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Meditation
Meditation
Meditation as per dictionary
means, “thinking deeply and quietly”. Some scholars
feel, “Meditation is quite similar to self-hypnosis”.
Others have mentioned “Meditation and self-hypnosis
are the same”. And I think the true meaning of meditation
extends beyond those opinions. Meditation is an inner method
for working with the mind. It is not religious practice. Meditation
involves applying a series of systematic steps to produce
certain desirable and helpful changes in one’s state
of consciousness, which is called an altered state of consciousness.
Meditation is a method whereby a person reaches an altered
state of consciousness, deeper levels of mind, alpha state,
theta state, subconscious or whatever you can call it.
Meditation as described here is distinct
from the common meaning of meditation as process of pondering
or ruminating on some topic. “Meditation” is the
English equivalent of the Sanskrit word “Dhyana”
this term is clearly and very specifically defined in the
number of classical yoga texts. The ancient yogis, who achieve
self-development, carefully systemized, Studied and described
the practice of meditation. One of the clearest descriptions
of meditation can be found in the “Yoga Sutras”
of Patanjali, a classical text on yoga practices.
As you already know, Meditation has
different meaning to different people and so as the Methods
of Meditation. There were thousand of Meditation Techniques
available for the practitioners. Among those you have to choose
which is suitable to you, and as per your requirements, like
if you want to be calm, serene, and the get rid of tension
you can follow simple techniques of mediation described below
and If you want self-realization, enlightenment then of course
you have to do a bit more things. But the below given methods
are the best for beginners and suitable for other regular
practitioners.
Nowadays, if you go to your Doctor
for stress related problems, even he or she will likely tell
you that perhaps the best treatment for stress is Meditation.
Meditation leads you to two things. The first is where to
get appropriate direction in how to meditate. The other is
understanding exactly what Meditation is.
So, Meditation is the calm, unbroken,
one-pointed flow of concentration upon a subtle inner focus.
Regular systematic practice of a scientific and correct method
of meditation in necessary to actually attain a true meditative
state.
Meditation is a three step process
that leads to a state of consciousness that brings serenity,
clarity, and bliss. As depicted in the first illustration,
our "normal" state of mind is actually quite abnormal.
We receive sensory stimuli and react in a completely uncontrolled
way (although we tell ourselves we have great control). We
bounce from one thought to another and follow with our emotional
and physical reactions. The same thought can bring about diametrically
opposite reactions at different times. For instance, we may
see a dog and then start a thought process that reminisces
about a pet dog we once had and loved. Emotionally, we then
start feeling all warm and cuddly; physically, we feel very
relaxed. Another time, we may see the same dog and fear it
may attack us and start thinking paranoid thoughts, get fearful
and uptight physically.
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| 1.
Normal Mind |
2.
Concentrating Mind |
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| 3.
Meditating Mind |
4.
Contemplating Mind |
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The second illustration demonstrates
Concentration. This is the first step in Meditation and is
the start of gaining control over the mind and thereby life.
The procedure is deceptively simple and seems like it would
be very easy to do, but there are few tasks more difficult
to master. The idea is to pick an object/subject to place
your attention on and then to focus exclusively on it without
diversion. An example of this would be if you decided to focus
on love. To start, you would relax your body, sit in a comfortable
position, calm your emotions and begin repeating the word
"love" over and over. The problem is that your mind
has been your master your whole life and won't easily relinquish
its position. To trick you back into obedient slavery, your
mind will divert your attention, often by giving you a tantalizingly
interesting distraction. It usually goes something like this:
You're sitting there repeating love, love, love when your
mind suddenly adds "I love candy. They sell the candy
I love at the 7-11 up the road. I can get into my car and
drive there and get that candy. I know it will be delicious
when I bite into it ..." and so there you are --- instead
of concentrating on love, you're eating an imaginary candy
bar at a 7-11. What you are supposed to do is to witness your
being distracted and return to concentrating on the object
of your meditation. Concentration is well worth persevering
in and ultimately liberating, spectacular and a blessing.
The third illustration depicts Meditation.
Here we have unbroken attention. The classic description of
the difference between Concentration and Meditation is given
in the example of pouring oil from a bottle into a bowl. At
first the oil drips out a drop at a time. This is concentration.
Then the oil comes out in a steady stream. This unbroken pouring
out is Meditation. If you really examine the process closer,
you would notice that when the oil was coming out drop by
drop, each drop caused a splash and the droplettes of the
splashing can be considered analagous to the distractions
that interrupt our concentration. Once the stream starts becoming
steady it flows effortlessly. Similarly, when Concentration
flows into Meditation, the attention paid to the object of
Meditation becomes deeper and deeper effortlessly and spontaneously,
true knowledge about the object presents itself.
Using love as the example again, you
would concentrate on love, love, love, love. You might then
find your mind filling with thoughts of love -- motherly love,
fatherly love, love of country, love of money, qualified love,
unqualified love, puppy love. Everything in the universe that
love is connected to will come to you. Every feeling of love,
every sensation, every thought. And since, as Albert Einstein
tells us, everything in the universe is relative to everything
else, ultimately your meditation on "love" will
connect you to everything. At this point, the unity of the
object of your meditation and your mind, as illustrated in
the fourth illustration, occurs. This is the state of Contemplation
and is the pentultimate state of consciousess. Where we usually
are only conscious of our body and ego and consider ourselves
apart from the rest of the universe, with the experience of
Contemplation we become conscious of the cosmos and know ourselves
to be a part of it and realize our unity with all of it. This
is Realization, Cosmic Consciousness. It is our birthright
and destiny to know this exquisite state first hand and enjoy
the Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss that is our eternal true
nature. Thus the justification in expending whatever energy
is necessary to learn to meditate and to begin to make Meditation
an important part of our lives.
Additional
We here at Inspiration Zone feel that
one of the main reasons we have incarnated is to grow in consciousness
and one of the most important things we can do in life is
to share those things that have helped us evolve in consciousness.
Inspiation, Meditation, Spiritual Growth can help you become
a loving, compassionate, blissful, productive good citizen
who enjoys every second of life. This conversion is a loving
gift of Grace by the Infinite Consciousness that generates
and sustains everything, everywhere. We are confident that
everyone has the potential for true mystic experiences, good
health, calmness, and the love of life.
It is rare to find a way to learn this valuable information
without having to become involved with a cult or religion.
This is your opportunity. All of the material we provide in
our site are scientifically sound and can make a profound
and positive change in your life.
When you are traveling, you should
be prepared to take an alternate path if the road most traveled
is blocked. Meditation Station offers dozens of different
ways to get to this most desirable destination: peace.
[Note: This artilce is written with
the help of Meditation Station.]
I want to learn
Meditation in Depth then follow the Links:
Meditation
Meditation Handbook
Mind
and Meditation
Meditation Process
Zen
Tao
Dynamic Meditation
Transcendental
Meditaion
Enlightened Masters
Many
Buddhas
Dreams/Remember Dreams
Spiritual
Journey
Think
High Grow High
Who
am I?
Active
Meditation
Science
Important
Note:
Opinions
expressed on this page must be viewed as the ideas of an ordinary
student of meditation. While I truly believe
everything I say, you should not believe anything unless you
see it, feel it, and know it for yourself. I make no claims
of infallibility. In fact I absolutely claim fallibility.
*
Remember that meditation is an escape to
reality, not an escape from reality. Avoid
any guru or group that asks you to deny truth. Take the best
and leave the rest.
* Don't limit yourself to just one teacher. It will always
be better to know different ideas before reaching any conclusion
or that what we call bilateral thinking,
always see things from different angle, different perspective.
The single guru approach can lead to cult thinking with its
small mindedness and us vs. them syndrome.
It
is a mind that is unprejudiced by religion, philosophy, and
cultural conditioning. It is going naked in the stars.
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Cosmos
of Happiness
