How to Meditate?
Right from the days of human civilization, there were many problems was faced by men and women on several counts. Then came the way known as Yoga, which were experienced and practiced by many sages and saints of yesteryears. But this was not so easy for a lay man and the commonly thought idea was just to practice meditation. Thus, exploring the gift of nature to get an insight to ones own mind, the ways and means were framed with some rigid practices. What the Yogis and Munis of Great Indian Vedic era practiced were nothing, short of scientifically proven methods and moderations! Just have your own mind set on it, you too can achieve it.
There are so many websites, articles & textbooks that are available on teaching meditation; nowadays that everyone has some idea of what it is all about. Each has its own unique method, here below are the easiest to follow, but it needs more efforts, a little regular time and concentration. In brief, meditation is the most wonderful experience that brings into Discovery of self'. In general, meditation helps and enables us to enjoy consciously the peace, happiness and revitalization of our own body, mind and thoughts, that we unconsciously have in sleep. Meditation lifts us above the cares and anxieties of our routine daily life; it enables us to overcome our moral weaknesses and evil habits and thus transform our very life. By dispelling ignorance, meditation removes all our morbid and childish fears and leads us to the hall of divine light, where we perceive our self as the immortal essence of all existence, where we realize that we are at once linked in a bond of eternal love with all creation. By enabling us to get in tune with this cosmic substratum and so with others, meditation gives us supernatural powers. Unless these powers (of whose existence we are not conscious and which we shall not deliberately use) become natural to us, they should be shunned as distractions. Even wandering minds can just by practicing meditation can elevate to higher planes.
An ounce of practice is better than tons of theory'. The following simple procedure will in due course enable you to enjoy deep meditation:
1. Select a calm, quiet, clean and secluded spot or a room or corner of a room in your house reserved for this purpose. Sit there (preferably facing east-the sun rises in the east-or north-there is a great power in the north pole), with a symbol of God or a lighted lamp or candle, placed at eye-level. The best posture is, of course, the lotus posture; if you cannot do this, sit in any comfortable posture with your body erect. The yogi wants you to keep the back straight. All sorts of interesting reasons have been given, and one might be of interest to you. If the small of the back is held in, your back is naturally straighter than before. It seems to promote alertness of the mind. The moment you slouch and the small of the back shoots backwards and the spine curves forward your alertness is gone. The best time to meditate is from 4 to 6 a.m., but if this is not possible do this as soon as you wake up. It is good to have a quick bath; if this is not possible (without loss of the good morning hour), have a quick wash of hands, feet and face.
2. Chant a few hymns or offer your own prayer (audibly) to the Lord: this is like switching the radio on and tuning it. Raise the mind to a higher level. Imagine you are in the presence of God. This may appear to be self-hypnotism, but the results are astounding.
3. Become aware that you are seated in your room or wherever it is. You are now aware of even your body's contact with the seat. The knowledge I am sitting here' ensures that the mind is also here and does not wander away. If the attention tends to wander, gently but firmly bring it back: I am sitting here.' Become aware of the sensation of the hands resting on your knees or in your lap. Immediately the attention is brought within the body and once the attention is narrowed down, the whole inside seems to be illuminated. You realize that just one thing is happening-breathing. You are breathing.
4. Chant The PraNava Mantra, "Aum" deeply, concentrating on the solar plexus, feeling that the sound vibrations arise from there. Feel that these sound vibrations travel upwards towards the crown of the head, through the vagus nerve. They actually will. When they reach the throat-region close your lips and continue "Omm" and let the sound fade out at the crown of the head. Do this three or six times.
5. It is one of those ironies of life that we seem to be interested in so many wonderful things in this world without paying the least attention to the greatest wonder which is within our self - breathing. It is because we are breathing that we are alive, that we are able to enjoy life. It is a supreme wonder. Ask yourself: "What makes you breathe out and having exhaled-what makes you inhale again?" What makes one take the next breath, or in other words, how does the breathing go on? When you pay attention to this you have forgotten where you are sitting. That is, the attention has gone still deeper within yourself and is now ready to go even deeper down. Breathe normally, effortlessly. At the same time, close the glottis a little bit, so that the breath itself produces some sound. (It is not the vocal cords but the glottis that helps to produce this sound.) Let this sound also fade away and not stop abruptly. You will find that your mind follows this sound and "goes inwards." You may do
ujjayi or
bhramari pranayama.
6. Breathe gently now. Watch the breath. Try to listen to it without producing any sound even with the throat. It is good to use a visualization of the pulses in conjunction with the breathing to bring about more intense concentration of the mind. Visualize the inhaled breath flowing down the
ida and the
pingala nadis on both sides of the spine. Hold the breath (
Kumbhaka) for just a moment. (
Kumbhaka literally means pot-like', which alludes to the abdominal cavity being filled by the inhaled breath.) Visualise the exhaled breath ascending up the sushumna (the central channel), at the same time drawing the abdomen in and up, as in uddiyana bandha.
7. Now the only thing you are doing is breathing. That is the only action, motion, movement. Become aware of this. Let there be the inner awareness, "I am breathing," and let this stop the mind from doing something else. Gently but firmly hold on to the awareness, "I am breathing"
8. Repeat your mantra (any name of god or sacred formula ) as you breathe in and out, without straining the breath. Associate the mantra with the breath-this is the trick. Repeat it once while you breathe in and once while you breathe out. If the mantra is long, repeat half while inhaling and the other half while exhaling, without breaking it. Without tension you gently but actively keep listening to the mantra being heard within yourself. Become more and more deeply aware of this sound. Listen to it with all your heart, with all your attention.
9. Keep looking at the picture, symbol or the flame in front of you (that is what you have been doing all the time, at least from step 5 above) but transfer that symbol to within yourself. Feel that the image is in your own heart. See it there. Do not stare at the picture or flame in front; if you do, then your eyes will get tired and begin to smart. If you merely look without staring or focusing you will find that the symbol goes out of focus. Do not worry. Your eyes will not blink. They will not water or smart.
10. Now close your eyes if you like, and visualise that image of god clearly within your heart. Let it be radiant and living. If the mind tends to wander keep the eyes open, looking within.
11. Gradually let that image expand till it occupies your whole body, the room in which you are sitting and eventually the whole world. Feel this. Feel that you yourself are just a little part of god, one with him.
12. Sit like this for a minimum period of 20 minutes. (The preliminaries may take about 10 minutes.) Gradually increase this period.
13. After this period is over, offer a prayer to the lord for the health and long life of sick people (whom you can actually visualise in front of you) and the peace and prosperity of those who are suffering.
14. Get up slowly. Do not immediately run away. Take a few minutes before you leave the meditation room. Your mind and your nerves were extremely calm during this practice and if you suddenly jump out of that mood and rush into company, you might injure the nerves. This is very important.
15. You can practise this at other times, too-several times a day. Do not sit for this practice within two hours after a meal. Do not wear tight clothing.
16. Do not eat anything for half an hour after this practice. And do not take bath immediately either.
17. If you wish to do a few rounds of pranayama, you may do so before you start this meditation practice or soon after step 2 above. Bhastrika is useful.
If the mind wanders open your eyes, gaze at the picture and start all over again from step 5 above.
Japa (repetition of a mantra) itself will lead to meditation. The lord's grace will lead you to meditation and samadhi.
If evil thoughts enter the mind, do not pay any attention to them. Let them depart, as uninvited guests will if totally ignored! Go on with your japa, visualising the lord in the heart. If the mind wanders, resort to mental worship; or, open your eyes again and gaze at the image.
It is very important to see that the body and mind are relaxed. There should be no tension anywhere. The posture of the body should be steady but not tense. The mind should be concentrated on the object with ease: otherwise, every extraneous thought entering the mind will also get fixed there! Let go your hold on the world and gently hold on to the thought of god.
The secret in meditation is to be active without effort. Usually we are either active and full of effort or we go to sleep. But there is a state which is the happy medium between the two-to be awake and alert, but without struggle.
In the initial stages of meditation it is possible that as soon as the mind is concentrated and you begin to do japa, something you had forgotten is recollected by the mind. If it pertains to the business of the day, the mind is distracted. It is therefore advisable (in the initial stages) to keep a piece of paper and pencil by your side and note these down, so that the mind may be reassured that they will not be forgotten again and that it could go on with the japa. Use your commonsense in overcoming such obstacles.
Several methods have already been suggested not only to offset obstacles but to keep the meditation alive and alert. The very best is of course to seek the source of the sound of the mantra that is heard, and then the identity of the one that listens to the mantra. If this method is mastered, no disturbances (internal or external) need distract you, because you know how to make use of any disturbance! Anything that happens inside or around you is only going to stimulate you to greater vigilance. If there is a distraction, this vigilance will confront it with the question, "I am watching my breath and repeating the mantra. From where do you come?" Thus, there are no obstacles at all from there onwards.
On no account should you give up the morning meditation and get up from your seat before the appointed time: if the mind knows that you are a hard taskmaster, it will meekly obey you.
One of the main reasons why this meditation exercise is performed in the early morning hours is because it is then that the ego-sense arises after the period of deep sleep earlier. It is therefore possible to ask oneself: "Where was this ego-sense a few minutes ago? How does it arise and what is its source?"
Even during the day, close your eyes every hour and consciously withdraw the mind from the world, repeat the mantra and meditate upon God for just a few seconds. Keep up the current. If you keep a small japamala (rosary) in your pocket, it will help.
By even attempting to practice meditation you will enjoy peace of mind and the ability to concentrate the mind at will wherever you are. Another period of meditation just before going to bed is of incalculable benefit. It carries the fruits of meditation into the state of deep sleep. A great spiritual teacher said that if you restore order to the mind before you go to sleep, the mind is free to refresh itself thoroughly. Meditation restores order to the mind.
Of course all that has been described so far is no more than japa or the repetition of a mantra and the visualization of what that mantra represents. These are effective aids-but in themselves they do not constitute meditation. The use of these aids is based on a simple and sound principle. The world outside is mainly name-and-form to us: the other sense stimuli are not so strong as the visual and the auditory. Our waking consciousness is dominated by sights and sounds. Our inner world is even more so. Our dreams (day dreams as well as night dreams) are also made up of these two. Objectivity is name and form. Hence, the student of yoga replaces the multitude of names and forms (worldly, exciting, emotion-generating and pain-ridden) by one name and form of god (divine, sublime, peace-giving and bliss-filled) . This too is name and form, and this too is an object-though surely god is not a name and form, and god is not an object. Ultimately therefore even this will go; but pushing it is foolishness.
Used rightly, however, these aids turn out to be valuable. And, what is their right use?
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras suggest the following:
When the name and the form are perfectly steady, the student begins to question it. "Is this the reality? Is this the self? Is this god? Is it not my own imagination, the object of my thought, the projection of my mental conditioning? " This questioning is not just mental or intellectual exercise; it is much deeper, for by this time the mind is fully concentrated, the image is clear and steady, and the mind is calm.
The answer to all these questions is an obvious yes'. However, the student does not abandon the whole thing and get up and walk away. He enters into himself even more deeply. The enquiry may continue along these lines: "This is not the self or the reality. But, then, what is it? How is the unuttered sound heard within: what is it made of? How do I see this image, where is it, and what is it made of?" Surely, there are no verbal answers to these questions! The sound is not made in the usual way (by the vocal cords, etc.). The image of god (or whatever it is that is chosen for the inner visualization) is not there as a solid substance. What is it made of? The mind-stuff' is an unacceptable answer: it is an expression as meaningless as the other one we suggested to ourselves as an aid-god within'. To be meaningful it must be as real and as clear to you as this paper is. Thought answering a question concerning thought is waste of time. Hence, we pursue the enquiry by direct internal observation. The vital aspect of this part is to reject all thoughts concerning this phenomenon.
At this stage the observing consciousness looks steadily at the object. There is no movement of thought. There is great clarity. Suddenly it becomes clear that the object is but a reflection, a projection in the indivisible consciousness. Thus the division between the observer and the observed is abolished; and this gives rise to an experience of inner delight.
However, there is still movement in consciousness. Consciousness is still aware of itself: this is the original division which is therefore potential diversity. There is the awareness of I am' which can easily expand itself into I am this', I am that' etc. Hence, even this is known as
samadhi with consciousness, or
samadhi with the seed of diversification present.
Beyond this no effort on the part of the student is of any use, nor is it necessary. An effort is the expression of the ego, perpetuation of the division; abandonment of the effort is also the expression of the ego's inability or unwillingness to reach this point. The ego-sense should reach this point and in total self-surrender abandon all effort to abolish division, in the knowledge that the ego itself is the creator of the division, it is itself the division. What happens beyond this the masters have alluded to as divine grace'. Patanjali also speaks of god as what remains after the ordinary self-awareness ceases to be (
purusha visheshah). Awareness of division is the abolition of division. There is no division in the awareness which is undivided by the division. This position is not reached, it is not something to be attained: it is, it always is. When the dividing ego is seen to be incapable of dividing the indivisible, the shadow is seen as shadow; that which is is: it alone is-and that is
kaivalya aloneness or all-one-ness, the knowledge that infinite diversity is infinite.
How this enlightenment takes place no one knows. At one moment this inner light begins to shine everywhere in your consciousness, and suddenly the I' has disappeared. It was not there in the first place. Only consciousness remains. Knowledge alone remains. Action alone remains. Seeing alone remains. Without the ego creating a division, a space between I and the other. When this light shines constantly within oneself, only then is one able to realize that what goes on inside is love; that love is genuine and that that love is directed towards the omnipresence.
The basic problem in the world today seems to be that there is no interest in meditation as such. It is partly the fault of people who preach and do propaganda for meditation. When you want to spread the practice of meditation and encourage people to take it up, you persuade them that there is some benefit in it. In order to do that the preachers suggest, Practise meditation. You will be completely free of all tension.' The moment that aspect enters the field of meditation, the whole practice is ruined. From there on you are not sitting completely relaxed, meditating, but you are tense, looking at the state of relaxation which the preacher suggested was your goal. Trying to reach out to it you become more tense.
The moment you introduce a goal to meditation, it is gone. Happiness in life comes not by manipulating what you want to achieve but by paying attention to something seemingly totally unconnected with it. In order to make the mouth laugh, you tickle the foot. This seems to be of fundamental importance. Concentration of mind is not achieved by concentrating the mind, but by going right round doing something completely different. That is actually what the great masters of yoga suggested when they said to sit down and repeat your mantra.
The problem is that our minds are in a terrible state of disorder, our attention is not steady at all. Physically we are tense, mentally we are distracted. We go to a teacher and he says-"Sit down and repeat a mantra." While you pay attention to the mantra, which is totally unrelated and unconnected with the problem you are really trying to solve, the problem gets dissolved. You don't have to solve the problem, the problem can be dissolved. That is much simpler, otherwise when you have a problem and someone tells you to solve it, the solution becomes another problem! The confused brain creating another solution, is in worse confusion. The mind, after all, is one thing, not a supermarket. You are happy sometimes and you are unhappy sometimes. When you are unhappy, what happens to that happy person? And when you are happy, what happens to the unhappy person? Are you one or two? It is not difficult for you to see that you are one thing.
The mind is one substance which seems to assume several successively different disguises. It is not possible for the mind to be in two moods at the same time, and even when one is able to juggle the moods quickly, it only means that the mind is able to change very fast.
There is no more mystification about meditation than this. The master, by suggesting that you sit down and go on repeating a mantra, has made you temporarily forget your problem. A problem that is forgotten does not exist, unhappiness that is forgotten is happiness. It can come back again, but never mind. If you have been unhappy for 6 or 7 hours at a stretch, you have at least had 20 minutes of happiness. That is marvelous; the unhappiness was a mental state, nothing more than a mood.
In real life we see quite plainly that if an external situation was responsible for one's unhappiness, that situation is not going to be changed by being unhappy. Therefore the yogi said "Free yourself from this external compulsion and realise that unhappiness is a mental mood." The mind substance is still there, it has temporarily assumed the form of unhappiness, the character of unhappiness. You can be sure that even if you are in the worst of all moods now, the sun is not going to be veiled because of you, it will still shine brilliantly. And if you shake off your bad mood and get into the sun, it is to your advantage. You have been unhappy before, you may be unhappy later-so what'! All the problems are there waiting outside-let them! For the next half hour sit down and say your mantra, and as you go on in this way, suddenly you discover that the unhappiness is not there any more. Suddenly you realise that you (or something in you) is
totally independent of the happiness or unhappiness that the environment imposes upon you. Coming out of your meditation room you are able to say so what', right in front of the unhappiness that faces you again.
So it is possible to free yourself psychologically from external compulsion, external imposition. Sitting there in that room for half an hour you have tasted it. The mind being of one substance was fed with this mantra, or something totally unconnected with all worries and anxieties, happiness and unhappiness.
You have not been struggling, you have not been praying to God to please take this problem away. (That is useless-another one will come.) But in the meantime you have discovered that it is possible for you, without changing the external environment, to be happy within yourself. You taste it. The most important thing in meditation is not to try to solve the outside problem, but to taste the present mood of peace and joy and happiness that is flowing inside. Then when you come out you are able to face this problem.
I am not saying the problems we are surrounded by can ever be removed, but the inner attitude can be radically and instantly changed. It doesn't even take half an hour. Meditation makes this possible by not dealing with the problem head on, but by turning the attention to something completely different (which happens to be beyond the source of all problems). This is not a policy of escapism. Let us take a very simple example of inter-personal conflict. You and he are working in the same organization. You are saying something, he is saying something different, you have a little misunderstanding, a quarrel. He is too strong and powerful, so you don't want to fight with him. You go into your meditation room, sit and repeat the mantra. After a short while everything is at peace within yourself-there is harmony and joy within you. Are you escaping? No, because you have got to come out and meet him, again. Then you are a completely changed person, you realize that conflict can be ended by ending it within yourself. There is a lovely expression: "You cannot clap with one hand." It needs two to make a quarrel, they say, but I feel "It needs only one to make a quarrel-me".
The yogi's approach through meditation deals with the fundamental problem of human response. Once you have trained yourself in this technique (you can call it meditation or concentration) then it is possible for this to happen throughout the day, when there is need for you to respond. And though superficially it looks as if you are self-centered and selfish, you are not, because you have found the key to dissolving the problems and conflicts. That I think is the greatest contribution one can make to human happiness in society as a whole.
Half the problem connected with meditation springs from thinking about it. The thoughts that one may have about meditation are not meditation. It is possible to think about it, it is possible to talk about it and it is even possible to do' it, but none of these are meditation. Like sleep, it is something that has to happen, and one does not know when it is happening, but realizes something has happened in retrospect. What is it that puts an end to sleep? What is it that puts an end to meditation? Strangely enough the desire to experience it.
We are trapped in a strange and delightful problem. We need to meditate but we cannot will ourselves into meditation. Meditation is vitally important not only to some of you who might be spiritual seekers, but also to people who want to become more alert in mind and in intellect, and even to people who pursue material goals. If meditation is a state in which there is no mental confusion, there is inner harmony and peace, then it is of vital importance to everybody. Whatever be your aspirations, whatever you are looking for-whether spiritual, intellectual, mental or material-one who knows what it is to meditate, or what it is to surrender oneself to meditation, realizes that the key to any achievement is there. But fortunately or unfortunately, it is not possible to force it.
The fact remain as fact, that meditation cannot be made to happen, for the simple reason that if it could, it is liable to be marketed and every church and temple would be selling this, as we already see is being done on many such related matters; and what is even worse, it can be misused and abused. It is unfortunate because though we aspire for the state called meditation, it seems to elude us and we are still groping. A few broad hints may be given, but even these are like preparing the bed as an invitation to sleep. You cannot go to sleep'. It is an expression as inadequate and erroneous as all expressions are. Sleep has to come - you can only go to bed. That's the case case with meditation!
