The true art of meditation

There is a lot of talk about meditation in social circles. People advise each other to have daily meditation to experience peace of mind. But most people find it difficult to understand what exactly meditation is and how to go into it.

In deep sleep, we all are very happy. Just think about it for a moment. We are very happy in sleep even if we don't know in this state whether we are rich or poor, male or female, small or big, VIP or non VIP. This leads us to a significant conclusion.

When our conscious mind is at rest, we are able to experience the bliss of self which is self-illuminating and effulgent. Deep sleep is a pleasurable state because in this state our conscious mind is at complete rest.

But, we probably can't afford to get happiness only out of deep sleep. We are seeking happiness even while we are awake. This is possible by regulating flow of thoughts in our conscious mind. This is nothing else but process of trying to meditate.

In meditation, we experience bliss by stilling our mind for some time. Meditation is actually a process of reducing the speed and number of thoughts in our mind. 

It is not at all easy to do this. Mind is always packed with so many varied thoughts throughout our waking state. It jumps from one thought to another in fraction of a second.  Our mind is like a factory in which so many different thoughts, unrelated to each other, are produced. Most of the time mind is ridden with thoughts of fear, inferiority, sickness, death, insecurity, etc.

The pattern of thoughts in one's mind depends also on our psychological disposition, called sanskara. It is very difficult to stop flow of thoughts in our mind, except by systematic training of mind. Yoga meant for controlling modifications of thoughts in our mind.  Meditation is the ultimate objective of raj yoga. 

But there are certain pre-requisites of meditation. First of all, before we try meditation, our body has to be free from pain and healthy. If there is a problem in our body somewhere, mind will not be able to concentrate in meditation.

Also if a person's mind is full of negative qualities like anger, jealousy, extreme attachment, ego and unlimited desires, one will not be in a position to sit in meditation. So, the first step is to take care of these angularities of mind by systematically developing opposite virtues of love, compassion, generosity, contentment etc.

Out of the three stages of meditation, the first step is Dharana, in which one must try to focus thoughts on any one single object such as picture of any God or symbol or sound of Aum. If mind is too turbulent, one may not be able to do this at all. In such a case one can try to chant names of God (japa) while focusing on God's form.

Chanting is ideally done mentally only. But if mind oscillates too much, one must chant loudly first and then slowly shift to mental chanting.  Japa is therefore a beautiful technique of developing concentration of mind.

The next stage of meditation is Dhyan. In this, there will be uninterrupted focus on a single object. In short, dhyan is effortless dharana.  It is a deeper level of focusing. When one reaches this stage, one starts enjoying it. One forgets how much time is spent in dhyan.

The next deeper level of meditation is Samadhi in which one loses consciousness of self, while maintaining focus on the object of meditation.  Samadhi is a stage for enlightened souls, not for everyone. Samadhi does not mean physical dissolution of self but it means complete absence of 'I' in mind of a sadhaka.
 

The author is an IAS officer of Gujarat cadre