Before learning to meditate, it’s necessary to understand what meditation is and what it’s not. And what will we get by meditating?
What Is Meditation?
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Meditation is not concentration; it’s not sleep
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Meditation is a conscious state of rest and relaxation
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Meditation is effortless
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Meditation helps us explore our spirit, the deep silence within, and our vastness
Can Everyone Meditate?
Everyone wants comfort. It is just that we don’t know how to be absolutely comfortable. Meditation is not alien to you. This is because you were meditating for a couple of months before you were born. You were in your mother’s womb doing nothing. You didn’t even have to chew your food. You would happily float in the fluid. That is meditation or absolute comfort. You had to do nothing, everything was done for you. So there is a natural yearning in every soul to return to that state when you were in absolute comfort. It is very natural to want to get back to that state which you have had a taste of, just before entering this world of activity. This is because everything in this universe is cyclical. Everything wants to return to its source.
When you are hungry, spontaneously you go to get something to eat. If you are thirsty you want to drink some water. In the same way, the soul yearns for meditation and this yearning is present in everyone.
Music is food for emotions. Knowledge is food for intellect. Meditation is food for the soul.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
What Will You Get From Meditation?
In the past, sages taught meditation only to qualified students and seekers. In this age, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of The Art of Living, has given it to everyone so it can bring a change in the quality of their life. When they want higher knowledge, they will go deeper into it. So, for everyone, it brings some benefit or the other.
Some people take a walk along the beach and they get good oxygen, and fresh air and they are happy with that. Others would put their feet in the water and feel that scintillating impact of the ocean. Some others go surfing or scuba-diving and they find corals and precious things. So, it’s up to you – if you want to take a walk on the beach or go for a swim or go deeper and go scuba-diving. Ocean is available to you. It is the same with meditation.
The need to meditate is present in every human because everyone desires a joy that never diminishes, a love that is eternal and free of distortions.
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Brings Deep Relaxation and Clarity
When the river is calm, the reflection is clearer. Similarly, when the mind is calm, there is greater clarity in the field of expression. Regular practice of meditation helps attain a deep state of relaxation and peace. And this peacefulness often lasts, far beyond the meditation itself.
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Leads To Positive Vibrations
Each one of us has a unique vibration and these vibrations are affected when we are stressed, angry, upset or frustrated. Meditation holds the key to change and make these vibrations positive and productive, leading to clarity in thoughts and emotions. It helps to clear the impressions in our mind and focus and redirect our thoughts to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally stable state. Our sense of observation, perception and expression improve.
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More Powerful Than Sleep
Meditation and sleep both give deep rest. However, the quality of rest from meditation is deeper. The amount of energy that we get from meditation is much more than sleep. Meditation gives you rest, deeper than the deepest sleep. By doing meditation, we can turn our body into a powerhouse by generating an inner source of energy.
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Increases Energy Levels
Anxiety, worry and stress can be more than distractions. Daily problems and fears can have a negative impact on your mental and physical health. Meditation is known to increase the prana (life force) or the energy level in the body. And as the prana level increases, anxiety automatically decreases. Hence symptoms of depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder have reportedly shown improvement with regular meditation.
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Positively Impacts Mental Health
Studies show that meditation not just increases activation in the part of the brain associated with positive emotions, but also has a positive effect on your overall mental health.
…And Much More!
Meditation lets you become more aware and more purposeful about your actions. It teaches you how to respond, rather than react, to situations in your life. Meditation improves the ability to think, concentrate and solve problems and enhances the ability to adapt to and overcome emotional problems. Research shows that it may also help enhance your mood, promote healthy sleep patterns, and boost cognitive skills. Meditation has also been found to reverse the brain patterns that lead to overthinking, poor attention, and mind-wandering.
5 Milestones in Your Meditation Journey
The journey of meditation starts with relaxation. As you meditate regularly, your journey will move through several stages:
- Stage 1: Relaxation
- Stage 2: Energy
- Stage 3: Creativity
- Stage 4: Deep intuition, knowledge and wisdom
- Stage 5: Indescribable. You feel one with the universe
Surprisingly Easy Ways To Meditate
Physical Exercise
When our body does certain postures, with a certain rhythm, the mind slips into meditation. If you are very active or too well-rested, you cannot meditate. But in a state where the body has the right amount of tiredness, yet still not that tired; in that very delicate balance, your whole system slips into meditation.
Sensory Pleasure
Being 100 per cent engrossed in a particular sensory object brings you to a state of meditation.
Just lie down and keep looking at the sky. When you are completely engrossed in hearing music, a moment comes when the mind becomes still.
Meditation is the journey from sound to silence, from movement to stillness.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Breathing Exercises
Through breathing techniques and ‘pranayama’ the mind becomes quiet and still and you slip into meditation effortlessly. Just close your eyes and sit still after the breathing exercises.
Emotional Peak
The fourth way is through both positive and negative emotions. When you feel utterly hopeless or very angry, you say, ‘I give up!’ It means, ‘This is it. I can’t take it anymore.’ During those moments, if you don’t slip into frustration or depression or violence, you will find that there is a moment where the mind stands still.
Broaden Your Vision, Deepen Your Roots
The fifth is through intellect, knowledge, and awareness. This is called Jnana Yoga. When you sit and know that this body is made up of billions of cells, something gets stimulated deep inside. The context of life immediately changes when you become aware of the magnanimity of the universe: Who are you? What are you? Where are you? How are you in reference to the unfathomable, infinite universe? Some shift happens within you.
Total Rest
To meditate, you just need to know how to relax. If you are on a massage table, you let the masseur take care of you. Similarly, in meditation, you do nothing. Let nature or the spirit take care of you.
“I want nothing. I do nothing. I am nothing.”
Meditation is total rest; wanting nothing, being nothing, doing nothing and yet having total alertness effortlessly. If we follow this, then we are able to go deep in meditation.
Learn How To Meditate
The Art of Living offers the Sahaj Samadhi Meditation program that will help you learn how to meditate on your own.
Our mind takes the form of the mantra that we take. “Manah Trayate Iti Mantrah” – a mantra is that which is brought to the mind again and again so the mind becomes the mantra. The mind should be filled with the mantra. The moment that happens, the mind is free from worry.
Sometimes we find ourselves thinking too much or worrying about things. When a thought arises in the mind, it is not easy to get rid of it. The thought keeps coming back again and again, and if you decide to do something else, you will feel uneasy until you finish with that thought. It becomes irritating like a grain of sand in the eye. Similarly, if you are unhappy about something, that sadness does not easily leave you. Many times you tell your mind that something is trivial and not to worry about it. But the mind or intellect does not pay any attention to that. Chanting a mantra can help.
A mantra has strength and spirit. When the mind is filled with the mantra, it becomes powerful. The power of every mantra can be felt in the form of vibrations.
Sahaj Samādhi Meditation is a mantra-based meditation. It is the easiest and most natural way of transcending thoughts and going into the source of our existence. It is like sowing a seed and closing the soil on top. The mantra is the seed.
We need more happier brains today since depression is taking over the planet Earth in a big way. Research by well-known geriatric psychiatrist Dr. Akshya Vasudev shows that while medication can help only 20% of people suffering from depression, Sahaj Samadhi meditation can benefit up to 70% of people.
All You Do…Is Nothing!
Meditation is being very natural, being at home with yourself and with everything else in the universe. You just need to know how to relax. If you are on a massage table, what do you do? You just let the masseur take care of you. It is the same in meditation. You do nothing, let nature take care of you. Let go of any effort because whatever we gain through effort is material and is limited. Effort is needed in the material world. If you don’t put effort, you can’t build a business or build a home, or build a career. It does not happen by just sitting and thinking. Everything in the material plane requires you to put in effort. But to attain something spiritual, you need to reverse it – no effort! A few moments of sitting and making no effort at all whatsoever is all that you need. For the spiritual plane, all effort should be let go of, and then you gain something bigger – much bigger!
