Meditation procedure

[Guest guest]

Namaste, Bhagawan has spent an entire chapter (6) on meditation

(probably called dhyana in samskrit). There are probably many books,

videos, CDs etc on dhyana but may I request the esteemed members to

share practical tips and techniques for doing dhyana. I am thinking

that there is no universal panacea or procedure for dhyana and

different techniques can work for different people. I am stating some

basic points based on common sense and whatever little I have read.

Please feel free to correct me and add more simple points to this

discussion. Honestly, I don't meditate but would like to so I want to

hear from others who have been doing it for sometime.

 

- First be very clear intellectually that meditation is not an action

but it is a connection with the infinite consciousness. Apparent

individualities are incidental. Something as subtle as awareness or

consciousness does not know artificial boundaries of body,space,

matter etc. The awareness in me or you or Krishna or Rama or Swami

Dayananad is not different

- best to meditate early morning after bath (some say at

brahm-mahuratam or the auspicious hour of 4am)

- meditate in a quite place

- stay still during meditation. This requires practice and discipline

in life. Movies, TV, diet, social interactions etc would have a

bearing on this

- Start meditation with a few malas of mantra japa. This should calm

the mind.

- You can start by meditating on the meditator. You can mentally

imagine yourself sitting in front

- You could meditate on Shivling or picture of Vishnu or Krishna

- Meditation does not mean forcefully trying to be thoughtless. That

itself is a thought. You can start by observing your thoughts during

meditation

- You could single pointedly think about an idol or picture

- When mind is distracted or goes in other directions, "try" to bring

it back to the point of focus. This again requires alertness, practice

and discipline in life. One technique I have heard is that Swami

Dayananda had memorized the 700 verses of Gita. He would start

chanting at verse 1 and go upto 700. Then he would start chanting at

verse 700 and come back to verse 1. Can you imagine the sharpness of

his mind and intellect !!

- One way for instant meditation which I heard in a lecture is that

think for a moment that I am "Mr NObody" or for females "Ms Nobody".

Father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife - nothing. I have no

connection or relation to anything. The mind/ego would be dead

instantly - try it.

- You could also "think" that there is so and so sitting and trying to

meditate. I am simply observing this guy called so and so

 

With best regards,

Om Namah Sivaya