Right Or Wrong Way To Meditate

@SuiDhaaga

The answer at least to me seem that yes and no. If one study the books of the great gurus like – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Thich Nhat Hahn, Zen Master Hsing Yun,
Osho & Ramana Maharshi he or she would tend to agree with me.

You would find no two say the same thing. Each interpret in different ways. With best writer and coach, one would be easily convinced that a particular method is the right method to achieve the goal or purpose or in Attaining the inner peace. Sometimes, I conclude that for the chosen type of meditation there could be many best ways and bad ways too. Some say we should sit in a quiet place but we are trying to quieter the mind. Buddha went to forest sat under tree for over two weeks o get enlightenment. He never seemed to have had the urge urinate or attend nature’s call.

On the surface it appears to be that easy but it may or may not happen. Monks went in isolation stayed away from cacophony into deep forest stayed in caves or under tree just sat focused. I do not know whether Buddha chanted om or some equivalent. But it was one continuous . Maharishi too sat for long hours but he changed spots. For him too it took long to get at truth or realisation. Mind is a monkey whether in city or in forest.

it is terrific workings in Vipasana with diet restrictions and for long stretches that begins at 4 am ends up 9 pm no dinner one meal a day and in two three weeks session in the coach location. No contact with outsiders no mobile and go to bed after 9pm. Too much rigmarole but my friend attended but I do not see him enjoying any significant gains physically morally and mentally. He remains same person as he was before that exercise.

Lord of Lords has nothing to gain by doing meditation but that posture is only symbolic representation to humans. He the Lord is mighty Almighty.

Centenarians or near centenarians in India like Rajaji, Mother Therrasa, rationalist thanthai Periyar including my dad all lived fruitful active life but never given to meditation.

• I saw a handcart puller regularly sleeping in hot sun on the culvert where traffic was huge. It all boils down to that mindfulness M and if you do anything with M, IT IS AS GOOD AS MEDITATION.
• After leaving steaming coffee on the study table mom told that she is proceeding with her meditation. The boy though heard mother telling to drink it warm, he absorbed in doing maths exercise . After an hour of do mom came to him & saw boy was still absorbed in his maths and coffee turned dead cold. Boy then asked mom what is this meditation she has been doing daily.
• Mom thought for a while, responded simply that “it is like your doing maths exercise. It is mindfulness”.

Thanks and Regards.

 

Again meditation is all about taming the mind, which run around like an untrained monkey.fortunately it can be trained to sit in one place, but that is not enough for this monkey, we have to give some other job, a disciplined and monitored one. so it comes under our control. Here comes the practices of focusing on a form, sound or repeating some name or sound etc.

Without bothering about the mind running around repeatedly drag it and continue, in due course of time you can see the result..! In meditation, being aware of the interval between 2 thoughts is important because it is the interval that reveals our true nature - silence, awareness and peace. Gradually with constant practice, we can increase the silence between thoughts and that is the culmination of meditation. Everything requires effort , including being silent and doing/thinking/saying nothing..!

Then what? Our mind is like a mirror, now cloudy with so many things reflecting and settling on it. Trained mind is like a clean and clear mirror which in turn enables clarity of thought in anything and everything that we do. This is what all meditation gurus try to teach. Good luck...!

 

"I cannot understand how Buddha or anyone has no urge (or rather is mindful) of the urge to answer nature's call." That is a stage called nirvikalpa samadhi, wherein the subject loses all identification with the body, functions stop but alive only because the life force is within. And that is an entirely big and different topic altogether. Ramana, Ramakrishna,Vivekananda all these experienced that stage. My knowledge of these is minuscule, so stopping here.

 

"After leaving steaming coffee on the study table mom told that she is proceeding with her meditation. The boy though heard mother telling to drink it warm, he absorbed in doing maths exercise . After an hour of do mom came to him & saw boy was still absorbed in his maths and coffee turned dead cold. Boy then asked mom what is this meditation she has been doing daily. Mom thought for a while, responded simply that “it is like your doing maths exercise. It is mindfulness”."

Mom's meditation is about her mind , which then helps her in everything she does. Son's mindfulness might be for the Maths and not for everything, for example , doing chores at home. On a lighter note, now tell me , which is better?

 

@SuiDhaaga

The mind is a powerful instrument that was given to all of us to understand ourselves and achieve bliss. However, it is externally focused and directs the pleasure to be sought from outside. The inherent bliss resides inside of us. Our Anandamaya Kosha is our blissful state when we shrug of Annamaya, Manamaya, Pranamaya, and Vignanamaya Koshas. The body and mind need to be nurtured, maintained, and sanctified like a Temple and Karpagraha in order for the resident to feel the holiness. Meditation is a wrong term for breath control and silent sitting. It is a stage in spiritual development. The first stage is the concentration of the mind in one object when we do the mind begin to listen to a command instead of giving a command. The next stage is contemplation where the mind delves into that single object to understand and experience what is being observed. The third stage is a meditation where the observed, the observer, and the act of observing are all one and the same. After we get to that stage is when we are ready to realize ourselves or achieve the stage called Samadhi or Self-realization. That is when we truly come to know who we really are.

In my view, knowledge to do that has to be achieved through various stages. The first one is called Agama, the scriptures that tell all about Self. At this stage, we only learn about Self but not ready to experience it. The second one is known as Upamana where we begin to compare what is Self, how we differ, and what are the qualities we need to begin eliminating to be Self. The next stage is Anumana when we begin to infer some of the qualities of Self out of the first two stages. The last stage is Pratuksha where we get darshan of Self, become Self, and shrug off all that is not Self.

I am not very good at articulating and forgive me if my post is confusing.