Meditation is a way of life. It is to be lived. We have a vast reservoir of energy in us, lying unused, untapped. Once we get in touch with this energy, our life changes from just being an ordinary to a divine one. Meditation is being in tune with our inner energy source. Life throws up many challenges and if we do not have the right tools to face these, then we’ll fail in our task. These are tools of patience and tolerance. There are scores of people fighting mental problems – suicides are happening in large numbers. You cross the borderline and end up in a psychiatric ward.
Remember that in this fast-paced life, we have to live with competitions which are nerve-wrecking. Then there is a bombardment of advertisements on TV, newspapers, magazines and internet which puts a lot of strain on our minds. This explosion creates false desires. This is the century of exhibitionism – people earn to show off, vanity is on constant display. All this leads to immense pressure on the mind, resulting in a sense of insecurity and lack of trust. Relationships and families start breaking apart.
Meditation is an antidote for the many ailments that our mind and body undergoes in this stressful life. The transformation that comes from the regular practice of meditation is gradual but sure. Interestingly, meditation is not about doing something; rather it is about doing nothing. Meditation is experiencing emptiness and enjoying it – though this enjoying is a mind-oriented experience. Both joy and sorrow are experienced by the mind – and anything that is experienced by the mind does not include meditation. Whatever we do, is done through and by our mind. And releasing ourselves from the clutches of our mind is called meditation.

Sharpen Your Attention

To meditate we need to understand two factors: evaluate the intricacies of the mind (how the mind works) and become familiar with awareness. Once we know how a thought is formulated, what triggers thoughts, what are the conditions in which mind is prone to generate thoughts, only then we can take a leap beyond the cobweb of thoughts and experience the ever-flowing bliss. To understand all this, we need to cultivate and nurture attentiveness, alertness, vigilance and have a sharp microscopic vision – as the Buddha said “Sharpen your vision like a bowman sharpens his arrow”.

Understand your Mind

Mind functions on different levels; thoughts are propelled by mind due to certain conditions. We expect certain responses from people, situations, and when they do not happen as we had planned, then the mind gets disturbed. The agitations of the mind result in great turmoil, and this turmoil, this commotion generates several and varied thoughts. We pay great attention to the minutest activities, like the kind of clothes we wear, the fashion we follow, the place to hang out, membership of a particular club, and so on. And we don’t pay heed to an important thing: how does our mind functions? How just a thought can bring pain, anguish, jealousy, mistrust, doubt, joy? We are least bothered about our cluttered mind but we ensure that our house is clean. It is futile to clean the outside when your inside is blemished with numerous negativities. So, there is a need to connect to your inner self which is possible only through meditation

Don’t React – Act

One who is obsessed with worldly pursuits, one who is body-oriented, cannot really go into this. We need to develop a distance from our mind and not give in to impulsiveness. Those who react are the ones who are living mindlessly. So, in a way, we can say that living mindfully is being in meditation.
Meditation is not just about sitting in padmasana (lotus pose) or just doing something or just standing upside down or following just a routine of yogic exercises. Meditation does not involve even various ways of breathing exercises. Meditation includes all of the above and much more. Meditation is transgressing the mind, witnessing the mind in all its subtleties.

If your answer is to get relief from stress, to experience joy, to kill time, to know God –Wrong! Absolutely wrong! Utterly wrong! Don’t be surprised. Keep on reading, you will be truly surprised.

What is meditation?

We can get relief from stress from thousand things. A good movie, match of soccer, cricket, tennis, by dancing in a discothèque, by pubbing, in sex, list will go on and on. Company of like minded people gives joy, all adventure sports give a great kick, an adrenaline rush of blood and Wow- what an experience. If you have been meditating for sake of getting relief or looking for joy, then you are really confused and don’t know what really meditation is. Meditation is not getting relief from stress but it is much more than that.

Meditation is moving in the inner zone of emptiness, where stress can never touch you. It is exploring the inner space where you remain absolutely untouched from all ill effects of mind and samsara. This inner space is there and we need just the right method to move there, once you have understood and experienced nothing can bring you down from that timeless zone. Being in this zone means, being an ocean of joy. It is not just getting little glimpses of joy for some time and then back in rut. This had been a great dilemma of all meditators; as long as they are doing it, they feel good, elated, happy, enlightened, but moment they come out of the place where they meditate, one finds that one is back to square one. Things are same exactly same, people still bother you, you get offended often, jealousies and prejudices are very much intact there. Now individuals begin to plan when they can run away to their safe haven. So they are always on a run. Being an escapist seems very romantic. It seems to provide an easy short cut to all problems.

Why should we meditate?

This question Why Mediate? is as good as asking, Why Eat? Is it necessary to take a bath everyday? Why take medicine when we are unwell? Well, if we know the answers to these questions, then we know that meditation is as important as eating, breathing, bathing. Understand that life is a boon, a blessing. And you learn to live only when you meditate.
So, in a way, meditation gives right knowledge and the right training to handle life. A blind man needs a stick to walk safely, but if we can cure his blindness, then he can do without that stick. Most of us are metaphorically blind. The eyes of our mind are shut. We need to open up our inner eyes – the eyes of our mind and then we’ll be able to enjoy the every-flowing bliss of life. And then everything will be clear – meditation gives pristine clarity towards our life.