My understanding of the pinnacle of meditation is that of Jnana Yoga, i.e., yoga of knowledge. Of course, this knowing is not of a cognitive, subject-object sort. It is simply consciousness effortlessly "seeing" itself purely as consciousness without apparent cause, mediation, purpose or intent to achieve anything whatsoever. IMO this Consciousness as Self-awareness is the image of God. It is the Truth Jesus speaks of that he says will set us free. The fulfillment of Jnana is abiding in the Heart of Consciousness, the Eternal Living Light of Lights, in absolute Freedom. This in no way precludes being fully, wholly & robustly in the world because in Jnana we always know & are always abiding in Self-Consciousness. It needs no worldly form. It is true Self, or, Soul if you like. In my experience this doesn't preclude the unconscious arising, i.e., what I call karmic momentum. But in the State of Being of Jnana, unresolved unconscious or karmic sufferings arise & dissipate in Consciousness, given we can then "see" that phenomenal pain is not real. The only thing that is experientially Real is Consciousness itself. It surely does yield or manifest love, peace, happiness & freedom but as "ananda" it immanently transcends all ways it's various "colors" shine forth. One may believe that the Real may include other things even God, e.g., but unless it is experiential it is only belief. Nothing wrong with that. And such beliefs may well be "true." But meditation is absolute abidance in "experientially knowing" who we are, the pure 'I am that I am,' without having to believe anything. To me this is the Sacred, the Heart of the Holy. It is also eternal & absolute openness to the Mystery. It's path, if we would call it a path, happens in " Satsangh," which means "communion with Truth, a "hearing" usually in dialogue in which the teacher, the Jnani, leads & points the student in the direction of the experience of this Truth, of this knowing of Self in Inquiry, "vichara," in Sanskrit. This experience does not give answers. It ends all questions. That is, the intellectual questions about the True Self end but, of course, the questions of the world will always remain. From the standpoint of True Self we can be "in" the world but free of being "of" the world. IMO this the realm & home of the mystic.
