2. Demystifying Meditation Flashcards
What is meditation, explained in terms of effort and focus? What are the four resultant states?
Why can we say that everybody is already meditating?
If everybody already meditates, then what’s so profound about meditation?
The object of our meditation. Our object of meditation makes all the difference. A profound object gives us a profound consciousness. A mundane object gives us a mundane consciousness. A temporary object makes our meditative state of mind temporary. A profound, changeless object makes our meditation permanent. Different objects create different effects
‘How can we achieve a meditative state that is both permanent and profound?’ I asked.
‘Effortless focus upon a profound object,’ said Daaji. ‘For that, we must practice. Without a mother, there can be no baby, and without the practice of meditation, there is no meditative state.’
Why is the idea that meditation is difficult is so entrenched?
Many established teachers have espoused this view. In my opinion, they perform a disservice to the cause. If you believe the mind to be inherently unstable, it becomes your enemy. And what do you do with enemies?’ ‘You fight them,’ I answered. ‘And so meditation becomes a battle. It becomes a battle in suppressing the mind.
How can we say that having many thoughts are not an obstacle to meditation?
Having thoughts do not prevent us from enjoying a movie, or enjoying a good meal. When something draws your attention and holds it there, we become unmindful of unwanted thoughts. We only need to give our mind something to sink into - something really absorbing. Then you will observe just ho naturally it stabilises, how effortlessly it focusses.
When do we have to make efforts to concentrate?
When an object does not interest you that you must make efforts to concentrate.
What makes it effortless for us to focus on an object?
Interest in the object of meditation
What is the difference between meditation and concentration?
What is desire?
‘Desire is the soul’s misdirected urge for completion,’ said Daaji. ‘The soul craves union with its original Source. That is the real desire—the big desire! Until we know where to look, we tend to seek fulfillment externally instead.
If the ability to meditate (effortlessly focus) depends upon the interest on the object, what does interest depend upon?
Impressions that we carry
We seek fulfilment in various objects. But whey feel even emptier inside?
This is because we lack contact with our inner Source of contentment. Without such contact, we have little choice but to try to fulfill that deeper need in other ways.
What are the two problems regarding fulfilment of desires.
You have trained yourself to be restless without it, to be unhappy without it. That is the first problem. The second problem is that by repeatedly fulfilling a particular desire, you develop tolerance to that fulfillment.
Why can concentration not make us relaxing or give us peace?
In concentration, you have to marshall your mind. You focus on the single idea to the exclusion of all other ideas that you would prefer thinking about. The more deeply you concentrate, the more exclusive your awareness becomes. At its highest pitch, your entire awareness focusses on a single point, excluding all else. This required effort. It is not easy to arrest the flow of thoughts. It wants to go in a certain direction, but you are forcing it to go elsewhere. It is like trying to divert a rushing river.
Meditation cannot be relaxing or peaceful when we are applying so much effort to concentrate.
Explain the cycle of fulfilment and lack
What the mind truly craves is _____. What is true meditation or profound meditation?
Permanence.
It is not content with temporary states of happiness. It seeks infinity, a fulfillment to end all fulfillments. It seeks to fulfill that desire which, when fulfilled, marks the end of all desire. In short, the mind seeks not merely meditation, but endlessness in meditation. That is true meditation, profound meditation.
There is nothing wrong with desire…but…
‘but fulfill your real desire. Fulfill the big one. Just as a big fish swallows up the smaller fish, the biggest desire subsumes the smaller ones. In that perfect fulfillment, we attain perfect peace.’
What is the difference between desire and attraction?
‘Attraction does not mean that we like something. Not at all. Rather, it means that the mind gravitates toward it—whether we want it to or not. You see, the other side of desire is fear—aversion, revulsion. For instance, we want to live, and we fear death. They are two sides of the same coin.
The power of a thought grows to the extent that we give it our___
attention
all the objects that draw our attention are like
whirlpools
Why is the object of meditation extremely important in the context of getting us out of ‘loops of thought’?
‘We often become trapped in loops of thought that are not useful to our lives or the lives of others. In fact, these loops of thought can become destructive forces in our lives. Therefore, we have to regulate the mind. We achieve this by practising meditation. And we must practise in such a way that our minds are naturally attracted toward a useful object—a transformational object.
What is the difference between thinking and feeling?
‘Thinking is narrow, but feeling is broad. It is holistic. It encompasses thinking, but it is beyond thinking. It encompasses all our faculties, but it is beyond them, too. Through feeling, deeper truths are revealed. Divinity cannot be known, you see, but its presence can be felt.
Why do we meditate on the heart (in the context of feeling)?
The heart is the organ of feeling, and so it is with the heart that we feel it. Therefore, the heart is where we must seek it, and this is why we meditate upon the heart.
What is concentration? Why it is not relaxing?
Concentration is attempt to focus.
In concentration, you have to marshal your mind. You focus on a single idea to the exclusion of all the other ideas that you would prefer to be thinking about! The more deeply you concentrate, the more exclusive your awareness becomes. At its highest pitch, your entire awareness focuses on a single point, excluding all else.
What is absorption?
your mind naturally settles on one thought. This happens by itself, when an object is able to attract and hold your attention. When your attention is thus harnessed,
Which four steps (of patanjali yoga sutras) describe the process by which we into the depths of meditation.
pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.
We continue to hunt inner fulfilment on the material plane. Why?
Most of the time, our focus is external. Our awareness is generally limited to whatever we can perceive through the five senses. There is nothing wrong with this external orientation. It is vital to our survival.
However, we tend to go overboard with this material aspect of life. we continue to hunt inner fulfillment on the material plane. Our search remains external, and we remain preoccupied with acquiring and consuming things.
Why don’t we find anything when we look inside?
We haven’t developed the inner senses that would allow us to perceive anything on that subtle level,’ said Daaji. ‘We are like a blind person attempting to recognize the colour red. Divinity is already within us, but we don’t recognize it. We do not feel it. Therefore, it has no effect upon us.
How do we rise beyond the limitation where we do not find anything when we look inside?
In the Heartfulness approach, our meditation is aided by yogic transmission. That makes all the difference.
For now, let us understand that transmission is a catalyst for profound meditation. It allows us to experience Divinity—rather than only believing in it.
