1)
What is Meditation?
Meditation is the
freedom from thought, a state of no-mind.
It is a state of pure consciousness with no
contents. It is the activation of natural
'seeing' activity, of the 'Self' or Consciousness.
It is the finest way to increase one's personal
energy by getting connected to the Source.
Meditation is a key to unlock the mystery
of existence. It is a method par excellence,
to go into altered states of consciousness,
wherein it is possible to perceive alternate
frequency universes, which are all simultaneously
co-existing.
Meditation is easy and not at all difficult.
It is a knack, which can be mastered with
the help of regular practice.
Meditation begins basically with "Anapanasati",
which means to keep one's total attention
and awareness only on one's normal breathing
process. In Pali language, in which Buddha
talked, 'Ana' means 'In-breath', 'Apana' means
'Out-breath', 'Sati' means 'To be one with'.
Meditation is neither 'prayer', nor 'chanting'
nor 'contemplation'. No 'mantra' is to be
chanted, no form of 'deity' or outside 'Guru'
is to be entertained, nor any 'pranayama'
practice like holding one's breath i.e. 'kumbhaka'
should be attempted during meditation.
2)
Why to Meditate?
Meditation takes you…
From Tension to Attention
From Stressfulness to Gracefulness
From Illness to Health
From Fearfulness to Fearlessness
From Dullness to Sharpness
From Rigidity to Flexibility
From Discontentment to Contentment
From Restlessness to Tranquility
From Complexity to Simplicity
From Fragmentation to Integrity
From Separatism to Unity
From Vanity to Sanity
From Warfare to Lovefare
From Ownership to Trusteeship
From Loneliness to Aloneness (All-Oneness)
From Misery to Bliss
From Bondage to Liberation
From Indifference to Compassion
From Self-importance to Self-less-ness
From Competition to Co-operation
In short, from
Disorderliness to Orderliness in every walk
of life!
ALL THIS JUST FROM SIMPLE MEDITATION!
3)
When And How of Meditation
Meditation should be undertaken regularly
and for a minimum of twenty minutes to one
hour every day. Time can be increased further
as you proceed.
Meditation at the same time of the day and
at the same place is good to begin with. As
you start understanding that it is the inner
state that is important, any time and any
place is okay for meditation.
Meditation can be done in any comfortable
sitting posture, keeping the spine erect,
as far as possible. Legs crossed or folded,
hands should be clasped and eyes to be closed.
This helps in harnessing the energy within
by avoiding the drainage or the outward flow
of energy.
Routine wanderings of the mind should be cut
right away, as and when they arise, and attention
should constantly be brought back to the chosen
work at hand, i.e. consciously observing the
breath.
Instead of thinking
too much about how to start and when to start,
simply observe your breath and you have begun
your journey in meditation!
4)
What Are the Different Stages to the State
of Meditation?
Meditation means
to be in thoughtless state with full awareness.
Just for the purpose of preliminary understanding,
various progressive stages of meditation can
be seen as:
You begin with conscious observance of natural
breathing process. This is known as "Anapanasati".
(Controlling or manipulation of breathing
process is not necessary.) In case of thought
taking away your attention from breathing
process, come back to observing breath without
fighting with thought.
In the next stage include your heartbeats
in your awareness along with breathing process.
This is two-point awareness. Next bring about
the awareness of entire body along with breathing
process. This is known as "Kayanupassana".
Here you are aware of every happening inside
your body.
In the next stage increase your awareness
further to include all the sounds of outer
as well as inner world. Let your awareness
become more intense and broader as well. Let
it grow to multi-point awareness, meaning
- being conscious of many aspects "at
a time". e.g. You are conscious of your
breath, your heartbeats, your body sensations,
various sounds inside as well as outside.
You are also aware of the air touching your
skin, various fragrances in the room etc.
By just being rooted into this state, the
third eye opens on its own accord and you
start seeing the things directly. This is
known as "Vipassana", the "Special
Seeing". Many Meditators have reported
various experiences of this stage, known as
third eye experiences.
With witnessing of thoughts and further sharpening
of this awareness, getting rooted into no-thought
state becomes easy. With this the energy reservoir
builds up, as there is no dissipation of energy
by thought mind. Just by staying more and
more into this state, the energy build up
goes to peak and it falls back upon itself.
This is the enlightenment experience, the
awareness becoming aware of itself. With this
multi-dimensional awareness becomes possible
and you can see various frequency universes
(Etheric, Astral, Causal etc.) which are all
simultaneously co-existing, with your 'poly-vision'.
This brings about the understanding of various
different frequency universes, gross, subtler
as well as subtlest. You understand all these
'consensus realities' as temporary illusive
phenomena and discard all these experiences
of the past and remain rooted totally in the
present moment. This is "Nibbanna"
or Nirvana, the desire-less state.
Higher the intensity,
less is the time required to progress in meditation.
5)
What Meditation is not!
Chanting of any Mantra, Stotras, Naam-smaran
or Japa may help some people to quieten their
mind and bring it to one point of concentration,
but it is not meditation.
Concentration on any one point like trataka
is not Meditation.
Contemplation on any one thought or an idea
is not meditation.
Idol worship (Murti pooja) - Offering of prayers
in various forms is not meditation.
Twisting and turning the body in various postures
or Asanas may be good for the suppleness of
the body but it is not meditation.
Bio-energy exercises, Pranayama, holding of
breath - kumbhaka- or manipulation of breath
in any form may be useful for increasing vitality
levels of cellular body but it is not meditation.
Guided relaxation processes and creative visualizations
may be helpful in relaxing the mind in the
beginning but it is not meditation.
Listening to good instrumental / classical
music, as a tool, can be a good help in preparation
for meditation to begin with but 'musical-entertainment'
is not meditation.
Singing 'Bhajans' - devotional songs - is
not meditation, but as a natural and spontaneous
outcome of meditative experience, bliss is
some times expressed with devotional songs.
It has been noticed that people spend lot
of time in 'preparation for meditation' and
are left with no time for actual 'Meditation'.
Masters suggested many aspects mentioned above
to the beginners as a good help in the preparatory
stages of sadhana. But what has happened is
that more and more people cling to the preparatory
stages and get stuck there and do not proceed
further on the path. The purpose of segregating
real meditation from the preparatory stages
is to help seekers to come to the real journey
and progress on the path faster.
6)
Do You Ever Meditate?
You fix up time, regular and punctual
And you plan to meditate.
You take a bath, become clean and fresh,
And you get ready to meditate.
You select a corner dark and cool
And you desire to meditate.
You prepare the seat - soft & clean
And you wish to meditate.
You bring the flowers fresh and fragrant
And you decide to meditate.
You burn incense and rich perfumes
And you aspire to meditate.
You sit in Asana, straight and still,
And you try to meditate.
You chant, breathe and concentrate,
And you think you meditate.
And with all these preparations and plans
of mind,
Do you ever become free from thought to meditate?
Do You Ever Meditate?
7)
Group Meditation & Outside dependency
Group Meditations are useful to motivate each
other and to share the group energy to begin
with; but ultimately meditation is a 'solo
inward journey' and all sorts of outside dependencies
need to be discarded to find the Source within.
By outside dependencies we mean…
>>
Listening to instrumental music like Santoor,
Flute etc.
>> Music/
Dance/ Catharsis in any form.
>>
Guiding instructions - direct or from cassettes.
>> Use
of any special techniques for meditation with
or without the help of various structures
or toys such as Pyramids, Pendulums, Crystals,
Pagodas, Candles, Bells, Books, CDs, cassettes
etc.
Use of tools, toys and techniques is like
using the boat to cross the river. Use it
if it helps you, cross the river and jump
out of the boat onto the shore of meditation.
Come out of the boat and be grateful to it.
The problem comes when you get stuck with
the boat and are not ready to jump out of
it. If you carry the boat on your head and
go on glamorizing about it on loudspeakers
to impress upon various groups, insisting
that every body must use your boat only, it
creates problems. This kind of attitude creates
hurdles in your further journey.
Becoming disciple or follower of people who
pose themselves as 'GURU' and make you dependent
on them and their toys and techniques, cassettes
and kriyas is equally dangerous. Real meditation
awakens the INNER GURU leading to the ultimate
freedom and that is the end of all outside
dependencies.
8)
What Are the Outcomes of Preparatory Stages
of Meditation?
Thousands of systematic experiments in the
field of scientific spirituality are carried
out by various groups, seekers and scientists,
in different parts of the world. Following
are the common outcomes reported by people
practicing the preparatory stages of meditation.
You can experience it for yourself by experimenting.
Changes found
in work -environment and at personal level
are…
1) Stress levels are reduced drastically.
2) Personal effectiveness enhances.
3) Quality and Productivity levels at work
are improved.
4) With 'awareness of the moment', Time management
is better taken care of.
5) 'Learning ability' is enhanced drastically.
6) Memory power is increased.
7) Wasteful habits die a natural death.
8) Ability to see 'Right' and 'Wrong' increases
drastically.
9) Sleep time requirement gets decreased.
10) Helps to maintain positive attitude towards
life.
11) Interpersonal relationships become more
qualitative and fulfilling.
12) Understanding human behaviors in every
situation becomes easier.
13) Healing of body-mind happens naturally
and enhances health at all levels.
14) Peaceful and Joyous state of mind stays
for longer duration.
15) Increased levels of patience, forgiveness,
quietude and happiness.
People diving
deep in meditation have reported following…
1) Intuition starts functioning better.
2) Third eye activation happens over a period
of time, leading to seeing of 'Aura' with
naked eyes.
3) Ability to 'Astral Project' or 'Astral
Travel'.
4) Contact with Angel guides, Higher-Self
and other astral masters takes place to take
personal messages
and guidance.
5) Glimpses of the past lives, realizing the
past mistakes and learning through them becomes
easier.
6) Realizing the effects of past karmas helps
to sort out the problems in present relationships.
7) The purpose of life is better understood.
8) Finally, Enlightenment / Nirvana / Buddhahood
is tasted.
9)
Meditation Experiences
Please remember: All the experiences are just
the passing phases on the journey towards
meditation. It is not real meditation! You
are neither the experience nor the experiencer.
You are the one who is witness to all experiences.
Various Experiences at Physical Level
1) Headache or pain in any part of
the body. (This is very common. We receive
cosmic energy in meditation,
which cleanses the sick part of the body,
and this causes pain. This pain is felt only
when one is in meditation.)
2) Body becomes very light or very heavy.
3) Body feeling very cold or it may perspire.
4) Hearing clearly the beating of one's own
heart from inside.
5) Feeling of hot gases going out of ears.
6) Body going into various yogic postures
/ movements.
7) Experiencing sudden laughter or crying.
8) Body sways front to back or sidewise or
whirling sensations are felt even when the
physical body
is steady. (This is because of the astral
body trying to separate from physical.)
9) Feeling that something has gone out of
our body and being afraid of it. (Fear is
common and there
is no need to specially worry about such fears.
Better way to handle fear is to face it squarely
as and when it arises. By doing so it will
rise to its peak and then it will subside.)
10) Feeling sleepy / drowsy. (It is not 'sleep',
a thought-free state of mind gives such a
feeling in the beginning.)
Hearing/ Smelling
Experiences
1)
Hearing voices, words or messages.
2) Hearing sounds or musical notes.
3) Becoming aware of various fragrances around.
4) Hearing one's own snoring very clearly.(Means
you are aware of your relaxed body sleeping)
Various Energy
Experiences
1) Feeling that the body has become
very small.
2) Feeling that the body has expanded greatly
and has become gigantic.
3) Losing bodily awareness of joining of the
hands.
4) Losing awareness of time spent in meditation.
5) Flying like a bird or an airplane. (Astral
travel)
6) Feeling that you are meditating at new
places.
7) Feeling upward creeping movement from the
base of the backbone. (Awakening of kundalini)
8) Feeling of being healed of illness.
9) A deep contentment, great peace and bliss
dawns upon a person.
Seeing or Light
Experiences
1)
Total darkness, brilliant light or
various colors are seen even with closed eyes.
2) Seeing of terrifying images (Masters give
the experiences to drive away fear complexes)
3) Seeing of snakes in astral visions.
4) Seeing and experiencing being moving at
a fast pace in a dark tunnel opening into
bright light. (Classically called 'Tunnel
Experience')
5) Seeing friends and relatives who are alive
or departed.
6) Seeing dead friends and relatives. (Comfort
them; Suggest to them to seek assistance from
Enlightened Souls and to move on to upper
worlds)
7) Seeing astral masters / Gods. (Request
them to give knowledge. Listen to their messages.)
8) Seeing hills and forest. (as a part of
astral journey)
9) Seeing books and pen (Suggestion to try
auto writing)
10) Following a "Jyoti" or "Light".
(Means following masters. Follow the Masters
wherever they take you)
11) Seeing all types of "Visions",
the snap-shots of future events.
12) Visions of the past lives and Seeing /
realizing past mistakes.
These experiences,
one may encounter on the way to meditative
state. But till these are experienced, the
meditative state has not been reached! Only
on transcendence of all or any such experiences,
the meditation happens!
10) Subtler Hindrances to
the Deeper Inner Journey
1) Various third eye experiences /
Astral body experiences / Cosmic body experiences
(Body expansions etc.), even though indicative
of some progress on the path, are just the
passing phase of meditation. All experiences
are always of the 'Bodies', however subtle
it may be. It is better to go through these
experiences whole-heartedly with total awareness
and discard them to go beyond. Hanging onto
the memory of past experiences and expecting
more such experiences in future are the biggest
hurdles to get rooted in the present moment.
2) Sharing of meditation experiences with
like-minded Meditator friends, if the need
be, is okay, but glamorizing of these experiences
should be avoided. At the later stage it is
understood that 'Verbalization' is an attempt
of 'thought' trying to express the experience
of 'thought-less' dimension. Perfect verbalization
of deeper level meditation experiences is
not easy and the very attempt of verbalizing
may lead to losing the essence of it.
3) With diving deep into meditation on regular
basis, one may become capable of having control
over various subtle forces, traditionally
known as 'Sidhhies', e.g. capacity to make
body very small or big or heavy or light or
transparent, ability to teleport objects,
mind reading, levitation, flying with physical
body (Aakash-gamana), entering into other
body at will (Parkaya-pravesh), capacity of
wish fulfillment etc. They are a kind of temptations
on the way. A meditator, if not aware of this
aspect, may get caught into it very easily
and may get stuck with it, forgetting completely
the real journey, which is towards enlightenment.
There is nothing wrong in knowing the 'Science
of Sidhhies' as it comes and going beyond,
but it is definitely not desirable to show-off
these powers to public as it may result into
ego enhancement and ultimately getting stuck
with it. It is important to know such subtler
hindrances and better to avoid them. It is
also possible that a meditator may not encounter
any of these powers and continue the inward
journey without any problem.
Always remember that the ultimate aim of meditation
is to come to the state of 'Nirvana' (Nir
- vana means No - desires) or 'desire-less
state'.
11)
Meditation
Meditation… Meditation…
It is not the focussing of attention.
Nor is it narrowing of Consciousness,
It is not the thought in its exclusion
Meditation… Meditation…
It is not the glorified experience
Nor is it a flight of wishful will
It is not an enforced silence!
What is true Meditation?
It's a perception of mind's entire movement,
An aloof attention in the present,
Witnessing without any one witnessing
A Total Experience of the Moment!
Meditation… Meditation…
A transparent flow of Internal Energy,
Without any hindrance or deception,
With tranquillity and clarity.
Meditation… Meditation…
An experience of Enormous,
A moment of total fulfillment,
A creative timeless Existence,
That is true Meditation; that is true Meditation!
12)
Witnessing: The Essence of Meditation
Once you start meditating you will find that
observing breath and body sensations is easy.
Now it is possible to acknowledge the continuously
chattering mind with its unceasing self-dialogue.
See the pictorial representation of this state
of thought-mind in (Diagram-1)
From here onwards moving towards thoughtless
state becomes possible with witnessing of
thoughts. Witnessing means aloof observation
of thoughts. Thought flow is like flowing
river. We need to jump out of this river of
thoughts, and observe the flow by establishing
oneself on the riverbank.
Witnessing is a knack that happens within…Initially
it is a 'thought' trying to observe other
thoughts. W hen you give a challenge to that
'thought' to observe two other thoughts at
a time, you will find that a 'thought' is
not capable of doing that. With such a challenge,
the witness is created for the first time.
As you start witnessing the thoughts as they
arise in your inner sky, the thought flow
becomes streamline. (Diagram-2)
As you start witnessing more and more the
thought flow starts reducing and they fall
in line, with minimum traffic of thoughts.
(Diagram-3)
As the intensity of aloof observation goes
on increasing it becomes possible to see the
beginning of a thought, the middle of a thought
and the end of a thought as you trace the
whole trajectory of a thought with your aloof
observation. With this you notice the gap
between the two thoughts. (Diagram-4)
As you continue witnessing with higher intensity
the gap goes on increasing. As the intensity
of aloof-observation goes to the peak, it
becomes possible to get rooted into the vibrant
silence of thoughtless state. (Diagram-5)
To be in this state without any expectations,
is the prelude to the new dimensional quantum
jump called enlightenment!
13)
Meditation alone is not enough…
It may be true that only a meditator can become
enlightened, but only meditation is not enough
for enlightenment. Meditation needs to be supplemented
with intense 'Swadhyaya' the 'self-study' to
develop the intense and clear "UNDERSTANDING"
of how the mind functions and governs the behavioral
patterns. Without 'Swadhyaya', the ultimate
flowering of medita-tion in this new kind of
understanding is very difficult.
'Satjana-sangatya', to be in the company of
enlightened masters - makes it easier to come
to that understanding faster. It is not just
the words of the master but the ener-gy field
of the master that is felt in his presence,
can throw a person into meditative awareness
and masters' wisdom helps to develop the ultimate
understanding.
Meditation alone makes a person fit for 'Swadhyaya'
and 'Satjana-sangatya' while 'Swadhyaya' and
'Satjana-sangatya' can save the meditator from
the temptations of the senses and falling back
into the old patterns of the mind. Meditation,
'Swadhyaya' and 'Satjana-sangatya' together
prepare the person for 'Satsang'. 'Satsang'
is not 'socializing' with spiritual circles!
'Satsang' means to be with Truth, which is within
oneself, in each one of us. This is the awakening
of INNER GURU, the ultimate flowering of meditation.
14)
What is Enlightenment?
Enlightenment means…
1) Never to be in hurry, never to be
in worry & never to waste a single moment.
2) Ever to live in the Present and to think
of the past or of the future only when absolutely
warranted.
3) To know that the source of all wisdom is
"MEDITATION" and nothing else.
4) Never to lament, never to regret. It is to
understand deeply that every regret is a fresh
blunder.
5) To flow with one's own nature and let others
flow freely in their own respective natures.
6) Continuous, hearty, wholesome laughter, mostly
at one's own self.
Enlightenment is
the ability to…
1) Learn both from the superiors and
from the inferiors, both from the wise and from
the stupid.
2) Listen attentively with no other thought
process crossing the mind.
3) To sit silently in front of a master.
4) Never to repress one's emotions.
5) Bear infinite pain & infinite insult
- without so much as raising an eyebrow.
6) To act impeccably always in every given moment
and according to the given situation.
7) Freely mix with others without losing one's
own self-confidence or uniqueness.
Enlightenment is
…
1)
Love; and Love is rather an abstract
feeling of tenderness towards all cosmic beings.
2) Losing utterly one's self-importance, reducing
oneself to zero.
3) Never to indulge in judging others.
4) To find out what you want most to do and
then going and doing it.
5) To know the purpose of one's life and its
mission to act accordingly in every moment.
6) The art of ever maintaining inner silence
in the midst of all the cacophony that is existing
in the world.
7) To live in the society but to see that the
society does not live in you.
8) To be always in a state of recklessness…
fearlessness… dare-devilness.
9) Never to form routines.
10) To totally eschew "One Guru" concept.
11) Ever to immerse oneself in the immediate
task of the immediate moment.
Enlightenment is
to understand that…
1) You create your own reality; your beliefs
form your experiences.
2) Nothing is by chance, but everything is by
choice.
3) The only subject to be studied is Spiritual
Science.
4) Everybody's potential is infinite.
5) YOU are all that is.
6) You are your Guru.
7)You can never be totally enlightened.
8) What you see at any given time is only a
part of the truth, only one dimension of it.
9) You can never give enlightenment to others
and nobody can give enlightenment to you.
10) There is good and there is bad" and
"there is no good and there is no bad.
11) Samsara is Nirvana.
12) Time is the greatest Illusion.
13) Basically there are no rules and regulations
for conduct - all life is fundamentally a free
exploration of its own likes and dislikes.
14) You are born here primarily for your own
growth and for your own development.
"Before Enlightenment chopping wood carrying
water.
After Enlightenment chopping wood carrying water.
- Zen Proverb.
15) MASTERS' WISDOM
Meditation
is an adventure, the greatest adventure
the human mind can undertake.
All search is futile. Search is a by-product
of the mind. To be in a state of non-search
is the great moment of transformation.
-
Osho |
|
All effort to meditate is the denial
of meditation. Meditation is the ending
of thought. It is only then that there
is a different dimension, which is beyond
time.
Meditation is the seeing of what is
and going beyond it.
Meditation is to find out if there is
a field, which is not already contaminated
by the known.
Meditation is the flowering of understanding.
Meditation is the light in the mind,
which lights the way for action; and
without that light there is no love.
In meditation one has to find out whether
there is an end to knowledge and so
freedom from the known.
-
J. Krishnamurti |
|
Meditation is a plunge into oneself
to fathom the depths of one's own being.
The way of awakening, which is meditation,
is through a constant vigilance into
oneself. Such watchful attention within
is the price of freedom.
In the freedom from thought-mind alone
lies the liberation of life.
-
Dada Gavand |
|
"I died a mineral and became a
plant. I died a plant and rose an animal.
I died an animal and I was man. Why
should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more, I shall die as man, to
soar with the blessed angels; but even
from angle-hood I must pass on.
All except God perishes. When I have
sacrificed my angel soul,
I shall become that which no mind ever
conceived. O, let me not exist!
For Non-existence proclaims, To Him
we shall return."
- Mavlana
Jalaluddin Rumi |
|
Are you anything but rumor?
All forms of practice are learning to
kill dragons.
- Wei Wu
Wei |
|
Be without experience. That is the
experience! Why to worry… everything
is nothing. How can nothing touch you?
Forget everything and you are there!
How much time it takes? …
Go deep within yourself, so deep that
you disappear.
-
Ranjit Maharaj |
Compiled
by: Prem Nirmal
1st Edition: Jan 2003; 25,000 copies
Excerpts and quotes from the source
books…
Be a Master by Subhash Patri
Meditation: The first and last freedom
by Osho
Meditations by J. Krishnamurti
Dawn of Divinity: Poems by Dada
Gavand
Illusion v/s Reality by Ranjit
Maharaj
With grateful acknowledgements to the
Authors & Publishers.
Published by:
TOTAL APPROACH ORGANISATION
(TAO)
209, Krishna, Laxmi Industrial Complex,
Vartak Nagar, Pokhran Road-1,
Thane (W), PIN 400 606.
Phone: 022-2 533 8892 / 8893
Fax: 022-2 567 4089
E-mail: mails@taoindia.com
Website: www.taoindia.org
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This booklet is for free distribution.
Printed by:
----------------------------------------
Cover Illustration by Ambili Muralidhar
|
