Meditation (Part - II) Object & Distractions

Object and Distractions

Normal State of Mind

The complex relationship between mind, senses, thoughts and subconscious mind was explained in the previous articles fast mind slow brain, the mysterious driver, the secrets of subconscious mind and five types of thoughts. The ordinary state of mind of any normal human being is very turbulent. Different types of thoughts keep coming and going in the mind. You might be thinking about of your work and suddenly a random thought related to some other object will come and it will trigger an another random thought of some other object and so on these random thoughts keep coming in your mind. This process is automatic and you can’t turn it off and already has been well explained in previous articles. 

Principally these thoughts can be categorized in two types- external thoughts and internal thoughts. While our five senses are accountable for external thoughts like eyes keep recording the events. Nose smells, ears keep listening, tongue works in association with eyes and nose and skin keeps sensing. Suppose you are thinking about your work and someone goes in front of you with a pizza your nose will instantaneously refer the thought (mental image) of pizza to your mind and you will be deviated from what you are thinking. If by somehow you control your senses by closing the eyes, sitting in a quiet and isolated place doesn't mean that random thoughts will stop coming in your mind. Internal thoughts are more dominant than external thoughts. Memory is the source of internal thoughts and mental images of random thoughts will keep coming. 

The diagram explains the normal state of mind. A,B,C,D etc are different type of random thoughts. If we want to focus only on one thought then that thought is called the object of the meditation and all other thoughts that keep coming in our mind are called distractions. The whole purpose of the concentration and meditation is to eliminate those distractions.

Step 1: Concentration (Eliminate the distractions)

Concentration is the first step towards meditation. So the meditation is all about converging on one thought by elimination other thoughts (distractions) since functioning of mind is automatic and you can’t control it so your mind keeps processing random thoughts continuously without discontinuing so we can also say meditation is all about converting this automatic mind into controlled mind. Those who are in advance stage of meditation can control their mind easily and they can focus on one thought of their choice effortlessly and without their consent no other thought can intrude in their mind. Just imagine the power of those persons and what type of wonders they can do. They are sitting in a bone chilling place with minimum cloths where temperature is in minus degree centigrade and their skin is referring thought of coldness to the mind but they are focusing on fire and their body starts to sweat. This is just a small thing that meditation can do. Meditation is an art of obtaining the knowledge and when you can get the subtle knowledge (Swarupa) of any thing you can certainly control that thing.

Let’s back to the procedure, to perform meditation you need an object on which you are going to focus. The object can be a physical object like a photo of god or candle or sun or water or it can be an imaginary object. In physical object you need to keep your eyes open and keep seeing that object and in imaginary object you need to keep your eyes close and keep visualizing that object. I used to do meditation on a photo of Goddess Gayatri with open eyes.

When you have selected the object then sit in relaxed position in a lonely place (Sukhasan is the easiest position to sit). Now in the stage of concentration we try to focus on that object by rejecting other distractions. Initially it is very difficult. You concentrate on object for some seconds and suddenly other thoughts arise into mind as you realize you again bring back your attention on object but after some seconds another thought arises in your mind. It’s an erratic pattern explained in below image where A B C D etc are different thoughts while A is the thought on which we are trying to focus. B C D etc are distractions thoughts. Suppose you try to focus on object for 2 minutes may be your attention was on object about 1 minutes and 1 minutes there were distractions in your mind. Your duty is keep practising and keep improving focus time and reduce distraction time. With the practice other distraction thoughts B C D will be eliminated and there will be only one thought A in the mind.

How long it takes to reach into Meditation stage and Samadhi stage depends upon individual to individual. That’s why Patanjali put the stage of concentration on at step no 6 in his astang yoga. If you go step by step from 1 to 5 then it becomes very easy. Yama and Niyama eliminate the disturbances which are caused by uncontrolled emotions and desires. Asana and Pranayama eliminate the disturbances arising from the physical body. Pratyahara, by detaching the sense organs from the mind, cuts off the external world and the impressions which it produces on the mind. But frankly saying it’s very difficult in our routine life to follow from step no 1 to step no 5 so if you want you can directly go to step no 6 of astang yoga for the meditation.

Concentration is preliminary stage of meditation and you can’t go into meditation without it and some people mistakenly take concentration as meditation. Meditation is more advance stage of concentration. Here one thing to notice is that the concentration explained here can’t be compared with the concentration explained in western psychology. The definition of concentration is bit different in eastern psychology. According to Eastern psychology concentration begins with the controlled movement of the mind and it can reach a state in which all movement or change stops. In this stage the mind becomes one with the essential nature of the object concentrated upon and can thus move no further while western psychology simply believes mind can’t be controlled.

In the concentration stage the mind is confined in a limited sphere defined by the object of concentration. A limited freedom of movement is possible when the mind is being concentrated upon a particular object. In this stage keep the mind continuously involved in the consideration of the object and to bring it back immediately as soon as the connection is broken. But concentration is not all about eliminating the distractions it also aimed to complete focus of mind on object. If you are meditating on virtual object by closing eyes then unclear and blurred mental image should be replaced by sharply defined mental image in the process of concentration.

So the purpose of concentration stage is that practitioner should aim at eliminating the intruding thoughts which are called distractions and should see that such interruptions are reduced in frequency in a progressive manner. When he succeeds in eliminating the distractions completely and can continue the concentration on the object without any interruptions for as long as he decides to do so he reaches the stage next stage - Meditation

 ........................................to be continued

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Meditation (Part - I) Introduction & History

Introduction & History of Meditation

There are two methods of obtaining the knowledge. One is by logic and other is by observation or experience. Our entire knowledge pursuing system depends upon these two pillars. First method is related to Science (Vigyaan) and second method is related to philosophy (Gyaan). First method is related to contemporary world that deals with mostly external world. In this method a logic or fact is presented and in to counter that logic and anti-logic is presented. Due to collision of that logic and anti-logic, a new logic is produced that is superior in nature. To counter that superior logic one more superior anti-logic is introduced and this process goes on and science keeps evolving. 

Another method is different method and that is related to ancient wisdom that is more concerned about internal world where it is believed that external is controlled by internal and if you can understand and control the internal then you can easily control the external. When you see a river from airplane you will see a thin stream flowing. Now just imagine you are keep coming close to the river from sky and it will keep becoming larger and now you are standing at the bank of river and you can see the width, flow, color of river and when you go into the river you become the part of river. Ancient people developed a technique to obtain the knowledge by observation and dissolving the mind into object and that technique is meditation.

Lot of stuff has been discussed about mind and consciousness in previous articles and till now we talked about the negative part of mind. How mind contributes in our 90 to 95% automatic decisions, how mind leads us to wrong and biased decision and responsible in shaping our behavior but now 180 degree twist is about to come in the image formed till now of mind and now we will see the magnificent part of mind. It was mentioned in first article that either mind is a ruthless master or an obedient servant. In this article we will talk about how this obedient servant can do wonders.

Meditation is one of the most popular buzz word these days and teaching has converted into purely business and most surprising aspect is those self-called meditation teacher who doesn’t know anything about dynamics of mind, are teaching this art and depriving their students from real essence of this art. I heard from lot of people talking that it’s an art for governing the mind or talking with self or controlling the anger or a relaxation technique that all are definite benefits of meditation but actually these are small byproducts of meditation. Meditation is much more beyond these benefits.  I am sure after reading this article your lot of misconception about meditation will be cleared. Ancient sages discovered the unlimited power of mind and developed this technique to obtain the knowledge from an object by controlling the mind and transforming the mind.

Rupa and Swarupa

To understand the meaning of these two words is very important to understand the basic idea of meditation. Everything in manifestation has two forms. One is an external form that expresses its superficial and non-essential nature which is called Rupa and other one is an internal form which constitutes the very essence or substance of its true nature which is called its Svarupa. Rupa is what we see by our naked eyes and Swarupa is what hidden behind that object, that can’t be seen by eyes and that is actually driving force of that object. If we can understand Swarupa of an object we can understand the true nature of that object and we can regulate that object. Meditation is a technique to understand the Swarupa of the object. It’s a technique to acquire wisdom and unleashing the infinite power of mind.

History of Meditation

Credit of invention of meditation can’t be given to a single person. It is believed that this technique was developed thousands of years abg by ancient Indian sages in India. World’s oldest literature Rig Veda talks about meditation.

 "We meditate on that desirable light of the divine Savitri, who influences our pious rites"

 (Rig Veda : Mandala-3, Sukta-62, Rcha-10)

(Lord Shiva practising Meditation)

 The language of Rig Veda is in highly coded form and it’s very difficult to understand to decode that language so there is hardly any direct verse on meditation but the truth is (those who have decoded the rig veda) entire rig veda talks about meditation. Meditation was the most popular method in ancient India for obtaining the knowledge. Various Puranas talk about demigods and mysterious Sidhis that can be attained by meditation. Miraculous powers were said to have been acquired through diligent practice of yoga and meditation. 

Upanishads are abstracts of Vedas and again very hard to understand and talks on the same essence that was mentioned in Veda but the first literature that brought meditation in very simple terms to common people was Gita. Gita is collection of Krishna Arjun dialogues from the battlefield of Kurukshetra afoul 3000 BC. In Gita, Krishna told to Arjun to controlling the mind by meditation and acquiring the real wisdom. The methodology involved in meditation is described in the 6th chapter called Dhyana Yoga or the Yoga of meditation of the Bhagavad Gita. It says a Yogi, through meditation, should concentrate his mind living alone in solitude, having gained a superb control over his mind and body getting rid of all desires in the process. This is the process of meditation but the book that revolutionized the knowledge of meditation and till date that is considered most scientific book on meditation is Yogasutra by Sage Patanjali. The book was written around 1000 years BC. This book contains 192 verses and divided in 4 chapters in which 3rd chapter is completely devoted to meditation. This book talks about eight step process of moksha. Sage Patanjali mentioned an eight step technique of moksha in which step no 6 to step no 8 is about meditation. We can’t say that Patanjali developed this technique. This technique was being used by sages from thousands of years. Patanjali was the first person who documented this process.

8 Step Astang Yoga model for Moksha:

1. Yama (self-restraint) :  Nonviolence, truthfulness, non-stealing, non-cheating on one's partner, non-possessiveness
2. Niyama (observances)  : Purity, contentment, austerity, self-study and self-surrender
3. Asanas (Postures)
4. Pranayama (Breath Control)
5. Pratyahara (Abstraction)
6. Dharna (Concentration)
7. Dhyaan (Meditation)
8. Samadhi (Trance)

Patanjali’s yogasutra is most popular book on meditation and translated in more than 40 languages. Prince of Magadh ( A State of India) Sidharth used astang yoga (700 BC) techniques and got Moksha who is better known as Budha., Meditation spread in China and from China to Japan and other pacific countries due to Budhism. Meditation is called “Dhyaan” in Sanskrita and it became “Chiaan” in China and when same term went to Japan it became “Zen” that means knowledge so the origin of word Zen is dhyaan (Meditation).

In this article I will explain detail technique of meditation. I will take the reference of Patanjali’s yogasuta’s step no 6 to step no 8 that is concentration to trance. Basically concentration, mediation and trance are different stages of same process while concentration is most basic, trance is most advance stage. The entire practice is called Sanyam and Sanyam is the process that unlocks the door of mysterious powers. Let’s talk about concentration.

........................to be continued 

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