Significance Of Meditation - ( Part 3 Of 7 )

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SIGNIFICANCE OF MEDITATION - Part 3Meditation is a mind free from thoughts. Meditation is the heart ofyoga, the roof of Sadhana, the master key to knowledge the stream oflove, the sacrificial rite that earns the richness of the Guru'sGrace. Meditation is also one form of the Guru. Many will ask now tomeditate and for how long. These are primary and essentialquestions. It is said in the Gita. The vision of the Self isobtained through meditation. In the Srimad Bhagavata itsays : "In the meditation the Sadhaka becomes the form of God."Just we have occupied in mundane activities, our mind also isimmersed in love for God in meditation. When the mind becomes emptyof thoughts and becomes one with the Self, we reach a very highstate. So we must keep our mind empty. When we wakeup after sleep,we experience a few moments when our mind is free of thoughts. Weshould make our mind peaceful and

thought free, so that it becomesno different from the Self. This progress is to come in meditationPART -3a.How do we say that our Meditation is Pure and Free from thoughts?Once our meditation becomes pure, it becomes free from thought. Forexample, when our meditation is fixed on the Blue Colour, the mindbecomes permeated by it and in fact, we temporarily loseconsciousness of our Self. We become oblivious of the inner andouter worlds. Objects are not seen when there is no one to see them.In that state, there is neither happiness nor sorrow, nor ignorance,neither perceiver nor perceived. Only the pure Paramatma, theSupreme Self, remains pulsating in His own Being. It is anunwavering, thought free, tranquil condition. It is the goal of ourmeditation. If we stay in this state for a short time, and then,when we begin to come out of meditation, we go from 'Turiya State'.Afterwards, in

Turiya, no matter what happens. We will retain therealization of transcendental state Turiyatita.b.Preliminaries to MeditationWe must sit down with peace. Raise our hands to our head as if itwere our Baba's head and touch our two eyes, our ear, our nose, ourtongue, our neck, our shoulders, imagining that they are all partsof our Guru Sai. In the same way touch our chest, our heart, ourstomach, back, thighs, knees, calves, feet, saying over and over,thinking that they are all Sai's parts, keep repeating in ourmind 'Guru Sai Sai'. Concentrating on this feeling, we have to beginour meditation. When we sit in meditation, our conduct should bepure and have noble thoughts, so that they may be able to conservethe Sakthi aroused by Sai's Grace.We must first of all offer our body, mind, heart and soul to SaiBaba. Let us realize the purpose of our existence and let our eyesclearly see so that

we may not mistake the unreal for,,reality ofGod. Thy light alone can dispel all the darkness from the mind ofus. We must feel that our heart is captivated by thy enticing smile.Our soul is singing with joy in the embrace with love intoxicated.Sitting in meditation, we can clearly see and feel that our soul isenjoying right now. We must pray that our ego should be melted andour mind merge in God.We must remain alert and vigilant in this matter.On the importance of meditation, Sri Sai Baba said to Sri G.R.Dabolkar: "To get Atma-Jnana, meditation is necessary. It pacifiesand carries the mind into Samadhi. So give up all desires and dwellin your mind upon God in all. If the mind is thus concentrated, yourgoal is achieved. Meditate on Baba either with form or as formless.If such formless contemplation is hard, then think of any form, justas you see it here. Think of it night and day. With such

meditation,the mind dissolves into unity, and attains 'Laya'. The differencebetween subject and object (Myself and you) and the act ofcontemplation will be lost. This results in 'Chaitanya BrahmaSamrapati'. The Guru's Grace is bread and milk for the pupil."Baba further said : "I will be with you, whenever and wherever youthink of Me. If one perpetually thinks of Me and makes Me his solerefuge, 1 am his 'debtor' and will give My Head to save such people.If one ever meditates on Me, repeat My name, sings My deeds, andthus transformed into Me, one's Karmna is destroyed. 1 stay by hisside always. You should have truth always with you. Then 1 shallalways be with you, wherever you are and at all times". Saiencourages His devotees to adopt his own form of meditation as aneasy aid for concentration. Dhyana may thus be "Rupa" or 'Arupa'. Inone of the verses Sri Jnaneswar has written "Seekers after

theknowledge of perfection, the very eye of your eye, where the voidcomes to an end, the Blue Pearl pure sparkling, radiant that whichopens the centre of repose when it arises is the great place of theConscious Self. Look, this is the hidden secret of this experience.This is what Paramashiva told Parvathi Devi. Jnanadev says : 'I sawthis through the Grace of my Sadguru Nivirttinath. 'Swamy Muktananda says that the significance of the Blue Colour, theBlue Godess, just from seeing this Blue Pearl, you can attain 'JivanMukthi', the state of liberation. But this is not full realization,nor the state of perfection or the final goal of Siddha Path. Whenyou see the Blue Pearl all the time, this means, that you are inthe 'Turiya State', the state of complete transcendance. If a seekerdies after having this vision, he will go to Brahma Loka and attaincomplete fulfilment by finishing his Sadhana

here."He further clarifies - "When Blue Pearl appears, mind would convergeon it for long period of time, experiencing extremely joyful repose.Breathing becomes steady and shallow. When you breathe out thebreath would go only the distance about two fingers from yournostrils and when you breathe in, it goes down only as far as yourthroat, never to your heart. During this stage, many Divinefragrances will come. They are so fine compared with finest scents.With the coming of these fragrances breathing becomes very short andslow and a special kind of Pranayam takes place.He also says :God is the Supreme Light of all; lights take their brightness fromHim only. There is no darkness about Him. This inner, external Blueof consciousness is the 'So Ham Brahma' - 'I am He - the Absolute'of Jnanis. This Blue is the adorable one chosen by Bhakta, who fillsthem with the nectar of love. This eternal Blue of

Consciousness isthe Divine Power of Grace. If this is not realised, you cannotunderstand that the Universe appears within God. When one who seesBlue Light always, he will see the entire Universe as a luminoussport of 'Chitsakthi' . He acquires the Divine.vision by which hesees the Blue light of Sththi in every one."Jai Sai RamSwamy MahadevanBow to Shri Sai-Peace be to allBaba Bless you ever!!!