Meditation — what/why/how?
ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
The above mantra means –
“Om, (O Lord) Lead me from (the Phenomenal World of) Unreality, towards the Reality (of Eternal Self),
Lead me from (the Ignorant State of) Darkness, towards the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
Lead me from (the World of) Mortality, towards the World of Immortality (of Self-Realization),
Om, Peace, Peace, Peace.”
Thinking/Story of us –
Business Owner: Once my company achieves target of million dollar this year, I will celebrate.
University/School Students: I passed exams, but I need to get job or own a business.
Employee: I am earning good, but I want increase in my pay.
Lover: He/She is good, but if he/she was like that, my life would have been perfect.
once this, after that, but, however, if……
We are missing something. Yes, you all know the missing entity, it is PRESENT and YOU. Always, brooding of past and grooming over future, we tend to ignore what is in now. Constantly worrying and living in the fear, either thoughts are overpowering or emotions are overwhelming, Are you dying early or living dead?
Wait, we have a way of escapism. Let’s MEDITATE.
Big No to this. I was sarcastic in my escapist way. Meditation is something that is misunderstood fundamentally and in practice.
Are we stopping to think?
Everyone is in rush. If my senses are not satisfied right away or if matter is not sorted in 5 minutes, world is going to fall apart. There used to be something called patience, which is much needed now. For morning to happen, you will have to wait for sun to show up.
Lets start practicing pause now. Why to take pause? So that you can question. Without questioning or reasoning or taking time to analyze, there is no answers that we are getting. Question is — where are we if not in present moment? I can imagine you living in thoughts. Thoughts are just beliefs and not experiential reality. Switch from one thought to other and your imagined life changes within fraction. Majority of things are just created in head and so we are influenced by our own psychological creations.
Where to pay attention? We all know this unconsciously, which needs to come to surface to figure everything out.
You are enjoying the sunset at the beach, where are you feeling pleasurable? Is it inside your body or at the location of the sea! When someone touches you, you feel it inside you and not outside. You listen to certain music and it makes you calm. Well music is of certain kind, but the feeling is within you.
There are all kinds of external stimulus but feel of it is internal to you. So you know by now, right, we need to fix ourselves and not external situations most of the times. If you do not know how to drive a car and you try to drive, it will not be pleasant ride. That is what is happening with us right now. We do not know how to drive consciously and so driving ourselves crazy. How we become more conscious! Practice it. So called Meditation is one way to bring such awareness.
What is meditation?
Meditation is very vague term in English I would say. What does action of meditating imply? There is no such word in yogic practices.
Dhyana is the correct word, which means Attention. Pay attention or be aware and you are into meditative state already. Yes, attention within. That’s where you are feeling everything and all the psychological drama is going on.
How to practice it?
Let’s learn one of the way of practicing dhyana without waiting further.
Sit comfortably in a simple crossed legs position. You can also choose to sit in padmasanas (lotus position in crossed leg). Make sure your spine is erect. Hands should be relaxed and keep palm open to the sky with all your fingers and thumb together and rest it on your knees. As an alternative, you can also put your palm one over the other in your lap open to the sky. Now close your eyes. To start with, your attention should be on the breath. Do not control or do not try to control breath. Let it flow it at its natural pace. Try to observe where your breath touches on nostrils or nose surface or inside the track. Pay your full attention to just breath as you are inhaling and exhaling. As we have not practiced much, attention will move away from breath to thoughts. Bring it back to breath without being affected by thoughts. Remember, no judgments to your thoughts. If it comes to you let it come. Simply observe and back to breath. Feel the minute sensations that are happening inside body. Sensations may be vibrations of your body, your body temperature, touch of your clothe to skin. Scan your body from the top of your head to toe and repeat slowly paying attention to sensations. Again to remind, no judgments to anything. You must not crave for any sensation, feeling or thought and neither you must hate or resist same. Be still and feel what is going on within, not craving nor hating. Raise your awareness and keep practicing. Simple enough, right!
We should be able to withstand ourselves and our thoughts. If you can’t be with self then how can you withstand other! Make change or adjust self first.
Everyone of us must have this question at one point of time in a life. What we call our-self by name, are we just that? I am Darpan, that is label to me but in actual sense who Darpan is? Our body is made up of food that we are eating. Are we piece of food which everyone is eating? Well, we cannot be everyone. Banana that is going inside and making us, are we that banana only? Thoughts which are just accumulated memory, is another part of us, but are we our thoughts? Thoughts keeps changing then are you just changing thought? If not physical body, not the mind (or thoughts/memory) then Who Am I?
Body is made of basic 5 elements :
Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Space.
To observe a change, there must be something constant. For example, if you want to project a video which is a moving frame, we need screen which stays constant. There must be something which is constant that is untouched and observes all the changes. I would just say, look within and may you find your real self.
One who seeks, finds.
May you be in peace.
Lotus signifies that amidst impurities/mud, you can stay untouched and pure.
