Meditation is a simple process
Our mind is always fed with thoughts. Thoughts are excitement, worries, unpleasantness, love, compassion, passion, fear, tension so on… in short, our mind is always cluttered. Mental clutter is something we all work on in our entire life. We constantly have some sort of mental clutter, something is always going on in our mind. Our mind does not something new to occupy it, our past or our future also keeps us busy. Some days are cool, better while some are worst. The natural tendency of the mind is to be restless and constantly think. The restless mind jumps from one thought to another, allowing thoughts to come and go relentlessly, from morning till night, giving us no rest for a moment. Do we invite thoughts? Not exactly, they just come, occupy our attention for a while, and then disappear, making place for others.
Thoughts are the like clouds. They wander through the sky. Like the clouds, they are not permanent. Due to their recurrent movement, they distract or attention and disturb our focus. Our thoughts also resemble the waves of the sea, which grow bigger during high tide and smaller during low tide. They are always in a state of motion, never standing still. Our mind is always thinking, analyzing, reviewing and strategizing whatever it contacts. It keeps analyzing and comparing present to past, keeps questioning, tries reasoning in short, our mind indulges in this nonstop activity. A positive mind gives strength to the body to perform positively and negative mind saturates our energies.
Meditation is a technique for resting the mind. While meditating, the mind is clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. While you meditate, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on what goes on around you, or on the external factors. While mediating your inner state is still and concentrates on one point, your mind is silent. And, when mind is silent it no longer distracts you, at this point meditation deepens.
Think about this. Everything we achieve in life is the result of our actions. Actions chosen by us are the result of our decisions. Our decisions come out of our thinking process and finally our thinking process entirely depends on quality of our mind. A peaceful, serene mind helps us take good decision and in a disturbed state of mind we tend to take wrong decisions.
From childhood, we are educated to observe and validate things in our external world. We are never thought to study things what goes on within us. We therefore ignore what goes on within us; we forget to verify within, look within, discover within. Therefore, while we get a feeling we have learnt everything, or that we are smart we remain strangers to ourselves, while trying to get to know others. This lack of self-understanding is one of the main reasons our relationships don’t work with others. We blame for anything and everything others. We don’t realize that the fault is within and it can be cured. Because we don’t look within we are confused and disappointed always in our life.
Do you know that with all our formal education very little of the mind is cultivated; the part of the mind that dreams and sleeps which is the vast territory of the unconscious which is the reservoir of all our experiences remains unknown and is undisciplined all our life because we are not aware of it? This vast reservoir is wasted by most of us and it is not controlled by us. When we start practicing meditation, we start developing and using the rest of our mind. We gain control over the totality of the mind.
Meditation is simple process: The process of mediation is very simple. I don’t know why the world fusses so much over it. To begin with, commit few minutes of yours – may be five minutes a day. Try to fix a time simply if you want the habit to stick. You can do it for ten minutes if you feel good about it, but all you are committing to is five minutes each day. With little bit of practice of few days it will create a trigger in you.
Find a quiet spot where you can sit just by yourself. The spot could be a corner in your home, your kitchen or your work station in your office. You don’t need to go out in search of it. It need not be a park or a beach or a place of worship to meditate. Don’t look for a soothing surrounding. The place really doesn’t matter, what matters is as long as you can sit without being bothered for a few minutes.
Sit comfortably. Do not fuss too much about how you sit or what you wear. Don’t waste your energies on deciding what you sit on. If you want to lean against the wall or need a pillow to relax your back – take it. You may sit on sofa or a chair.
Focus on your breath, observe it. See how you breathe in and breathe out. Feel the breath on your upper lip; check the rhythm, check the speed. As you breathe in, follow your breath in through your nostrils, then into your throat, then into your lungs and belly. Sit straight; keep your eyes open but focus on one point. If you would like to close your eyes, that’s fine. As you breathe out, follow your breath out back into the world. If you feel like, count your breaths: one – breathe in, two – breathe out, three – breathe in, and four- breathe out. When you get to 10, start over again. If you find your mind wandering and initially it will, just pay attention to your wandering mind. Concentrate and bring it gently back to your breath. Repeat this process for the few minutes you meditate. It will become a regular habit in a matter of days. It’s that simple, repeat this process daily and I am sure, you will able to meditate easily. After few days you will be able to blank your mind easily and then look inwardly.
Don’t fight with your mind; let thoughts come and go. Don’t try to control it, just witness that the thoughts are coming and going. Whatsoever passes you simply take note of it without prejudice for or against. Don’t call it names; don’t feel guilty about not being able to control the process. Don’t think this is an ugly thought or this is a good thought. You should remain non-judgmental because the moment you judge, you lose meditation.
The goal of meditation is to go beyond the mind and experience our essential nature which is described as peace, happiness, and bliss. Anyone who has tried to meditate knows, the mind itself is the biggest obstacle standing between the self and this awareness. The mind is by nature unruly and unmanageable. And, it resists any attempts to discipline it or to guide it on a particular path. The mind has a mind of its own. That is why many people sit for meditation and experience only fantasies and illusions.
Try meditating daily at the same time and you will soon see that meditation becomes an inner hunger.
