What is Meditation? Some confessions.

[Guest guest]

Dear Krishnamurthy-Ji:

 

Enjoyed reading this very much. We are very much alike except you are

more learned and trained having been born in orthodox south Indian

Brahmin family. I also started the Gayatri Mantra as soon as I could

understand and memorize in childhood. My father taught it to me. Gayatri

is common to most Hindus. My father was influenced by Swami Sivananda of

Rishikesh with whom he corresponded and Swami Dayananda Sarswati, the

founder of Arya Samaj who lived in the 1800s. My Grandfather's name was

Hari Ram and true to his name, he was a devout Hindu and a Sanskrit

scholar and I always heard he was a Chaturvedi although I did not know

what that meant. He was also a great mathematician and a High School

Principal. My Uncle and Father followed in his footsteps and became

professors and taught Mathematics. My uncle finished his Ph.D. in Math

at University of Illinois in Urbana when he was 23 and then did

post-doctoral work at Princeton. He was the most gifted in the family

when it came to math. He eventually became a Dean at Chandigarh and just

recently passed away. Possibly, you may know of him as you are also a

mathematician.

 

Namaste and love to all

Harsha

 

V. Krishnamurthy wrote:

> Namaste all.

>

> I join all the others in felicitating Sri Harsha-ji on his article on

> Meditation. I make bold to add some observations. In the following

> I may be appearing to be reminiscing about myself. But since I think

> that will help others in their spiritual exercises, just as, I think,

> it has helped me, I am writing the following.

>

> The subject is meditation, concentration, contemplation, one-

> pointedness, etc. Having been born in an orthodox south Indian

> brahmin family, and having been blessed to be born as the son of an

> erudite scholar-cum-karmayogi-cum-devotee –cum-advaitin, I was

> trained properly in my boyhood itself to do the Gayatri japa and

> associated observances.

>

> As I grew up I was, as many others whom I knew, consumed by the

> vortex of worldly pursuits. But in my case it was a most noble

> pursuit, the pursuit of knowledge in the field of Mathematics and the

> practice of teaching what I knew and learnt. The practice of daily

> Gayatri japa continued, now and then with some lapses, but on the

> macro, well enough.

>

> But it is the micro-aspect that is now the issue. As maturity

> continued to light up the buddhi, one started analysing oneself in

> respect of the effectiveness of concentration and meditation that

> accompanied the mantra-japa. There were three things: counting, as

> part of the japa; concentration on the words of the mantra

> accompanied by proper pronunciation and intonation; and meditation on

> the meaning of the mantra. In course of time (the unit of time here

> is `year', not just days !), it became clear that not all the three

> in fact co-existed. Should they co-exist or not? That was itself a

> dilemma. Should one attempt to do all three together or should one

> compromise by sacrificing one for the other?. There were seasons in

> one's life. For some time, the proper pronunciation of the words of

> the mantra was being attempted as the only primary goal. Sometimes

> the proper counting and sometimes, when one was convinced that

> silent japa is better than articulated japa, the silent thinking of

> the mantra went on. (Don't forget that my spread of time here is

> several years).

>

> You can see I have gone through different stages of experimentation.

> Now I will take you into another aspect of the whole thing.

>

> What are the obstacles for such meditation? This applies to japa

> also. The senses are the culprits. They have to be controlled,

> monitored and curtailed by the mind. This curtailing has to be done

> on all sides. While doing this, says the Lord, (in Chapter 6 of the

> Gita) little by little, let him attain to stillness by the intellect

> held firmly by the will power.

>

> `shanai-shanaiH uparamet buddhyA dhRti-gRhItayA'.

>

> `shanais-shanaiH' gradually, little by little, -- this is important.

> It has to be a slow process but steady. Actually Krishna is putting

> himself in our place and warning us not to force the pace. `Having

> thus made the mind establish itself in the Self, let him not think of

> anything'.

> `Atma-samstham manaH kRtvA na kimcid-api cintayet'.

>

> This is the recipe, the final recipe, the only recipe, for

> meditation.

>

> The recipe has already been given by the Lord Himself. Only we have

> to follow it, and practise it with faith, consistently and

> continuously. There is no other way. After attending all the courses

> on meditation and yoga across the world, we have finally to come back

> only to this recipe:

>

> `shanaIs-shanaI-ruparamet buddhyA dhRti-gRhItayA'.

> `Atma-samstham manaH kRtvA':

>

> This should be the goal. We have to get the mind rest in the Self in

> peace. Happiness will be regained automatically.

>

> Slowly and slowly, gradually, the outer mind has to be brought under

> the clutches of the intellect. And one should then, be watching the

> moving thoughts as if we are watching some fun in the street.

>

> Let that thought be anything. It may be the argument which you had

> with a relative four days earlier; it may be the loan amount that you

> have to recover from the neighbour; or it may be the gossip that came

> into your ears in the office the previous day; it may be the

> dilemma that your back pain has placed you in, whether you have to go

> to the doctor or not; it may be the research problem that you are

> engaged in your profession and the latest spark of an idea that hit

> you last night in bed; it may be the cell phone that is ringing and

> you have the immediate urge to look at the id of the caller; it may

> be the worry caused by the deficit in next month's home budget.

> Whatever it be, just watch the thought. (You can see that all the

> above is a confession of the various experiences of this writer)

>

> Do not probe into the question how or why that thought came. Do not

> analyse the positives and negatives of the subject matter of the

> thought lest that process generate new thoughts. Don't get into this

> chain reaction of thoughts. Don't also try to make a mental note of

> all the thoughts that pass through your mind now. Just watch the

> thoughts come and go. Just be a watcher. Don't get attached to any of

> the thoughts. Don't take possession of the thoughts. That is where

> you fall into the prey of the ego. Don't ever get into the content of

> any of the thoughts. Just keep watching. Think not that you are

> watching. Just be. One by one thoughts will come and also disappear

> like waves which rise and then fall. One thought after another, it

> will keep coming ... and going. The next thought may delay a bit to

> appear. Don't expect it when it delays. Don't be ready to recognise

> it when it comes. Automatically the thoughts will become more and

> more feeble. Don't think about anything. Stop thinking.

>

> "na kimcid-api cintayet" says the Lord (VI-25). It means `Don't think

> about anything'.

>

> Well, the ideal is clear. "na kimcid-api-cintayet". The actual

> contrary situation is also clear. It was described in one whole

> paragraph a little while ago. So how does one move from the actual

> situation to the ideal? This is the million-dollar question. This is

> what is being discussed by all the hundreds of books and speakers and

> writers on meditation. Each one has to find a way of his own. I seem

> to have hit upon one strategy, maybe not the unique strategy, but one

> which seems to have the approval of many Seers the world over. It

> is the `mantra': "Live in the present".

>

> Let me explain. What is it that interrupts us? Instead of repeating

> all the above experiences of obstacles and many more, let me list

> some by single phrases and I am sure you will understand and

> extrapolate. I am listing below, each in a catchy phrase, several

> internal obstacles that come in the way of our "not thinking about

> anything". (Remember, at this stage, we have crossed the stage of

> external disturbances bothering us). And the list itself will

> suggest to you the remedy.

>

> • Struggle to do the counting of repetitions correctly

> • Attempt at correct pronunciation

> • Thought about the rate of the japa or the intensity of

> meditation

> • Thought about the task awaiting the finish of the japa or

> meditation

> • Regret about failure to do it right

> • New resolutions about how to do it right hereafter

> • Opening of eyes and a consequent window opening to the whole

> world

> • Closing of eyes and an involuntary slip into drowsiness

> • All the above operations changing the whole mood

> • Resolution to give it up now in order to try later in a

> better mood

> • Alternatively, an elation at having done it right, for some

> time!

> Each one above finally leads to the catastrophe of the ideal of "na

> kimcid-api cintayet" not happening.

>

> My suggestion -- this is only a recipe for myself. May not work for

> everybody – is "Live in the present. Do not think about the future

> or the past". Not to think about what you do after you rise from

> this lap of meditation is not what I am talking about here. Here

> the future includes even the next minute or even the next `kshana'.

> Having done 60 repetitions, let not the thought go into the fact that

> this is the 61st repetition. Having done the 60 repetitions let not

> the mind quickly work upon the question "How long has it taken"

> or "How long will it take to do the rest". Live in the present. You

> are doing the sixty-first repetition now. And your mind should do

> only that – without any thought of the `60' or the `61'. Don't make

> resolutions. Don't award self-approbations. Don't regret. Don't

> applaud. Keep moving with the `present'. The `present' moves into

> the next `present'. Act in the living present. Nothing more. "na

> kimcid-api cintayet".

>

> Lord Krishna says "Whenever and wherever the mind strays, bring it

> back to the Atman". A downright rockbottom version of the same at

> our level of the above discussion is: "Whenever the mind strays

> because of any one of the above internal distractions, tell

> yourself -- that telling itself is certainly a distraction, but it

> is necessary here in order to do away with all other distractions –

> that what is to be done is not important; nor what has been done

> (even till the previous second); live in the present. Keep going.

> Act in the present. By the time you have acted, it is already past.

> Don't think about it again. Again live in the new `present'. Act in

> this new `present'. Continue acting (and living) in the present.

>

> This is the recipe. This is the strategy. This is the way.

>

> I am not sure whether I have talked sense to you. But I keep going!

> I live in the present!

>

> PraNAms to all advaitins And Happy New Year to them all!

>

>

>