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shivraj · 12-02-2006, 10:06 AM

Understanding Meditation

Giving attention is not meditation. Meditation is not concentration. Meditation is not contemplation. The word 'meditation' originated from spirituality. In India, spiritual seekers understood the deeper aspects of 'meditation'. But today the word 'meditation' has become commonplace and is being used without its deeper meaning. It has therefore lost its importance. 'Giving attention' is being understood as 'meditation' by most people.

Meditation is an attribute. It is an attribute of the witness. The witness which is called differently by different people... God, Allah, Self, Self-awareness, Consciousness, etc. Meditation is that source which is present even in deep sleep – self-awareness - even in the state of unawareness.

Meditation simply means 'doing nothing.' For some people 'doing nothing' is very difficult. How can we do 'nothing'? If someone asks, 'What should I do to get sleep? What can be done to get sleep faster?' Then he will be told , 'You have to do nothing to get sleep. Just go and lie down. If you try to get sleep, it will run away. You can get sleep very easily without making any effort.' In the same way, meditation is also a process in which there is no need to do anything. You simply have to be present.

The techniques which have been designed to kick start meditation or to improve concentration, have also been called 'meditation'. This 'meditation' is a path to self-meditation. Self-Meditation means meditation of 'Self' which is the real aim of meditation. Just improving concentration is not the goal of meditation. The word 'Self-Meditation' is more appropriate than the word 'meditation'. But due to the greater prevalence of the word 'meditation', people have forgotten the real meaning of meditation. Concentration is a ladder in the path of meditation. Concentration improves with meditation. But if someone is meditating with the aim of improving concentration, then he is taking only minimal benefit from meditation. Many a times it so happens that someone begins on the path of meditation to attain 'Self–Realization', but he becomes very happy with improved concentration having gotten some powers and strays away from his real goal.

Meditation has also been taken as a Yogic Practice. Meditation (awareness) is necessary in every field of life. No work can be done without meditation. Meditation is essential for all activities of life. All our senses affect our body. Whenever our senses are directed externally and are involved in external things, then all the energy of our mind gets exhausted in the external objects. Therefore it is necessary that we have some control over our senses, which is possible through meditation. Through meditation it is possible to utilize for ourself a part of the energy which is getting consumed in the external world. To shift the mind from external objects and stabilize it inside is the beginning of meditation.
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Increase your Will Power
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Every person makes promises to himself and to others. Many times he is unable to fulfil them and his will power starts to diminish. Therefore, as the first step, do not make a promise that you cannot keep. If you have made a vow, you must fulfil it. In order to strengthen your will power begin with minor promises. Some examples of such promises can be: I shall hold my hand high continuously for 2 minutes. I will not bring it down before the end of 2 minutes. Or, I will study for 2 hours. Or, I will not move form where I am sitting. Or, I will not have my lunch today. Fasting is a very good experiment to increase your will power. As these smaller promises get fulfilled, you can take upon bigger ones and add to your self confidence.
You could perform another experiment before retiring for the night. When you hit the sacks, ask yourself, "Is there one more task that I can complete before I go to sleep?" Then go ahead and complete it. Even if the task is trivial and not urgent, complete one such task every day. If you do so, you will find your willpower increasing tremendously.
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B R E A T H I N G M E D I T A T I O N
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Sit in an appropriate posture and mudra of meditation.
Relax yourself by taking one or two deep breaths and releasing slowly.
Let your breathing continue to be as it is at present. Shallow breathing or deep breathing, comfortable, natural... however it may be, let it continue the same. If you control your breathing, then it is not meditation. It is Pranayam (breath regulation).
Be aware whether the breath is going in or coming out... now it went in... now it came out...from the right nostril... from the left nostril... or from both nostrils, etc. Be aware of every direction and every state (cold or warm) of breath.
Concentrate the mind on the breath that is going in and coming out. Perceive the breath that is going in and identify the breath that is coming out... it went in... it came out... went in... came out. Just remain aware of your breathing as it is - natural breathing, comfortable, easy breathing.
Sometimes your breathing will be deep, sometimes shallow. Keeping the body steady, remain aware of the coming and going of every breath.
Practice this meditation for 20-45 minutes as per your convenience. After some time when you become an expert in this meditation, then meditate on the interval between two breaths.
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S O U N D M E D I T A T I O N
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Close your eyes and sit in the meditation posture and fingers of hand in dhyan mudra (index finger touching the tip of thumb, remaining fingers stretched out).

Keeping the body steady, listen to all the sounds around you and try to perceive and identify five different types of sounds.

If there is the sound of a rotating fan, then there can be various other sounds contained in that sound, which you should listen to carefully. Various types of sounds can include conversations of people, clattering of vessels, children playing, horns and sounds of cars, different vehicles, etc. The sound of something falling, the sound of somebody walking, the sounds of TV, tape recorder, or radio, the sound of birds, dogs barking or fighting. There can be the sounds of water flowing, the sound of a whistle, sound of somebody laughing or crying. When there are no sounds, then try to perceive the sound of silence. Feel the stillness.

Try to perceive every type of sound around you. If you can hear the sound of an aeroplane flying, then there are different sounds of various types of aeroplanes. Try to identify even the minutest of sounds. After identifying five different types of sounds, open your eyes.

Every week, go on trying to increase the number of sounds perceived.

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T H O U G H T M E D I T A T I O N
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Close your eyes and sit in the meditation posture and fingers of hand in dhyan mudra (index finger touching the tip of thumb, remaining fingers stretched out).

Start watching your thoughts. See which thoughts are going on inside you.

Keeping the body steady, keep watching the types of thoughts that are going on in your mind from a distance (without getting identified, remaining separate). In this meditation, while being separate, you will know what kind of thoughts go on in your mind, what thoughts are going on about various subjects…

Keep watching and knowing your thoughts like a witness. Don't label any thought as good or bad. Avoid any such desire that I want more thoughts or I don't want any thoughts.

Initially do this meditation for 5 minutes and gradually go on increasing its time. When you become an expert in this meditation, then start giving numbers to your thoughts.

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E A G L E M E D I T A T I O N
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Eagle is a bird that views from the top. Its vision is amazingly sharp. In the same way, this meditation is practiced with open eyes to develop your physical and mental vision. Therefore it has been called Eagle Meditation.
With eyes open, ask yourself which all objects of red color are present around you?

On opening your eyes in the morning, while going to the washbasin, on the way see which red-colored objects are present. Search for at least 5 red objects around you.

Make a resolution every day to see different colors. Green the second day, blue the third day, orange some other day, and so on.

In this way, you will start knowing about the objects in your home. We have stopped seeing our home and the objects present there. With this meditation, we increase our power of observation. There are many things we have actually stopped seeing. But with this meditation, you will be surprised that you start seeing again. It may happen then when you decide upon pink color, then you don't easily get objects of this color. If you take violet, then you won't be able to see violet objects very easily. But if you want to see those colors, then you will have to see your whole house very carefully and meticulously.

After about after 12 days, all colours would have been exhausted. This is when your observation is truly put to test. There are many colors. Take different shades of a color such as light blue, dark blue, etc. and continue practicing this meditation.

12-02-2006, 10:06 AM	#1 (permalink)
shivraj Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 242	Lots of Meditations Understanding Meditation Giving attention is not meditation. Meditation is not concentration. Meditation is not contemplation. The word 'meditation' originated from spirituality. In India, spiritual seekers understood the deeper aspects of 'meditation'. But today the word 'meditation' has become commonplace and is being used without its deeper meaning. It has therefore lost its importance. 'Giving attention' is being understood as 'meditation' by most people. Meditation is an attribute. It is an attribute of the witness. The witness which is called differently by different people... God, Allah, Self, Self-awareness, Consciousness, etc. Meditation is that source which is present even in deep sleep – self-awareness - even in the state of unawareness. Meditation simply means 'doing nothing.' For some people 'doing nothing' is very difficult. How can we do 'nothing'? If someone asks, 'What should I do to get sleep? What can be done to get sleep faster?' Then he will be told , 'You have to do nothing to get sleep. Just go and lie down. If you try to get sleep, it will run away. You can get sleep very easily without making any effort.' In the same way, meditation is also a process in which there is no need to do anything. You simply have to be present. The techniques which have been designed to kick start meditation or to improve concentration, have also been called 'meditation'. This 'meditation' is a path to self-meditation. Self-Meditation means meditation of 'Self' which is the real aim of meditation. Just improving concentration is not the goal of meditation. The word 'Self-Meditation' is more appropriate than the word 'meditation'. But due to the greater prevalence of the word 'meditation', people have forgotten the real meaning of meditation. Concentration is a ladder in the path of meditation. Concentration improves with meditation. But if someone is meditating with the aim of improving concentration, then he is taking only minimal benefit from meditation. Many a times it so happens that someone begins on the path of meditation to attain 'Self–Realization', but he becomes very happy with improved concentration having gotten some powers and strays away from his real goal. Meditation has also been taken as a Yogic Practice. Meditation (awareness) is necessary in every field of life. No work can be done without meditation. Meditation is essential for all activities of life. All our senses affect our body. Whenever our senses are directed externally and are involved in external things, then all the energy of our mind gets exhausted in the external objects. Therefore it is necessary that we have some control over our senses, which is possible through meditation. Through meditation it is possible to utilize for ourself a part of the energy which is getting consumed in the external world. To shift the mind from external objects and stabilize it inside is the beginning of meditation. ================================================== ============ Increase your Will Power ================================================== ============ Every person makes promises to himself and to others. Many times he is unable to fulfil them and his will power starts to diminish. Therefore, as the first step, do not make a promise that you cannot keep. If you have made a vow, you must fulfil it. In order to strengthen your will power begin with minor promises. Some examples of such promises can be: I shall hold my hand high continuously for 2 minutes. I will not bring it down before the end of 2 minutes. Or, I will study for 2 hours. Or, I will not move form where I am sitting. Or, I will not have my lunch today. Fasting is a very good experiment to increase your will power. As these smaller promises get fulfilled, you can take upon bigger ones and add to your self confidence. You could perform another experiment before retiring for the night. When you hit the sacks, ask yourself, "Is there one more task that I can complete before I go to sleep?" Then go ahead and complete it. Even if the task is trivial and not urgent, complete one such task every day. If you do so, you will find your willpower increasing tremendously. ================================================== ============ B R E A T H I N G M E D I T A T I O N ======================================= Sit in an appropriate posture and mudra of meditation. Relax yourself by taking one or two deep breaths and releasing slowly. Let your breathing continue to be as it is at present. Shallow breathing or deep breathing, comfortable, natural... however it may be, let it continue the same. If you control your breathing, then it is not meditation. It is Pranayam (breath regulation). Be aware whether the breath is going in or coming out... now it went in... now it came out...from the right nostril... from the left nostril... or from both nostrils, etc. Be aware of every direction and every state (cold or warm) of breath. Concentrate the mind on the breath that is going in and coming out. Perceive the breath that is going in and identify the breath that is coming out... it went in... it came out... went in... came out. Just remain aware of your breathing as it is - natural breathing, comfortable, easy breathing. Sometimes your breathing will be deep, sometimes shallow. Keeping the body steady, remain aware of the coming and going of every breath. Practice this meditation for 20-45 minutes as per your convenience. After some time when you become an expert in this meditation, then meditate on the interval between two breaths. ================================================== ============ S O U N D M E D I T A T I O N =============================== Close your eyes and sit in the meditation posture and fingers of hand in dhyan mudra (index finger touching the tip of thumb, remaining fingers stretched out). Keeping the body steady, listen to all the sounds around you and try to perceive and identify five different types of sounds. If there is the sound of a rotating fan, then there can be various other sounds contained in that sound, which you should listen to carefully. Various types of sounds can include conversations of people, clattering of vessels, children playing, horns and sounds of cars, different vehicles, etc. The sound of something falling, the sound of somebody walking, the sounds of TV, tape recorder, or radio, the sound of birds, dogs barking or fighting. There can be the sounds of water flowing, the sound of a whistle, sound of somebody laughing or crying. When there are no sounds, then try to perceive the sound of silence. Feel the stillness. Try to perceive every type of sound around you. If you can hear the sound of an aeroplane flying, then there are different sounds of various types of aeroplanes. Try to identify even the minutest of sounds. After identifying five different types of sounds, open your eyes. Every week, go on trying to increase the number of sounds perceived. ================================================== ============ T H O U G H T M E D I T A T I O N =================================== Close your eyes and sit in the meditation posture and fingers of hand in dhyan mudra (index finger touching the tip of thumb, remaining fingers stretched out). Start watching your thoughts. See which thoughts are going on inside you. Keeping the body steady, keep watching the types of thoughts that are going on in your mind from a distance (without getting identified, remaining separate). In this meditation, while being separate, you will know what kind of thoughts go on in your mind, what thoughts are going on about various subjects… Keep watching and knowing your thoughts like a witness. Don't label any thought as good or bad. Avoid any such desire that I want more thoughts or I don't want any thoughts. Initially do this meditation for 5 minutes and gradually go on increasing its time. When you become an expert in this meditation, then start giving numbers to your thoughts. ================================================== ============ E A G L E M E D I T A T I O N =============================== Eagle is a bird that views from the top. Its vision is amazingly sharp. In the same way, this meditation is practiced with open eyes to develop your physical and mental vision. Therefore it has been called Eagle Meditation. With eyes open, ask yourself which all objects of red color are present around you? On opening your eyes in the morning, while going to the washbasin, on the way see which red-colored objects are present. Search for at least 5 red objects around you. Make a resolution every day to see different colors. Green the second day, blue the third day, orange some other day, and so on. In this way, you will start knowing about the objects in your home. We have stopped seeing our home and the objects present there. With this meditation, we increase our power of observation. There are many things we have actually stopped seeing. But with this meditation, you will be surprised that you start seeing again. It may happen then when you decide upon pink color, then you don't easily get objects of this color. If you take violet, then you won't be able to see violet objects very easily. But if you want to see those colors, then you will have to see your whole house very carefully and meticulously. After about after 12 days, all colours would have been exhausted. This is when your observation is truly put to test. There are many colors. Take different shades of a color such as light blue, dark blue, etc. and continue practicing this meditation.