Meditation and its Utility in Daily Life

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An aspirant has to rest his soul on the bosom of the Lord, to bathe in the bliss

of Divine ecstasy, to drown his ego in the ocean of eternity, to draw sustenance

and strength from the SOURCE to attain whatever he is capable of achieving. A

Sadhaka should meditate regularly, chew and digest what he has learnt, to

transform what he has learnt into wisdom, to apply that wisdom to solve the

problems that cross his path daily. Says F.W. Robertson: " It is not the number

of books you read, nor the variety of sermons you hear, nor the amount of

religious conversation in which you mix, but it is the frequency and earnestness

with which you meditate on these things till the truth in them becomes your own

and part of your being, that ensures your growth. "

 

A sincere spiritual seeker meditates to realise the Ultimate Reality to unravel

the mystery of life and death, to understand in the bottom of his heart, what is

Truth. Once he knows Truth, he knows the Ultimate Reality, he becomes That, and

there is nothing more to know. A person who has realised Brahman, becomes

Brahman, and lives in Brahman. Knowing is being. That is the highest state.

 

India has been fortunate to have produced many saints and seers who had realised

the Truth and for more or less time lived in a state of Divine Ecstasy. Even

during the past hundred years people have witnessed such saints like Paramahamsa

Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Ramatirtha, Sri Aurobindo, Ramana

Maharshi, Swami Ramdas, Swami Sivananda and several others of world fame.

Ramakrishna would while talking relapse into Samadhi and often prayed to his

Divine Mother not to draw him frequently into Her Bosom so that he can converse

with his disciple, particularly his darling Naren later known to the world as

Swami Vivekananda so that he could prepare a band of workers to spread his

message, the holy message of India. Swami Ramatirtha was often seen in a state

of ecstasy during last seven years of life in India and United States. Swami

Sivananda was another who would often sing and dance or be just be quiet in

divine ecstasy. There have been more in India and quite a few messengers of God

in other parts of the world.

 

Meditation and concentration are often treated as synonymous. However, I have

drawn earlier a distinct line between concentration and meditation. In further

explanation when one brings to bear all his thought waves on a single point or

spot like a laser beam where the scattered rays of light are concentrated, it is

concentration. Every body needs concentration to understand, assimilate and

apply any information, any knowledge. When the concentration is prolonged for

144 seconds, it is called meditation and when extended to 144 multiplied by 144

i.e. 20736 seconds = 345.6 minutes, it is said to reach the state of Samadhi.

According to Ashtanga Yoga comprising two main parts of Hatha Yoga-Yama, Niyama,

Asana and Pranayama covers the first one, whereas Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana

and Samadhi, is the second part. There is no equivalent word in English language

for Samadhi. Concentration is the sixth, Meditation the seventh and Samadhi the

eighth and last stage of Yoga when the Sadhaka is united with the Supreme Being.

It shows that concentration leads to Meditation, similarly prolonged constant

meditation leads to Samadhi. In other Yogas Manana, Nididhyasana, Upasana,

Chintana, Dhyana-these terms are used in different Yogas with subtle differences

in their techniques. Manana is a sort of reflection. It is just to chew the cud

slowly and nicely. It is done through into intense practice of Manana. Chintana

is also a sort of reflection and meditation to assimilate the thoughts in

consciousness for proper and significant impression with profound understanding.

Intense meditation on the Self or Brahman or ANY SPIRITUAL ILLUMINED PERSONALITY

is termed as `Nididhyasana'. As Saint Francis of Assisi did. `Upasana' stands

for devout meditation which is being used in both i.e., Jnana Yoga Sadhana and

Bhakti Yoga. Upasana means `sitting near by'. In Jnana Yoga Sadhana the seeker

has to sit near the Self or Brahman; whereas in Bhakti Yoga a devotee has to sit

by the side of God.

 

to be continued...