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1. What does a passionate man do? He repeats the same ignominious act again and again and fills his stomach as many times as he can. What does an aspirant with burning desire for Self-realization do? He takes a little milk and repeats the process of meditation again and again all day and night and enjoys the eternal bliss of the Self. Both are busy in their own way. The former is caught up in the wheel of births and deaths Samsara Chakra) and the latter attains Immortality.
2. A dullard or a lazy man cannot practice meditation. He who has controlled the tongue and other organs, who has an acute acumen, who eats, drinks and sleeps in moderation, who has destroyed selfishness, lust, greed and
anger, can practice meditation and attain success in Samadhi.
3. Just as you require food for the body, also you require food for the soul in the shape of prayers, Japa, Kirtan, meditation, etc. Just as you are agitated when you do not get your food in time, so too will you be agitated when you do not pray in the morning and evening at the proper time. If you keep up the practice of prayer and Japa for some time you notice that the soul also wants its food at the proper time. The food for the soul is more essential than the food for the body. Therefore do your prayers, Japa and meditation regularly.
4. When you are a neophyte in meditation,
start repeating some sublime Slokas and Stotras (hymns) for ten minutes as soon as you sit for meditation.
This will elevate the mind. The mind can be easily withdrawn from worldly
objects this way. Then, stop this kind of thinking as well and fix the mind on one idea through repeated and strenuous efforts if necessary. Nishtha will
soon ensue.
5. You must have a mental image of God or Brahman (concrete or abstract) before
you begin to meditate on Him.
6. When you start a fire on some straw, pieces of paper or a thin piece of
wood, the fire will extinguish quickly. But if you blow on it several times
using your mouth or a blow-pipe, after some time it will become a small
conflagration. You can hardly extinguish it now even with great efforts. So, at the beginning of meditation, the neophytes fall down from it
into their old habits. They will have to lift up their mind again and again
and fix it on Lakshya. When meditation becomes
very deep and steady, they will eventually become established in the Absolute. Then the
meditation becomes Sahaja (natural). It becomes
habitual. Use the blow-pipe of Teevra Vairagya and intense meditation to re-kindle and enhance the fire of
meditation.
7. You should notice whether you remain stationary on the
spiritual path, even after many years of spiritual practice, or whether you are
progressing. Sometimes you may also regress if you are not vigilant and
careful, if your Vairagya wanes and if you slack
in your meditation. Reaction may set in. Some have practiced meditation for a period
of 15 years and yet they have not made any real progress at all. Why? This is
due to lack of aspiration, Vairagya, a keen longing
for liberation and an intense, constant Sadhana
(spiritual practice).
8. During meditation, if your mind is more Sattvic you will be inspired. The mind will start composing
fine poems and solving the problems of your life. However, you must stamp out these Sattvic Vrittis also. For they are still a
dissipation of mental energy. Soar higher and higher until you reach Atman.
9. You will get the full Ananda of the Divine Glory
only when you dive deep, when you merge deeply into silent meditation. When you
are on the borderland of Divinity or God, when you are at the gate or threshold
to God. When you are just at the outskirts you will not get the maximum peace and
bliss.
10. Before saturating the mind with thoughts of Brahman you will have to
assimilate the Divine ideas first. Assimilation first and saturation
after. Then realization comes at once
without a moments delay. Remember this triplet always:
AssimilationSaturationRealization.
11. There is always a complaint amongst the aspirants: I have been meditating for the
last 12 years. I have not made any improvement. I have no realization. Why is
that? What is the reason? They have not plunged themselves into deep meditation,
into the innermost recesses of their hearts. They have not properly assimilated
and saturated the mind with the thoughts of God. They have not performed a regular
and systematic Sadhana. They have not disciplined the Indriyas perfectly. They have not collected all the
outgoing rays of the mind. They have not determined themselves to realize their goals this very second. They have not given the entirety of their mind
towards God. They have not maintained a flow of Divine Consciousness.
12. Meditate for 2 or 3 hours. If you get
tired, rest for half an hour. Have a cup of milk and then sit down again for
meditation. Repeat the process of meditation again and again. You need not go for a walk when you are
meditating seriously. Do not allow the mind to have any worldly thoughts even
for a few minutes. This method will keep the mind very, very busy and
entrap it within a short period of time. Practice this and
you can enter into Samadhi within forty days. After some time
you will be able to sit continuously even for 14 hours at a time.
13. You will have to pass through six stages of meditation to be finally able to
enter into perfect Nirvikalpa Samadhi or superconscious state. Form-perception and reflex-perception
will totally vanish. Now there is neither meditator
nor meditation. The meditator and the meditated have
become one. You will now attain the highest knowledge, the eternal and supreme
peace. This is the goal of life. This is the aim of existence. This is the
final beatitude of life. You are an established sage or illuminated Jivanmukta now. You are spiritually liberated while still living. Hence you
are called a Jivanmukta. You are absolutely free from
pain, sorrow, fear, doubt and delusion. You have become identical with Brahman.
The bubble has become the ocean. The river has joined the ocean. All differences and distinctions will totally vanish. You will
truly experience the phrase: I am the Immortal Self. All indeed is Brahman. There is nothing
but Brahman.
by Swami Sivananda – “Easy Steps on Yoga“