Meditation

Disclaimer: [As these types of topics cannot be put down in very few lines and there are different methods and schools of thoughts regarding the same, I, being at the beginner level, trying to follow what great sages or swami has written, will be blogging all those materials which I have read and thought of useful.  These are notes or scribing I normally take when I read a book or some stuff on net and is not intended for any commercial use and no claim is made by me on this written material.  This written stuff belongs to the writer or publisher or organization but is blogged by me only to spread awareness about a good book or method so that the blog readers are encouraged to read the original books.  Details about the book name, author, publisher, organization, price and the links are given below. ]

Meditation is a state of intense concentration.  If the mind is made to flow in an uninterrupted manner to its object of thought for a prolonged period of time, it is called meditation.

“Tatra pratyaikatanata dhyanam” i.e., “Uninterrupted thinking of one thought is Dhyana or meditation.” – Yoga Sutras 3/2.

It is not true that we cannot concentrate.  What we lack is the ability to concentrate our minds on everything, and under all circumstances.  It is easy to concentrate on what is pleasant.  The difficulty arises when we have to concentrate on something unpleasant.  A student finds it hard to concentrate on a dull and uninteresting book and a parishioner feels drowsy when listening to a boring sermon.

Yet, all that is pleasant is not necessarily good.  On the other hand, what is unpleasant may be good and beneficial.  We must learn to concentrate on whatever we do, whether pleasant or unpleasant, as long as it is beneficial for us.  Meditation – which is no other than training in concentration – can enable us to do this.

Concentration is indispensable in achieving success in life.  Success in no area of human life can be attained without it.  Swami Vivekananda used to say that the different between a genius and an idiot is in their power of concentration.

Benefits:

Some say that meditation is good for health.  It removes stress by relaxing the body and mind.  It reduces high blood pressure.  It helps slow down the aging process and improves memory.  Some also say that meditation helps in gaining supernatural powers.  While all these claims may be true, the sages tell us that these are not the best reasons to meditate.  Rather, meditation has a much higher purpose which is God-Realization or experiencing the Ultimate Truth. 

Now a days, Yoga is often incorrectly known to be only some physical postures that can enhance health and longevity.  In India, where all these techniques were originally developed – such exercises are called Hatha Yoga.  The word Yoga has many other meanings.  In the context of spiritual life, it means methods which help one in establishing communion with the Divine Reality, viz. Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, etc.

Man is a combination of

1.       The physical body

2.       The vital energy

3.       The sense organs

4.       The motor organs

5.       The mind

These put together are called the body-mind-complex.  Although involved with the body-mind-complex, the soul of man is not a part of it.  The soul is eternal, changeless, infinite, and the only source of consciousness.  Man’s body-mind-complex acquires consciousness by borrowing it from the soul.  The soul is also called the Divine Spirit, the Divine Self, and the Divine Essence.

Methods of God-Realization – The Four Yogas

The Sanskrit word Yoga means a yoke or a link – a link between the spiritual aspirant and God, means a technique or path by following which we can establish communion with God.

Hinduism offers many different Yogas or techniques to reach God.  Out of them, four are most important as they correspond to the four broad catagories into which Hinduism classes all spiritual seekers.  These Yogas are:

1.       Bhakti Yoga or the path of devotion.  This path is meant primarily for people who are temperamentally emotional and respond easily to love and affection.

2.       Jnana Yoga or the path of rational inquiry.  This path is prescribed for people of rational temperament to whom reason appeals more than faith.

3.       Raja Yoga or the path of psychic control.  Raja Yoga is for aspirants who are of meditative temperament with a natural yearning to completely maser their minds.

4.       Karma Yoga or the path of right action.  The path of Karma Yoga is most attractive to people who are habitually very active.

All these paths, except for Karma Yoga, prescribe their own kinds of meditation to experience Divinity.  The path of Karma Yoga teaches the practice of selfless action as a means to experience Divinity.  It does not teach meditation.  Raja Yoga, however, puts maximum emphasis on meditation.

Book:  Meditation – Mind and Patanjali’s Yoga by Swami Bhaskarananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.  Price Rs.75/-.  Pages – 252.

For more information and guidance, visit http://www.ramakrishnavedantamath.org or ramakrishnavedantamath@vsnl.net

Note – The above points are notes I have scrubbed down while reading the book “Meditation – Mind and Patanjali’s” written by Swami Bhaskarananda. I am blogging this material only to encourage the readers who see my blog to read the book and is not meant for any commercial purpose. It is just sharing information about a good book.

Regards,

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

SIN

When things go wrong and when we don’t get what we want in life over a long period of time and when we face failures after failure in life and our mind don’t find any reasons of failure irrespective of all our efforts, after lot of thinking and analysis, we conclude ourselves to be sinners.
But that is not true at all. The worst like that you ever tell yourself is that you were born a sinner or a wicked man. The Vedanta recognizes no sin, it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, say the Vedanta, is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that. Sins are very low degrees of Self-manifestation; manifest you in a high degree.
Do not talk of the wickedness of the world and all its sins. Weep that you are bound to see wickedness yet. Weep that you are bound to see sin everywhere, and if you want to help the world, do not condemn it. Do not weaken it more. For what is sin and what is misery and what are all these, but the results of weakness? The world is made weaker and weaker every day of such teachings. Men are taught from childhood that they are weak and sinners. Teach them that they are all glorious children of immortality, even those who are the weakest in Skills, Knowledge and talents and help them to grow in these areas in a right manner. Let positive, strong, helpful thought enter into their brains every second.
Regards,
Tirumalanath
tirumalanath.neelaiagari@gmail.com
References:
· Contact “Sri Ramakrishna Math” for more information.
· The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda.
· Prabuddha Bharata magazine – Nov 2008.

Sayings of Swami Vivekananda

• Each soul is potentially Divine. The goal is to manifest that Divinity within.
• Doing is very good, but that comes from thinking …. Fill the brain, therefore, with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work.
• One should try to acquire knowledge moment by moment and acquire wealth bit by bit. How (can one get) knowledge if a moment is lost (wasted)? How (can one get) wealth if the bit is lost (wasted)? – A Traditional saying [source – The Vedanta Kesari magazine. July 2008]

Sayings of Swami Vivekananda

Teach yourselves, teach everyone his/her real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come, when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity - Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda as the spiritual guide encouraged and lifted the spirits of the Hindus when they felt pity of themselves, of their culture heritage and their religion. U can see in his writing only the courageous thoughts which religion can offer to the mankind. He is the modern Buddha who preached that religion is for the brave and religion makes the people brave. Nothing in this world can be achieved by fear and the fear is the cause root of all the problems man is facing today. And this fear in the mind is what the person character will be. He encouraged the people through religious preaching that we must be brave in all the situations and be proud of our religion and heritage which is par/greater than with all the civilizations of the world which existed. So, let us be face the realities of the life bravely and develop our character which is the most important for any person to succeed in the personal, professional and spiritual life.

Why Celebrate Hindu Festivals and Sacred days

Swami Vivekananda said that Hindu is a peculiar person. He does everything in a religious manner. He eats religiously; he sleeps religiously; he rises in the morning religiously; he does good things religiously; and he also does bad things religiously.

Religion has three aspects: Philosophy, mythology and rituals.
• Philosophy deals with the ultimate questions of life like the existence of God, nature of man, creation of this world, the goal of the life as also the path that leads to it.
• Mythology tries to bring these ideas from the dizzy heights of metaphysics down to the ordinary level of understanding of the common folk through myths and stories, dialogues, and even examples from day to day life.
• Philosophy and Mythology caters rather to the brain than the bosom. Here comes the role of rituals. Though designed to reflect the basic philosophy of life, they also help to release the energies and emotions through constructive channels, since they are action-oriented.
The Hindu festivals and Sacred days are a very important, even an integral, part of the Hindu religion, especially its ritual system. To understand and appreciate the spirit behind the observance of these festivals and scared days, a basic knowledge of the concept of the four purusarthas (end of human life) is necessary. The purusarthas are: dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), Kama (fleshly desires) and moksa (liberation from the transmigratory existence)

The great sages, who evolved this system, conceded the existence and the need to fulfill the natural instincts of a human being towards the pleasures of the ‘the here and the now’. Intuiting the power of these instincts, if unbridled, to create chaos and conflict in the society, they tried to regulate them through dharma, an iron framework of a code of righteous conduct that would regulate these instincts, and yet allow them to be satisfied too. Controlling these instincts through dharma and by following further disciplines prescribed by it, a human being can gradually transcend them, thus rising to higher spiritual aspirations. It is at this juncture that the concept of moksa appeals to the heart as also the spiritual disciplines needed for the same voluntarily undertaken.

The Hindu festivals and sacred days, with their twin aspects of vratas and utsavas, are designed exactly for this purpose of achieving the metamorphosis of the human being from the mundane to the supramundane levels.

Vratas and Utsavas

‘Vrata’ (religious vow) – set of rules and discipline with which one voluntarily binds oneself over a particular period of time, during which period he undertakes the performance of certain rituals in order to propitiate the deity and secure from it what he wants. The whole process is undertaken with a sankalpa or religious resolve, on a auspicious day and time, fixed as per dictates of the Hindu religious almanacs.

‘Utsava’ means a joyous festive occasion which buoys up the spirits of the participants. Almost every Vrata is followed by an Utsava, thus offsetting its rigours and bringing joy and happiness to everyone.

Classification of Vratas
First Classification
Kayika-vrata – physical austerity like fasting
Vacika-varata – speaking the truth and reciting the scriptures
Manasa-vrata – controlling the mind by controlling the passions and prejudices that arises
All the above three disciplines are almost always present in every Vrata.

Second Classification – based on time.
Third Classification – based on deity (God)
Fourth Classification – based on the performer like women, married people and so on

Who is eligible?
Anyone who has faith in it and wishes to perform it as per the rules. During the period of the observance of a Vrata, one should keep in himself clean and pure, observe celibacy, speak the truth, practice forbearance, avoid non-vegetarian foods and scrupulously perform all the rituals connected with it.

How many Vratas
The total number of vratas and utsavas listed by the largest of the published works – Caturvargacintamani of Hemadri (13th Century) – comes to about 700.


Tirumalanath

tirumalanath.neelaiagari@gmail.com

For more information/queries, contact ur nearest Ramakrishna Math or Visit https://www.sriramakrishnamath.org