Meditation – A Discipline of Self-Integration
Divine Life
Society Publication: Chapter 7: The
Teachings of the Bhagavadgita by Swami Krishnananda
The discipline of yoga
culminates in meditation, dhyana, which is
the subject of the sixth chapter of the Bhagavadgita. The art of yoga is
principally the process of self-integration by degrees through the levels of
the constitution of one's personality, such that when we reach the point of
meditation proper there is a total concentration of the whole of one's being in
the direction of the whole of that which one aspires for through this
discipline we call 'yoga'. Last time we noted that essentially this is a
technique of communing the lower self with the higher self.
The process of meditation is
not a struggle in the sense of a fighting with nature, or with what we call the
odds of life; it is an establishment of a harmony rather than a conflict, with
the powers that be in which we are engaging ourselves. There are stages by
which the senses and the mind have to be weaned from the points of distraction,
and the highest method should not be applied when one is in the lower stage of
evolution.
According to great
teachers of yoga such as Patanjali, for instance, true meditation begins only
when we contact reality, at least in one of its degrees. At present, we are out
of touch with reality. That explains our misery in life, our sorrows, and our
difficulties even in understanding what the world is made of. We live in the
world of pure sensory operations or are cut off totally from the contact with
reality due to our involvement in the externalising feature called space-time.
Thus, when we are
seated for the purpose of this great objective of human life – encounter with
Reality – in the earlier stages we guard ourselves, as we put up a fence around
our field when we want to grow a harvest, or tend a garden, or grow fruits or
vegetables, a fencing, a protection is necessary. We put up a protective
fencing around ourselves by means of a dual action on our part – namely, the
withdrawal of consciousness from sensory contact with distracting objects, and,
at the same time, a focusing of this enriched consciousness upon the chosen
ideal of meditation, which perhaps is the essence of vairagya and abhyasa.
In the process of pratyahara,
the earlier or earliest stage of meditation, there is a need, first of all, to
be conscious of what things there are which will distract your attention. What
are your loves and hatreds? What are your inner tensions or frustrations,
longings? They have to be dealt with very carefully. You have to know your
strengths and you have to know your weaknesses also. Generally your
weaknesses are your desires which, somehow or other, seek fulfillment by any means,
fair and foul. You should be a physician of your own
soul, a judge of your own self. Meditation
is a healing process that you are trying to undergo inwardly for your own
ultimate blessedness, so you are concerned here with yourself and not with
anything else.
Pratyahara
means – the coming together of the energy of the senses with the concentrating
activity of the mind. When the senses unite with the mind, you have achieved
the process of total withdrawal, pratyahara, and
the mind gets concentrated.
Place, time and method – these
are the three techniques of concentration. The place of meditation therefore
should be, as far as possible, free from nearness to those objects, persons,
and circumstances which may draw your attention, either by like or dislike. A
suitable time also is necessary. The
mind should be amenable to this task of concentration of consciousness. It
should not be repellent – it should not be revolting for any reason. These distractions
have to be dealt with in their own way – and as long as they are not fulfilled
or handled in an intelligent way, your concentration of mind, spiritually, will
not be a success.
The time that you choose for
meditation should, therefore, be conducive as the place is. The method of
meditation is perhaps more important. You have to be first of all in harmonious
condition with your atmosphere, with society, with your daily routine etc.,
outwardly, and also in a harmony with your body and your personality. So, here
comes the necessity for a spiritual initiation by a competent Guru.
The asana should be a seated,
consistent posture. And then the breathing process gradually, together with the
systematic, harmonious, calm process of chanting of OM, pranava will create within yourself
a vibration. This chanting of OM may
done every day, for fifteen minutes, before your concentration on the object of
your meditation.
Now, for the purpose of your
spiritual meditation, the object - the God of your meditation is 'that
something' which is the whole reality for you. So, the object of your
meditation should have a double characteristic. One: outside which nothing can
be, nothing has to be – it is the only thing before you. Secondly: it is the
object of your emotional satisfaction. Remember: “ God is something outside
which nothing exists.”
The art of meditation is the
final touch you give to the whole process of spiritual practice. Spirituality
is a positive art – it is not a runaway attitude of consciousness. In spiritual
meditation, you are not moving away from the problems of life, you are not
shirking your duties, but communing yourself with the substance and the very
causative factor of every problem in life, and handling these forces as a
master rather than as a slave who runs away from difficulties. A spiritual
seeker is not a coward – he is a scientist in the highest sense of the term who
tries to understand and control the forces of nature, rather than a person who
would like to be ignorant of their existence and close their eyes to them, like
an ostrich. Thus the art of spiritual living, which culminates itself in
meditation, is the highest positivity of approach to Reality by a human being
who is fully integrated for this purpose in a most healthy manner.
Continue to read:
Meditation –
A Discipline of Self-Integration by Swami Krishnananda
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