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Note : This page attempts to serve as a stepping stone in the education and practice of meditation as a tool for self-realization and God communion. It however, does not promote or sell this process for any materialistic, mental or physical benefit.
 | Meditation : Only a good virtuous life prepares the mind as a fit instrument for
concentration and meditation. It is meditation that will lead to Self-Realization. Our physical body comes with five different sensors such as eyes for seeing, nose for smelling, ears for hearing, tongue for tasting, and the whole body itself for touching. Our brain is just a data storage and interpretation device. All the signals collected by each of these sensors are stored in the massive data bank called brain. As a newly born child, we can't visualize any of the objects around us, since nobody registered in our brain (taught us) that this shape is square, that is triangle, this is red color, etc. However, as a child, since our consciousness is uncorrupted with external information, we do remember our past. As we grow into adults, we gather lots of external data and thus loose our intuition which is the connection to our inner consciousness. |
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Meditation is the exercise of using our mind - the only instrument to connect and communicate with our inner self - The soul. Establishing this connection is self- realization. Once you establish this communication, the world becomes infinite. There is no boundaries, since God is infinite. This human body is the only form that is designated by God to make ourselves realize God.
What is Concentration? Concentration refers to mental faculty of exclusive attention on an object. Fix the mind on some object either within the body or outside the body. Fix it there steadily for sometime. This is concentration. One has to practice concentration everyday regularly, in order to focus the instrument of mind on the inner self and thus divert it from our interaction with this worldly aspects. Purify the mind fast, through the practice of right conduct, and then take to the practice of concentration. Concentration without the purity of mind is of no avail. Concentration will be intense if all distractions are remove. During this process of concentration if the mind wanders from the object, bring it back again. Repeat this process as long as possible.
How to Meditate? Meditation is the process of using our mind to establish communication with our inner-self. To do meditation, one needs an undisturbed environment. Although, as Amma said in Her Oracle to let the mind wander and watch it go, we need an environment that would not disturb the mind from wandering within. Set apart a room or a place for doing meditation. This place should be clean, tidy and without any physical disturbance. Maintain absolute silence. It is preferable to choose your own pooja (prayer) room since the atmosphere is likely to be vibrating with Mantras or Divine Thoughts. If possible, light an incense stick to fill the room with fresh and gentle aroma. This arrangement is necessary only to prevent the mind from getting attached to the physical senses and thus concentrating on our inner thoughts.
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Sit on a red cloth, close your eyes and concentrate your mind on the spot between two eyebrows and try to visualize the object of your choice in that spot. If you have a Guru, bring that Guru's form to visualization. If not, visualize the form of our Universal Guru Shri Bangaaru Adigalaar as given in the above picture. Initially, you may find that all kinds of thoughts of our past deeds run continuously. Just let it go. Develop the art of watching your own mind and its thoughts and activities. Gradually the duration of such random thoughts will get reduced and the watching mind would have assessed the evil part of the mind and corrected the same. Even though, it may be difficult to concentrate in the beginning, as you practice, the mind will start settling down and you will find that you are able to concentrate on the object of your choice. Once all the thoughts and similarly all the passions, emotions and impulses are subjugated, then the mind will be filled with righteous thoughts. At this stage, the watching mind has not only subdued worldly partner but actually replaces it in its entirety. This is one great step in Self-Realization.
How long will it take for me to learn meditation? Even to achieve the above state, it may take one day or several births. The soul is at various stages of spiritual maturity depending on its spiritual experiences in the past and present life, and above all is dependent on the Almighty's Grace. It is also said, that after driving away the entire thought process, one faces an empty space. Continuous meditation gives him more and more spiritual experiences.
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 | The easy way for a commoner is to try to concentrate on the form of AMMA as seen in the picture given above. Irrespective of the number of days or months or years, continue to do with deeper and deeper concentration, greater and greater faith and perseverance. This way, AMMA has revealed Him(Her)self to many devotees in the meditation. AMMA appears in the meditation and gives guidance and instructions for spiritual growth as well as our life issues. Souls that are spiritually advanced are blessed with GURUs who will guide them appropriately and in the right path. It is not advisable to change Guru. |
Role of Guru in Meditation : The Guru will help you. God talks to you and guides you through Guru, one who loves God all the time. His one duty is to plant love for God in your consciousness. He seeks nothing from you but your own spiritual effort. Whether you curse Him or praise Him, He is not affected by it. But if you tune with Him, He will be able to help you remove the veil of ignorance from your consciousness. When you follow your Guru's advice, you will see you are free. Learn more about the Guru, His/Her characteristics, how to identify a Guru, etc. from our page on GURU. The great yogis of India have discovered that there are six levels of concentrated Shakthi (Power) in six sites of the human body. These are not visible structures but imaginary and are only to be realized through experience. These six sites are called as six chakras, a brief description of which is given below :
Once a spiritually inclined person comes under the guidance and grace of his Guru, the Guru will initiate him/her in appreciating the existence of Moolaadhaara Chakra in his/her body during meditation. As the disciple matures further and further in spirituality, the Guru helps him/her by stimulating the Chakras from bottom to top. When the disciple reaches the seventh level, namely Sahasraara dhala he/she experiences the Bliss of God and thus there will be no rebirth for that soul. While ascending through each Chakra, the disciple is endowed with more and more spiritual power. His Holiness Shri Bangaaru Adigalaar is Divine Guru, since the Mother AdhiParaSakthi Herself is using His body to transmit Her power to Her children. The seventh level is none other than AdhiParaSakthi. It is only wise to follow His(Her) guidance as a Guru for meditation. It is similar to your friend giving directions to you when inviting you to visit his/her house. It is common sense to realize that if you don't follow the directions, you would be lost. Here AMMA Herself is giving directions to reach Her through Adigalaar. Just follow it and thus evolve your soul.
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Aids to Meditation :
Have a calm, pure and subtle mind.
Have a calm and undisturbed environment.
Have a regularity in the session - time, duration and place. Practicing meditation in the Brahma Muhurtha time (early morning hours before sunrise) is best, since the mind will be fresh and settled after a good night sleep.
Have one object of concentration.
Have no food for at least two hours before meditation. Because food needs to go through digestion process in which the mind is involved unconsciously.
Have no meat for at leaset 48 hours before meditation. Because animal fat energy remains in the body for a minimum of 48 hours, which requires the mind involvement in getting them out of the body.
The link between Guru Adigalaar and Disciple/Devotee If an aspirant in USA meditates upon Guru Adigalaar, a definite link is established between him/her and Guru. Adigalaar as a Guru radiates power, peace, joy and bliss to the disciple in response to his/her thoughts. The stream of spiritual electricity flows steadily from the preceptor to His disciple. The aspiran can imbibe or draw from his Guru's spiritual knowledge in proportion to his/her degree of faith in Guru. Practice meditation upon Guru Bangaaru Adigalaar and thus receive His boundless Grace and Guidance to alleviate all your worldly sufferings and progress through spirituality. You need not have met Him before, but be prepared for an encounter with Him in this life, as it is for salvaging your karma that He has incarnated now.
Excerpts from other Sources :The only way to know and live in truth is to develop the power of intuition. Then you will realize that life has a meaning, and that no matter what you are doing the inner voice is guiding you. That voice has long been drowned in the mire of untrue thoughts. The surest way to liberate the expression of intuition is by meditation, early in the morning and before going to bed in the night.
Meditation may seem to be one of the most difficult habits to form, for the beginner is subject to many delusive thoughts about getting speedy results. The results of meditation come slow, but sure. Many novices desire some form of spiritual "entertainment". Others expect their efforts to be rewarded eight away with the manifestation of heavenly lights, saints and deities; but this expectation is premature. Real visions come by prolonged and steady spiritual advancement. Premature experiences of phenomena are generally hallucinations. To avoid the intrusion of such false imagery from the subconscious mind, it is helpful during meditation to keep the eyes half-open and fixed firmly at the point between the eyebrows - The seat of concentration and superconscious perception (Aagnai Chakra described above). Above all, do not love or desire visions more than God.
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all things shall be added unto you."
The Self is Spirit manifested in man as the immortal individualized soul, a perfect reflection of God. Realization of the Self that dwells within is the first introduction to Spirit, the Lord who is both immanent (omnipresent) and transcendent (the Blissful Absolute).
When a lamp is set in a place where the air is absolutely still, the flame does not flicker. To this is likened the steadfast meditation of the Yogi, whose mind is under control.
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