Meditation and Prayer
by
H.H. Sri Swami Chidananda
World President
The Divine Life Society
Value Of Meditation
Intellect and Intuition
Life Is Meant for Meditation
The Process of Meditation
Character � The Gateway to Meditation
The Power of the One-track Mind
The Laws Of Thought
The Role of Body, Mind and Prana in Meditation
Breathing Exercise for Mental Tranquillity
Meditation � Temporal and Spiritual
Aids to Successful Meditation
Meditation � A Panacea for All Ills
The great subject of Meditation, which we have the good fortune to consider now, is one, which provides the ultimate solution to the greatest problem, which has faced and challenged mankind ever since the dawn of creation � the problem of life as well as of death.
Meditation solves the problem that menaces the individual, making him look upon life as fraught with bitterness, pain and suffering. It transforms life once again into a meaningful and a deeply significant and wonderful gift from the Supreme to the human soul. The key to this transformed view of life, and the transformation in the very experience of life is, in a single word, Meditation. The problem of death is solved � for Meditation bestows on you all awareness of your true nature, the realization of your real Self, which is deathless and immortal. Thus, it takes you beyond all fear of death, and frees you from terror.
In Meditation, you are raised into an experience where you can laugh at death; where you can treat it as a mere trifle. You are given the realization of your ever-changeless existence. You are birthless, deathless and changeless; without beginning or end. You are given the solid experience of that realization right here and now � not in some after-life; not in the beyond. Even while you are in this body, you are thus liberated from the terror and the fear of death. You know that if something perishes, it is of the earth � earthly � but it affects you not. You are the deathless Spirit indwelling the body; remaining absolutely untouched even when the body is dissolved. You know that you are glorious and independent of the body and the mind. You realize that to you, there is no need of this body; that it is the same to you whether you are within the body or without the body. That is the triumph attained through Meditation.
All scriptures, from the most ancient times, have forcefully, emphatically and unmistakably stated that anything achieved by man � individual as well as cosmic, terrestrial as well as heavenly � has been achieved through Meditation. The sublime Vedas of India have declared in sonorous and authoritative terms that through Meditation, the Creator obtained the power to create; that through Meditation, the Great One supports the earth. It is said that after the Creator meditated for aeons, creations streamed forth from His Being through the mere act of His Will, which became indomitable through the force generated in Meditation.
In the human being, Meditation works in a wonderful way. By gathering the mind from its scattered and dispersed state (in which state it goes all over the world) to an absolute pinpoint, by totally arresting its outgoing and centrifugal tendencies, by withdrawing its rays and making them converge upon one point, by making the mind atomic, as it were, the human being is able to release from within an infinite power, which lies there in the very depths of his innermost being in a state of hidden potency.
Outwardly, due to the limitations of your physical frame, you are finite. Your powers also are limited. Your intellect is bound by the necessity of basing all conceptual activity upon name and form, for without name and form mind cannot conceive of any idea. Therefore, the very function of your intellect is possible only within the framework of name and form.
Whenever thought comes, it takes the support of either a name or a shape or form for its very sustenance. Deep within, beyond the limiting factors of the body and the mind, you have your unlimited Self. It is that Supreme Consciousness that struggles to express itself, but cannot. Why? The channels of expression are limited. The truth of your Self, your innermost infinite Essence, is contained within these finite channels and is thwarted in its effort to find effective unhampered expression for itself. Meditation releases your Inner Being from this bondage.
Through Meditation, you find the dynamic force that breaks the bonds of the intellect, and you transcend the intellect and go beyond it. Meditation leads you to that unique spiritual faculty lying deep within each human soul � the faculty of intuition, which is also called the occult third eye, or the eye of wisdom. That faculty alone is the rightful and legitimate instrument of the soul. In error, you make use of the mind and the intellect which are, at most, the instruments of the "I" within you. This "I" or the individual ego, this little personality, this name, this form, this individual being, confined by the numerous limiting factors of nationality, race, caste, creed, height and colour, this erroneous "I", is transient and false. The real "I" within is the true Self, which shines radiant beyond the veil of error.
The true Consciousness, becoming associated with this veiling power, with this erroneous perception, and vitiated by that association, identifies itself with the temporary name and form and knows itself as something which it really is not. To this false identity, the intellect and the body have become channels of expression. They may be adequate as instruments to this little "I", but for You, they are all too inadequate. The Supreme Being, which has brought you into existence, has given you an instrument for expressing Your Reality � an instrument par excellence, and that inner instrument is intuition. To awaken and develop intuition and to release the vast infinite power that lies within you is the purpose of Meditation. In its ultimate stages, that is what it achieves.
Is it to be taken then, that until our Meditation has reached that ultimate stage of perfection, where it is able to open the intuition � the centre of true Consciousness � all our effort is futile, or that, until that stage is reached, Meditation is just toil and effort with no gainful return or reward? The answer is an emphatic "NO!" The exact opposite is the case. Meditation brings you a reward the very day you start it. Immediately, you begin to feel the blessedness of Meditation, and you get a great return in terms of greater tranquillity, composure, clarity of mind, balance and peacefulness. All these results come from the very start of proper Meditation. That is the greatness of this process.
Great souls, especially the mystics and the saints, have been so very enthusiastic about Meditation and so very partial to it, that some of them have even declared that man was created in order to meditate. The function of Meditation is recognized as the sole and proper function of the intellect. All other aspects of life have value only if they try to equip you for the process of Meditation. These great people see life not as a vale of tears, not as a forest full of thorns and brambles, but as a great highway leading to the greatest blessedness. They regard human life as a great gift bestowed by God, and say that life is meant for the experience of infinite bliss and peace which is not of this earth, which cannot be described, which human mind cannot comprehend, which passeth all understanding. To this end, therefore, man is asked to meditate alone that he can fulfil his life and justify the receipt of this great gift from God.
Meditation and Meditation alone (no other process has been discovered since Creation) has the power to reach up to the ultimate God-experience. St. Teresa of Avila, a mystic of great spiritual eminence, called it the Royal Highway to Heaven. She meant by �Heaven� the experience of God, not some region created in outer space beyond the clouds. St. John of the Cross said that Meditation was the Key to Blessedness, the Key to Immortality. St. Francis de Sales, a great devotee and a great lover of God, said that one of the processes by which he exercised his love for God was inner Meditation. He deemed it the Portal, which led to the Mansion of Blessedness. Meditation is the pivot and the central process of all Yoga.
Thus, the process has been described by all the mystics � mystics of the East as well as of the West � and even now the followers of the Taoist philosophy in the Far East (in China and Japan) swear by Meditation. They affirm this to be the only process, which can take man beyond this limited empirical existence and make him deathless. Its origin is to be found in India. The name that has been given to it in India is Dhyana, and that name was corrupted when it travelled outside the land into the Far East. Now, on the West Coast of America, it has become very fashionable as Zen Meditation, which is actually a redundant expression. The sad fact is that the great majority of the modern American Zen-fanciers have totally missed the true significance of this tremendous way of Dhyana.
Meditation is a subject of the most vital importance to everyone who wants happiness and peace, who wants to find strength within, who wants a truly integrated, radiant and magnetic personality. On every level of your life, Meditation brings rewards in terms of your true spiritual nature, in terms of the spiritual experience, which it bestows upon you.
Now, let us consider the definition of Meditation, according to those who have mastered this science and have expounded its principles. Pre-eminently, Meditation is a process of the mind. It is a mental-cum-intellectual process and, therefore, it is entirely interior in its realistic form and takes place in the silence of your inner being. Patanjali, a great Eastern sage and exponent of the great science of mind-control, has given the world one of the most thorough and scientific works on the subject of Meditation. He defines Meditation as "continuous unbroken concentration" or "the unbroken flow of the mind concentrated upon a single subject". This means that Meditation has a certain target, as it were, upon which the concentrated mind is brought to bear. The concentrated mind is kept in this state, and the flow or continuity of thought is kept unbroken. It may be compared to the flow of oil from one vessel to another. This is Meditation.
The process of Meditation implies, inevitably, concentration of the mind. Concentration is self-explanatory. It means bringing the mind to a centre, making the mind one-pointed, and directing it towards something interior, something either concrete or abstract. During the early stages of this discipline, the mind may be concentrated upon something exterior, too. Such a process is a technique of mind training.
In this more external phase in the process of Meditation, you know that the mind is already outward, and you train the mind by concentrating it and fixing it upon some object, some enjoyment, some experience, perhaps even a person or a memory, so that the outgoing mind, already dispersed among a hundred things, becomes indrawn.
Later, the chief components in this great process of Meditation come to be:
- the withdrawal of the scattered rays of the mind from the many distracting things in the external world
- the concentrating or the fixing of the mind, thus withdrawn, upon one point
- the holding of the fixed mind in continuous concentration in which no extraneous thought is allowed to intrude.
So, it is the keeping out of all thoughts contrary to the one which you are holding. Gradually, by degrees, it is made more and more intense, and your Meditation becomes deeper and deeper. This is the simple process: withdraw the mind which is scattered outside, concentrate it upon one point or idea, keep it continuously concentrated, and at the same time, exclude all contrary thoughts and dive, plunge within like the diver who goes deep into the ocean for the precious pearls. Pearls do not float about on the surface.
CHARACTER � THE GATEWAY TO MEDITATION
This process itself is very simple; it is the preparation for the process which is complex. If you want to shake hands with the President in the White House, it is very simple. Nothing to it! But, although the ultimate process is simple enough, yet all the red tape and all the hurdles that you have to face and surmount in order to get yourself into a position in which you stand before him and merely have to raise your hand and clasp his � all this preparation may take many months. You have to have all your credentials and the date of the interview fixed by the President�s Office; then you have to book a seat on the plane or train, reserve your accommodation in Washington, and then, even if you do actually enter the White House, you may find that there are others who have come before you and a long wait may ensue before you may actually see the President.
In the same way, if you want to go into the Holy of holies by the simple process of plunging into deep Meditation, the preparation for it may well take much of your time, energy and effort. You may have to seek out and talk to a dozen different teachers on the subject of Meditation; discuss different methods with other seekers who are practising Meditation; carry on research of your own in books and lessons; and experiment and learn by trial and error. The process of Meditation itself is simple, but the preparation that leads you into it is lengthy and complex.
First and foremost, the mind is in a state of grossness. Gross minds cannot still the thoughts; it is only the fine mind that can concentrate, and it is only the pure mind which is fine. The impure mind is gross. The stuff of the mind, which is called Chitta in Yogic terminology, is gross when the nature of the being is not fully purified. What does this mean? Does it imply that a cleansing, like a soap-and-water scrubbing, is required? It means that there are blemishes in the human nature and these blemishes have to be eliminated.
This is a scientific fact. In order to meditate, certain conditions have to be eradicated. These blemishes � the impurities of human nature � may be anything from harshness, irritability, a little petty envy to greed, passion, hatred, lustfulness, anger, arrogance, haughtiness, delusion or covetousness. All these blemishes make the nature extremely gross, coarse and base. They are totally unspiritual, and they make the mind unstable and cause it to oscillate. They, therefore, have to be totally eliminated and this is the groundwork, the spadework, the preparation, which is no simple task. This discipline, though apparently just an ethical one, yet has a direct bearing upon the scientific technique of Yoga. This constitutes the basic foundation upon which the structure of Yoga is raised.
The great science of Yoga, which leads you to Meditation, is based upon a pattern of perfect moral rectitude and the life ethical. It refers constantly to a life of perfect-goodness, to an example of perfect character, to a course of perfect conduct and the highest virtue. Virtue is the sheet-anchor of all great attainments, all worthwhile attainments that do not vanish into thin air, that do not last only upon this earth-plane, but are enduring and for ever. The total removal of all blemishes is the very basis and foundation of all higher achievements, and if Meditation is to be successful, the mind has to be pure, and if the mind is to be pure, you must grow in goodness, grow in virtue, and eliminate hatred and harshness from your nature altogether.
You must be kind to others � kind in thought, word and deed. Your speech must be sweet and your actions compassionate. In fact, you must become godly in your nature. This is essential because it is only a divine being that can experience the Divine. You have to reflect the nature of God. When God looks at you, He must feel the reflection of His divine nature in you. That nature should grow, unfold and bloom forth like a divine flower upon the soil of human nature. It is this growing forth into a life of virtue that is hard, for habitual traits in human nature die hard. However assiduously you may try to root them out, again and again you will find them cropping up in some form or the other.
Lust, greed and covetousness have to be patiently and earnestly rooted out of your nature. The great Master of Meditation, Patanjali, has said that the most effective way of growing into the divine nature is not so much by picking out your little weaknesses, like a monkey picking off lice (which is a waste of your time and energy), as by filling yourself with virtue.
Therefore grow in goodness the positive way, the forceful way. Be more and more truthful, exercise compassion, and at every step create opportunities to demonstrate fellow feeling, selflessness and the spirit of service. You thus grow in virtue by cultivating it positively and practising it actively. If you develop a tremendous passion for goodness, the negative side cannot remain. If you bring in the light, darkness cannot stand before it. Even so, if you thus fill yourself with perfection, you will crowd out all blemishes. Go all out and grow in this way into an ideal being.
This has a direct connection with Meditation. One of the very great aids in Meditation is to develop yourself into a pure and perfect being. The two processes are mutually interacting. In order to reach the highest stage in Meditation, you have to become a perfect being, and in order to grow into perfection, Meditation is the greatest help to overcome all the weaknesses and defects in your nature by augmenting your will-power, by giving you clarity of thought, by sharpening your intellect, and thus increasing your power of discrimination. You are better able to discern what is proper and what is improper and you are better equipped to analyse yourself, because the mind becomes integrated due to concentration and Meditation. It becomes subtle and sharp.
THE POWER OF THE ONE-TRACK MIND
It is the concentrated mind, which can work efficiently and powerfully. All outstanding achievements have been won in every field by means of the power of concentrated thought. Master statesmen, master military strategists, master engineers, master scientists, inventors and surgeons have all achieved success through the power of concentrated thought. They have had what is called a �one-track mind�. They made themselves so. They deliberately cultivated the one-track mentality. What was Einstein if not a man of Meditation? He was able to probe into the innermost secrets of the vast universe in Meditation and there the truths came tumbling to him. They were revealed to him. His intuition got sparked and this led to the discovery of the cosmic secrets, which he then formulated in amazing equations.
All the concentrated thought of these great men was external. The process, which they consciously subjected themselves to, was not an internal one. They focussed upon the external universe belonging to the phenomenal existence of the fleeting world of vanishing names and forms. The greatest astronomers and physicists pondered deeply upon things external to themselves, and their Meditations were set upon the world without, rather than directed towards the Reality within. Therefore, while they won admirable achievements on this phenomenal plane, they failed to reach the ultimate and eternal Reality. Their efforts were nonetheless stupendous, praiseworthy and laudable. They are clear demonstrations to the average man, who never concentrates his thought, who does not know what it is to still the mind and ponder in silence, who does not know that Meditation has the power to reveal great truths which lie hidden from the surface view of the phenomenal universe. This power is unknown to the vast majority of people upon this earth. It is something with which they have not even a nodding acquaintance.
Meditation succeeds in a marvellous way in revealing the great truths of life through the operation of the laws of thought.
The first law of thought is: Anything, which is held in the mind persistently and intensely, dwelt upon for a protracted period of time, soon becomes concretized into fact. It becomes as actual as a concrete fact. This is one of the great laws upon which the knowledge of the power of thought is based.
The other law, which is not restricted to the mental and intellectual level, but goes deeper and beyond and is much higher, is a spiritual law. This law is: Such deeply concentrated thought, persisted in to its ultimate conclusion, suddenly �takes a leap� beyond the intellect and mind, and enters the realm of intuition. This is the Law of Transcendence. When the mind is totally concentrated and deeply absorbed in this process of Meditation, it transcends itself and you are plunged into the experience of Pure Consciousness. It is similar to the electric current switched on to an arc lamp. When the current reaches one terminal of the arc, it faces a gap separating the two terminals and then, suddenly, with a flash it springs out, bridging the gap in an instant and bursts into the incandescence of a dazzling light. It is in just such an inner experience � at once thrilling and sublime � that you �leap across� the great void separating the relative from the Absolute, that you transcend all relativity and phenomena and attain to the Experience Absolute. It is a triumphant leap from the trifling bonds of confined human consciousness into the exalted vastness of the boundless and infinite Divine Consciousness � a supra-mental, superconscious experience, in which Meditation, the meditator and the object meditated upon, all three, fuse into undifferentiated oneness, and merge into an indescribable experience of ineffable peace, limitless joy and dazzling light.
This great process of Meditation is ultimately the one that links you with God, and bestows upon you immortality; and concentration is the most important factor in Meditation. What is it in your daily life that will be of the greatest help to you in developing concentration? In whatever pursuit one may be engaged, how does one begin to develop the ability to concentrate? You may be dishwashing, writing your accounts, preparing formula for the baby, penning a letter, licking stamps for an envelope, dusting or wiping a table-top � no matter what you may be doing � do it with meticulous care and attention. Give it your full attention. Do not try to think of half a dozen things at the same time. That is an art, which may be very useful sometimes � especially if you have to wait at a downtown lunch-counter � but not for Meditation. If you try to think of half a dozen things at the same time, you may become a very accomplished waiter or reservations clerk at an airport or travel agency, but such habitual miscellaneous and multifarious thinking will not help in acquiring Meditation.
Therefore, try to be specific and definite in thinking and acting. Develop the habit of fixed attention. The more you practise, the more quickly you will grow into the habit of attentiveness. Your practice should not be haphazard or sporadic, but it should be regular; and you should have some exercise for the development of keen attention to be practised daily, throughout the entire year. If you persist in such practice, you will soon begin to find that you are developing the power of attention in a miraculous way and that whenever you fix your attention upon anything, there it stays.
Meditation is a matter of continuously fixing your attention upon something interior. Success in Meditation depends upon the power of concentration. Concentration depends upon the ability to pay attention. Attention comes by practice and practice becomes regular through habit. If you practise regularly, you will be able to meditate and such practice is possible only if you are genuinely and sincerely interested in the entire thing.
THE ROLE OF BODY, MIND AND PRANA IN MEDITATION
Body, Mind and Prana (cosmic energy) are all interconnected. There is, therefore, another great help for you to be found in the practice of sitting steadily in one position without moving the body, and holding that position in tranquillity. In the preliminary stages of Raja Yoga discipline, you find that the basis of your life of Yoga has to be established on an absolutely pure, ethical and moral life. Then you are ready to start sitting steadily every day. At some special time each day, you should retire into a quiet corner, and sit there steadily poised for your practice. You may sit on a chair (if you prefer such a position) keeping the spine erect, relaxing your body totally, locking your fingers, resting them on your knees, and try to remain in that state.
When the body is thus held motionless, the mind will at first try to jump about in a hundred different directions. It will run about most uncontrollably, but do not be perturbed. Just allow it to run. Stand apart from it; remain alert within and observe its antics.
After a time, you will begin to find that there is one factor missing in this jumping about � that is YOU. You have become a spectator. The mind may continue to keep at this process very vigorously, but when you do not show any interest in it, it will wander in ever-narrowing circles, and ultimately, like a bird having flown from the top of the mast of a ship sailing at sea, it comes back to its perch. It returns to rest. The mind does not jump about and cannot indulge in miscellaneous thinking without the I-consciousness co-operating actively with it.
Therefore, do not identify yourself with the whirl of thoughts. If you remain apart and �Self-centred� and do not get involved, the habitual effervescence of the mind gradually dies down. Some day, after sitting in sessions of silence for a couple of weeks or more, you suddenly begin to find that the mind is quieter. It is not jumping about any more. This is a great joy. You may begin to try taking advantage of that quiescence and evoke in your mind some pleasing thought upon which you feel inclined to fix the mind � perhaps the mental picture of a beautiful flower, or a wonderful melody you have heard, or the sound of the birds in the early morning, or a sunrise, a glorious sunset or a colourful rainbow. It should be something very pleasing so as to keep the mind attracted and held by it. Let the mind then dwell upon it � such is the training in the beginning.
As you continue with your Meditation, you will find that the steady pose and the gradual quietening of the mind makes your breath very, very fine. Your breathing also becomes very rhythmical. This steadiness of the body and fineness of the breath immediately give you an experience of absolute serenity which will be entirely new to you. For the first time, you will know what it is to be absolutely quiet, devoid of any worry, thought, or of any type of negative thinking at all. In short, truly tranquil, without any tranquillizer! Mind is thus held in a state of true serenity, absorbed in a state of placid calm.
These instructions give you the secret of mental tranquillity. First the body should be steady, then the breath should be light and regular, because the body, breath and mind are closely interconnected. They are, as it were, the three sides of a triangle and they are all centred in the personality. Thus, when the mind is absolutely tranquil, you will find that the breath is also tranquil and the body is still. Whenever your attention is arrested and you are caught intently absorbed in something, you will find that the close attention, which your mind pays to that particular thing, slows down all your physical and respiratory processes. In the same way, whenever your breath is regular, you will find that inner harmony and poise prevail in your mind as well.
BREATHING EXERCISE FOR MENTAL TRANQUILLITY
I have explained this at length to students of Yoga to impress upon them the close co-ordination of body, breath and mind. This gives them a deeper understanding into the rationale of Yogic breathing exercises. Now, in these exercises, you have to concentrate on the breath. You may try one called Alternate Breathing. This is one of the simple techniques, alternate in the sense that you breathe in through one nostril, exhale through the other, then inhale once again through the second nostril and exhale through the first nostril. This completes one round. Thus, for this Alternate Breathing, you close your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril. When the inhalation is complete, you close the left nostril with your ring and middle fingers, simultaneously releasing the right nostril by raising the thumb, then exhale completely, slowly, smoothly and gradually through the right nostril.
You will find that in the process of breathing in this way, the world around you disappears. You are not aware of this body even, but are totally concentrated on the breath. There is no idea of the time that is elapsing either. When absorbed in this exercise, half an hour may pass and you will hardly be aware of the passage of time. What is the reason? Because this is an extremely vital process. Breathing is life�s central process on the physical level; it is the process that sustains all life, and when you begin to concentrate upon it, your whole mind becomes deeply absorbed. This is, therefore, the core of the very valuable means you may employ to get tranquillity and steadiness of mind.
To precede this exercise, and in the initial stages of the breathing discipline, the practice is very simple. You just sit in a relaxed and steady position, calmly breathing in and out through both nostrils. There are no complications, you just practise this deep, rhythmic breathing for ten or twelve days, or for a couple of weeks, morning and evening. You will soon find that your mind becomes more and more tranquil and steady. Things which upset you and irritated you before will no longer be able to do so, and whenever there is anything that you want to do, you will feel that the mind is already in a calmer state for concentrating and centering it upon the thing that you wish to do. Then, later on, you may start the Alternate Breathing exercise.
At the beginning of your practice of Alternate Breathing, just breathe in through the left nostril, breathe out through the right nostril, then take back through the right, and breathe out again through the left. Try this, say, six times, i.e., six complete rounds in the morning and six complete rounds in the evening when your stomach is not too full � not after your lunch or your dinner, but an hour before eating. After you have practised this for a month or so, then gradually insert at the end of each inhalation a short period for the retention of the breath inhaled. When you are in a state in which the breath is retained, you find that the mind is steady and calm. Take advantage of it, try to fix your mind and concentrate on some idea or symbol. You will find that under these circumstances your concentration is wonderful, for when the breath is arrested, the mind does not move and thoughts come under your control.
When you have reached the final stage in the breathing exercises, i.e., alternate breathing with retention of breath, keep at it and gradually try to increase the period of retention. This is an exercise that may be practised regularly by all people.
Two or three hints about these exercises are:
- The retention of breath should at all times in your practice be comfortable and easy.
- You should never feel as though you were suffocating or as though your retention were forced.
- When you are about to exhale, you should be able to feel that you could retain the breath a few seconds longer if you wished.
- The exhalation should always be smooth, unhurried and non-violent. Neither should it ever be forced. If it is forced and hurried, it means that you have over-retained the breath beyond your capacity and your lungs can no longer hold it. When you take care of the retention of breath, you feel that the exhalation is very smooth and beautiful. Just do it to a nicety.
Start holding the breath when you feel, "Yes, the lungs are full, but I am not going to pack them or press them". As you retain the breath, develop, for yourself a sort of rhythmic count by which you can regulate the period of retention. The counts may be gradually increased. If you do this systematically, you will soon find that the mind, in an amazingly short time, becomes progressively steadier.
When there is steadiness of mind and you know how to control the thoughts, stability is found to become the normal condition of the mind-stuff. It is not so much the acting mind that you are trying to perfect, but the mind as it is, the very mind-stuff. When the mind-stuff is thus acted upon � put into a state of stability and steadiness � a certain quality which is to be found in the mind which is of the nature of Light, which is of the nature of balance and harmony, is increased. This is called the quality of Sattva and it is a peculiar psycho-spiritual quality within. When that quality increases in the mind-stuff, the whole mind tends to become harmonized, balanced and steady, and then that balance soon characterizes your whole personality. With the quality of Sattva predominating in your character, you become a balanced person. You are no longer afraid. At the end of a day�s work, you still feel that your mind is tranquil and serene. No one is ever able to put you "out of kilter". This is the natural result of the practice of the process of breathing, steady posture, concentration and Meditation.
MEDITATION � TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL
Now, before dealing with this subject, we have to note a distinction. We have been told that any process of concentrated thought is Meditation. Meditation is a process used by all people. I have pointed out that scientists, for instance, are meditators; that inventors, statesmen, great military strategists like Napoleon, are all meditators. Great strategists, like Napoleon, sketched out their campaigns to the minutest detail, beforehand. Vast structures, like the Empire State Building, were erected by engineers who laid their plans, likewise, after concentration and Meditation. Every nail that was necessary, every ounce of material, every angle and joint, was clearly indicated in the blueprint. As such, the process of Meditation by itself is a purely scientific technique, but in its application in Yoga, it is entirely spiritual and not material or temporal.
Thus, when I speak to you about Meditation, I mean Meditation upon the Supreme Perfection which lies within, upon that Illimitable Bliss which is the Ocean of Peace, the Beauty of beauties, and the Light of lights. It is That with which we are concerned; we are not concerned with this world. If this Meditation gives us gains in terms of earthly achievements � greater intelligence, greater power of concentration, greater personal magnetism, greater success in life, greater fortune � let it give. We shall welcome these things; let them come as by-products. If they do not come, we do not care, for what we want is the Supreme, the Highest, the Greatest, the Grandest, the Thing to realize which we have been born as human beings. We have to meditate on that Reality. We have to plunge into God, absorb ourselves totally in God, and let the mind become entirely saturated and merged with God.
The process of Meditation is, to us, like becoming saturated. It is just like taking a white cloth and dipping it in a vat full of coloured dye. Once it is dyed, then it will never again have its colour changed. Meditation is like that. It is dyeing our entire being, our entire personality in the colour of Divinity. It is the directing of all our human nature, all our physical nature, all our thoughts and feelings, into God-nature. That is the supreme Meditation for which God has given us this body, this intellect, this life, this opportunity. He has also given us His servants (saints and God-men) to remind us that Meditation is one of the most precious gifts bestowed upon us. It lies undiscovered at your side until someone comes and cries, "There it is!", and then you realize, "Oh, I had it with me all the while, but I never realized!"
You have this opportunity of a human birth given by the Supreme in order to meditate and realize Him. Let not a single day pass without Meditation. No matter how many obstacles there may be, no matter how unfavourable the environment may be, just do not think about any obstacle or unfavourable environment. Try to create time every morning and evening to go inward into silence, and draw nearer to Him in prayerfulness. If you have love for Him, there is no obstacle that can stand in your way, that you cannot overcome. You can take time from eternity and create time. You can even make twenty-five hours out of twenty-four.
Let me tell you the secret. As you develop the habit of meditating, you will find that you have more time than before, because you are now given the ability to do efficiently those very tasks, which befuddled you previously. Even if you are a business executive, activities which previously took you ten hours to do, you will be able to do now in nine hours, eight hours or seven hours, or even less, for after all, in this process, you are perfecting the instrument of the mind and making it one-pointed. You are also given the ability to grasp things instantaneously. The mind is no longer scattered � such a mind can do all things efficiently.
In the beginning perhaps, becoming established in this habit of Meditation takes a little time and you may find that no time is left for extra pursuits. Give up those extra pursuits without hesitation. Soon however, you will begin to find that this Meditation which at first took so much of your valuable time, now gives you more time in return � and at compound interest! This is something that you have to experience.
All of us who are striving for God should always remember that success in Meditation depends upon the degree to which we develop our love for Him. The more we love God, the more our attention is attracted towards Him. The more we feel this attraction, the more we enjoy our Meditation. Very soon the hard task of concentrating the mind becomes sweet, and once the sweetness has been tapped, never again will a reminder be required from anyone to meditate. We ourselves will be unwilling to come away from it too soon.
From the great mystics, I shall give you some valuable suggestions for success on the path of Meditation. They are:
(a) Constant recollection
(b) Continuous prayerfulness
(c) Repetition of the Divine Name.If you develop the habit of constantly recollecting the Supreme Being, you will soon find that the mind is always filled with that thought. Hold on to it in an intense way. When you go to sit for Meditation, the mind will have already developed the nature of going toward that thought and then instinctively, immediately, the mind will begin to flow in that direction. To develop the habit of constant recollection, the saints have given us some valuable hints. Constant recollection can be three-fold in nature. It can partake of your external nature, i.e., through certain external factors, you may be enlivened by the thought of your Supreme Goal; or it can partake of the nature of the imagination, inwardly; or, by making use of the faculty of discrimination, it can partake of the nature of the intellect.
External factors may be like the pictures of God you find on the wall, holy icons, and religious objects like crucifixes, candles, medallions, or religious and spiritual books. Further, you may associate all things in and about your house, and even outside, like the flowers, the birds, the spreading trees, the forests, the clear skies and the clouds with your Ideal; thus you always feel yourself to be bearing an attitude towards Him; you always feel that you are in His presence and that He is always walking with you or talking to you.
You may feel yourself to be His own son or daughter, His companion or friend, or you may feel yourself to be His servant. You may be taking orders from Him, carrying on a conversation with Him, if necessary. Anything that you do, refer to Him � be it the sublime, the prosaic, the humorous, or the difficult and the problematical. Whatever you are going through day after day, moment by moment, refer to Him. If there is a joke share it with Him. If there is a difficulty, ask Him, "Now, what shall I do?" If you feel fear, say to Him, "Now You are my courage!"; and if you feel weak, then say to Him, "O Lord, strengthen me!"; and if you have made a mistake say, "O Lord, forgive me!" So always be in contact with Him. By making this connection in spiritual imagination, you build up your relationship with Him, you evolve with Him. Imagination can be a help in constant recollection.
If you are not of a very emotional nature, if you cannot imagine the closeness of such emotional relationships, and at the same time if you do not like the purely external method, then bring your intellect into this process. If you are philosophical by temperament, your intellect will tell you that He is the all-pervading essence. He is everywhere. He is the innermost core of your consciousness. He is the essence of your existence. It is because He exists that you exist. Through an intellectual process, you fashion certain mental concepts. All things in this universe have a cause; the chair has a carpenter, the shoe has a cobbler, the textile has a cloth factory, and the substance, which is all around you in the universe, also has a Maker. The universe may be viewed as the effect evolved out of some great cause. When you look at the cosmos, your intelligence tells you that there must be some prime cause. Thus, by these intellectual processes, you may try to feel Him.
Look at the grandeur of the universe. How much grander must be the cause behind this, the All-pervading Essence! He is immutable. He is omnipresent. Through intellectual conceptions such as these, try to feel His presence always. Try to think of Him as the grand cause of all causes, as the indivisible essence pervading and sustaining everything. Try to see Him as the innermost core of your consciousness that has made your life possible. He is the life of your life. He is the essence of your existence, the very basis of your being. If you practise His presence thus, always and everywhere, then the moment you sit for Meditation, that which was being done in a diffused way, becomes intense. Grow into this habit.
These methods for continual recollection, which I have given you, are from the Western mystics. The Eastern Masters add one more method. They advise constant repetition of the Divine Name � verbal, semi-verbal or purely mental. This practice also keeps you in the thought of God. It may be either the repetition of the Name or some short formula, some short prayer. It should be short and brief � that is the essence of it. You may say, "Lord, I adore Thee! Lord, I adore Thee!" or "Hail, O Glory! Glory be to Thee!" or "Praise to the Lord! Praise to the Lord!" or "I love You! I love You! I love You!" or "Thou seest me. Thou seest me. Thou seest me!" or "I am always in Your presence!"
Go on with your repetition that way. Choose some words by which you may call upon Him. "Be by me, O Lord! Be by me, O Lord! Ever be by me." You can have different sets of words for morning, afternoon and evening; or you can change them by alternating them in sequence. Go on using them constantly so that you keep an unbroken current of God-thought or God-feeling within you all day, at every hour of the day. It is this that makes for real success. The interior life of Meditation is supported by this practice of constant recollection of the Supreme Being. It is a deep spiritual process.
A great saint, a European mystic, said, "He prays very little who prays when he is on his knees", which means that if your interior life is just confined to those moments when you are actually on your knees, while the rest of the time your mind is like a wild monkey chasing after everything on the surface of the earth, then you pray very little. Your prayer cannot then be effective at all, because all the rest of the time the nature of your mind will be totally contrary to the meditative life, and so Meditation cannot be done. Try to make the mind habituated to constant recollection of God. The real degree of effectiveness of your contact with the Inner Reality, of your closeness to God in Meditation, is in proportion to the degree of continual dwelling upon God that has been achieved through recollection throughout the entire day.
We have taken this human birth in order to meditate. Meditation is the only important thing. It is the only way to attain true balance, true stability of mind, and a truly integrated and positive personality. It is the only way to achieve real peace and real happiness. It is the only way. I do not like to be dogmatic or to be strong in my speech, but here I am absolutely dogmatic and certain that it is the only way of achieving true peace and real happiness. If you leave Meditation and try other ways, you will realize bitterly in the end that life has been wasted, and then it will be too late. Then you will regret, "Oh, I might have started it right at that time". Do not make that mistake. Do not make that blunder. In all the variegated activities of your life, keep on with the great process � the central process of human life. It is the only way to happiness and the only way to true and lasting peace � Meditation.
We have then said that this process should be supported by your entire life. And the one great factor that is of the utmost support to Meditation is purity of life. By that one term I mean everything: perfect moral conduct, fulfillment of the pattern of ethical life, growing in virtue, growing in goodness � in short, becoming (in so far as you can) like God in your nature. It is a pure mind alone that can meditate, but do not postpone Meditation that gives you the power to overcome all evil, to eradicate all blemishes. It is the power that releases the innate purity in you. It gives you purity. It gives you the power of will to take hold of yourself, master the senses and desires, and grow in perfect purity. Attention has to be cultivated by daily practice. Attention increases concentration and concentration is the only means of developing in Meditation. Develop your love for God. Where love is, there the mind and heart are; therefore, develop love for God.
Last, but not the least, if you go home now and have a period of Meditation before you retire to sleep, and then afterwards keep up the practice, never giving it up even for a single day, whether you are ill or well, depressed or irritated (whatever happens, it does not matter), if you cling to this great treasure, this wealth of wealths, and always meditate daily, then I assure you that even the most difficult problem that life poses for you � the greatest, sharpest blow of bereavement that you may have to experience � the greatest test or trial or temptation � everything � can be overcome by the power of Meditation. By the power of Meditation, you put yourself into direct contact with God. He is the Power of powers. He is the greatest power, the greatest force and the essence of all goodness. He will help you to overcome everything; through that Power, everything can be overcome. Ultimately, death itself can be overcome. Let Meditation take you to the Supreme Goal, the conquest of death and the achievement of everlasting life, the supreme triumph in God. That is my humble prayer to you all.
MEDITATION � A PANACEA FOR ALL ILLS
St. Peter of Alcantara, one of the medieval sages, has said that it is morally impossible for him who neglects Meditation (mental prayer) to live without sin. He who neglects mental prayer does not need a devil to carry him to hell; he takes himself there by his own hand. It must be stated, without reservation, that no other means has the unique efficacy of Meditation and that, as a consequence, its daily practice can in no wise be substituted for. The common practice of all saints and the important ecclesiastical documents demonstrate how highly one should esteem Meditation.
Meditation is the process of the total spiritualization of your entire being. It is the technique of living in peace and happiness and prosperity. When the mind is full of purity, it attracts prosperity by its very nature. It is the fortification of the mind against the onslaughts of vice and immorality. Meditation is of very great value for all the �isms of life. No matter what �ism you belong to, individual or social, you need for your progress a harmonious development of the body, mind and soul. This is achieved at one stroke in this integral process of Meditation.
Meditation not only connects and integrates the material and the spiritual aspects of life, the outer and the inner, but also increases the radiance of your being, integrating it with the Light of your higher Self or God within. Ultimately, it is the direct means to end all conflicts in the family and in society � those between husband and wife, between father and son, mother and son, between friends and friends, between sisters and brothers, between relatives and between co-workers, between subordinates and bosses, servants and masters, employers and employees. It fills one with peace and understanding.
What can it not do? It can do anything for you! Meditation is the surest means to put an end to all corruption in your life. It is the steady fire to burn away all sins. A sinner cannot remain a sinner in the radiant blaze of the fire of Meditation. Meditation is the technique of living in the world of conflicts unaffected by them. It is the technique of living in the world unaffected by the binding influence of action. A life of liberation, even while living in the body, is the result. So I recommend, with deep earnestness, this process of Meditation.
Let us all pray to God to give us the strength to prepare ourselves for Meditation through a pure life, a good life, a life of selflessness and service, by increasing our devotion to God, by realizing the vanity of these fleeting and passing names and forms which we call this earth, this universe, by realizing the unparalleled glory, the worth and the precious value of God, the value of the Ultimate Source of our being, by cultivating attention, by cultivating concentration, by taking the help of the steady pose of the body and the regulation of the breath, by developing the habit of continual recollectedness, and by praying for the Grace of God.
Thus let us slowly reach higher and higher and higher into the realms of pure Meditation, and through the Grace of God drawn through prayer, let us soon achieve that stage of Meditation, which would take us into the highest transcendental realms of God-vision, and crown our life with the glorious attainment of God-consciousness and immortality.
May the Grace of God be upon you all. May the blessings of all Masters and all saints ever follow you every step of the way as you walk resolutely upon this inner path of concentration and Meditation. May their help ever be available to you all, and through the grace of God, may you fill your life with glory!
Footnote
This article has been extracted from the book "The Path Beyond Sorrow" which is a compilation of a series of lectures delivered by H.H. Swami Chidananda in Canada in the year 1960.
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