Preparation for meditation - by Swami Rama

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Important Reading! Keep Breathing throughout

 

Commentary by Swami Rama

from his book on Japji

 

Throughout the lengthy span of Indian civilization, saints and sages have

declared the divine nature of the human spirit, and have fathomed the Reality

within. The Sikh gurus are representatives of this universal tradition.

Through their meditation practice they came to realize the True nature of

existence and

to manifest it in their time. The methods of meditation practiced by the great

sages form a complete science of self-transformation and self-discovery.

Through meditation one learns to explore the deepest levels of one’s being and

to know the center from which consciousness flows. The systematic practice of

meditation has never been limited to a particular era in history or to any

individual culture. It is given by the wisest of humanity for all times,

cultures, and races. Meditation is an essential method for attaining peace and

harmony both within and without.

 

What is Meditation?

The word “meditation” is frequently misunderstood. While all the great

spiritual traditions of the world have arisen from meditative experience, over

time the practice of meditation has been neglected. “Meditation” has become a

word without a clear definition or meaning.

We might understand meditation better through the use of a simile. When the

turbulence of waves and undercurrents makes it difficult to peer beneath the

surface of a body of water, then what lies below remains unknown. At such times

even if lovely coral were to sparkle at the bottom, or the water’s bed were

strewn

with jewels, these treasures would be obscured. One’s vision would be blocked

by the ripples and the cloudiness of the water.

The individual human mind is like a body of water. Consciousness, the Atman,

is a jewel shining within. To know the jewel of consciousness is to reach the

highest goal of life—yet the mind remains tossed and turned. For most people

there is no systematic method for understanding one’s own mind or for calming

its

disturbances. As a consequence the limitless beauty of human life remains

unsought, and therefore undiscovered.

Meditation is not primarily a method of contemplation or of prayer. There is a

fine and subtle line of demarcation between meditation, contemplation, and

prayer. In meditation awareness is focused inwardly. This focusing of

attention follows a systematic path from the most external parts of one’s

personality, the

body and senses, to the innermost, the mind itself. By treading the path

regularly, the way becomes familiar and the mind is calmed and purified. Then

the inner light of the Self begins to shine spontaneously—and life becomes a

poem and a song.

Meditation is an experiential method. One who practices meditation becomes

neither a slave to authority nor a pawn in the events of the external world.

Instead, meditation allows the individual to think and act from his own most

creative resource, the center of his own being. Through stillness,

diaphragmatic

breathing, the releasing of muscle tensions, breath awareness, and, finally, the

resting of the mind in an internal focus, the meditator gathers experience of

his own essence. Thinking, speaking, and acting from this inner perspective

gives life a dynamic new meaning.

The word “meditation,” then, is actually somewhat like the word “medical,”

meaning “to attend.” To meditate, one has to learn to attend to something with

full devotion and commitment. By cultivating attention, by training the mind,

one can begin to systematically understand the whole process of the inward

journey.

One has only to learn to be still physically, to have a serene breath and a calm

mind.

 

The Body

The student should first learn to work with his body. The body is an essential

instrument, but if it is not disciplined it can create barriers to progress. It

is not that the body is something great that can transform one entirely. It is

simply that if the body is not kept healthy, the mind is constantly

distracted.

The first requirement of meditation is to be physically still, steady, and

comfortable. Great strength comes from stillness and inner tranquillity. If

one learns to be still, he can enjoy a peace that cannot be provided by any

object of the world. We are trained to prize the pleasures of eating, sex, and

sleep,

but no one imagines that stillness can give subtler joy. The art of stillness

is not taught to us, but it can be cultivated.

To feel restful and still, it is very important to establish a steady and

comfortable posture. These words, “steady” and “comfortable,” are actually the

words of the great sage Patanjali, who has used them to describe the correct

meditation posture (Yoga Sutras II:46). The word “steadiness” means to sit so

that the

head, neck, and trunk are vertically aligned and balanced. There are a number

of postures that can be used for this. The simplest is to sit comfortably on

the edge of a bench or flat-seated chair.

Many people misconceive the purpose of the meditation postures. They suppose

that good posture has something to do with being able to twist the legs and put

the hands and arms into certain positions. While a number of the postures with

folded legs are comfortable for meditation, the intent of all the meditative

postures is to arrange the body so that the spinal column is erect and

comfortably aligned.

In the beginning, as one sits still he will observe that the large muscles of

the limbs may jerk – something which often occurs to people as they fall asleep

at night. Next, the muscles twitch – a second obstacle. When muscles twitch or

when any part of the body throbs, these are not the experiences that manuals of

meditation describe as signs of progress. These are merely a release of

tension. The third obstacle that might arise is shaking. The body shakes or

perspires because one is straining. If one tries too hard, or does not prepare

his mind and accept the idea of meditation wholeheartedly, then he experiences

mental

strain. That mental strain can cause agitation in the body. So first the

student should learn to assume the correct posture and not look for or think

about having unusual experiences. After a few days he will observe that these

throbbings, twitching, shiverings, and shakings have been arrested.

 

Breathing

Breath plays an important role in life. Both the body and the mind are

disturbed by unregulated breathing – and both body and mind affect the breathing

process as well. For example, bad news can start a person crying and sobbing.

This results in great change in one’s breathing patterns. Exercises like

moderate

jogging or brisk walking, on the other hand, can become means for deepening the

breath. Learning to exhale twice the duration of inhalation – for example,

while jogging, or between rallies in tennis – is a very healthy practice.

Stillness provides rest for the muscles and for the voluntary and involuntary

nervous systems. Relaxed diaphragmatic breathing further strengthens the

involuntary nervous system and establishes a balance between the intake and the

output of the lungs. It is not healthy to retain waste gases in the lungs;

doing so

allows substances to build up in the body which may cause disease. A balanced

flow of breath, with inhalation and exhalation approximately equal, is an

essential prerequisite for progress in the meditation process.

The natural breathing pattern, called “diaphragmatic breathing,” is everyone’s

birthright. Diaphragmatic breathing in itself gives very significant benefits,

and it is a necessity if one wishes to practice any other breathing exercises.

The diaphragm is a muscle lying beneath the lungs. During inhalation it

contracts, creating the effect of expanding the areas at the base of the rib

cage and just below. During exhalation, when the abdomen is gently contracted,

the diaphragm relaxes and breath flows out.

Shallow breathing occurs because of shallow thinking, shallow habits such as

eating too much, and a lack of activity, as well as a pattern of not being

accurate, exact, or direct in life. Because of their habits, people lose the

natural capacity to breathe diaphragmatically, and this results in self-created

suffering. But it is easy to practice diaphragmatic breathing. To perform it,

one should lie down on his back, feet and arms slightly apart, in the corpse

posture, and put a small sandbag on the abdomen. Normally twelve to fifteen

pounds is the

recommended weight necessary to strengthen the diaphragm for adults. Once the

habit is formed, it is no longer necessary to use the sandbag. Keeping the

head, neck, and trunk aligned and the lips closed, one should exhale, allowing

the abdomen to contract. Let the upper abdomen and base of the rib cage expands

naturally with the inhalation. Do not create muscle blocks. If this is

practiced three times a day, one will be a totally transformed person in a

month’s time, thinking differently and feeling very energetic.

These experiments have been repeatedly and successfully conducted in the Dana

Research Laboratory of our Institute. Dr. John Clarke, a well-known

cardiologist from the Harvard School of Medicine, and Dr. Rudolph Ballentine, a

psychiatrist and famous nutritionist, experimented on many subjects. They

discovered that

diaphragmatic breathing, though a preliminary step, is most essential before

practicing the higher rungs of breath awareness.

A second useful study was undertaken by Dr. John Harvey, Pandit Dr. Rajmani

Tigunait, Dr. Phil Nuernberger, Dr. Kay Gendron, Duncan Currey, and Doug Bill.

They formed a group to investigate the effects of breathing exercises. They

found that diaphragmatic breathing as beneficial for calming the mind before

meditation. They also noted that diaphragmatic breathing could be employed in

daily life, and that this breathing was very useful for maintaining emotional

balance.

Proper breathing means that the breath is not shallow, jerky, or noisy, and that

there are no lengthy pauses between the exhalation and inhalation. Noisy

breathing is a symptom of blockage or obstruction. Long pauses in the breath

mean that one is high-strung and has emotional blockages. Such pauses are not

created

when people are happy, but occur when they are experiencing some agony, problem,

or insecurity. There is a brief natural moment between inhalation and

exhalation, but it should not be expanded by bad breathing habits. Such a

pause, if unnecessarily expanded, can be a killer; it can create coronary heart

disease.

 

Application of Sushumna: How to Make Breath Harmonious

The mind itself does not want to meditate because it has not been trained to

maintain a relaxed focus. Gradually one can understand and train the mind. If

one learns to be still and to breathe well, then next one can attain a state of

mind that is called “the joyous mind.” In the technical language of yoga, this

is called the application of sushumna. It is the method of leading the mind to

a state of joy, where true meditation is possible. Sushumna application means

that the breath is made to flow equally through both the nostrils. When one

understands the basic breathing exercises, then he should pay attention to the

breath flowing through the nostrils. When he becomes sensitive to the flow of

the breath, he will usually find that one of the nostrils is obstructed. The

right channel of breath is called pingala and the left is called ida. These are

the heating and cooling systems in the body; the right and left channels act to

balance heat and cold respectively.

Sometimes one of the nostrils remains open excessively, while the other remains

obstructed. This dominance of the flow of breath in one nostril reflects an

imbalance. Those whose left nostrils flow excessively are depressed and

emotional, accustomed to thinking about death and negative things, feeling

insecure, and

crying frequently without any reason. Those whose right nostrils flow

excessively tend to think constantly of doing active things,(eg; drinking,

eating, fantasizing about sex, etc.) The sages say that by focusing the mind on

the bridge between the two nostrils, one can bring the breath under conscious

control,

creating balance. Unless one brings these two vehicles of inhalation and

exhalation under conscious control, the mind will be disturbed by unregulated

breathing.

For meditation, neither the left or right channels should be dominant. If one

inhales and exhales equally from both, he cannot think of anything negative.

The mind will find this experience delightful – an inexplicable state of joy.

Such joy has no external cause; it does not come from the love of any object.

In

this state of temporary joy, called sushumna application, one can easily lead

the mind into meditation.

Fluctuations in one’s meditation from day to day are often associated with

irregularities in nostril dominance. This relationship can be deceptive,

because nostril dominance is in turn affected by one’s habits. Excesses in

regard to food, sex, or sleep, and the play of fears in the mind, can all

created imbalance

in the breathing pattern. Fear in particular should be analyzed. Fear is an

attempt to escape, but the objects, which create fear, have never been

thoroughly examined. Fears invited danger. They arise from the instinctive

urge for self-preservation. When fears are examined, then anxiety is reduced

and often

dissipated altogether. By examining all thought patterns carefully, useless

habits and irregularities can cease to be a distraction to meditation.

 

Meditation

The essence of the meditative method is to learn to objectively observe

whatever comes into the mind by being mindful. To do that, the mind needs an

object of concentration and an inner point of focus. The mental object for

concentration is called a mantra. It is a word, syllable, or sound – or a set

of words,

syllables, or sounds – that protects and guides the aspirant on the inner

journey. A mantra is not chosen haphazardly. The spiritual teacher gives the

aspirant a mantra appropriate for his particular personality and stage of

development.

For those who do not have a teacher, the sound so- ham may be used. “So”

(pronounced with a lengthened “o”) means “that which I am in my own being,” and

“ham” (pronounced like the English word “hum”) is a verb form meaning “I am.”

These two sounds respond to the flow of breath – “ham” on the exhalation and

“so” on

the inhalation. The sounds “so” and “ham,” when observed in the mind along with

the breath, lead to a calm inner focus. Exhale, and think in the mind “ham”;

inhale, and think in the mind “so.” By focusing on this mantra the mind is made

strong, secure, and one-pointed.

Sat Nam Sri Wahe Guru, the shorter version of the mul mantra in Sikhism, is

inhaled and exhaled constantly with the breath. This helps the aspirant in

forming a habit and finally making that which is called ajapa japa (soundless

and automatic remembering of the mantra) a part of daily life. Guru Nanak Dev

highly

recommends these practices of inner remembering.