By definition,
meditation is ‘keeping the focus on some chosen object for a prolonged
duration’. This is a too general definition. I have played with this loose
definition in one of my blog posts “Do you meditate?”
I am not saying that this definition is wrong. But depending
on what your ultimate aim is, the definition varies. If all that you want is to
calm down your mind, and minimize stress, this definition is good enough.
But if you are interested in attaining the ‘ultimate’ states
of meditation, you need to do something more than merely focusing on some
target. You need to gradually move your focus from grosser aspects of the
target to finer aspects of it, till you reach a stage where ‘there is nothing
more’. That is when you have reached the ultimate.
I have explained this process in detail in my book “How and why of Yoga and meditation”. I
won’t repeat it here but merely give some examples.
Example 1: Let us say, your chosen target is some Hindu God, say ‘Näräyana’.
This God is generally depicted as a human like person with four arms, holding
different weapons in each arm. That is the grossest form.
Going to next subtler level means replacing this visual
image by more subtle mental image, say as ‘Vishnu’ (another name of Näräyana).
The epithet “Vishnu’ means someone who is all pervading. With that definition,
the visual image drops. We move on to a conceptual image that has no specific
form but is unbounded in extent.
If you go further and replace “Vishnu’ with ‘Krishna’
(another name for Näräyana), even this conceptual image drops, leaving behind
just an experience – as someone who attracts (that is the meaning of Krishna).
And you can go on.
Example 2: It s not necessary that you can only meditate on some God.
For example, the form of meditation Buddha describes involves moving from
‘infinity of space’, to ‘infinity of consciousness’, to ‘nothingness’, to ‘non
perception’, to ‘neither perception nor non perception’.
Example 3: Or you can even meditate on the gradually decaying sound of
the ‘Pranava Mantra’( see my book "How and why of Yoga and Meditation" for a detailed discussion)
Now the important question is “does it matter what form of
meditation you go through?”. We will see that in the next post.
How does one know if one has progressed or even "arrived"
ReplyDeleteHello Gopal
DeleteThe progress can be at different steges.
1. When you are practising focusing skill, normally the progress will be indicated as ability to focus on anything you do with minimal distractions. Better grasping of things and so on. If you continue, you will experience gradual calming of the mind, lesser stress, more presence of mind etc.
2. After you start actual meditation, regularly, and longer duration of time, the progress will show up as further reduction in stress, spontaneous happiness experienced even when you are **not** actually meditating for no reason at all.
But please read on successive posts to know more.