Meditation & How to Meditate
Meditation
Source: Sahaja Yoga Chicago (March 2006)
Despite all its popularity, today very few of us truly know what meditation is. Some regard meditation is the mental concentration on something, others consider that we meditate when we imagine something that gives us peace or satisfaction. All these methods are being with one goal to slow down and, eventually, completely stop the incessant activity of our minds. These exercises are not really meditation - they are substitutes for meditation because it is normally very difficult to stop our minds all-together. In reality, meditation is a state of thoughtless awareness. It is not an act of doing - it is a state of awareness. We either in this state or we are not, regardless of what we are doing in life. Truly, a man can be in meditation while doing his day's labors as another man can be very far from meditation while sitting in a lotus posture on the top of a mountain.
Upon reading this, many of us would wonder how you can live if you are not thinking because you are always in meditation. The answer is that if you can stop your thoughts, it is not difficult to start thinking again when it is necessary. You become the master of yourself - you think when it is necessary and you are thoughtless when there is no need to think. Shri Mataji, the founder of Sahaja Yoga, explains:
Let us think for a moment. And we can see that thought is limited: How big is the Universe? Who has created it? How small are atoms? And who has the answer? How can we understand Him who is managing us all? Can a drop understand the Ocean? Our consciousness is a bottomless sea. When the thoughts cease is the beginning of the answers. Our thoughts are like the wind which causes ripples on the surface of the sea. Only when the thoughts dry up can we, in Silence, recognize our own depth, just as the sea exposes its real depth when the wind subsides.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Meditation has been described by many saints, prophets and enlightened souls. Their words could describe the state but they could not describe the process by which it was achieved. It was a mystery, the great unknown and the secret to the happiness and peace in life. In 1970, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, opened a gate for all of us to experience what meditation really is ourselves. No longer do we need books describing what it is - anyone can experience the state of meditation through simple and natural techniques. It has now become easier to evolve spiritually in a heart of a metropolis than in the jungles of Himalayas.
Meditation can only be achieved through the process known as "self-realization". Self-realization is the awakening of our own pure energy that lies dormant within us - unknown and unsuspected.
"Meditation is the only way you can grow... because when you meditate, you are in silence.
You are in thoughtless awareness.
Then the growth of awareness takes place"
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
How to Meditate
One should try to meditate every day. Meditation is being fully in the present moment, without thinking or judging. It is like being in a witness state, where you observe everything inside and outside of you, without reacting. The effects of such a meditation will show quickly in all aspects of our life, sometimes in a few weeks, sometimes even earlier - as inner peace, joy and balance.
In Sahaja Yoga meditation, the first state to be established is thoughtless awareness, as described above. Although after Self Realization this does not require effort since the Kundalini takes us spontaneously to that state, practice is needed to establish and deepen that state. Shri Mataji's photograph emits these vibrations (Kundalini energy) which our own Kundalini recognizes and reacts to. The best is to meditate in a quiet place (same place every day if possible) in front of Shri Mataji's photograph, either sitting comfortably cross legged (asanas or difficult postures are not necessary), or simply in a chair with one's back upright. Ten to fifteen minutes of allowing your Kundalini to rise and bring you inner silence (thoughtless awareness) are enough to begin with, if practiced every day (ideally twice a day - first thing in the morning and last thing at night).
This is a very basic, barebones meditation, but can be a very good and effective start if practiced regularly and putting our whole heart into it. There are many techniques in Sahaja Yoga which use the energy of the Kundalini (vibrations, Chaitanya) to clear our subtle system (chakras and nadis) and put us in the state of thoughtless awareness, which is the true meditation. All these techniques are taught progressively at the Sahaja Yoga programs and workshops held all over the world free of charge, where you will also receive a photograph of Shri Mataji for meditation as well as other materials.
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