Practice of Meditation - Chapter from the book, What Does Swami Sivananda Teach

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A baby's eyes are riveted on a flower or a butterfly. It keeps

looking at the object with unwinking eyes, eyes full of wonder, for

minutes together.

 

A mother calls her teenage daughter to go and have lunch, but there

is no response. The call is repeated twice, thrice; still there is no

response. The girl just does not hear, though her ears are very much

open. Nor is she deaf. What could be the reason, then, for her not

hearing? Her mind is immersed in a Sherlock Holmes or a Harold

Robbins; her eyes are glued to the lines; her face is buried in the

book.

 

In the dilapidated building of an elementary school, the class is on.

The teacher explains something and then asks the children, " Did it

enter? " . There is an instant response from the backmost bench: " Only

the tail has not entered yet! " . The earnest voice belongs to a boy

who has been all along intently watching the struggle of a rat to

wriggle out of the class room through a hole in the wall. It has

managed to squeeze in its body, but its tail is still not gone in.

Perhaps the hole is blocked.

 

These are everyday examples of concentration. Attention,

concentration, meditation-these are different degrees of the same

process. It is fixing the mind on a single object or idea to the

exclusion of everything else.

 

In his book, " Concentration and Meditation " , holy Master Sivananda

presents a most beautiful scene to illustrate what is meant by

concentration. In this, Dronacharya tests the power of concentration

of his students, the Pandavas. A basin of water is placed on the

ground. Above, a clay bird is kept rotating. The archer hat to hit

the bird by looking at its reflection in the water.

 

Drona: " O Yudhishthira, what do you see? "

 

Yudhishthira: " O Acharya (teacher), I see the bird to be aimed at,

the tree on which it is sitting and yourself also. "

 

Drona: " What do you see, Bhima? "

 

Bhima: " I see the bird, the tree, yourself, Nakula, Sahadeva, the

tables and chairs, etc. "

 

Drona: " What do you see, Nakula? "

 

Nakula: " I see the bird, the tree, yourself, Arjuna, Bhima, the

garden, the streamlet, etc. "

 

Drona: " What do you see, Sahadeva? "

 

Sahadeva: " I see the bird to be aimed at, yourself, Arjuna, Bhima,

Yudhishthira, the horses, carriages, all the onlookers, several cows,

etc. "

 

Drona: " Now then, Arjuna, what do you see? "

 

Arjuna: " O Revered Guru! I see nothing but the bird to be aimed at. "

 

That is concentration. Arjuna's is the power of concentration.

Concentration, when developed, becomes meditation.

 

Yoga is an exact science. Asanas and Pranayama (Yoga postures and

breathing exercises) perfect the body. Service and charity expand the

heart. Prayer, Japa (repetition of the Lord's Name), Kirtan (singing

devotional songs) and other devotional practices purify the mind and

make it more subtle. The aspirant is now fully equipped for the last

lap of the journey. It is the toughest part of the pilgrimage to God.

It is full of darkness and the aspirant has to pierce this darkness

with his purified mind. The purified mind is the most dependable

weapon in the armoury of the spiritual aspirant.

 

The purified mind must be made to concentrate. Concentration is

mental focussing. The mind can be focussed on a concrete object or an

abstract idea. For a novice, concentration becomes easy if the object

of concentration is concrete. Also, the beginner should choose a

pleasing object on which to concentrate. Only thus can he prevent the

mind from wandering away from the object of concentration. To start

with, concentration can be practised on the flame of a candle, the

tick-tick sound of a clock, the star in the sky, the picture of OM or

the picture of one's lshta Devata (personal God). This should be

followed by concentration on a suitable spiritual centre within the

body. The Sadhak may concentrate with closed eyes on the space

between is the eyebrows or on the tip of the nose. There is nothing

which cannot be achieved by concentration.

 

Concentration should be followed by meditation. Meditation is nothing

but protracted or sustained concentration. A scientist has to

concentrate on a problem, on a given subject, on a riddle, to bring

out the answer, to solve it. He has to think, think and think. Then

only the answer flashes forth. Likewise, meditation is intense

concentration, concerted concentration on the problem of life, on the

problem of the inexplicable triad of God, man and the universe. While

concentration becomes essential even to solve small problems in

science, what to speak of the problem of life which has baffled

humanity since time immemorial? The Sadhak (aspirant) who wants God

must meditate, meditate and meditate.

 

Meditation can be practised on any image of the Lord. This is

concrete meditation. After some practice, the aspirant will be able

to visualise the form of the image even with closed eyes. Meditation

can also be practised on abstract ideas and on various Vedantic

formulae such as " I am Eternity " , " I am Infinity " and so on.

 

Reading of profound scriptural texts like the Upanishads and the

Brahma Sutras (revealed texts of the Hindus) requires intense

concentration. Such reading itself is a mild form of meditation. It

should be followed by contemplation on what was read. Repeated

meditation on a single idea will bring out a wealth of knowledge on

that idea.

 

While meditating on a particular object or idea, various extraneous

thoughts will try to enter the mind of the aspirant and interfere

with his meditation. The aspirant should ignore these extraneous

thoughts, be indifferent to them and repeatedly try to concentrate on

the object of his meditation. Gradually, the frequency of

interruption will be reduced and a time will come when meditation

will give uninterrupted peace and bliss.

 

Meditation is digging deep into the mine of truth and wisdom. Swamiji

asks the Sadhak to meditate and bring put his own Gita and

Upanishads. Says the Master: " There is no knowledge without

meditation. An aspirant churns his own soul. Truth becomes manifest " .

 

Meditation confers peace and strength. Sivananda affirms that half an

hour's meditation is sufficient to enable the aspirant to smilingly

pass through a whole week's life in this world of problems and

misery.

 

Meditation must be regular. Whenever the Sattvic (a state of calmness

and purity) mood manifests and divine thought-currents begin to flow,

the aspirant must sit down for meditation. Brahmamuhurtha (period

between 4 am and 6 am), says the Master, is the ideal time for

meditation. Why? He gives the answer:

 

" There is Sattva in the atmosphere

In Brahmamuhurtha.

The atmosphere is calm

And the world is asleep.

The Raga-Dvesha (like-dislike) currents

Have not yet started flowing in your mind.

You are just returning from deep sleep

When you enjoyed bliss without objects;

You can then easily convince the mind

That real happiness is within.

Only Yogis, Jnanis (wise man) and sages are awake at this time.

You will be greatly benefited by their thought currents.

Never miss the Brahmamuhurtha even for a day. "

 

It is not possible to meditate the whole day. Without variety, the

mind, especially of a beginner, will get tired . It is necessary to

guard against this possibility. It is important that the aspirant

should be protected from the monotony of one-sided spiritual practice

leading to reaction and a return to worldly activity with a

vengeance. The beauty of divine life lies in the fact that the

seriousness of meditation is tempered with the joy of Kirtan, the

happiness and strength of service, the peace of Japa and the

understanding of Svadhyaya (reading of scriptures).

 

In the books of Yoga, the great Rishis (sages) distinguish between

Bahiranga Sadhana and Antaranga Sadhana. Bahiranga Sadhana is outer

Yoga or spiritual practices designed to perfect the outer instruments

of body and Prana (vital- energy). These are the ethical practices

and the Yogasana and Pranayama exercises. Once the body is perfected

and the Nadis or astral tubes are purified through Pranayama

practices, the spiritual seeker attains fitness to start the inner

Yoga or Antaranga Sadhana. This includes Pratyahara, Dharana and

Dhyana-sense abstraction, concentration and meditation. The senses

and the mind must be withdrawn from the sense objects and the mind

must be focussed on the God within. This is inner Yoga. The outer

Yoga practices are to prepare the aspirant to gain fitness to

practise this inner Yoga.

 

Where the necessary preparation is inadequate or wanting, meditation

cannot succeed. Simply sitting cross-legged and closing the eyes,

thinking the same worldly thoughts and building castles in the air,

or falling into a semi- sleep is not meditation. A person who wants

to meditate must be free from disease and desire, from cares and

worries. He must be free from love and hatred, and from like and

dislike. He must be soaked in Vairagya (dispassion). He must be able

to sit firmly for hours together in the same posture. His breathing

must be slow and even. His stomach must be free from constipation,

free from gas and very light. when these conditions are not

satisfied, meditation will remain just a pipe dream.

 

While meditation in itself constitutes. a very powerful attack on

ignorance, Swami Sivananda suggests that the spiritual aspirant

should practise Vichar also. Vichar is enquiry into the real nature

of things. Vichara results in Viveka or discrimination between the

real and the unreal. It helps the aspirant to sift the true from the

false. Swamiji asserts that without cogitation, Truth cannot be known

or realised. Vichara sharpens the intellect and leads to the

discernment of the Truth that lies behind the phenomenal universe.

 

How should the aspirant reflect? The Master shows the way: " Who am I?

What is Brahman (God)? What is this Samsara (process of worldly

life)? What is the goal of life? How to attain the goal? How to

attain freedom from births and deaths? What is the Svarupa of Moksha

(Essential nature of liberation)? Whence? Where? Whither? Thus should

the aspirant of liberation ever enquire, seeking to achieve the

purpose of life " . The justification for this method of Vichara or

enquiry is contained in the saying, " As you think, so you become " . By

constant reflection on the Reality behind the appearances, the seeker

attains oneness with the Reality and becomes that Reality itself.

 

Enquiry opens the aspirant's eyes to new vistas of knowledge. It

leads him steadily to Truth. For instance, if the aspirant starts

the " Who am I? " enquiry, he will soon find that he cannot equate

himself with any one of his sense organs like the nose, the eyes or

the ears, because even without one or more of these, he can live and

life can pulsate in his veins. So, he is not the body. Nor is he the

mind, because even during the unconscious and the deep sleep states,

when the mind ceases to function, he exists and his heart throbs.

Then, what is this 'I' in everybody? Swami Sivananda declares that

the real 'I' is none, else than Brahman or the Atman who is the

motive force behind all existence. It is He who thinks through the

mind, sees through the eyes, eats through the mouth, hears through

the ears and so on He is the Witnessing Consciousness who dwells in

all beings. When a person gets up from deep sleep and says, " I

enjoyed a sound dreamless sleep " , it is this Witnessing Consciousness

which remembers the fact that the body and the mind rested in sound

sleep. It cannot be otherwise. The mind which was virtually dead

during the deep sleep state could . not itself have consciously

enjoyed a sound slumber and remembered it. The enjoyer is the Atman.

Swamiji repeatedly advises the spiritual seeker to identify himself

with this Atman which is his real Self and not with his perishable

body. Constant identification with the Atman or the Witnessing

Consciousness in oneself is a shortcut to spiritual success. The

aspirant who adopts this technique will soon rise above body

consciousness.

 

The secret of spirituality lies in realising one's essential nature.

It is not becoming something outside of oneself. It is not as if man

and God are separate and that man should go to a God who is external

to him and merge in that God. No. God is already there, everywhere,

Within us and outside of us. The body and the mind in which man is

encased are mere illusions of an ignorant mind. God only is. All else

is not. All else is only appearance. This appearance is made possible

by the functioning of the mind. Meditation and enquiry enable the

aspirant to feel, to realise that he is, after all, Brahman and not a

bundle of body and mind. When divine wisdom dawns, the Sadhak

realises his innermost Being. And being is Brahman.

 

Man himself is God and the entirety of Sadhana (spiritual practices)

is meant to enable man to realise his God-nature, to realise that the

God he has been searching for is his own Self. Initially, Yoga

Sadhana purifies the mind. Later on, the seeker uses this purified

mind, to concentrate and meditate on the God within; and at the

deepest point of meditation, the purified mind melts in the God

within and is itself lost there, destroyed there. And only God

remains. Being remains. God-consciousness remains. A telling analogy

given in the Yoga texts is the dry twig used in kindling a fire,

where the twig itself is ultimately consumed in the fire. The

purified mind is like this twig. It helps to kindle the fire of God-

consciousness within, and in the process, is itself destroyed in that

fire. In Samadhi (superconscious state), the mind melts in Brahman as

camphor melts in fire. The separate identity of the individual soul

vanishes. Only Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence- Consciousness-Bliss

Absolute) prevails.