Meditation Yoga

By Acharya Bhagwan Dev

Normally people in general carry a misconception about meditation. It is not meant for only those who sit in a quiet place with their eyes closed and perform various practices to induce meditation. This is merely one method of meditation. However, meditation can also be performed by those who remain absorbed in discharging the basic duties this life demands of them. You don’t need some special conditions to perform meditation. Some of its practices can even be performed by you while moving in a train or discharging your normal duties. In fact it is more needed by those who, by compulsions of life, have to undergo tension-ridden and stressful conditions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diamond Books
• Release date: Jun 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9789350830567

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MEDITATION: THE

PURPOSE & AIM

Dhyan or the state of meditation is obtained when the mind is trained to concentrate on an outer or inner object, long enough for all distractions to be eliminated, and when the strain of thought flows in a single direction without interruption towards a definite object.

Patanjali Sutra defines meditation as STHIRA-SUKHAM ASANAM (a comfortable and firm position)

During meditation, the body is silently resting so that thought is absorbed into PRANA (vital force). As in dreamless sleep, the only sign of life is breathing. The hypothalamus recharges its energy during meditation, as it does during sleep. So whereas sleep is a compensatory form of rest, meditation is a conscious one, hence this condition has important therapeutic characteristics. Meditation helps us to get rid overselves of emotional conflicts, inner discord and mental or psychological strains. It completely purifies the mind and relieves it from unconscious obstructions. Meditation enables the inner light to manifest itself. This is responsible for the awaking of self-awareness, hence one may penetrate to the very center of life’s higher values.

The subject of meditation may be supreme self, pure-existence or universal value. The commonest transitional method consists in concentrating one’s attention on an object of personal value or a universal symbol. For example, a Hindu will choose one of the divinities that he is familiar with: Shiv, Vishun, Krishna, Kali or some other divine incarnation. He may also choose the sacred syllable: ‘Aum (om)’, considered a symbol of the Absolute in the Hindu religion. Similarly for a Buddhist, subjects of meditation may be status of Buddha, the lotus or the wheel (Mandala). A Christian will choose the image of Christ or the cross. The star of David in Judaism or the crescent of the first quarter of the new moon for Islam, also such other subjects for meditations.

So essentially each person, accounting to his faith, will choose an elevated thought or spiritual symbol upon which he or she prefers to meditation.

The Aim of Meditation: The aim of meditational practices is to induce the spontaneous state of meditation. It is rather impossible to teach mediations, no matter what people may say. Meditation is unteachable because it cannot be described by words. It is to be heard and realised, and hence beyond the range of words.

Meditation cannot be defined in concrete terms. Many people sit down, close their eyes and consider that they have meditation. Well, may be they have - who are we to claim they haven’t? But generally it is the case that one broods over the problems and thinks of external happenings which is this state of the so-called meditations. This is divinity, not mediation. Though the eyes may be closed but this is no introspection, if the mind is still devoted to the outside happenings. This is merely dwelling in the outside world with your eyes closed. It is hardly different than staying in the world outside with your eyes open. Whereas the fact is that meditation is beyond this inner and outer interactions with the world.

In fact the state of meditation is not only confined to those who sit in a quiet place with their eyes closed and perform various practices to induce meditations. This is merely one method of meditation which is called Raj Yoga. It is also possible to be in a state of meditation while performing every day duties. This is more in line with the practices of Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. A person can perform the most trivial actions and yet simultaneously be in the highest stages of exultation. And probably no one else, unless they were also in a similar state of meditation, would release your actions would in no may indicate that you are mediting. This is what the ‘Zen Masters’ [‘Zen’ being the Chinese or Japanese word for Dhyan or meditation] attempt to every when they say:

‘How wondrous this, how mysterious;

I carry fuel, I draw water!’

Or in the words of Chikam

‘Pursuing the task of everyday life,

I walk along the ancient path,

I am not disheartened in the mindless void!’

So remember, there are endless paths to mediation. Some involve action in the outside world (as is the case with Karma Yoga) while others involve introspection and thus primarily leaving aside outside activities (as with Raj Yoga)

Meditation is a journey towards within from without. This was known to the saints and seers, yogis and mystics who have existed in all places, eras and in all societies. They all knew that the path of each of us must lie in awaking our innermost potential. Let us remind ourselves of few of their teachings, Christ said: "The Kingdom of God is within you! And the same idea was repeated by another great sage, Buddha, the Enlightened one said:

Look within, thou art the Buddha (pure in consciousness).

This was echoed by the Greeks for they wrote, above the main door of their temples, the following sentence.

"Man, Know thyself, and

thou shalt know the universe."

In the Srimad Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna affirmed this when he said: "Meditation is far better than knowledge (intellectual knowledge). In the comparatively recent times this was beautifully praised by Ramakrishna Paramahansa as follows:

The talked much deer searches the whole world over for the source of the musk which comes from within, echoing the same thought poetically expressed by Kabeer, the most radical saint of the medical ages:

"Kastoori Kundali basahi,

Mriga dhoondhey bun mahin!

Eisen ghati, ghati, Ram hai

Duniya dekhe naahi!!

[Musk lies deep in its navel but the deer searches for it in jungles and forests. So is the position of Ram (the supreme self which all try to realise through meditation) but the world doesn’t see him].

How is it possible that these people, living in different times and different parts of the world, speaking different languages and coming from drastically differing local backgrounds could utter exactly the same idea, though expressed in quite dissimilar terms? The answer is obvious: they were speaking about the basic truth of existence which is realisable only through true meditation. These people knew that the path of evolution of higher awareness lies in unfolding the inner realms of our being. It does not lie in totally absorbing or in losing ourselves in basic external actions. It is possible for everyone to learn from their experiences and from the knowledge that they tried to pass on to other people.

As a matter of fact, infinite dormant potential exists with in each of us. It is there, but simply only to be discovered. To find it, however, we must plunge into our inner being. In a sense we must be like an explorer, but instead of exploring outer unknown territories we have to discover the inner uncharted environment, Like Marco Polo was initially disbelieved when he retold his experiences about China, similar is the case with meditation. No one will behave people who relate their experience unless, of course, they have made a similar journey themselves.

In fact we all indulge in self hallucination. We assume that what we see around in all that there is. Further, we think that our personality is the totality of our being. People wander all over the world trying to find themselves, not realising that greatest marvel lies within. This was clearly pointed out by Sri Augustine when he lamented: Men travel to gaze upon mountain heights and the waves of the sea, broad flowing rivers and the expanse of the ocean, and yet pass by themselves, the crowning wonder.

Consider a calm still lake in which is reflected a big full moon. The image of the moon looks real and if the real moon was not in the sky to remind us otherwise, many would take the reflection for the moon itself. Of course, the reflection cannot exist by itself, yet the moon can exist without reflection. It is the same with our personality - we see only the reflected personality and mistake it for our real nature, without realising that the personality manifesting at present is dependent something deeper. So meditation means to reach to our real self.

Even modern scientists acknowledge that there is far more to each person than is commonly believed. Many eminent scientists have echoed the words of the ancient sages. They also opine that the majority of our potential remains untapped. In fact, clinically speaking, what has been known about our mind is hardly 2 percent. Hena the scientists say that the greatest discoveries and explorations of the future will be in the mind and not in the outer world, for the capabilities of mind are hardly explored. It has very many deeper and unexplored layers. Many of us have heard of the subconscious, and unconscious realms of the mind. What we fail to realise that the mind is like a vast computer which is continuously receiving, sorting out, analysing millions of data. Mind contains millions / billions of cell and each cell interacts with other cells and this is a marvel of God’s creation.

The mind, in its unconscious and subconscious realms, contains different facets of a being. It contains our basic urges and instincts. It contains the primitive memories with which we have had no connection in our life. It contains ideas, vision, dreams that are far more inspiring than even the most vivid fiction novel. The only way to break into the unexplained realms of our mind is to look inwards. The journey into its inner space needs a vehicle and that vehicle is provided by meditation.

The Fundamental Mechanics of Meditation Practice

The techniques of meditation practices (or Dhyan Yoga) are reasonably easy to learn. They will never bring results unless they are practiced regularly and with dedication. It is rather unfortunate that many people erroneously behave that to practise or experience meditation it is necessary to fill that mind with numerous different techniques, some of which they seriously practice. As a result they gain nothing. This is an easy pitfall, for we are all habituated to believing that results come through learning. That is, if we know more facts the wiser we will become. In intellectual terms this may partly be true but it is certainly not true with meditational practices, for that matter with yoga in general. A person can know almost nothing intellectually, and yet by knowing one meditational method and practising it with dedication, can experience the joy and knowledge of meditation. Success doesn’t depend on factual knowledge. The main requirements for delving deep into the mind and realising its potential are aspiration and practice.

There are, broadly speaking, two principal methods of inducing meditation: passive and active. Active methods are practised during every day life; when one walks, talks, and performs daily functions. This is the realm of Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. The aim is to be in the state of meditation while actively involved in worldly events. This, however, doesn’t imply that actions are performed indifferently or that the aspirant walks around in a sleeping state far from it. The person will perform his activities with greater enthusiasm, efficiency and energy.

Passive methods to induce meditation are the ones that we normally term as meditational practices. This is the method of Raja Yoga. A fixed period of time is set aside daily, solely for the purpose of introspection. These methods can also lead to mediation, outside the actual time of practicing the passive techniques. In other words, the state of meditation carries over into everyday life.

As a matter of fact, even the word ‘passive’ is a misnomer, for it is only the body that is passive and motionless. The internal environment can be a hive of activity on a conscious level, either spontaneous or intentional - whether it is desired or not.

In meditation the first step is to overcome disturbances of the body. It is difficult for most people to sit comfortably for more than a minute or so, without feeling pain or wanting to stretch. This causes the awareness to be wholly externalized - in fact opposite to what is required; for the aim is to direct the awareness inwards to the working of mind. The next step is to try and achieve calmness of mind and relaxation. Normally people have a mind resembling with a stormy sea. Before we can see below it is imperative that we first settle down to the millions. This is done through awareness. In other words we try to be aware of one object, symbol or process of thought which needs constant practice. In this process we must learn to forcus