happens, this is the only form of meditation I regularly practice myself. My eyes closed, my mind is completely blank. ’Tis better not to be thinking, the Buddha be praised.

Footnotes

1. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009 (first published in 1954).

2. Op. cit., p. 173.