Essentials of Hinduism - Concentration And Meditation

Essentials of Hinduism

Concentration And Meditation

Meditation

What is Meditation?

When the mind’s concentration is directed inward towards the Paramatma, it is Meditation (dhyana). Meditation follows concentration – dharana (concentration) leads to dhyana (meditation). Meditation is the keeping up of an unceasing thought flow of God-conciousness. Meditation process can be compared to the continuous flow of oil from one vessel to another – without discontinuity. When there is deep meditation, there is no consciousness of the body or surroundings. Meditation is the gateway which leads us to the Supreme Self within us, and this experience is the Self Realization.

Preliminaries of meditation:

If a meditator gets irritated very often, it shows he is not doing good uninterrupted meditation. There is something wrong in his meditation practice (sadhana).

How to meditate:

Choose a quiet place and a quiet time for meditation. We have to withdraw our attention from the outside world. This can be achieved by practicing selfless service, cultivating devotion to God, by studying scriptural teachings. After having detached from the external world, the next step in the process of meditation should be to withdraw our attention from our physical body. To do this, the meditator should sit on a thin flat cushion, sit in the correct posture with the vertebral column erect, close the eyes, and place hands on the folded legs. Release all stiffness and tension in the body organs. There is an intimate connection between the body and the mind. Therefore we should not shake the body even a little bit. All this process will result in the meditator starting to engage in meditation with the subtle body made up of mind and intellect only. We have now withdrawn from the world and the gross body. The next step is the quietening of the mind where the thoughts and desires of the day arise and cause agitations. The intellect observes these thoughts.

Eventually, these mind agitations will die down. Now the meditator can chant some mantra or simply chant OM. It is quite possible that the mind at the same time wander into the worldly activities. After some time, we will start to get a feeling of perceptible mental quietness. Now we can halt the chanting. We can now experience at this moment a Godly peace and a Divine silence descending upon us. We can remain in this state for as long as we can. This state of the mind at its highest intensity is a state of transcendence (going beyond this material world) of the mind and intellect.

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Aids to meditation:

Practice meditation when the mind is pure in the early morning from 4 AM to 6 AM (Brahma Muhurtha), as well as, in the night before retiring to bed. These are the best times for the practice of meditation. Practice meditation in the same hours daily. We should have patience and untiring persistence. The food for the soul is more essential than the food for the body. Therefore, we

have to do our prayers, japa and meditation regularly.

When there is deep meditation on God, there is no consciousness of the body and surroundings. By observing silence (mauna) and staying secluded in one room for one or two hours, and the practice of pranayama helps great deal to increase concentration and thereby increases meditation. We must always be cheerful and peaceful. Thorough rigorous discipline and self imposed restrictions will eventually eradicate all our desires, thoughts, cravings, and, passions. We need to control our tongue (talk minimum – the essentials only), eat, drink and sleep moderately, destroy selfishness, lust, greed and anger.

If we are not regular with meditation, our passion for meditation wanes. If we become careless and non-vigilant, the spiritual road will be washed away by the flood of impure thoughts and evil vasanas. Therefore, regularity in meditation is very important.

We should not care for the fault of others. Mind our own affairs. Improve ourself first. Reform ourself first. Purify ourself first. Wash the impurities of our mind first. Time is precious. We do not know when Lord Yama will take away our lives. Every second must be utilized in the mind contemplation.

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If the food is impure, the mind also becomes impure. Food plays an important part in the evolution of the mind. The food should be simple, bland, light, wholesome and nutritious. Aspirants should not overload the stomach. If there is no hunger, we must not eat any food. Especially, the night meal should be very light. The spiritual people should fast on the ekadasi days. The spiritual path is thorny and rugged. The guidance of a True Guru who has already trodden (passed) the path is necessary. He will be able to throw light and remove the obstacles of our meditation process.

Spiritual path is not possible without good health. The aspirant should do his best to keep good health by performing regular exercise, pranayama, practice moderation in diet, walk in open air, maintain regularity in his work, meals, sleep and so on. This body is a boat to cross to the other shore of immortality.

Meditation benefits:

What is the right way to live our life? In one word, the answer is, Meditation. As the mind relaxes in meditation, the body will also begin to relax. The more we practice meditation, the more wisdom will be manifested in the life of the meditator. The psychological stress will be reduced to the minimum. As the aspirant progresses further in the meditation, he will gain control over numerous functions in the nervous system. Another important benefit of meditation is the reduction of the blood pressure, particularly during deep meditation. Regular meditation increases memory power, sharpens intellect, and opens the avenues of intuitional knowledge. All the visible things are maya! Maya will vanish through jnyana or meditation on the Paramatma. Meditation is a mysterious ladder which reaches from Earth to Heaven, from false to truth, from darkness to light, from pain to bliss, from restlessness to abiding peace, from ignorance to knowledge, and finally from mortality to immortality. The most important benefit of all, superseding (superior to) all the benefits described above is, prolonged intense meditation done over a long period of time in one’s life will lead to Self Realization.

Experiences in meditation:

Meditation is stated to produce various kinds of experiences. Lights of various colors such as red, blue, green white are stated to appear. Sometimes, lightning like flashes are stated to appear. Sometimes, Devas, Rishis appear in meditation. We may see the form of our Guru. We will enjoy immense peace. During these experiences, we must be perfectly steady and must not shake the

body.

Practice of meditation:

If we want to get rid of the pains and afflictions of this samsara, we must practice meditation. Meditation should become part of our daily life just like brushing teeth, eating, sleeping and so on. The spiritual aspirant (seeking with eagerness) should not be irritated by trivial matters. He

should cultivate amiable loving nature and adaptability to make fast progress in meditation.We should cultivate the habit of seeing only our own reflection in all the people of this world through our mind mirror.

Chapter Re-cap:

Concentration:

1) Concentration is fixing the mind with one single thought on one form or object for a long time.

2) The aids to concentration are pranayama, mauna, controlling thoughts.

3) Concentration benefits = Those who practice concentration evolve quickly. Concentration purifies and calms the surging emotions, strengthens the thought process, and clarifies the ideas. He who practices concentration will possess very clear mental vision.

Meditation:

4) Meditation is the keeping up of an unceasing thought flow of God Conciousness.

5) How to meditate = Choose a quiet place; Meditate during Brahma Muhurta between 4 AM and 6 AM, as well as, just before bed time; Withdraw our attention from the outside world; withdraw our attention from our physical body; Sit on a thin flat cushion, sit in the correct posture with the vertebral column erect, close the eyes, and place hands on the folded legs; We should not shake the body even a little bit; The next step is the quietening of the mind; Chant some mantra or simply chant OM; After some time, we will start to get a feeling of perceptible mental quietness; Halt the chanting; We can now experience at this moment a Godly peace and a Divine silence descending upon us.

6) Meditation benefits = As the mind relaxes in meditation, the body will also begin to relax; More wisdom will be manifested in the life of the meditator; The psychological stress will be reduced to the minimum; As the aspirant progresses further in the meditation, he will gain control over numerous functions in the nervous system; Another important benefit of meditation is the reduction of the blood pressure, particularly during deep meditation; Regular meditation increases memory power, sharpens intellect, and opens the avenues of intuitional knowledge; Maya will vanish through jnyana or meditation on the Paramatma; The most important benefit of all, superseding (superior to) all the benefits described above is, prolonged intense meditation done over a long period of time in one’s life will lead to Self Realization.

This article is a snippet from the Book Essentials of Hinduism, Authored by G.S Nilakantan. Hinduism for All is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.