MEDITATION.

I can only talk about how I used to meditate,(or rather prepare to meditate). I have now dispensed with the preliminary mantras and music and go straight to exercises and concentration. However if one is new to meditation preparation they are still valid.

This is how I usually used to start out. Do some "Hatha Yoga"exercises accompanied by suitable spiritual music,such as "The Gayatri Mantra," or Bhajans/hymns.I then do some breathing exercises involving deep-breathing and breath retention.Whilst I am doing this I am chanting" The Gayatri Mantra"in my mind,especially doing retentions.I also imagine that I am balancing my Yin and Yang, male and female energies.I breathe Yang through the top of my head and Yin through the base of my spine.I imagine that I am a tree.I imagine that the energy is coming up through roots and down through branches. Which then meet at my heart centre;so balancing the energies.I do this with strong visualisation before the breathing exercises. These are all preparatory exercises to the actual highest meditation which is of course beyond the mind. Many people mistake all this preparation for meditation, but true meditation is Dhyana and Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

When I have finished these exercises I then, sometimes, do some Japa, chanting my Mantra on my Japamala.I imagine "White Light" streaming into my heart and through my entire body. I then concentrate on the spot where lip and nose meet,until I am absorbed. The God form can be a mantra or anything, if you don’t have a God Form such as Krishna or Jesus etc. I personally don’t have a God form as such---So I used a mantra.This can be playing in the background, if required.I must say that I now no longer require this.

One may not need to do the Pranayama breathing exercises or the Hatha Yoga.It is suggested breathing through the left nostril thinking Soh,and then out the right nostril thinking Ham.Do this for a few minutes to relax then do your own meditation .

I also do some Chakra Concentration but this is something but this must be approached with caution as it involves Kundalini. It is also necessary to relax one’s body from toes, up the body to the shoulders, down the arms and then up the back and over the head. Every muscle must be relaxed so that there is no energy to interfere with concentration. This can be done with an affirmation, ‘relax now so and so’-three times. One can stretch one’s arms and legs and stiffen them and then drop them if necessary.

Meditation Preparation is a matter of programming our mental computer with as much as possible about Divinity.For we are what we think about,so why not think about Divinity.Meditation Concentration essentially replaces many wandering thoughts with one major thought,for a time.

"It is not practical to concentrate on that which has no form.To concentrate on the jyoti(flame)is an illustration.The object of concentration can be sound,form,the candle,etc. It isn’t easy to fix the mind on formlessness."

“ Meditation is in several steps, which people wrongly call meditation. First there is one pointedness and concentration, then it moves on to the samadhis. There is savikalpa which means with attributes, then there is nirvikalpa, above the mind, which means without attributes but is temporary. Finally there is above the mind nirvikalpa that is permanent or Sahaja, that is the real meditation. I find this quite a fascinating explanation of Moksha....Tony. "Moksha is liberation from the shackles of existence. These are known in modern parlance as the phobias and fears, inhibitory complexes, unnatural conditioning and irrational impulses. These and the deficiency in sensual perceptions, known as Maaya, are to be overcome." Balasubramaniam. Shankara suggested the following steps to achieve Moksha. Satsangatve nissangatvam, Nissangatve nirmohatvam, Nirmohatve nischala chittam Nischala chitte jeevan mukhtih. In good company one learns objectivity; Delusions disappear in objectivity; Equanimity arises from the undeluded state; In equanimity lies liberation. Objectivity is the most important first step. In fact one can say with confidence: "Objectivity is the operative word of Vedanta."