MEDITATION
Meditation is the most important and helpful spiritual practice. Meditation literally means deep thinking. But, on deeper study of the subject one can find that the literal meaning is just a single aspect of meditation. It will be explained in the later section of this article.
Meditation has always been a topic of constant discussion due to its reported benefits. It truly helps a person to progress both in physical as well as spiritual worlds by increasing the control over the mind and hence desires. Some of the worth mentioning benefits of meditation are:
Increases concentration: It is said that meditation is the advanced state of a concentrated mind, which is true. But, if the practitioner does not have good concentration, in that case too, meditation aids for the development of the concentration. Hence we can say that meditation help to meditate.
Enhances the peacefulness of mind: Meditation generally, develops a sense of disinterest towards worldly things (if the object is chosen correctly, otherwise this can affect adversely), and hence limits our desires. As a result the practitioner’s mind remains stable and assists the person more effectively. Thus meditation also increases efficiency.
Apart from this, there are many more advantages of meditation. Since all of those are interrelated, I skip discussing them. I must say that only the person who practices it regularly can know its benefits.
Now the question is regarding the technique of meditation. There are innumerable techniques of meditation. The techniques of meditation vary greatly depending upon the religious belief, the state of practitioner and environmental conditions. But, here I discuss few important technique which I feel must be known to everyone so that the person could chose the best one for him.
Mantra meditation: This is the easiest kind of meditation, which anyone can start with. This is the grossest form which uses certain words. The practitioner recites these words continuously either verbally or mentally. These words are generally names of God or His praise. Bhajanas and Kirtans are meditations of this kind. Sometimes people also use beads to count the recitation.
Contemplation: By contemplation I mean the second kind of meditation in which the practitioner thinks continuously of the object of meditation, which is generally the God. This does not include repetition. This is generally done mentally.
Thoughtless meditation: This is the kind of meditation which is the best and most fruitful. It cannot be done directly but it is a stage that is attained by regular practice of lower forms of meditation. During thoughtless meditation the mind stops thinking and becomes steady waiting for the instruction of the Master (Soul is the Master of the mind).
Other common practices while meditation is:
Closing eyes and choosing a quite place: This helps to be focused.
Sitting straight: Keeping the back and head erect allows the Divine energy to flow easily and uniformly throughout the body.
Timings: It is preferred to meditate in morning because of the calm environment. I should be performed twice (morning and evening) or thrice (morning, evening and night) as suitable, everyday.
In some organizations such as Brahmakumaris, a soft music, is played while meditation to tune the mind also. This music is termed as meditation music.
Meditation is the seventh stage of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga system; it leads to Samadhi (complete bliss or Final Union). Again yoga also has been classified as Raj Yoga, Karma Yoga, Kriya Yoga etc. and the technique of meditation also vary accordingly.
Although meditation is very powerful spiritual practice but its effects ripen on proper combination with other spiritual practices.
Meditation has always been a topic of constant discussion due to its reported benefits. It truly helps a person to progress both in physical as well as spiritual worlds by increasing the control over the mind and hence desires. Some of the worth mentioning benefits of meditation are:
Increases concentration: It is said that meditation is the advanced state of a concentrated mind, which is true. But, if the practitioner does not have good concentration, in that case too, meditation aids for the development of the concentration. Hence we can say that meditation help to meditate.
Enhances the peacefulness of mind: Meditation generally, develops a sense of disinterest towards worldly things (if the object is chosen correctly, otherwise this can affect adversely), and hence limits our desires. As a result the practitioner’s mind remains stable and assists the person more effectively. Thus meditation also increases efficiency.
Apart from this, there are many more advantages of meditation. Since all of those are interrelated, I skip discussing them. I must say that only the person who practices it regularly can know its benefits.
Now the question is regarding the technique of meditation. There are innumerable techniques of meditation. The techniques of meditation vary greatly depending upon the religious belief, the state of practitioner and environmental conditions. But, here I discuss few important technique which I feel must be known to everyone so that the person could chose the best one for him.
Mantra meditation: This is the easiest kind of meditation, which anyone can start with. This is the grossest form which uses certain words. The practitioner recites these words continuously either verbally or mentally. These words are generally names of God or His praise. Bhajanas and Kirtans are meditations of this kind. Sometimes people also use beads to count the recitation.
Contemplation: By contemplation I mean the second kind of meditation in which the practitioner thinks continuously of the object of meditation, which is generally the God. This does not include repetition. This is generally done mentally.
Thoughtless meditation: This is the kind of meditation which is the best and most fruitful. It cannot be done directly but it is a stage that is attained by regular practice of lower forms of meditation. During thoughtless meditation the mind stops thinking and becomes steady waiting for the instruction of the Master (Soul is the Master of the mind).
Other common practices while meditation is:
Closing eyes and choosing a quite place: This helps to be focused.
Sitting straight: Keeping the back and head erect allows the Divine energy to flow easily and uniformly throughout the body.
Timings: It is preferred to meditate in morning because of the calm environment. I should be performed twice (morning and evening) or thrice (morning, evening and night) as suitable, everyday.
In some organizations such as Brahmakumaris, a soft music, is played while meditation to tune the mind also. This music is termed as meditation music.
Meditation is the seventh stage of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga system; it leads to Samadhi (complete bliss or Final Union). Again yoga also has been classified as Raj Yoga, Karma Yoga, Kriya Yoga etc. and the technique of meditation also vary accordingly.
Although meditation is very powerful spiritual practice but its effects ripen on proper combination with other spiritual practices.
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