What is true and effective meditation?

 

(All images in this blog are taken from internet)

What is true and effective meditation?

There are many reasons why people take up meditation. The real purpose of meditation is to know the Self. The Self is the reality on which the world is projected. The world is projected by the mind. Meditation is about stilling the mind and staying in the reality.

Choose a place where you will not be disturbed

• Let go of all thoughts
• When thoughts arrive watch them as a witness
• Go back to the stillness

Sri Ramana Maharshi adds;

• Sincerely ask the question Who am I?
• When thoughts appear ask To whom do these thoughts appear?
• Go back to asking Who am I?
• The question Who am I targets the ego
• The ego is an illusion
• Upon questioning it will disappear
• Persistently go to the source and realization will come

The mind is the ego. It keeps us occupied in the world. It gives us an identity that engages us and makes us forget our real nature which is the Self. There is no separation in the Self. It is non dual and one. The myriad shapes and sounds we observe in the world are one. There is no diversity. It is a play of the senses.

One should continually reflect on the temporary nature of the world. It is a mirage. There is no world, space, or time. There are no activities. Everything is like a movie being shown on a screen.

There are some more meditation instructions;

• Meditate on the heart
• This heart is not the organ we know as heart
• When you point towards yourself, your finger touches a point in the chest
• That is the position of the spiritual heart

The advantage of meditating on the heart is you connect with the Self. When you advance in this meditation you will feel a spiritual flow at this spot. When the mind merges in this spot you become free, or rather you realize that you are free because you are always free, you imagine you are bound.

You imagine that a piece of rope is a snake. The snake does not exist. It is only in your mind. Upon realizing that it is a rope the snake does not die because it never existed. Realization of the Self is only a shift of perception. The rope is the reality, the world is the snake. The Self always exists, the world is only in your mind. It has no existence.

The Self is not within us. Everything, including our bodies, is in the Self.

Your task is to meditate. As you progress in meditation the Self responds and pulls you in. When you start meditating, you start a process that will inevitably lead to Self Realization.

Your duty is to recognize the illusory nature of the world and slowly become desireless. You begin to watch the world like a play. You become a disinterested witness.

The witness state is better than your present involved state. But it is not the end. The Self alone exists and therefore it has nothing to witness. The witness stance helps in realizing the real state. As you progress as a witness you will also be witnessing your dream and deep sleep state. You will become ever awake. This is when you know that you are not the body and mind.

Do not worry about your world crumbling as you become the witness. The world is moving on its own. Your activities are a part of its predetermined movement. You gain nothing by thinking you are the doer. Rather you earn karma and entangle even more - eating the sweet and bitter fruits. You have to give up enjoying the fruits. If you relish the sweet you will also suffer the bitter.

You gain everything when you lose everything. Lose you will. All your possessions are taken away at the time of death. The one experiencing death realizes the futility of clinging to belongings, including the body and mind. After death one experiences a state that is more relaxed than the present, sans any worries. But the latent tendencies makes one take up another body and again suffer the state of duality.

Diving within and meditating is the way out of suffering. It is the only thing that is your choice. Everything else is predetermined.

How does realization happen? Sri Ramakrishna talks about a light that forcibly came and destroyed the concept of the world. He was able to switch between the state of non existence and existence - a rare feat. Just as Ramana Maharshi lived after realization.

It is like a flood that comes and covers up everything on the ground. Only the flood waters are seen.