Bow and Arrow

As mentioned the purpose of real meditation is union of God and soul.  This is depicted in this picture.  Here the target is God, arrow is soul, bow syllable Om is used to shoot the arrow. In other words, by controlling the intellect and mind, enter the soul into God by repeating Om, so that mind does not waver. Keep God and His attributes of blissful, Just, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent in the background.

Yoga Meditation (Patanjali Meditation) is

the original by Maharishi Patanjali

युज्जते मन उत युज्जते धियो विप्रा विप्रस्य ब्रीहतो विपशिचतः |

वि होत्रा दधे वयुनाविदेक् इन्मही देवस्य सवितुः परिष्टुतिः ||     RigVeda 5.81.1

Yujjate mana uta yujjate dhiyo vipraa viprsya breehto vipshichatah, vi hotraa ddhe vayunaavidek inmahee devasya savituah prishtutiah. RigVeda 5.81.1

Meaning: Those desirous of bliss join their soul including the mind, and intellect with the Supreme, so that the mind becomes tranquil and the person becomes blissful and enlightened with spiritual knowledge directly from God, the Source of all true knowledge.               

Note: This conscious joining of the soul with Supreme Consciousness i.e. God, is true upäsanä or yoga or meditation

युञ्जानः प्रथमं मनस्तत्त्वाय सविता धियः |

अग्नेज्योर्तिर्निचाय्य प्रीथिव्या अध्याभरत || YV 11.1

Yunjaanah prthamm manastattvaaya savitaa dhiyah,

Agnejyortirnichaayya preethivyaa adhyaabharata.                                                                            YajurVeda 11.1

Meaning: Yogi (by meditating) who strive to realize the reality of Divine Existence and His knowledge. Self effulgent and All illuminating God installs his (yogi’s) intellect in Him. This is the characteristics of a real yogi.

Yoga simply means union. Therefore, union of soul and God is yoga. In other words realization of God by soul is yoga or union. The union is possible only by yoga meditation. Although the main purpose of meditation is to connect with God, yet there are many other benefits as one makes progress in this direction. For this union lot of preparation is required. In this regard sage Patanjali based on the Vedas has given 8 limbs in this journey.

The eight limbs of Yoga Meditation

1. MORALS / YAMAS — Yamas consists of five commandments:
   1. Non-killing/non-hurting (ahinsa)
      1. Not hurting or killing any living beings for food or entertainment
      2. Considering all living beings as friends
      3. Exceptions are made in self defense
   2. Truthfulness (satya)
      1. Knowing the truth
      2. Speaking the truth
      3. Following and speaking what you know
      4. Exceptions can be made, if truth will cause extreme harm to someone
   3.  Abstinence from stealing (astaeya)
      1. Not taking anything of others without their permission
      2. Not even to think of taking any thing of others
      3. Earning by honest means
   4. Continence (brahmcharya)
      1. Study for 25 years
      2. Observe celibacy and complete control during studies
      3. Get married at ripe age and be faithful
      4. After thorough studies, educate others
      5. Always have discipline and control
   5. Non-covetousness (aparigrah)
      1. Non-greed
      2. Not hoarding of things
      3. Sharing with the needy
      4. Keeping only what is needed
      5. Avoid arrogance
      6. Give excess to charity
2. OBSERVANCE/ NIYAMA — which consists of five commandments:
   1. Cleanliness (shauch)
      1. External body hygiene
      2. Purity of thoughts, speech and actions.
   2. Contentment (Santosh)
      1. Being content
      2. Not chasing worldly pleasures
      3. Limiting desires
      4. Simple and natural life style
   3.  Austerity (tapa)
      1. Facing the difficult situations
      2. Attaining satvik (good) qualities
      3. Being active and hard working
      4. Not being slave to comforts and luxuries
      5. Enduring highs and lows, hot and cold, profit and loss
   4. Self-study (svaadhya)
      1. Regular study of spiritual authentic literature
      2. Regularly listening to the intellectual discourses
      3. Analyzing what is read or heard Examining it for truth
      4. Accepting and adopting in life, if found truthful
   5. Contemplation of God (ishwar pranidhan)
      1. Complete devotion of mind and soul to God
      2. Having God in thoughts
      3. Believing in God alone, who is worthy of adoration, worship and meditation; non else
      4. Getting lost in Him

The above yamas and niyamas are very important for yoga meditation as well as in life. These are the character builders. Following these one becomes a real human being. Only a real human being can achieve the union with God.

3. POSTURE/ASANA — Ability to sit comfortably for a longer period is asana.

 

4. DEEP-BREATHING/PRANAYAMA — Pranayama is a special method of breath-control by which the life-force is brought under control and made regular. This is achieved by controlling the incoming and outgoing breaths. These are four:

1. Expiratory/Baahya — breathing all the way out, then holding as long as one comfortably can.
2. Inspiratory/ Aabhyantra – breathing all the way in, then holding for a while.
3. Cessation/Stambhvritti – stopping the normal breathing, then holding as long as one comfortably can.
4. Expirator-Inspiratory-Cessation/Baahya-aabhyantra-akshepee – Controlling breath against its flow.

Breath is called Prana. Prana is most important for life. Without breath, one can not live even for few minutes. Pranas controls the mind. Therefore, controlling breath helps to control the mind. As a result mind becomes still and meditative state is achieved. Pranayama does not have to be done just to do the meditation, it can also be done as a stand alone just like yoga asanas. Therefore, a detailed description of Pranayama is given later in this heading.

5. ABSTRACTION/PRATYAAHAAR — Abstraction is when the mind is brought under control and it does not move or distract from the contemplation of God. Just as when one is deeply concentrated on studies etc. then do not get distracted, similarly when deeply concentrated on God, nothing can distract him.

6.CONCENTRATION/DHAARNA — When the mind is totally fixed on an idea or a point and does not flicker is dhaarna. The focus should be on the attributes of God as Blissful, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Just etc. Study of the Vedas helps in this focus. Repeating God’s name ‘Om’ helps concentration.

7.MEDITATION/DHYAAN — Meditation is uniform and unbroken flow.  During dhyaan one even forgets the surroundings and oneself. The mind becomes tranquil and one enjoys the divine bliss.

8.ABSORPTION/SAMAADHI or Self-Realization — The same (meditation) when one become one with God is absorption (Samadhi). This is real meaning of Yoga meditation. This is the crowing glory of achievement. One enjoys the Supreme bliss and no more sufferings.

 How to Meditate:

Freshen up with water. Go to a clean, neat, pleasant and secluded place. Take a comfortable seat, keep body erect and head straight. Practice pranayama. Remove impurities of mind, become self composed and calm. Empty your mind from thoughts. Close your eyes softly; fix the attention on the navel region, heart, tip of nose, tip of tongue, between eye brows or spine. Repeat the word Om (Aum) first vocally then in the mind and get absorbed in God. When mind wavers, fix mind and soul on God again and again – repeat Om in mind and feel All pervading, All blissful God within you and around you. Periods of enjoyment and bliss will go on increasing with practice. That state of mind will positively affect the attitude, behavior, dealings and work.

By gaining the true Vedic knowledge and doing the righteous deeds, followed with sincere meditation one advances towards Moksha. The feeling is described as:

“No tongue can describe that bliss which flows in communion with the Supreme Spirit, into the soul of that man, whose impurities are washed off by the practice of Yoga, whose mind being abstracted from the outside world is centered in the Supreme Spirit, because that happiness is felt by the human soul in its inner self alone.” Upanishad.

“Just as color cannot be perceived by ears, or sound by eyes; in like manner, the Eternal Supreme Spirit is not perceptible to the senses. He can only be seen by a pure soul through the purity of heart, acquisition of knowledge and the practice of yoga. Just as one cannot reap the advantages of knowledge without acquiring it, likewise the Supreme Spirit cannot be seen without the practice of yoga and gaining the highest knowledge.” The Light of Truth.

Early in the morning, when there is no hustle and bustle, is the best time for the purpose.

As a pre-requisite for Yoga, you need to eat right type of food — the food that will keep your mind clear, clean and calm. Meat, fish, eggs, tobacco, liquor and all other intoxicants take the peace of mind away. Therefore, they need to be avoided. The stomach should not be overfilled.

Mind should be free from arrogance, jealousy and hatred. You need to have faith in the existence of God, His qualities, powers and works and a strong desire to meet Him.

Pranayama in Detail

As described yoga is to achieve union of God and Soul. In order to achieve this goal; body, mind and soul must be in complete harmony.  Therefore, yoga is for complete progress of body, mind and soul.  There are 8 limbs of yoga as described above. Pranayama is one of the 8 limbs.

Why Pranayama

Pranayama has the capacity of freeing the mind from untruthfulness, ignorance and all other painful and unpleasant experiences of the body and mind; and when the mind becomes clean it becomes easy for the person to concentrate on the desired object and it becomes possible for him to progress further in the direction of meditation.
By Yoga postures (asanas), we remove the distortions and disabilities of the physical body and bring it into discipline. However Pranayama influences the subtle and the physical bodies in a greater measure than Yoga asanas do and that too in a perceptible manner. In the human body, lungs, heart and brain hold very important positions and they depend on each other heavily for their health.
Physically, Pranayama appears to be a systematic exercise of respiration, which makes the lungs stronger, improves blood circulation and makes the body healthier. Physiology teaches us that the air (Prana) we breathe in fills our lungs, spreads in the entire body, providing the essentials for the body, taking them to the heart and then to the lungs, which throws the useless material like carbon dioxide out of the body through exhalation. If this action of the respiratory system is done regularly and efficiently, lungs become stronger and blood becomes pure.

However, most of the people do not have the habit of breathing deeply with the result that only one-fourth part of the lungs is brought into action and 75 percent remains idle. Like the honeycomb, lungs are made of about 73 million cells, comparable to a sponge in their making. On normal breathing, to which we all are accustomed, only about 20 million pores in the lungs get oxygen, whereas remaining 53 million pores remain deprived of the benefit, with the result that they get contaminated by several diseases like tuberculosis, respiratory diseases and several ailments like coughing, bronchitis etc.

In this way, the inefficient functioning of the lungs affects the process of blood purification. Heart weakens because of this with a constant possibility of untimely death. It is for this reason that the importance of Pranayama has been recognized, for a healthy long life. Several diseases can be averted by regular practice of Pranayama. Hence, it is obvious that the knowledge of the science of Pranayama and its regular practice enables to lead a healthy and long life.

Mental disturbances like excitement, anxiety, fear, anger, disappointment, lust and other mental perversions can be calmed down by regular practice of Pranayama. Besides, Pranayama practice improves the functions of the brain cells with the result that memory and the faculty of discrimination and observation improves, making it easy to perform concentration and meditation.

 Some rules for Pranayama

• Select a clean and peaceful place for doing Pranayama. If possible, choose a place near a clean pond or river.
• Sit comfortably body erect and head straight. If you sit on the floor, sheet or cloth (cotton or wool etc.) on which you sit must be a non-conductor of electricity.
• Breathe only through the nose, because by doing so the air which you take in, is filtered. During daytime when you are not sitting for Pranayama make it a habit to do respire only through nose and not through mouth. It prevents foreign and harmful objects from getting into lungs.
• Like yoga, Pranayama should also be done four or five hours after the meal. Stomach should not be full.  In the morning Pranayama should be done after finishing daily routine acts like cleansing mouth, emptying of bowels etc., it should also be done before Yoga asanas. In the beginning Pranayama should be done for five or ten minutes gradually the time may be increased up to about 1/2 or 1 hour. Maintain a specific number of repetitions and do not deviate. Maintain a specific rhythm. Keep your mind calm and composed. However, Pranayama can also calm down the disturbed mind.
• Methods of Pranayama may be varied according to the seasons and your own physical make up and mental attitude. Keep this in mind and modulate the method accordingly. Some Pranayama increase the body temperature, whereas, some bring it down. Some Pranayama maintain the temperature at the normal level.
• If you feel fatigued while doing Pranayama, rest for a while and then begin deep breathing, which will remove the fatigue.
• Pregnant women, when hungry, when having fever and the lust full having no control on their passions should not do Pranayama. Special instructions must be followed when not feeling well for Pranayama.
• For prolonged exercises of Pranayama, observance of celibacy is necessary. Besides, food should be simple not containing irritating spices. It should be ‘Satvika’ – (Plain and simple, non-spicy vegetarian food). Use of cow’s milk, ghee (clarified butter), fruits and green vegetables can be said to be ideal food. Moderation also is a good rule to observe.
• Do not strain yourself while doing ‘Kumbhak’ i.e. retaining the breathed air inside or keeping the air out after exhaling (Breathing in is called ‘puraka’, retaining the breathed air in is called ‘Kumbhak’ and exhaling the air is called ‘Rechak’).
• Pranayama does not mean just breathing in, keeping the breathed air in and exhaling it. It also means establishing control on the entire breathing process, and maintaining mental equilibrium, and concentration of mind.
• It is beneficial to chant the mantra Om (the first cosmic soundless sound), aloud and repeat the same several times before doing Pranayama. Even recital of sacred songs in the praise of almighty God or recital of some sacred hymns may be beneficial. This will calm the mind and make one fit for Pranayama, because a peaceful mind is very essential while doing Pranayama. Mental or loud recitation of Gayatri Mantra given below considered as one of the greatest mantra, used in meditation and also for chanting or any other sacred hymn brings spiritual benefits to the practitioner.See that while doing Pranayama, none of your organs such as mouth, eyes, nose, etc. feels any strain and it should be done gradually without any undue stress or strain. All the organs of the body should be kept in normal condition. While doing Pranayama sit in an erect posture. Keep your spine and neck straight. This is essential for reaping the full benefit of Pranayama.

Pranayama Types and Method

As in the act of vomiting all the contents of the stomach are violently expelled, so should the breath be expired forcibly, and held out as long as possible by drawing up the pelvic viscera. When discomfort is felt, the air should be gently taken in and held as long as possible. This process should be repeated according to one’s desire and strength. While practicing pranayama, one should contemplate on Om.  This exalts and purifies the soul and develops concentration of mind. Never hold nose with hand, always practice pranayama as is.  The pranayama is of four kinds as given above:

1. a) External – The process mentioned above in which the breath is held out as long as possible.
2. b) Internal – In which the breath is held in as long as possible as above.
3. c) Cessation – In which the breathing is suddenly stopped at any stage of respiration.
4. d) Internal and external restrain – To restrain the internal breath when it is to go out, by breathing in, in opposition to it, and to restrain the external breath, when it seeks to get in, by breathing out to propel and stop it. By thus breathing oppositely the action of both expiration and inspiration is checked, and the respiration being controlled, the will and the senses are brought under subjection to the mind or soul.

Note: There are several other types of Pranayamas. But Rishi Patanjali prescribed to only above 4.

By the practice of Pranayama the veil of ignorance gets destroyed. In the words of Rishi Patanjali and Rishi Manu:

“The practice of Praanaayaama gradually burns off all impurities and elevates the soul. The light of knowledge in the soul goes on continually increasing till the soul is emancipated.” YOGA Shaastra Saadhanapaada, 28 (Patanjali).

“Just as a goldsmith, by blowing strongly against a piece of impure gold, removes its impurities by oxidation, so does Praanaayaama burns off all impurities of the mind and senses.” MANU 6: 71

Mantra for meditation

Aum (OM) word is most important for yoga meditation. This is the prime name of one God of the universe. Contemplate on Om for meditation.

Aum word is made of the combination of ‘a’, ‘u’, and ‘m’

‘a’ means creator of the universe.

‘u’ means sustainer of the universe.

‘m‘ means annihilator of the universe.

The word ‘aum’ has in itself all the chief qualities of God. For articulation of Aum, first the lips open (representing beginning of creation), then lips stay open (representing continuance of creation), then lips close (representing annihilation of creation).

Gaitri Mantra

One of the most prominent of mantras of the Vedas is Gaitri Mantra.  This mantra is highly recommended by the sages.  They say that if someone studies nothing else in the Vedas but contemplates only on Gaitri Mantra, it is sufficient to take one to the next level of evolution. Gaitri Mantra is heavily used for Yoga meditation. Gaitri mantra is:

औउम् भूर्भुवः स्वः | तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि | धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् || Rigveda 3.62.10, Yajurveda 36.3

Om bhur bhuvah svah, tat-savitur-vrenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi, dhiyo yo nah pracho-dayaata. Rigveda 3.62.10, Yajurveda 36.3

Meaning:

O Supreme Father! Thou art the Giver of Life,

Remover of pain and sufferings,
The Bestower of happiness.

Thou Art Creator of the Universe and most adorable,

We meditate upon thee, O most pure and divine.

Thou may guide our intellect on the righteous path.