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It is more subtle. One has to be more artful, more intelligent, to be contemplative. Concentration is a little crude. It is needed by the beginner, in the schools, colleges, universities. But when one has become capable of concentrating one starts moving towards contemplation. Contemplation means an effortless awqareness; concentration is great effort, it is almost forced, violent. Contemplation is nonviolent, more fluid, less enforced, more relaxed.
But meditation is still higher. It goes beyond the mind. Meditation is a state of no-mind; it is neither at the center of the mind nor at the circumference. It is simply not of the mind -- it is watching the mind from the outside.
That is exactly the meaning of the English word "ecstasy" -- to stand out. To stand out of the mind is ecstasy, and that's what meditation is. Just be a watcher from the outside, no more a participant, no more identified with the mind -- just as one watches the traffic on the road, sitting silently by the side under a tree: who passes is not the concern. One simply watches whatsoever is happening, with no like, no dislike, no justification, no condemnation, with no prejudice at all.
When one can watch the mind without condeming it, without appreciating it, without saying "This is good" and "This is bad," and "This I don't want" and "That I want," without uttering a single statement about the mind, when one can watch it in deep silence, that is meditation. A miracle happens with meditation, and it happens only with meditation: when youa re simply standing out, not participating, no longer active in any way, utterly inactive and silent, the mind disappears. Slowly slowly it goes farther and farther away, slowly slowly you hear only noises coming from a distance; and suddenly a moment comes: there is no mind. It has faded out, it has withered away.
And when the mind is not there and you are left alone without the mind, the fragrance is released. You have come home, you have become fulfilled. The on-ethousand-petaled lotus of your being has opened. You have offered your fragrance to existence. That is prayer. That's the only gift we can give to God, and that is the
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