Just a little taste

I often wonder what keeps Kriya Master Per H. Wibe going. Forty years of unimaginable hard work to achieve silence. What motivates him to meditate day and night? Why is he never bored or tired? I’ve seen him living alone in one room for many days without television, phone, books, or any other person around. Yet he glows with bliss.

One day, I asked him, “Master, when will I have intensity like you?” He replied, “It has to grow from inside. It will take its own time.”

I said, “Can you help me achieve silence like you? You are a Kriya Master, you can do anything.”

He replied sweetly, “It is not something that I can simply give you by putting my hand on your head. I can support you if you make efforts and practice sincerely.”

I asked him how to keep myself motivated all the time.

He said, “If someone likes to cook, paint, or play cricket, no one needs to tell them to do it. They enjoy doing it all the time without thinking. Your own interest is the key.”

Later, I kept thinking about how to create that kind of interest in myself. One day, while serving soup to my daughter, I realized it had never been easy to develop good eating habits in her. It was quite a challenging task. In the early years, to introduce a new vegetable, soup, or fruit, I would tell her, “You don’t have to eat the whole thing. Just taste a little—maybe a spoonful, a piece, or a bite.” No more expectations. It took many months and years to develop a new taste in her.

Sometimes she never liked it at all. It was a gradual process to win her confidence that I wouldn’t push her to eat something she didn’t like. But I was certain that one day she would make good food choices by herself as she became familiar with different tastes. This experience gave me an answer to my question: “Just a little taste.”

Another day, I went to a family get-together and saw some people drinking alcohol. I thought, despite its bitter taste, how do people enjoy it? It must have begun with a little taste and gradually became a habit. Some experience pushes them to taste it again.

Practicing a little meditation every day helps to increase intensity. One might not feel a big change initially, but it definitely brings peace after each session. And that becomes the motivation to continue. Miseries may push us to meditate, but after some time, it becomes enjoyable, like diving into a deep ocean again and again.