Meditation 6

Only a yogi is able to completely control the mind; however for ordinary folks even attempt to do so has lot of benefits. Purification of mind increases the divine or superior nature or Sattvic bhava and eliminates the baser nature or the crude Rajasic and Tamasic bhavas or the demonic characters. That means one has lesser anger, material cravings and desires, impulsiveness, excitement, stress, depression. One experiences more joy with life, gets a real purpose of life, becomes more compassionate, understanding, and develops empathy and fellow feeling which helps in personal and professional lives. One is able to contend with the internal enemies like lust, anger, greed, pride and ego, delusion and envy better as one becomes aware of their presence. Awareness is the first step towards fighting the menace. Once somebody is aware of his or her weaknesses, he or she is able to fight it out.

Connecting to the inner world is necessary to know one self completely, which is often hidden amidst the clutters of external world which is perceived by senses. The mind also runs after the external objects only, driven by desires and passions. Meditation and contemplation helps one to direct the thoughts towards the inner world, the self. It is equally beneficial for an atheist or a theist, after all Lord Buddha was an atheist and he was also a complete master of mind. The true liberation is freedom from being slave to mind and senses - desires, passions, attractions to sense objects and external world, and instead begin to hold sway over them. Meditation helps one in achieving that.

In Gita lord Krishna has also mentioned who can meditate better. He is opines that a person, who eats a lot, sleeps a lot, cannot meditate, nor can a person who eats very little and is not able to get much sleep.

Yukto aahar viharasya yukto chestasya karmasu
Yukto sapnababodhasya Yogo bhavati duhkhaha

One should be moderate in eating, moderate in sleeping, moderate in work or endeavors. For such a person, Yoga mitigates sorrows.

Work can itself become meditation if done in the true spirit of service and worship, when done in a detached way without caring for the fruits. In fact that is something very clearly mentioned in Gita as well – Yogah karmasu kausalam

Apart from the ways and means prescribed in Gita, Sri Ramakrishna also had prescribed several ways of meditation, as recorded in the Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna. He had even described how one can meditate the formless entity. But he had also told that it is good for a beginner to start meditating on a form and attain certain degree of perfection, because focusing the mind on formless from the very beginning is difficult. He said that one should meditate in mind, in the wilderness, or in a secluded corner, (in Bengali dhyan korbe mone, bone o kone) i.e. in secret, seclusion, isolation, free from clutters, without announcing to the world that one is meditating. He had also advocated retirement to solitary places for a certain period of time without communication with friends and relatives and without having to do any secular work, in order to get better concentration and purification. He had advised to meditate early morning, at noon time or in the evening, when the surroundings are quiet enough and the mind is also quiet enough. During daytime because of the involvement in activities mind cannot rest peacefully. He had also advocated that the mind should be focused by concentrating on the form at the heart, near the forehead between the two eyebrows, on the tip of nose etc. These are also mentioned in Gita as possible places of fixing the mind. Sri Ramakrishna also emphasized on the posture, the lotus posture or Padmasana for better concentration. Sister Nivedita mentions in one of her writings that the lotus posture helped her in focusing better.