A Beautiful Exposition On Concentration-Contemplation-and Meditatiom.

[Guest guest]

spells of time. The word Meditation is greatly misunderstood, besides being

interpreted in a narrow sense.’ 47. ‘To begin with, I should mention that the

text-book Sannyasi or Yogi, call him what you will, is one who has lived with

himself and for God for years and years. He has not only practised austerities

but has gone through a long and elaborate routine of self-discipline, involving

many and progressive stages. It is like going up a ladder. Yogic Meditation is

the top of the ladder.’ 48. ‘I won’t go into all those details now, but I

should call your attention to three stages involved. They are: Concentration,

Contemplation, and Meditation.’ 49. ‘Concentration is something very common.

Anybody who is serious about what he is doing necessarily concentrates a lot.

You, for example, would totally concentrate on the target before shooting an

arrow. Well, that is concentration.’ 50. ‘Concentration is an activity of the

brain or the lower Mind. With some practice, anyone can easily learn to

concentrate. In fact, concentration is a must for all students.’ 51.‘After

concentration comes contemplation. This is a higher activity of the Mind. Let

us say a teacher has taught a lesson about plants. Later when the student is

revising the lesson, he could contemplate and wonder: “How can the plant grow

up without a father and mother? Or, are there an invisible father and an

invisible mother? When I feel hungry I ask my mother for food. Which mother

gives food and water to the plant? Why has God made the plant so different?

Incidentally, why has God created plants?” That is contemplation.’ 52.

‘Coming now to Meditation, in simple terms it means filling the Mind with God.

When you contemplate, you start thinking of higher things. Going back to the

case of the plant, Meditation means thinking, “God, how beautiful are the

plants and the trees! Oh Krishna, when You were young, You used to rest under

trees. How I wish I was one of those! I could have had Your Darshan for long

periods of time!! Krishna, why

don’t You become a tree and make me a creeper twining round You?”’ 53. ‘Another

example. You go to your garden to pluck a rose for God. When you pluck the

flower, you must concentrate; otherwise you would get hurt by the thorns. Once

you have plucked the flower, you hold it in your hands and admire its beauty

and freshness. That is contemplation. You then say, “God, this flower I am

offering to You.” That is Meditation.’ 54. ‘In simple terms, Meditation is

nothing but remembrance of the Lord. You can go about your normal household

work, chanting My Name all the time – that also is Meditation. People do not

realise

this and imagine that Meditation perforce involves sitting in a Yogic pose,

closing your eyes and all that. That is only ONE way of meditating! There are

actually many ways to meditate and the bottom line in all cases is remembrance

of the Lord. That really is the important point.’ 55. ‘Arjuna, people are

made differently and have a differing attitudes and aptitudes. Take running for

example. Some can run very fast but only over a short distance. Others have

stamina and can run not very fast but over long distances. The long distance

runner cannot do what the sprinter does and vice versa.’ 56. ‘You can see

this in your own family. Your brother Bhima is hefty and therefore the mace is

the ideal

weapon for him; but for you, it is the bow and the arrow. In the same way, where

Meditation is concerned, people can adopt different techniques best suited to

them. It is not the procedure but the SPIRIT in which Meditation is done that

is important.’ To be continued…. With Sai love from Sai brothers -

'saidevotees_ Courtesy: http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_04/01JAN06

(Sharing With Sai Love) Ram.Chugani (SRam ChuganiKobe,

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