Meditation

Meditation

“Meditation is a continuos flow of perception or thought, like the flow of water in a river” Swami Vishnu Devananda

At one level or other we are all seeking the peace of mind that meditation brings. When our attention is fully engaged, the mind becomes silent. When we manage to restrict our attention to one object the incessant mind chattering stops.

To find a lasting contentment and peace you need to train the mind in meditation.

Meditation is the practice by which there is constant observation of the mind. It means focusing the mind on one point for example a candle and stilling the mind in order to perceive the Self.

Thus, by stopping the waves of thoughts you come to understand your true nature and discover the wisdom and tranquility that lies within. With continued meditation practice you discover a greater sense of purpose and strength of will and your thinking becomes clearer and more concentrated, affecting all you do.

By sitting quietly, you can become aware of what is transpiring within you. Through this technique we temporarily withdraw ourselves from many superficial activities of the day and turn our attention inward. In so doing we gradually come to perceive the source of our existence and automatically integrate ourselves with this source.

Thus, we allow ourselves more and more to become expressions, sounding boards of the Absolute, of the Divine within. Then the individual is freed from the terribly confining limitations of what she has heretofore conceived of as ‘me’ or ‘I’ and the necessity of protecting the ‘ego’. As we accomplish this, we can experience dissolving into it all and a great sense of bliss, joy and true peace.

“Meditation is the continuous flow of perception or thought, like the flow of water in a river,”
Swami Vishnu Devenanada.
Consciously or unconsciously we are all seeking the peace of mind that meditation brings. Meditation is the practice by which there is constant observation of the mind. It means focusing the mind on one point, stilling the mind in order to perceive the Self. By stopping the endless waves of thoughts you come to understand your true nature and discover the wisdom and tranquility that lie within.

Meditation is not just sitting in front of an object but it translates into everything we do. Like the Zen masters suggest, we should eat when we are eating, walk when we are walking and wash dishes when were we are engaged in such activity. Therefore, at any given time our attention is fully and completely focused on our present task at hand. In this way any thing that is not relevant to our present circumstance should not be acknowledged or invited but should be left to flow in and out until such thoughts fade away leaving room for peace, quiet and lack of inner conflict.

In this way, as you practice meditation in everything you do, you discover greater sense of purpose and strength of will and one’s thinking becomes clearer and clearer and more concentrated affecting positively everything one does.

The mind can be like a wild lake, full of thoughts invading our calmness and inner peace. Our senses are constantly drawing the mind outward wasting in this way valuable energy.

The mind is by nature constantly searching for happiness, vainly hoping to find satisfaction once it attains what it desires. The problem is that once we have acquired what the mind first desired, immediately after another desire comes up and our momentary satisfaction and happiness fades away and focuses on the demands of our new desires. This is because the true desire remains unfulfilled.

Yoga teaches that we possess a source of joy and wisdom already inside us, a fund of tranquillity that we can perceive and draw nourishment from when the movement of the mind is still. If we can channel this desire for contentment inwards instead of attaching it to external objects that are ephemeral and temporary, we can then discover how to live in peace.

On of the most useful tools of meditation is to watch the mind and learn not to identify and react on our emotions and thoughts. So we can just assume the role of witness of this constant play of thoughts. In this way our thoughts lose their power and we can start to see the mind and the body as instruments that we can control. In detaching ourselves from the games of the ego we learn to take responsibility for ourselves.

Eventually we realize that through the practice of meditation on our daily lives we can learn to discover and incredible inner source of peace and joy freely available to everyone at all times. Our peace and joy stops to depend on the constant flux of our thoughts and external ever-changing circumstances, instead our peace springs from the bottom of the heart and soul.