Q. What is meditation and why should I meditate?

A. Few of us would deny the need for integrating the various conflicting aspects of our personality. The conflict arises between our physical, mental, intellectual and Spiritual being. It arises when our desires clash with our duties.

Meditation is the technique for achieving total harmony. It is the process by which we are able to discover who we truly are by clearing the dust off the mirror of our mind. In actual fact meditation is not an action, it is nothing but effort-less abidance in the Self. What we ‘do’ is preparation for meditation.

Through this preparation we control our flow of thoughts so they are fewer and slower, and we become more efficient, dynamic and happier.

Q. I have tried meditation and nothing happened- what should I do?

A. Don’t give up! It is important to cultivate the habit and discipline within the mind. You may continue in this way for a week or perhaps months; eventually the wall you are trying to push will give way unexpectedly and you will be surprised at how swiftly you move forward!

Q. What about when I am having a bad day?

A. As your mind relaxes, it may slip to allow thoughts and feelings to surface to the forefront of the mind making you feel more agitated, in which case we should muster our strength and fight the battle against our lower tendencies. We have been told by great Masters that sometimes the hardest time for a sincere spiritual seeker is before their ultimate divine experience. So with faith and conviction hasten slowly, do not give in to despair, and you will begin to have fewer bad days!

Read about Sankara – The Spiritual General

Q. What connection is there between meditation and my everyday life?

A. Once you have discovered the wonders of meditation you may wonder how to carry the good effects beyond the prayer seat. If we carry the fruits of meditation as if carrying water in a clay pot- at first we may spill all of it as soon as we get up, but slowly as we practice we carry it for longer and longer periods through the day before it spills over the pot edge and we will see the benefit of meditation manifesting in our everyday life.

The entire day’s activities are a form of preparation for meditation. If our acts are selfless and we act with awareness we create a conducive environment for meditation to take place.

Q. What is concentration and contemplation?

A. These words are used frequently in connection with meditation. Concentration is the unwavering focus on a chosen object or idea for a sustained period. We can use dynamic concentration by keeping our minds focused on the here and now, achieving integration between the mind, body and intellect, which ultimately reads to disassociating ourselves from the B(body), M(mind) and I(intellect).

Contemplation is feeling or thinking about an object or idea for a sustained period. Dynamic contemplation takes this a step further as it invokes a higher emotion or thought. For example, by replaying the story of Hanuman Ji in our minds, we feel compassion and love.

Q. What stops us from reaching the goal – effortless abidance in the Self?

A. Stopping us are impurities that arise from our desires, agitations that arise from conditionings of the past and anxieties of the future, and identification with the ego or sense of doership. Instead we need a mind that is calm concentrated and contemplative; so how do we achieve this?

Through devotion and a strong sense of duty and by applying discipline to the mind we can free ourselves from desires, agitations and the ego identity.

Q. How can I purify my mind?

A. We can achieve this through 3 steps:

1. Purification of our feelings by renunciation of likes and dislikes, detaching ourselves from people and objects and reattaching to the higher;
2. Purifying our thoughts by creating more noble – sattvic desires to replace lower – more tamasic desires, and detaching from the thought process.
3. Purifying the feeling of “I” ness (attachment to the ego) through steady contemplation; devotion and selfless service.

Compiled by Rita Hemraj
Source: Chinmayam, September 2008