Ask The Master: 06 Feb 2008

What is the right way to approach meditation?

Good question.

First of all, approach it with sincerity.

I am not asking you to believe or disbelieve in meditation. I don't ask you to have faith. I ask you to have trust.

Faith is a readymade belief in something. Trust is simply the openness to experiment.

So give meditation a chance. Keep an open mind. Be enthusiastic, be prepared for something mind-blowing to happen!

Secondly, approach with optimism.

The state of bliss is not something reserved for yogis and sannyasis!

Bliss is a perfectly realizable goal for you -- even if you are completely unfamiliar with meditation.

I tell you, there is no such thing as being qualified for meditation.

Once a man approached the great spiritual master Ramana Maharshi and asked him, Bhagavan, am I qualified for the spiritual life?

Ramana answered him with a question, Are you alive?

The man was startled. Yes, of course!

That is enough, Ramana replied. You already have the necessary qualification for spirituality.

Simply being alive qualified you for spirituality!

When the Divine does not impose any restrictions on you, why are you imposing restrictions on yourself? Be clear of this before you start: you have a definite goal, and you are definitely going to get there.

Thirdly, be playful!

Meditation is one big adventure. In fact, it is the biggest experiment of your life. To become serious about meditation is to miss the whole point. Spirituality is not serious business. Meditation is all about realizing that life nothing but leela, Divine play. So what is there to be serious about?

Celebrate meditation. Simply enjoy!

Fourthly, have patience.

The Divine is not going to jump on you during your very first meditation sitting!

Don't start worrying about results the moment you start meditation.

A small story:

Three monkeys once found a ripe, juicy mango. Like all monkeys, they fought over the mango for a while. Then, for some reason, they had a moment of clarity, a moment of intelligence. They decided to do something intelligent instead. Instead of eating the mango right away, they decided to sow the mango. Once the mango seed sprouted and grew into a tree, there would be enough and more mangoes for all three of them. Each of the monkeys decided to take up one part of the task of caring for the plant.
The first monkey said, I will water the plant everyday!
The second monkey said, I will keep the soil healthy and rich, add fertilizers and ensure that the plant grows well.
The third monkey said, I will guard the plant carefully and protect it from harsh weather and animals.
One month passed, then two, then three. There was no sign of any plant growing out of the seed!
So the three monkeys called an urgent meeting to discuss roles and performances.
The first monkey declared, As promised, I have been watering the seed every single day!
The second monkey cried, As promised, I have been adding fertilizer and making the soil rich.
The third monkey said, As promised, I have been guarding the seed so carefully! Not only that, I have been taking the seed out every single day to check whether it has sprouted or not!

So don't start expecting miracles in the very first session! Give the process of meditation some time to grow inside you. If you are greedy for instant results, you are actually preventing the process from settling down in your system, you are blocking the whole process. Have patience!

Fifthly, enjoy solitude.

Maintain an inward-turning state as far as possible. Remain alone, remain in silence for some time every day. Give yourself a chance to experience your inner environment. When meditation becomes part of you, this state will flower naturally. But for beginners, you will need to consciously maintain this state.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Words From The Master: 18 Oct 2007

Science Behind Life Bliss Meditation (Nithya Dhyaan)
The Revelation

Before I explain what Nithya Dhyaan is, I would first like to give a brief background about how this revelation happened to me. Post enlightenment, I was in silence for an extended amount of time (months may be), when I was doing research on meditation techniques, to see how I can reproduce the same experience that happened in me, onto others.

I came up with around hundred different meditation techniques through all my programs and each meditation technique was an attempt to raise the individual consciousness by working on some aspect of the being.

People always asked me whether I have a meditation technique that I would recommend for everybody; which they can practice daily. This question was raised again and again. And I began to ponder deeply to come up with a technique which is a complete representation of my philosophy, teachings and my experience.

I had envisioned a meditation technique, which is holistic and complete by itself and instead of focusing on any particular aspect of the being; it should work on the entire being to transform it and make is ready for the ultimate experience to dawn. And one day, this meditation, Life Bliss Meditation (Nithya Dhyaan) was revealed to me in a flash. In an instant I could clearly see the different components of this technique; how each one relates to the other. I could clearly visualize in my inner space how this would help raise the individual consciousness in its entirety.

Life Bliss Meditation technique consists of five steps.


Step One - The Breath
Feel the lightness at the being level

The breath has the capacity to eliminate deep rooted engraved memories (samskaara) that are the reason for the lack of clarity in decisions and thought processes, irrational emotional reactions, and many such processes which are activated from a subconscious level where engraved memories (samskaara) are located.

You might have observed that the quality of your breathing changes depending on the state of your mind. Your emotions have an impact on the breathing process. When you are anxious your breathing changes. When you are angry you’re breathing changes. So your breathing is directly related to your emotions. It keeps changing as the state of the mind changes. When you are tense the normal advice given is to take a deep breath. And the moment you take a deep breath, you feel light, more relaxed and the less tense. Mind and breath are closely inter-related. You can see that when you stop breathing, it becomes very difficult to think. Breath becomes the fuel for the mind.

Likewise, if we were to control our breathing or bring about some change in our breathing pattern it will directly have an impact on our emotions; our state of mind.

Similarly suppressed emotions in the being are also a cause for an abnormal breathing pattern where the breath becomes shallow. When the breath is shallow, the suppressed emotions are not released and their memories get stored in the being. The breath doesn’t touch every part of the body. This kind of breathing becomes a fixed pattern. This way our past samskaras, our past memories which are suppressed in our being create a particular type of breathing pattern in our system. And as a result we attract similar emotions. The suppressed anger in the system has a tendency to surface and create a breathing pattern for its survival. This becomes a vicious cycle. The breathing pattern is nothing but a cumulative effect of the past Samskaara or the engraved memories of emotions.

The breathing technique in the first step of the Life Bliss Meditation (LBM) expels the engraved memories from its roots deep within. It is like shaking a tree with dead leaves. All the dead leaves fall down when shaken vigorously. This stage of the meditation leaves the body feeling vibrant and fresh due to the increased bio-energy.

Our body is never really alive if it is always under stress and tension. With the expulsion of deep rooted negativities and increase in bio- energy one can feel the lightness at a being level, immense mental clarity and awareness.


Step Two - The Inner Chatter
Experience deep mental rest

The constant inner-chatter in the mind leaves one feeling drained and tired due to lack of mental rest.

There is a constant talk going on within our minds. We may not be talking to anybody external but internally there is always something that is going on. The second stage of the Life Bliss Meditation aims at reducing this inner chatter.

Normally people find it very difficult to sit without thoughts. When you venture into meditation the first thing you encounter is resistance from the mind. The mind tends to revolt as it does not want to be quietened. It has been habituated to maintain a constant stream of thoughts for so many years. In fact people often complain that in an attempt to be thoughtless, they encounter more thoughts. Any initial attempt to make it silent is like swimming opposite to the river current. This is the time when many people tend to stop the practice of meditation since they get discouraged. They think that meditation is not possible at all for them. But let me tell you that this is the experience of all meditators initially.

In the mythological story of Churning of the Ocean (Sagara Manthana) the Gods and the demons are together trying to churn the ocean to extract the divine nectar of immortality. But to their surprise the first thing that emerges from the ocean is the deadly poison. Eventually many other things emerge due to the churning. And finally they are gifted with emergence of the divine nectar.

This is a very metaphorical story which has a deep significance in the process of meditation. When the mind is churned in the process of meditation to extract the experience of enlightenment, the first thing to come out is always the deep rooted negativity suppressed from the past. Do not feel discouraged; this is an indication of progress that the negativity is been thrown out. Continue practicing meditation till you experience the supreme state.

This second stage of the Life Bliss Meditation can be an extremely useful tool to help silence the mind. Mind is nothing but the inner chatter. And when the inner chatter reduces, you start progressing towards a deep restful thoughtless awareness. You start experiencing a different dimension of your being.

Our body and the mind are mostly out of sync. While our body has its own innate intelligence guiding it all the time, it’s the mind that refuses to corroborate with that intelligence. The mind forces the body into certain actions which later on manifests as a disease. Disease here means absence of ease ( in the body ) . If the body is made to run forcibly, then it is going to revolt some time or the other. Many a times we tend to overeat. The body sends out signals that it is full but the mind is not satisfied. It wants more. And we end up eating more creating more and more damage to the body. The repercussions of this action are then felt later. So creating a harmony between the body and the mind is very essential to go beyond both. Else we would be caught in this psycho-physical entity and transcendence would be difficult.

This second stage of the Life Bliss Meditation is one of the best techniques to maintain the synchronicity between the body and the mind.


Step Three - Energy Centers
Radiate positive emotions & well-beingness

We have seven key energy centers in our body that are associated with specific emotions in our being. These emotions in turn are a result of the deep rooted engraved memories or samskaara which have been accumulated from the past. These samskaaras block the particular energy center causing physical and mental disturbances.

When the energy centers get unblocked from negative emotions and then we start emitting positive emotions like love and compassion. Many of our diseases are psychosomatic. They have their roots in the mind. What we see is its effect and so we never really understand this mind-body connection. When a particular energy center gets blocked, the part of the body near that energy center gets affected. You might have seen that when you worry too much there is sense of tightness around the stomach region or the stomach gets upset. So it is important to keep the energy centers cleansed for good physical and mental health.

Emotions like fantasies, imaginations, fear, worry, attention need, jealousy, ego and discontentment have negative existence. If you are asked to take an object out of the room, all you have to do is to pick up the object and take it out. So in this case the object has positive existence. But let us say that there is a dark room and you are asked to take the darkness out of room. You cannot really carry the darkness out of the room. Because here, darkness has a negative existence and cannot be removed physically. You just have to turn-on the light to dispel or remove the darkness. All these negative emotions also have a negative existence just like the darkness in the room. Bringing awareness and understanding about the system of energy centers can help eliminate negative emotions. This naturally allows the positive emotions to flow and radiate.

Once Buddha tied a knot and asked one of his disciples to untie the knot. The disciple tried to pull the knot in different directions which only tightened the knot further. Then Buddha asked another disciple to untie the knot. This disciple first examined the knot carefully and slowly untied the knot. Buddha then explained that if you have to untie the knot of ignorance in your being, you first have to learn to observe and examine it carefully. You have to flood your being with awareness and the negativity will be instantaneously obliterated.

This third stage of the Life Bliss Meditation is one of the best techniques to allow the positive emotions to surface and be expressed.

To know more about the science of Energy Centers, you can attend the Life Bliss Program or the Ananda Spurana Program that elaborately discusses each Energy Center and the emotions related each of them and prescribes a meditation technique for each Energy Center.


Step Four - The Mind
Liberate from the clutches of the mind

The mind is nothing but a collection of thoughts. These thoughts rise up in succession like the bubbles in a fish tank. All these thoughts that rise in the mind also appear to be connected. But just like the bubbles in the fish tank the thoughts in the mind are also independent and unconnected.

You can do a small exercise. For ten minutes sit silently and observe the thoughts that arise in your mind. Don’t try to control or stop thinking. Just be silent and witness the thoughts coming. The moment a thought comes quickly write it down on paper. At the end of ten minutes read out whatever is written. You will see that it’s a mad man’s diary. There is utter chaos. There is no connection between the previous thought and the next one. All the thoughts are un-clutched and unconnected. Only when you write down your thoughts you come to know that the thoughts have no real connection. You may be thinking about having a cup of coffee and the next moment you may think about some office work which is pending. There is no real connection between having a cup of tea and the office work. Both are independent events. Even if there are two consecutive thoughts about the same event the thoughts are unconnected as there is no continuity. There exists a silent gap between these thoughts of which one is not aware.

The thoughts by their very nature are un-clutched. The problem starts when we start connecting these thoughts. When these independent and unconnected thoughts are linked up, we create illusions of pleasure or pain based on the nature of thoughts that we choose to link -up. This is a play of the mind that is constantly happening within us.

For example; you might have eaten ice cream ten years ago, you might have eaten ice cream seven years ago and you might have eaten ice cream two years ago and you might have eaten ice cream yesterday. All these experiences might have been very pleasurable for you. You might have enjoyed the ice cream on each of that occasion. The trouble starts when these experiences are connected and an imaginary shaft or an understanding is created that eating ice cream makes you happy. But sometime in the future eating ice cream may not be as enjoyable as on the earlier occasions. Even if you don’t enjoy the ice cream you will make yourself believe that you like the ice cream. Because you have got into the habit of connecting the thoughts; you unconsciously start accepting that you enjoy ice cream. Here the imaginary joy is one aspect of the illusion while the other is the recording of the false emotion deep within you. Similarly so many such incidents and thoughts are connected and recorded as illusions rather than as independent moments of pain or pleasure.

Similar is the case with painful experiences. The pain which you experienced ten years ago, the pain which you experiences seven years ago, the pain which you experienced three years ago and the pain which you experienced yesterday are independent events. There is no connection between these events. But through connecting events of similar nature you are creating a shaft that gives you the feeling of prolonged agony. This will leave you feeling that your life has been miserable and painful all along. Similarly connecting all the pleasurable experiences in your life gives you the feeling that that your life is pleasure.

But actually neither of it is true. Your life is neither pleasure nor pain because the very process of connecting these events is a mistake. The idea that the thoughts are connected is a misconception. Ironically we don’t connect all the thoughts. We only connect those that we remember and create the shaft. It is similar to how a bouquet is created by picking just a few flowers from a garden.

When we create the shaft we suffer. If you have created a shaft of pleasure we try to extend it because you want to experience the same pleasure again. But if you have created a shaft of pain then you try to break it because you want to avoid the pain. You can neither extend the shaft nor break it because it never existed in the first place. The shaft itself is a myth.

All your experiences are independent experiences. The moment you have connected these experiences you have created suffering too. Now you will understand why suffering is also imaginary. It is based on something imaginary. It is based on something unreal. It’s just an appearance. The shaft is unreal; it does not exist. So the suffering that is created due to the shaft is also unreal. Once you realize this you are liberated. So by our very nature we are un-clutched. We are enlightened and just we have to realize it.

When we perceive every incident is a new incident we see life in a more beautiful way. Everything seems joyful and blissful. You stop taking things for granted. Once you start accepting life from moment to moment, bliss happens to you naturally.

In this step, carry this understanding with you that your thoughts are unconnected, irrational and un-clutched. There is no horizontal connection between your thoughts. Even if you have thoughts neither try to suppress the thoughts nor try to react to them. Just watch them with the understanding that they are un-clutched. Automatically witnessing consciousness will start happening in you. You will go beyond the two identities. You will realize that you are neither the shaft of pleasure nor the shaft of pain but you are the background on which these shafts are drawn.


Step Five - Chanting
Melt into the arms of existence with gratitude

The vibrations from chanting can have a profound impact at the being level. Mantras create energy that can calm and soothe the mind.

The Chanting in Step 5 of the Life Bliss Meditation can help you journey to the deeper levels of peace from where gratitude overflows towards existence for all that we have been bestowed upon for. The attitude of gratitude can provide a jumping board towards experiencing a deep connection with existence and the peace energy that exits around us The chanting of mantras carry vibrations, which can transform your being to make it more pure and blissful.

Practice of Life Bliss Meditation at least once a day can help you experience a new dimension of your being. This technique will help you to prepare your body and the mind to experience the state of pure consciousness and bliss.

______________________
This excerpt is taken from the website http://www.lifeblissmeditation.org
Click here to buy the Nithya Dhyaan Guided Meditation CD.

Words from the Master

Yes…you want to ask something?

Swamiji, while we are on the topic of rituals, can you please tell us something about the path of rituals and the path of meditation?

Yes...
See, with rituals, there is something definite about them. It is structured and you know when exactly it is going to start, when it is going to finish, where you are going to do it, what for you are doing it etc. With rituals, you go into them, and come out as the same person. There is so much of security in the whole process. That is why it has spread so much. Anything that is definite spreads.

But what happens in meditation? First of all, meditation seems too simple to produce any benefits when compared to rituals. People always ask me why I do rituals at the ashram. I tell them, if I tell people to simply come to the ashram and sit under the banyan tree and meditate, which is actually enough, will they listen?

If I did not have the Dakshinamurthy idol and the Nataraja idol, if they did not see these idols there, would they come to just see open space and a banyan tree? Probably only I will be sitting under the banyan tree and meditating!

To make people take the first steps towards their inner journey, I have to show them some of the complications that exist in their minds. Else I cannot lure them to it. I have to talk in their language.

They will be so happy to see the Dakshinamurthy idol under the banyan tree although they will be blissfully unaware of the Energy field that is actually there around the banyan tree even in the absence of the Dakshinamurthy idol. This banyan tree is live Energy. Its silence is a vibrating silence. It is enough if you just sit under it in a meditative mood. You don’t have to do anything complicated. Every leaf and twig here talks to me.

See, when you continue to worship idols, you have to become more and more aware of the tremendous Presence of Existence that you are trying to connect with through the idol. Then you will automatically start seeing God everywhere. You will understand that it is not just the idol but the whole of creation that is pregnant with the Presence of God. Then you can start relating with the whole of Existence.

With meditation, if you go into meditation with sincerity, the outcome is not definite. A personality change may happen. You may emerge as a different person. This is seen as a great risk! It is like taking a gamble. Transformation starts happening. It is this transformation that you are actually seeking, but when it happens you are afraid.

You feel comfortable in the security of your rituals. Rituals become a part of your every day routine; they become a part of the dead circuit that you are following. Somehow, they give you satisfaction and you remain where you are. With meditation, your ideology is shaken a bit and you start feeling scared. Your set of beliefs that have been built by years of conditioning suddenly seem shaky. You feel you are moving onto a less trodden path and that causes fear in you.

When you meditate, your awareness increases and when this happens, the fence that you have imagined around yourself, which actually society has put around you, slowly dissolves and you feel rebellious, not against society but against your own unconscious and ignorant state. This rebellion causes you to probe more into the cause of it and it opens out further avenues for you.

This is how you move deeper and deeper into a space that you have never entered before; a space which society does not even know; a space that society is wary of; a space that has all along been inside you but locked; a space for which you have been searching a key to unlock, but blissfully unaware of, not just in this life but in many lives before. When you have found this space, you have arrived!

It is like this:
A cow is tied to a rope and given a few meters of radius to move around.
It moves around and becomes aware and mature through its intelligence.
Then, the rope is loosened a little, giving it a few more meters of radius.
It goes further around and becomes more intelligent and then it is given still more length of rope to wander.

Depending on the cow’s growing intelligence and consciousness, it is let free at some point in time!

The same thing happens in man. The rope or fence around man is proportionate to his Consciousness. The more conscious he becomes, the greater freedom he enjoys and the more his consciousness grows.

See, it is a question of how willing you are to allow the transformation of your Energy. This is the only way it can happen.

But when this happens, society will tell you that you are moving away. It will tell you that you are moving away from what is right. The confusion then starts. When this happens, you only have to have courage and faith in yourself and Existence and move on.

Here is where, more than any books or lectures, a Master can serve you as a Yoga danda - a stick of support, to help you stand up for yourself. Every time you feel beaten by society in your path of spirituality, when you feel you are against the majority, the Master will pull you up in his own way and tell you to move on.

You need to be prodded at weak moments and the Master is the stick that prods you on and supports you till you walk again with your head high up. At every moment of faltering, the stick emerges to your help.

With the support of the Master, you can stand up as an individual, as an independent person, discovering your uniqueness. It does not mean that you are dependent on the Master; not at all. This is another common misconception. People think that you are being dependent on another human being for life.

It is like this: You are trying to find your way to a particular place. If left by yourself, you will ask for directions at several places. Sometimes you will be guided wrongly and may have to retrace, and in this fashion, you will reach your destination somehow. It may take you a long time to do so, but you will reach. But what if you have a map or a guide? You will be able to directly reach your destination without loss of time, is it not? Does it mean that you are dependent on the map or guide? No. It was just a quicker way of doing things, that’s all. In the same way, a Master is a guide who knows the way, who has already been to the place you are searching for and is available to guide you there.

When you have dedication alone, you will no doubt work hard towards reaching your goal, but when you have dedication with courage, you will take a leap towards your goal. This courage will come if you stop looking at others and look only into yourself, if you stop comparing yourself with others and watch yourself with awareness, at the subtle changes happening inside your system.

You need to stand up with courage of conviction in your own path. Courage of conviction will happen in you only when you are strongly centered in yourself without comparing with others.

Society is waiting to pull you into the familiar patterns that it knows, into the miseries that it is familiar with and can handle; into the well trodden and worn out path. It is very easy and does not require courage to fall into this path. But to tread the lesser-trodden path of spirituality requires courage. When I say courage, I don’t mean ordinary courage, I mean total courage.

To wear gypsy beads, does not require courage, but to wear rudraksh beads, requires courage. I give rudraksh beads to devotees who wish to wear them. The rudraksh beads are nothing but energy storehouses. They store the Cosmic Energy for you. They are like a battery house and recharge you when you get into a low. But society sees these beads as clear signs of sannyas! They see them as something worn by renunciates, without even understanding the meaning of renunciation.

They condemn people who stay in family life and wear rudraksh. But when they see the rudraksh beads on idols or sadhus, they are happy and pray to them. So many of my young devotees come and tell me how their family reacts to them wearing the beads. All these gossipmongers will talk endlessly about it and spread stories about them. Is it not absurd? When they pray, they are praying to the Cosmic Energy, but when the same Energy is available to them in simpler forms, they are not ready to take it! They pray to it but run away from it!

If you deeply analyze this, it will seem so absurd and nonsensical. They see themselves as so distinctly different from God; that is the problem. They are not ready to accept that they are God. Now I tell you: Whether you know it or not, whether you accept it or not, whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, you ARE God. This is the underlying basis of the Vishuddhi chakra also – discovering your own unique self and infinite energy.

When your courage grows, society automatically fades into insignificance. When your courage is low, society assumes power over you. It is all in your mind. How much power you give to society, that much power it will have over you. Never blame society for anything.

The choice has always been yours. Due to sheer lack of courage, you choose to go with what society says, you choose to pull and push by comparing and trying to beat one another, and then you blame society for it. It is the most absurd thing you can ever do. Remember, the choice is always yours.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.

Words From The Master: 23 Feb 2008

Towards Meditative Living

(continuation from earlier post)

From ‘Meditation in Life’ to ‘Life in Meditation’

Right now you are at the beginning stage. Right now you are still exploring meditation.

That’s why you ask, How can I include meditation in my lifestyle? How many hours should I practise? Which technique will be right for me?

These questions are perfectly alright at this stage.

In the beginning you will practise meditation in life.

You have to consciously introduce meditation into your lifestyle. Choose a technique, practise for half an hour or one hour a day. See how you feel. If you enjoy a technique, stick to it for at least ten days without expecting results. If a technique has touched you, there is no way it cannot transform you in some way. Sometimes the transformation will be subtle, and sometimes others may see it better than you do.

So often, people come to me and say, Swamiji, after I started practising this meditation, people are telling me there is a glow on my face, that I’ve become more energetic, more positive!

So there is definitely a transformation happening at some level. Just because you don’t get results directly, don’t be impatient. Patience can work wonders!

By and by, you will stop chasing new techniques. You will find one, or a few, techniques you are comfortable with, and settle into a routine with those. Right now these techniques are still new and exciting for you, and your mind will tell you to try out this and that. It is just like going into a pastry shop – there are so many varieties, you simply can’t decide what you actually want to eat!

So don’t restrain yourself. Try whatever your mind asks you to try. And whatever you try, do it with full sincerity. Put your whole strength, your complete motivation into the trial. Work out each technique as if that is the only available one. Don’t be greedy, don’t be impatient. Otherwise you will simply be flirting with the idea of meditation, you will never experience the soul of meditation.

And just one experience is enough!

Just one glimpse of the joy of meditation is enough to make you fall in love with meditation.

Then you will no longer ask me how many hours you must practise! When you wake up, your very first thought will be of meditation. When you take a shower, when you dress, when you eat – you will do everything with such complete mindfulness that every act, every moment will become alive with meditation. Meditativeness will became the natural state of your life. You will begin to live life in meditation.

This is the state I want you to achieve ultimately.

But of course it is not easy. First, you will have to get used to the idea of meditation. You will need to practise for a little while every day, then extend that feeling into the rest of the day.

(to be continued.)
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Words From The Master - 06 March 2008

Towards Meditative Living

How to enjoy meditation

Make time

Every day, make sure you keep aside at least half an hour for meditation. Even if you plan on practising anytime-anywhere meditations, always include a half-hour of sit-down meditation.

In the beginning, you need to cultivate discipline in your meditation. Also, you need to practise consciously, in an environment set aside for the practice of meditation.

During this time, ensure that you are undisturbed. Don’t accept any engagements. Let your family and friends know that during this time, it is important for you to be alone. It is preferable to keep the timings the same every day. The body and mind get accustomed to routines very fast. If you practise at the same time every day, you will find that you can slip into the meditative state more easily at that
particular time.

Make space

Choose a clean, uncluttered, silent space for meditation. If you can, set aside a room in your home as the Meditation Room. If you already have a prayer-room in your home, that would be the ideal place. A space that has already been used for worship or meditation will have a high energy level, which will help you meditate better. It is better to meditate in the same place everyday. If the space is indoors, ensure
that there is sufficient sunlight and plenty of ventilation. If you are meditating outdoors, say in the garden, make sure that it is a private space where you won’t be disturbed by ‘garden noises’.

Be comfortable

Unless you are physically comfortable, there is no way you can meditate! Meditation requires you to forget the body, and if the body is putting you in pain, how are you going to forget it and move beyond?

Many techniques require you to squat on the floor. If you are not used to this, use a chair – but keep trying. Use a cushion as a seat if you want. For lie-down techniques, don’t lie on the bare floor. Use a carpet or a straw mat.

Ensure that some time has passed since your last meal - at least two hours.

Initially, you may feel sleepy during meditation. This is the tamas (lethargy) that is weighing down your system. Don’t try to fight the sleep – ultimately, you will be able to neither sleep nor meditate! And don’t feel guilty about feeling sleepy. If you are sleepy, just go to sleep. When you finish sleeping,
you can get up and meditate, that’s all!

(to be continued.)
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Words From The Master: 11 Feb 2008

Entering into Meditation

Meditation is the path that takes you inwards. But to move inwards, you must start with the outside. Right now, you are at the periphery. You are still testing the waters, dipping one toe in to see if it is too cold!

Many people come to me and say, Swamiji, I know nothing much about spirituality. I have never tried meditation before. Am I ready? Where do I begin?

I tell you: the best place to begin is where you are right now! Right now, everything you understand about yourself is related to your body, your emotions and thoughts. Whatever you think is You is nothing but your body, your emotions, your thoughts.

So start from there! Simple.

Step 1 : Work on your body.

How do you feel about your body?

We all carry impressions, ideas about our own bodies. These impressions are not our own. Almost always, we have picked up these impressions from other people's opinions of us. We all carry a lot of negative feelings about our bodies. You may not even be aware, but in your unconscious mind you will be carrying deep negative impressions about your body.

Very very rarely have I come across someone who is completely comfortable with his body. To be comfortable with one's body does not mean imagining that everything about your body is good. It is just being at ease with your body the way it is.

All your life you hear, Your body is your enemy! Your body is evil and sinful! Torture the body, neglect the body! Especially on the spiritual path, the body is projected as the greatest obstacle to achievement.

So you develop an unnatural hatred towards your body. This gets rooted deep in your unconscious mind. You begin to think that your body is working against you. But the truth is, this body is the boat that is going to carry you across the river of sansar! Can you move about in this world without your body? Can you work towards meditation or spirituality unless your body is in good form? Can you even read and
understand this book without the help of your eyes, your brain?

It is true that one must ultimately go beyond the body. But you don't do it by fighting with your body. You do it by understanding and accepting your body, and working on your body to make it fit for meditation. Remember, the body is a powerful instrument, both in the
material sense and in the spiritual sense. But that is what it is: just an instrument. It is neither good nor evil, neither your friend nor your enemy. Through the body you can move about in the material world, through the same body you can move towards the Divine. It is just a tool in your hands.

This is a difficult concept to accept! Because all your life you have identified so completely with the body. But unless you break this identification, you can never move beyond the body.

So the first step is to start paying attention to your body. Unless your body is functioning well, be sure you can never enter into meditation. Whatever negative feelings (or even positive feelings) you have about your body, simply drop them! Simply drop them.

(to be continued)
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This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Words from the Master

Swamiji, how should we relate with God?

God is not any separate entity for you to relate with Him. Understand that first. He is not sitting above your heads in a place called heaven and waiting for you to relate with Him. He is there in each and every thing in this Universe. Everything has been created by him.

He is the creator, creation and the created. He is the experiencer, the experienced and the experience. God is the name that we have given to Existence, that’s all. When you understand this, you have started experiencing God; then there is no question of relating with God.

People ask me if I feel close to God. I tell them that I am God! I tell them that they are also God! But of course they are not willing to accept it. They want to know how to get close to God. Close itself means there is some small distance separating you and God. I am telling you that you are God! Then where is the question of close?! Do you understand what I am trying to say? It is so simple! God is nothing but the name that you have given to Existence, and you are a part of Existence.

When you live in tune with Existence, when you have found your connection with Existence, you are God, that’s all. When you live with a feeling of intimacy with anything and anyone that comes your way, you become pure Consciousness. When you can feel the same love towards everyone around you irrespective of whether you know them or not, you are experiencing God in you. This is a simple scale to tell you how far away you are from God Consciousness.

When you start falling in tune with Existence, you will start hearing the inner voice in you. Then no other guide is needed. You don’t need people to tell you what to do and what not to do. You will simply know; your intelligence will keep guiding you. You will flow without feeling the heaviness of having to make decisions. A Master is one who can awaken that inner voice in you. He works on you to awaken your intelligence.

Most of us can love only with a reason. This is how strong our ego is. When you are like this, be very clear, you are very far away from God! We claim that we shower love on our family and friends. Just look at all the Masters who have happened on planet Earth till now. What is the common quality that have drawn them to their mission? Pure Love, that’s all. If they experienced the ordinarily love that you feel in your day-to-day lives, do you think they would have been able to set up their mission?

Is it possible to set up a worldwide mission with just ordinary love? How much of drive would ordinary love give? It will in fact make you tired soon! If Masters have time and again reached people across the world transforming lives, it is because of the Divine Love and oneness that they feel with every single human being on planet Earth.

In fact, if you read their biographies, you will see that almost all of them have put their family aside, have incurred the wrath of their family and have gone about reaching out to people. Family always resists in these cases. Of course, once maturity and awareness come in, they start accepting and following like the rest of the world.

Anything that makes you feel separate from God is ego. When there is ego, you cannot love consistently and with the same deep feeling all the time; your love will be highly subjective. It will keep moving between extremes.

Watch the body language of Masters and you will know what resonating with Divine love is. The easiest way to fall in tune with Existence, is by watching the Master’s body language. A Master is in tune with Existence all the time. He exudes love all the time, irrespective of who is in front of him. When you watch his body language, you will imbibe the qualities behind it.

If you watch the Master over time, you will be able to perceive how he flows like a river, so beautifully, so poetically, so synchronously, in tune with Existence. Every action of his is in perfect synchronism with Existence. That is why it is so beautiful to watch him! Simply by watching the Master, you can understand and feel the beauty and flow of Existence.

Because a Master is ego-less, he flows without blockages. Because he does not have consciousness of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’, he flows. Because he radiates nothing but love, he heals. Healing is nothing but concentrated love. That is why time and again, we have heard of the miraculous healing powers of Masters. That is why Masters are looked upon as God. Be very clear: Masters are the only living God. They are the supreme manifestation of the Ultimate Energy.

So, stop worrying about how to relate with God. Start falling in tune with Existence, and become God.

Remember: You cannot conquer Existence. You can only be conquered by Existence. When you lose your entire ego, you are conquered, that’s all! When you become a conducive womb for God, He will reside in you. In the initial stages, you are a guest and he is a host. Ultimately, you have to become the host; you have to become a womb to receive Him. Becoming a womb means, melting and becoming vulnerable. Becoming vulnerable means, shedding your entire ego and dissolving - into God or Existence. Then, life becomes music and an eternal celebration!

Yes…We will now do a beautiful and very effective meditation technique called the Divya Netra Meditation*, for this Ajna chakra.

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This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.

* To learn and experience Divya Netra Meditation under a qualified instructor, kindly enroll for Ananda Spurana Program (ASP) at a center close to you.

Words from the Master

Coming back to meditation, simply put, meditation is allowing your mind to relax, that’s all. Meditation is not concentration as people make it out to be. When you concentrate, you actually try to exclude everything from your mind, which is an impossible task.

Just sit for two minutes and try to exclude everything from your mind; you will go mad! Every single thing that you try to exclude will come back and torture you. So concentration is not meditation. Meditation is simply including everything and relaxing. When you are not concentrating on excluding anything, you can relax.

Whenever you find time, just relax and be aware of everything around you. Listen with your heart to all the sounds happening around you. It may be the sounds of birds, the sound of the calendar in the breeze, the sound of the fan above you, the sound of people around you, or whatever. Just listen with an open heart. Mind you, they are all not distractions. You are flowing with them and so they are not distractions. When you flow with them, they cease to be distractions.

As you do this, you will realize that there is a certain silence, a composite core inside that is actually witnessing all this and you will become more and more aware of that silence inside you. You will get glimpses of that silence in you.

Slowly, you will lose consciousness of your body also. You will only have awareness. You will feel yourself only through your awareness, not through your body or through your mind. Your body will not be numb but you will not be able to feel it, that’s all; only your awareness will remain. This can take you beyond your mind if done intensely.

Meditation will help you realize that you are only a watcher in life. It will help you center yourself well inside your Being and carry on with your outer world tasks much more efficiently and blissfully because you will be carrying an inner silence in you that does not allow you to get distracted or perturbed by anything. If you continue doing this, you start leaving the ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Your ego dissolves. Your ego is nothing but the strong feeling and identity that you have, about your mind and body.

Why do you think we are trying to create a worldwide movement for meditation? Meditation is the only key to global peace. When you start looking inward, you are no more distracted by the outer world distractions like power, money, vengeance etc. All your base energies will get transformed into higher spiritual energies. The collective Consciousness will undergo a shift and automatically peace will prevail.

That is why I am focusing on transformation of individuals. When a set of individuals get transformed with an experiential understanding, they will in turn inspire others from their own experience and this will continue to create a positive new mental set-up in society.

Unless your understanding becomes an experience, transformation is not possible. Meditation can make your understanding an experience. Meditation is the only hope for transformation of the individual and transformation of the society.

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This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.

Ask The Master: 07 Feb 2008

There are so many meditation techniques. How do I know which one is right for me?

Go by the results!

If a technique appeals to you, simply try it out.

Put your whole energy behind the effort. Try it out with the greatest sincerity, believing fully that it will work for you. In a few days' time, you will know whether this is the technique that is right for you.

In the beginning, I suggest you practice 'doing' techniques rather than 'sitting' techniques. Because right now there is too much disturbance inside you. If you sit still and watch, all you will be witnessing is the tremendous disturbance inside.

So when you are just getting into meditation, choose 'doing' techniques -- because these are cathartic, cleansing techniques. These techniques are outwardly active, but inwardly, they can lead you to an experience of peace, of silence.

Once you have settled into meditation, once you have cleansed out all your old blockages, you can try out any technique you want.

How do you measure the correctness of a technique?

If a technique is helping you feel more relaxed, more centered, more sensitive -- it is working. If it is making you more joyful, helping you expand, feel more energetic -- it is working.

If you find it is not working, simply put it aside, and start working with another technique.

But have patience! Don't be greedy for results and throw away perfectly workable methods.

Usually, among the first five or eight techniques you choose, there will already be one that is right for you.

Locate it.

Pursue it.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Ask The Master: 28 Jan 2008

What exactly do you mean by the state of Ananda? Can we experience it only through meditation?

There are hundreds of ways I can explain Ananda, but only one way you can understand it -- by experiencing it!

Anyways, I will try and give you an explanation.

In life, we have all experienced some moments of great happiness -- but it has always been for a reason. Isn't that true? You are happy because you got a promotion, you are happy because you were cured of some disease, you are happy because you bought a new car (or because your neighbor's new car is giving him trouble!)

At the time when you are happy, you feel that nothing can touch your happiness. But the same day, you have a fight with your spouse, and start feeling that your life is nothing but misery! In fact, all pleasure ultimately leads to pain. The state of pleasure cannot remain forever -- and when it changes or ceases, you feel pain. Only that happiness which you experience for no reason is permanent, because it doesn't depend on anything.

The word 'Ananda' itself means, 'that which cannot be reduced, which cannot be lost'. Ananda is not a word for happiness! You will be surprised to know, it simply means 'that which cannot be reduced or lost'.

Ananda (Bliss) is not pleasure. Ananda is that tranquil, silent state which you experience when you have gone beyond both pain and pleasure. It is the state in which both pain and pleasure have ceased to affect you. You could say, Ananda is the state of 'permanent and causeless tranquility'.

It is not that you can experience Ananda only through meditation -- but meditation is a sure path. Meditation takes you beyond the push and pull of daily living. When you meditate, you expand beyond the narrow limits of your body, of your ego. Once you experience the sense of oneness with All, you will naturally drop your attachment to these daily pleasures and pains. It is a difficult concept to understand intellectually. But with sincere meditation, you will have the experience, you will have a glimpse of Ananda. Then you will understand.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Words from the Master

Alright...Now, from all that we have discussed, you have understood that comparison and jealousy are non-entities and don’t have any actual relevance to you at all. Now, let me try to explain some more on the Vishuddhi chakra and the energy house that is in it.

You see: We have three layers of Energy in us. The first layer energy is from our mind and it is this that we use for our day-to-day activities from morning till night. Once this energy expends, you start feeling tired and irritated if you are given more work to do.

The second layer energy is the emergency layer. It is the energy that arises from your emotions. At the time of emergency, this energy opens out. Say you are walking on the road. If a dog starts chasing you, the fear emotion surfaces and what do you do? You run much faster than the fastest you can run under normal conditions, is it not? Even if you are dead tired, even if you are unable to move a limb, if suddenly a dog chases you, you will run with a different kind of energy. This is the emergency energy - that arises out of emotion.

The third layer Energy is the Being level Energy. This is an infinite source of energy within you, which you don’t use at all. This energy layer can be opened and experienced by deep meditation. Whether you accept it or not, you are in connection with all these three layers of Energies. This Vishuddhi chakra holds in it the key to these higher energy levels.

Let me narrate to you an incident that actually happened during my days of wandering:
In a beautiful place called Almora in the Himalayas, there is a small ashram with a few huts for those who wish to meditate.

The only thing with the place is, it is known to be frequented by tigers at night!

I was there for a short while during my days of wandering. I used to meditate for long hours there.

They had a system by which, when the head of the ashram senses the tigers coming, he would ring a bell and all the Sadhus would get into their respective huts and close the doors, until such time they were asked to come out.

On one occasion, at nighttime, while we were meditating, the bell rang and all of us got into our respective huts.

The next day, the head of the ashram came around to see if we were all alright.

He found that one of the huts was closed and the Sannyasi inside was shouting through the window to open the door.

We all ran to the hut and tried opening the door but couldn’t open it.

Finally, a few of us got in through the window and entered the hut.

To our surprise, we found that he had placed a big grinding stone against the door so that the tiger won’t be able to push its way through.

We jointly moved the stone away to open the door.

It suddenly struck us how the man might have moved the stone single-handedly against the door in the first place? We asked him how he had moved it.

He replied, “Moved it? I simply lifted it and placed it!”

When he heard the call of the tiger, he simply lifted the stone to place it against the door, that’s all!

This is exactly what I mean by the emergency layer energy. Under normal circumstances, the same man would not have been able to lift the same stone. Do you understand? Even after the incident, once the emergency was over, he himself was not able to lift it away from the door!

Out of fear or greed, the second level energy opens. For example, if there is an important meeting, do you feel tired? No! You will be alive and fresh. The desire or greed to attend the meeting will keep you in an energized condition.

The Vishuddhi chakra is the door through which all these three layers of energy can be opened out, but you are not aware of it because you have not used these layers effectively in a long time.

It is like this: In all harbors, there is a place called a boat jetty where the boats are kept. It is commonly said that if the boat is kept in the jetty for long without sailing, it forgets that it belongs to the water!

In the same way, because you have not used the third layer of Energy for a long time, you forget that you belong to it or it belongs to you. Meditation can open out this third level Energy for you.

If you keep this chakra in a cleansed condition, you can scale great heights in the outer world and great depths in the inner world. When you have low self-esteem or jealousy, this chakra is locked. Low self-esteem is a passive manifestation of jealousy, that’s all. Jealousy is active while low self-esteem is passive. Both are a result of comparison. With low self-esteem, you feel you are no good and resign yourself to it. In jealousy, you are unable to bear it and start reacting; that is the difference.

Understand one thing: Any self-esteem that you have about yourself that indicates to you that you are lesser than God is low self-esteem, because you ARE God. That is why I say there is no scope to compare yourself with anyone else.

You need to experience the second and third layers of energy hidden in this chakra, in order to understand the infinite potential that is lying hidden in you. This chakra is really the seat of energy for us. When we concentrate on it, we will be able to feel the energy radiating from it.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.

Words From The Master - 01 April 2008

Quantum Spirituality

An American travels in England in a train, with a British Gentleman and a Lady who has a dog with her. The dog keeps pestering the American, and the Lady pacifies the dog, no apologies to the foreigner. Finally the American gets fed up, picks up the dog and throws it out of the window. Says the other man: You Americans, you are all crazy! You drive on the wrong side of the road, you use the wrong hand for the fork, now you have thrown the wrong bitch out of the window!

In life, we continuously keep throwing the wrong bitch out of the window. When we choose one thing we eliminate something, which is a wrong decision, and we throw the wrong bitch out of the window.

There is no controversy in Existence. There are no contradictions. We just cannot make the connection. Humans on the other hand always have a conflict. People ask me can we come and stay in the ashram; whatever I say they will come up with an argument against it. If I say stay they will tell me why how they cannot. If I say please don’t, they feel hurt. We always live in a dilemma.

In Science before the concept of quantum was accepted there was a conflict between matter and energy. One group said: both energy and matter exist, but in different space and energy. Another: there is only time gap; yet another: there is only space gap. Post quantum this conflict disappeared. Matter and energy exist together. There is now a concept of singularity where the mind can not penetrate, which is beyond matter and energy.

Once you reach the spiritual zone these controversies disappear. Only when you play with words intellectually you create conflicts and enter into a dangerous zone.

As long as you feel you are living two different lives you are only playing with words. Think of normal material life as a horizontal line; think of leading a spiritual life, one of the present moment, think of it as a vertical line. When you think of choosing between a material and spiritual life, you are choosing between the horizontal and vertical. Only when you understand that you can travel both horizontally and vertically, and even explode in all directions do you understand that there are no contradictions. Till then you will have the conflict.

Mind enslaves you to make you believe that you can only travel in one way, horizontally or vertically. That is why you do not grow in many spiritual sadhanas which force you to choose between the two, material and spiritual. We only wish to try to transform; we really do not wish to transform; yet would like to proclaim our wish to transform. This is holiday religion. We go to a discourse, a temple on a holiday; we practice part time spirituality. It is skin deep. This fills us with hypocrisy and guilt. Even a meditation becomes a ritual if it is restricted to one part of your life at one time in a given space. In true spirituality your life becomes meditation.

People come to me with guilt. I give them some ideas. They insist on learning meditation. Just to console them I give them some meditation technique. After a month if I ask them, they have one more added guilt feeling, of not doing meditation. Meditation is not a quantity that is to be added to your life, it is a quality that needs to be built into your life.

Singularity is beyond matter and energy. Similarly Quantum spirituality is beyond material and spiritual lives. You need to be both in the horizontal and vertical lines simultaneously. What I wish to give you is a technique; not an empty idea. If you go beyond mind you explode in all directions, vertically, horizontally and in all directions.

There is no starting point to worldly life; there is no end point to spiritual life. Enlightenment is not an end; it is a new beginning. An ultimate experience is not the last experience. Some one asked, how can I retain the bliss of the meditation program? The moment you wish to retain, you choose to have bliss, it escapes; like water flowing in a river stays in your open palms but escapes when you close your palms. When you are in bliss just enjoy bliss. You can never possess nithya ananda.

Perfectionists like to choose. Life is not perfect, only death is. One who does not make mistakes, or believes he or she makes no mistakes does not respect others. Do not try to be perfect, do not choose. People ask what they have to renounce to be spiritual. I say please do not renounce. Do not renounce what you have; renounce what you do not have; the fantasies that you do not have. When you are with your wife do not allow your fantasies to come in between. When you have a home, do not allow a fantasy home to come in between.

Maya; ya ma ithi maya; what is not there, what is not real, what disturbs you, that is maya, illusion. When you feel someone is more handsome than you, you create a space, a gap between you and your body. You lose your uniqueness. God is not an engineer, he is an artist, he is a painter, a sculptor; no one being is like another because we are created by God. Renounce maya, what you do not have. What ever you live deeply, you are detached about.

Living in the present moment is the missing link that helps you to traverse the horizontal and vertical lines at the same time and space. Every moment is a possibility that you can explode in. In quantum spirituality there is no attachment or detachment. Without awareness you detach and attach.

We should live within our boundaries; focus on what and where we are. When we are in one place and one time, we always think about another time and another place. Our body is never where our mind is. We invite maya into our lives.

Everything is divine, nothing is excluded. If you wish to be enlightened drop the idea of enlightenment. Idea of spirituality is like the stick that lights the funeral pyre, brought in to burn the material life; once that is accomplished you need to burn that stick as well, and move beyond into quantum spirituality.

Ask The Master: 31 Jan 2008

Can everybody learn meditation?

You don't have to learn meditation. You are already a meditator!

Just recall any moment in your life when you have experienced extreme beauty. The sun rising suddenly from behind a mountain, or the first time you hear a lovely piece of music.

At such a moment, suddenly, you become totally still, wordless.

Haven't we all experienced such moments?

At such a moment, in the presence of that beauty, you can't think any more. You are just silent, aware of that beauty that's all.

That moment is meditation.

After a few moments, your inner chatter starts again. Your mind says, That's a beautiful sunrise. Your mind starts comparing the music to other music that you have heard. That means, you have fallen out of meditation.

Meditation is nothing but remaining in that silent, blissful state. You cannot learn this state. You can only experience it.

Be clear: Meditation is not something you do.

You cannot 'do' meditation.

Meditation is the state that flowers when you drop all doing, all action.

Not just physical action. Even thinking is an action. Even contemplation is an action!

Meditation is what remains when you have stripped away all doing, all thinking, all working, all feeling.

Meditation is just being.

Meditation is experiencing the present moment without resistance.

In the same way, Ananda is not the result you achieve through hard work. You cannot attain Ananda! You can only relax into Ananda.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Ask The Master: 05 Feb 2008

If meditation is a 24-hour process, how can life go on? If I am always focused on 'just being', how can I get any work done?

Meditation is not against action!

Once you learn the knack of remaining undisturbed in your Being, you can perform any number of tasks while remaining in the same state. External action or inaction is irrelevant.

This is a two-step process.

First, you need to get in touch with your inner Being. You have to realize that such a thing exists! Learn to enjoy the state of just being. Initially, you will do this only for half an hour or an hour everyday -- when you sit down to meditate.

Once you are comfortable with this state, try and extend it to periods outside of the formal meditation period.

You can start with little tasks: trying to remain centered, even as you are eating, walking, washing dishes. Once you do this, you can move to more complicated tasks.

Externally, your life goes on in a normal manner. In fact, you can carry on your life in an even better way --- because now you have greater clarity, greater intensity. You will be more aware, more creative.

Yet internally, you will experience a deep, undisturbed silence. Because you are no longer doing -- you are watching.

This is the whole secret of meditation -- to become the watcher, to become the witness of your own actions and emotions.

As you start witnessing your own actions, you will realize that there is someone inside you who does not change, who does not get angry or feel sad, who does not care about money or security or fame. That is the real you. The rest is just a personality you have formed around yourself.

Once you become aware that you are not the one who works, that you are not the one who feels angry or hurt or depressed -- you experience a tremendous sense of freedom.

This will happen through meditation.

Meditation offers you the ultimate freedom -- freedom from yourself, freedom from the bounds of 'personality' that you have created for yourself.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Words From The Master: 19 Feb 2008

Entering into Meditation
(continuation from earlier post)

c) Learn to transform your negative emotions

You may ask me, what happens to all the negative emotions you experience during the day? Even if you focus on remembering the positive feelings, the negative emotions
are still there in your system! And they are accumulating all the time.

Through meditation, you can dissolve the old blockages in your system – but you have to be careful that new blocks don’t keep developing! Every moment, you are facing new
circumstances. For example, there are people who are going to make you angry again and again. What are you going to do with all that excess energy circulating in your system?

Learn to transform your negative energy into positive energy.

Remember, energy is neutral. Anger is neither good nor bad. Sexuality is neither good nor bad. These are just forms of energy. It is up to you to use them creatively or destructively. Just as a knife can turn destructive in the hands of a child,
but can be a life-giving instrument in a surgeon’s hands, you can use the same energy to produce totally different results.

If you learn to channel your energy correctly, you can replace anger with creativity. Learn to live creatively. Turn your energy towards art, towards music, towards sports.

Learn to paint.

Take up a sport.

Cultivate a hobby.

Go dancing.

These are all pathways for energy, just as anger is!

The only difference is, these are creative pathways. Redirect your life, give your ordinary life a creative dimension. In this way, all your destructive energy is transformed into creative energy, with positive results.

When you start focusing on your positive emotions, you will find that your life automatically changes for the better. When you feel love, you give love, and you receive love. It is a beautiful cycle. Unless you have experienced this, it is
impossible to believe. But it actually happens.

And don’t think you have to be born with this attitude. Don’t say, Oh, that man is so lucky, he is always walking around with a smile on his face. I’m the only one who is under so much stress!

A positive attitude is something you can cultivate. When you become filled with joy, misery will be afraid of you! Anger cannot touch you. Only when you cultivate a state of bliss inside can you make any progress in meditation.

Transform your life with love, laughter, gratitude.

Turn life into a celebration.

Only then can life become meditation.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Words From The Master: 13 Feb 2008

Entering into Meditation
(continuation from earlier post)

Not only suppressed emotions, but our poor habits also cause disturbances in our body. The body is a purely physical mechanism. Naturally, it will be affected by how you eat, sleep, exercise and rest. As I always say, all your diseases are your guests! You invite them upon your head with your careless treatment of your body.

For example, when you eat something spicy, your eyes begin to water. Your body is protesting, I can’t handle this! But do you listen? NO!

When you watch TV till midnight, your whole system is screaming, I need rest! But as usual, you ignore the body. Be very clear: your body has its own wisdom. You are completely out of tune with your ‘body intelligence’. Your body is continuously giving you signals, but you don’t have the sense to understand these signals.

Why do we eat?

The simplest explanation would be, To get energy.

But does your food actually energize you? After a meal, do you feel energetic or sleepy? Most of us feel sleepy!

Because our choice of food is poor, and because we continue to eat long after our stomach tells us it is full. We throw anything and everything into our stomachs. We simply throw food into our system as if it were a garbage bin! We treat our stomachs like garbage bins. With every meal, we are taxing our digestive system. No wonder we don’t feel energetic after eating!

When you eat excessively, when you don’t exercise enough – these lead to lethargy. A lethargic body is completely unfit for meditation. Not only that, diseases attack the body easily when our energy levels are low.

Exercise can help you expand. When you exercise, every living cell of your body expands. When your lungs are filled with oxygen, along with the carbon-dioxide that is expelled, the impurities are also thrown out.

In our lifestyle, we don’t have time for either exercise or rest. What we call rest is not restful. How many of us wake up feeling energetic and joyful? If you have rested properly, you should dance your way to the bathroom every morning!
Instead, when the alarm goes off in the morning, what do you do? Switch it off and go back to sleep!

Real sleep is when the body is totally at rest, when all its stress is released, when your systems can take care of all repair and maintenance work. How often do we enjoy deep, undisturbed, dreamless sleep? Very rarely! But be very clear, only on those days have you actually slept!

You may be wondering, what does all this have to do with meditation? There are two reasons we are discussing this subject. The first thing is, a physically fit body helps you enter deeply into meditation. But more importantly, practising meditation itself can help you rest better. We will be looking at techniques which will enhance the quality of your sleep. When the quality of your sleep improves, the quality and productivity of your waking hours increases naturally.

(to be continued)
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Life Bliss Meditation (Nithya Dhyaan)

The Life Bliss Meditation (LBM) technique is a simple, natural procedure to connect to your vast inner reservoir of creativity, energy, intelligence and bliss on a daily basis.

During the practice of the Life Bliss Meditation technique, mind and body settle down to experience a unique state of restful alertness. As peace is infused into the mind, the body is energized and yet restful. This helps mind and body to transcend all barriers to experience the state of Eternal Bliss.

Free download of guided life bliss meditation audio: CLICK HERE.

Life Bliss Meditation, Step 1: Chaotic Breathing

The breath and the mind are very closely related. Just like the breath changes according to the mind, the mind also changes according to the breath. Emotions may not be in your hands, but your breathing is. So you can directly change your state of mind by changing the breath. Even our breathing follows the same pattern we have built over so many years. This pattern directly reflects our mental makeup.

Life Bliss Meditation, Step 2: Intense Humming

Humming reduces your inner chatter. Continuously there is talking going on within your mind. Normally people find it very difficult to sit without thoughts. The mind will revolt; it does not want to sit silently. In fact people often complain that in an attempt to be thoughtless, they encounter more thoughts! This is the time when many people drop meditation. They get discouraged and they think that meditation is not possible at all for them. But let me tell you that this is the experience of all the seekers initially. You have to make the effort. If you feel discouraged by the initial resistance, then you can never succeed.

Life Bliss Meditation, Step 3: Chakra Awareness

The seven energy centers are associated with particular emotions in our being. These emotions are a result of the engraved memories or samskaras which we have accumulated in the past. These samskaras block the particular energy center causing physical and mental disturbances. The samskaras are present in our being because of the absence of awareness. So when we flood awareness into these energy centers, the energy centers start getting unblocked from negative emotions and we start radiating positive emotions like love and compassion.

Life Bliss Meditation, Step 4: Be Unclutched

The problem is when we connect our thoughts and experiences because in reality all experiences are independent experiences. The moment you have connected experiences, for example if you associate multiple experiences of pain, you start thinking 'my life is pain,' you have created hell for you; you have created suffering. Now you will understand why suffering is also imaginary. It is based on something imaginary. It is based on something unreal. It's just an appearance. So the suffering that is created is also unreal. Once you realize this, you are liberated.

Life Bliss Meditation, Step 5: Gratitude

In this last step, just sit silently in a blissful mood and listen to the mantras being chanted. You can offer gratitude to a great teacher, a guru, whoever you believe as God or even just existence. Just feel connected to Existence and feel the vibrations of the powerful mantras within your being. The mantras are a way to express gratitude to Existence, the Master, for endowing upon us this great wisdom, which liberates us from ignorance and helps us attain the state of eternal bliss, Nithyananda.

Free download of guided life bliss meditation audio: CLICK HERE.

Swamiji's video on workings of the mind, followed by Q&A: CLICK HERE.

Words From The Master - 02 Mar 2008

Towards Meditative Living

Thorns on your path
There is only one real obstacle on the path of meditation: the Ego. Whatever other issues come up, whatever problems you face, be clear: they are just the different voices of the ego.

What is the ego?

The ego is nothing but your sense of self, the collection of ideas and concepts that you have about yourself. Be very clear: the ego is nothing but a collection of ideas! It is an imaginary thing. The ego doesn’t even have any real existence. Yet it is this ego which is controlling your life! It is the ego which creates a sense of separateness in you. At birth, it separates you from your mother. Until the moment of birth there is no ego, no boundary. The baby is simply part of the mother. At the very moment of birth, when the umbilical cord is cut, the baby senses its own boundary for the first time. In the very first year after birth, the ego builds your picture of yourself and the world. The ego is responsible for your sense of ‘me’ and ‘mine’. Throughout your life, the ego puts you into the position of ‘me versus them’. It separates you from your parents, from friends and strangers, from nature, from all of Existence. Whenever you utter the word ‘I’, you are breaking away from
Existence. You cannot really break away, because you are an intrinsic part of all Existence – but in your mind you break away. You create for yourself a world in which you are separate from all. This world exists only in your mind – it is just a mental concept - but we allow this concept to rule all our actions.

You have always heard people say, The ego is the root cause of all our misery. Why?
Because the ego thrives on hostility, on conflict. Any environment which creates a sense of isolation is the survival ground for the ego. The ego may be a product of your own imagination, but it is a cunning animal! To stay alive, the ego creates a distorted version of reality in which all things are in a state of disharmony.

Look at your own life. Whenever you experience pain, anger, jealousy - it is always
the result of feeling separate from someone else, of feeling alone, of feeling cheated. In times of misery, you always experience yourself as being all alone. In times of joy, you feel naturally connected with everyone and everything
around you. When you are joyful, happy, laughing – these are the times when your ego is at its weakest.

(to be continued.)
______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: "Meditation is for You" -- an introduction to the science and art of meditation

Rely on Your Instinct to Rouse the Unconscious

How does the mind process information?


When we see something through our eyes called chaksu, which is a digital signal processor, the digital file goes to memory or chitta, and then to mind or manas, and finally takes a leap into ego. Chitta decides what the information is not, to arrive at what it is, through a process of elimination. The mind says, this is a man conducting a class; it identifies the object as a man. Then it leaps into the ego, which, based on past experience, decides whether to sit in the class or go out. Ego decides and you express and act on that decision.

The ego zone is not under your control. There are impressions, past memories, or samskaras. They force you to take illogical, unconscious decisions. You decide to smoke, knowing fully well that it is bad for health. You go ahead anyway. You have no control. Samskaras create conflict and suffering.

Let’s suppose that the time taken from eye to mind is T_p. Till here the process is logical and clear. The time taken for unconscious process — from mind to ego, through samskaras — which distort your file, and twist your decisions, is T_q. As long as T_q is more than T_p, you will be more aware of your unconscious. If not, you are unaware and act on instinct. You are restless. You decide without knowing what you are doing.

When samskaras are more, and they move fast without your knowledge, you are in trouble. If time taken for conscious process is more than the time taken for the unconscious, if T_p is greater than T_q, you act instinctively. If T_p equals T_q, you are in Intelligence level. You will live your life without guilt. When T_q is greater than T_p, you are in super conscious level; your unconscious is infused with silence and intuition.

When you infuse consciousness and silence into this unconscious zone you burn all your samskaras, you become Shiva, you reach superconscious level. When T_p is less than T_q you operate on instinct; if equal, you are operating on intelligence; if T_q is greater, you are operating on intuition.

To awaken your intuition, give your conscious mind a rest. There is a state of mind where you have no thought. Consciousness remains. Modern psychology has no word for this state as it is not aware of this state of meditation, intuition or thoughtless awareness. In Sanskrit, it is called samadhi. If you can experience this state you can experience creativity, courage, confidence; you can take spontaneous decisions; you take responsibility; you decide based on limited data, with no precedence. You get the power and courage to do anything. Your relationships can change.

How do you differentiate between intuition and instinct?


When you act instinctively, you will feel drained: For instance, when you react in anger, you feel guilty. When you act intuitively, you feel energised.

Meditation helps you reach this state. Whenever you find time, be silent, be aware, be conscious; some part of your being wants to express itself more. Tune into the higher energy of intuition and creativity.

Words From The Master - 07 April 2008

Rely on Your Instinct to Rouse the Unconscious

How does the mind processes information?

When we see something through our eyes called chaksu, which is a digital signal processor, the digital file goes to memory or chitta, and then to mind or manas, and finally takes a leap into ego. Chitta decides what the information is not, to arrive at what it is, through a process of elimination. The mind says, this is a man conducting a class; it identifies the object as a man. Then it leaps into the ego, which, based on past experience, decides whether to sit in the class or go out. Ego decides and you express and act on that decision.

The ego zone is not under your control. There are impressions, past memories, or samskaras. They force you to take illogical, unconscious decisions. You decide to smoke, knowing fully well that it is bad for health. You go ahead anyway. You have no control. Samskaras create conflict and suffering.

Let’s suppose that the time taken from eye to mind is T_p. Till here the process is logical and clear. The time taken for unconscious process — from mind to ego, through samskaras — which distort your file, and twist your decisions, is T_q. As long as T_q is more than T_p, you will be more aware of your unconscious. If not, you are unaware and act on instinct. You are restless. You decide without knowing what you are doing.

When samskaras are more, and they move fast without your knowledge, you are in trouble. If time taken for conscious process is more than the time taken for the unconscious, if T_p is greater than T_q, you act instinctively. If T_p equals T_q, you are in Intelligence level. You will live your life without guilt. When T_q is greater than T_p, you are in super conscious level; your unconscious is infused with silence and intuition.

When you infuse consciousness and silence into this unconscious zone you burn all your samskaras, you become Shiva, you reach superconscious level. When T_p is less than T_q you operate on instinct; if equal, you are operating on intelligence; if T_q is greater, you are operating on intuition.

To awaken your intuition, give your conscious mind a rest. There is a state of mind where you have no thought. Consciousness remains. Modern psychology has no word for this state as it is not aware of this state of meditation, intuition or thoughtless awareness. In Sanskrit, it is called samadhi. If you can experience this state you can experience creativity, courage, confidence; you can take spontaneous decisions; you take responsibility; you decide based on limited data, with no precedence. You get the power and courage to do anything. Your relationships can change.

How do you differentiate between intuition and instinct?

When you act instinctively, you will feel drained: For instance, when you react in anger, you feel guilty. When you act intuitively, you feel energised.

Meditation helps you reach this state. Whenever you find time, be silent, be aware, be conscious; some part of your being wants to express itself more. Tune into the higher energy of intuition and creativity.