How To Meditate?

Sit in a lonely place on Padma, Siddha or Sukha Asana. Free yourself from all passions, emotions and impulses. Subjugate the senses. Withdraw the mind from objects. Now the mind will be calm, one-pointed, pure and subtle. With the help of this trained instrument, disciplined mind, contemplate on that one Infinite Self. Do not think of anything else. Do not allow any worldly thought to enter the mind. Do not allow the mind to think of any physical or mental enjoyment. When it indulges in these thoughts, give it a good hammering. Then it will move towards Lord. Just as the river flows continuously towards the sea, divine thoughts should flow continuously towards the Lord. Just as oil, when poured from one vessel to another, flows in an unbroken, continuous stream, just as the harmonious sound produced from the ringing of bells falls upon the ear in a continuous stream, so also the mind should flow towards Lord in one continuous stream.

There must be a continuous divine thought wave flow, from the Sattvic (Pure) mind towards Lord through continuous spiritual practice. You must have a mental image of Lord or Brahman (concrete or abstract) before you begin to meditate. When you are a neophyte in meditation, start repeating some sublime Slokas or Stotras (hymns) or Prayers for ten minutes as soon as you sit for meditation. This will elevate the mind. The mind can be easily withdrawn from the worldly objects. Then stop this kind of thinking also and fix the mind on one idea only by repeated and strenuous efforts.

In meditation, you will have to develop the divine flow of thought waves. Make the thoughts of Brahman or Divine Presence flow like inundation or flood. Renounce the thoughts of objects. Drive them away with the whip of Viveka (Discrimination) and Vichara (Self-Inquiry). There is struggle in the beginning. It is trying indeed. But, later on, as you will grow stronger and stronger and as you grow in purity and becomes easy. You rejoice in the life of unity. You get strength from Soul. Inner strength grows when all the materialistic thoughts are thinned out and the mind becomes one-pointed.

When you start a fire, you heap up some straw, pieces of paper, thin pieces of wood. The fire gets extinguished quickly. You blow it again several times through the mouth of the blow-pipe. After some time it becomes a small conflagration. You can hardly extinguish it now even with great efforts. Even so, in the beginning of meditation in neophytes, they fall down from meditation in their old grooves. They will have to lift up their minds again and again and fix on the Target.

When the meditation becomes deep and steady, they get established in Lord eventually. Then the meditation becomes natural. It becomes habitual. Use the blow-pipe of intense Vairagya and intense meditation to kindle the fire of meditation. During meditation, note how long you can shut out all worldly thoughts. Watch the mind very carefully. If it is for twenty minutes, try to increase the period to thirty or forty minutes and so on. Fill the mind with the thoughts of Lord again and again. Allow the one divine idea to flow gently and continuously. Constantly think of Lord. The mind should always move towards Lord. Fasten the mind with a fine silk thread to the lotus feet of Lord. Drive out foreign or extraneous (worldly) ideas gently. Try to keep up the divine thoughts by repeating OM or “”I am a Soul” mentally very often. The idea of infinity, the idea of an ocean of light, the idea of all-knowledge and all-Bliss should accompany the mental repetition of OM.

When you begin to sweep a room that was kept closed for six months, various kinds of dirt come out from the corners of the room. Similarly, during meditation, under pressure of Yoga, through the Grace of Lord, various kinds of impurities float about on the surface of the mind. Bravely remove them one by one by suitable methods and counter-virtues with patience and strenuous efforts. The old vicious Impressions revenge when you try to suppress them. Do not be afraid. They lose their strength after some time. You have to tame the mind just as you tame a wild elephant or a tiger. Do not indulge in vicious thoughts which serve as food for the mind. Make the mind self-introspective. Substitute good, virtuous, sublime thoughts. Feed the mind with ennobling aspirations and ideals. Old vicious Impressions will be gradually thinned out and eventually obliterated. Now the Divine thought will dawn. Coupled with Soul-Wisdom, this is the destroyer of Ignorance. Allow the Divine thoughts to flow steadily like continuous flow of oil. Now infinite bliss will flow. At this state, the whole universe will appear as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Truth-Conscious-Bliss) only. This thought also will die. You will then enter thoughtless blissful state!

Reference

Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Sri Swami Sivananda