Thought 33. Some interesting aspects of meditation

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In the past episodes we saw how yoga helps in minimizing the thought-wars that generally give rise to stress. But mere stress reduction is not the ultimate goal of Yoga.

In the previous episode we also saw why it is necessary to minimize the thoughts completely to march towards a completely tranquil mind – an entry point to the final goal.

We talked about focusing the mind on specific targets through a process called Dharana – the 6^th step of Yoga. Dharana is the precursor to meditation or Dhyana that takes us to the ultimate goal of Yoga.

Before we dive deeply into Dhyana, let us look at some interesting aspects of Dhyana or meditation in this episode.

Thought 32. The Yogic way of fooling the thoughts!

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In the past episodes we saw how yoga helps in minimizing stress. Lesser stress means better health. Most people turn to Yoga with that goal. But Yoga is not really about stress reduction, though that is one of its byproducts. There are far more interesting things that Yoga can achieve. It takes us to an altogether new dimension of our existence far beyond mundane. That is achieved by the advanced steps of Yoga that we are going to discuss in this as well as subsequent episodes.

Thought 31. The most important step of Yoga.

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Unless you are a novice who is just introduced to Yoga, you probably have noticed that the effectiveness of Yoga practice gradually tapers off over a period of time. It is no longer as effective as it once used to be. Why does that happen?

Thought 30. Neuroscience of Asana or body postures (Thought soup series)

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For most of us asana or body posture is purely a physical thing – stretching, contracting and balancing the body in a specific way. So, you must be wondering what has neuroscience got to do with it! But you may be surprised that even this seemingly physical ‘thing’ has underlying neurological basis! That is what I am going to discuss in this episode.

Thought 29. Neuroscience of Pranayama - the most mystic concept of Yoga (Thought soup series)

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In this episode, we will briefly discuss the neuroscience behind many techniques that result in a sharply focused mind – or ‘Ekaagra Citta as Patanjali calls it. Along with the well-known Pranayama of Patanjali, I will touch upon the so called ‘Mindfulness’ techniques as well.

#Thought 28.# Neuroscience behind the #Yogic step #Pratyahara (Thought soup series)

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In this episode, we will briefly discuss the neuroscience behind a very important step of Patanjali Yoga namely Pratyahara. This is an in between stage of ‘mundane’ and ‘spiritual’ steps of Yoga.

Thought 27. She declares that she IS God! (Thought soup series)

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The topic of this episode is a strange case where a young girl declares herself to be God. It may sound crazy or height of arrogance, and even blasphemous, in some of the majority religions

Thought 26. The Man with thousand heads! (Thought soup series)

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In this episode, we will take up one of the well-known ‘creation hymns’ of the ancient Indian Vedas. But we will be looking at this hymn from a slightly different point of view.

Thought 25: Were ancient Indians aware of BIG BANG theory?

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Big bang theory is the most widely accepted scientific theory about how our universe emerged 13.7 billion years ago. Though there is not much of empirical evidence about this theory yet, except for mathematical derivations, it is most likely to be true. This theory was propounded in the late 1940s and refined in the past few decades.

But what is amazing is that there are seemingly similar descriptions of the origins of the universe, in the more than 5000-year-old Vedas. – the most ancient scriptures of India. In this talk, I will briefly touch upon one such description.

Thought 24: Is Kundalini meditation a myth?

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Almost all the meditation practices that are propagated today are based on the idea of Kundalini and associated Chakras. The concept of Kundalini is so popular that one has to think twice before calling it as a myth 😉 It can be viewed as blasphemous!

I had discussed earlier how one of the well-known Gurus of our times, namely Swami Dayananda Saraswati, brushes aside Kundalini based meditation as “not meditation”.

Let me look at this practice a bit more in depth before sharing the views of some of the well-known Yogis of our times, on this idea.

Thought 23: What does Patanjali say about Meditation?

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Patanjali is normally credited with laying out a formal base for Yoga or meditation. The meditation talked about by Patanjali seems to be a reframing of early Buddhist meditative practices in the light of Upanishadic meditation, and under the strong logical framework of Samkhya. What does Patanjali say about meditation?

Thought 22: Upanishadic Meditation

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Once, one of my readers surprised me by saying that Upanishads never talk about meditation! Probably he was watching a bit too many of the videos by the Advaiti Swami that I talked about, a few episodes ago 😉 That Swami sometimes says that meditation is only an aid to move on the path of enquiry or Jnyana Marg; and as such, meditation cannot lead to ultimate realization. We have already discussed about this earlier, when I talked about that swami.

Is it then true that Upanishads don’t talk about meditation?

Thought 21: Think twice before you try these meditations!

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Many modern Gurus propagate different techniques which they either call as ‘mindfulness meditation’ or ‘insight meditation’. They make tall claims about what these can really achieve. But actually, these are rehashing of well-known Buddhist meditative techniques. So, it is important to know about these Buddhist meditation techniques, that have a long history and are still being practiced among the Buddhists.

Thought 20: Guided Meditation

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Nowadays one keeps coming across YouTube videos on ‘Guided Meditation’. Sitting face to face with a ‘live’ Guru and going through a session of guided meditation has become a thing of the past. It is time for running a ‘Meditation ap’ on your mobile phone, totally in the comfort of your cozy home. Of course, nothing comes free. Instead of paying a hefty fee to a Guru, you end up paying subscription fee to the ap maker 😉

 

Am I also talking about one such guided meditation? 

Thought 19: The predicament of a confused actor 😉

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After the heavy and philosophically intense previous episode, let me start this episode with a light and hilarious story.

Thought 18: Does God have a form?

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Once someone asked Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Guru of Swami Vivekananda, the question “Is God Saakaara – with form, or is he Niraakaar – without form?”. 

Ramakrishna had spent most of his life worshipping God in a feminine form of Goddess Kaali. Even during meditation, he could see none other than the figure of Kaali. How could he have answered this question, other than by saying “Of course God has a form!”.

But Ramakrishna was supposed to be a realized person. How did he actually answer this question?

Thought 17: This world is not an illusion

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The Advaita of Sankara says that “only the God exists and this world is just an illusion – or Mythya, - Brahma Satya, Jagat mythya”. 

And many modern Swamis like the one I was referring to in the previous episode, keep repeating this view. This in spite of the fact that many later Indian philosophers, who succeeded Sankara, strongly refuted this concept of mythya as put forth by Sankara. They did not agree that this world is an illusion.

Zero cost ecofriendly gardening

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I know, those of you who have ever dirtied your hands trying to cultivate something, must be wondering what I am talking about! “Zero cost and Eco friendly”? Does it sound a bit oxymoronic? Or is it just a wishful thinking? 😉

Thought 16: It is all in the Mind!

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When you interact with the world around you, have you ever noticed something? No matter what your eyes see, or ears hear, or tongue tastes, or nose smells or your hands touch, it is your mind that ultimately provides you the information. If you are asleep, or unconscious, no matter what your eyes see or ears hear, and so on, you will not be aware of anything! So, it is the mind that sees, or hears, touches, tastes, and smells. 

That being the case, how do you know that what you see, or what you hear, or what you touch etc. actually exists out there?

Thought 15: We live in a dualistic world

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In the previous episode we saw how science adopts a monistic view of the world and reduces everything into mere objects. And that ‘everything’ includes each one of us. Science is also so paranoid about subjectivity that it emphasizes on objectivity and looks down on all subjective aspects of us. 

On the other hand, many of us, either by training or by intuition believe that we are not just the body, but we also have a soul that gives us the subjective experiences.

Thought 14: Is this world what it appears to be?

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Most of us never get this question. We always assume that the world is indeed what we perceive it as. That is our notion of reality.

Thought 13: Tantra, Yoga, Ritualism, and Meditation

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Probably you think that it sounds like a long list of unrelated practices. But they are not. All of them belong to an overlapping series of mystic practices. These practices can be found in almost any part of the world, in any time period, though these keep changing in terms of their meaning, details, and the purpose.

Thought 12: Listening to inner music

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Have you ever tried listening to some wonderful music recital on your mobile phone, sitting in a bustling market place? You know it is futile, unless you are wearing noise cancelling earplugs. The surrounding noise would totally submerge the music coming from your phone. Either you have to move to a quiet place or use an appropriate device.

Thought 11: Is a realized person free to do ‘anything’?

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Honestly, I don’t know what many of the modern Gurus mean when they say that they are ‘realized’. 

Someone attains realization while sitting casually on a rock, another gets it when waiting for a train in a busy railway station, and so on!

Thought 10: Did you ever have a mystical experience?

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I was once asked this question when I wrote my first book on Yoga. Well, let me remind that by Yoga I meant some meditative practice, and not the physical discipline that the word represents these days 😉 

I was a bit irritated by that question. I was a purist who believed that Yoga is beyond experiencing, beyond mystifying. It is a journey beyond the mind. Hankering for some experience was demeaning the potential of Yoga, that is what I thought.

Thought 9: Is the caste system really a flawed concept?

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In the last episode we saw how the Varna and caste system in India developed over a period of time. Its main drawback was that it became more and more dependent on the birth of an individual rather than on his/her nature or profession as originally envisaged.

Thought 8: Origin of caste system in India

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In the previous episode, we discussed the Varna system that was prevalent in India. It is this Varna system that later gave rise to the often-criticized caste system.

Thought 7: Did the colonial rulers create the caste system in India?

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In one of his talks, the well-known Hindu revivalist namely Mr. Rajiv Malhotra almost accuses India’s past colonial rulers for giving rise to the caste system in India. This great scholar based in US, with several books to his credit, goes into the genesis of the word ‘caste’ and tries to absolve India from this dark spot which has always tarnished the glorious past of India.

Thought 6: Are you a sinner?

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I had an Indian friend who lived in US for a while. She was working in IT industry like most Indians who migrate to US. She told me an interesting incident.

Thought 5: Why is Hinduism what it is?

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Most westerners brush aside Hinduism as a polytheistic religion with idol worship at its core. 

People of Abrahamic religions pride themselves as practitioners of monotheistic faith. That they feel, makes their faith superior to ‘the rest of the Pagan’ faith systems. 

If you have followed my previous posts and or many of my earlier posts, you will agree that monotheism is not some prerogative of the Abrahamic religions.