We all need inner joy. Some of us believe that it comes through the practice of meditation. However, meditation always tends to remain a distant dream and remains an art that exists in books and on the small screen. Let me tell you that meditation is the simplest form of ‘unaction’ (it isn’t an activity at all) and is as easy to practice as it is to understand.
Meditation can help us all… a counselor can have more conversions, a designer can create more harmony, marketing people communicate better, HR can interact more meaningfully… and so on. For meditation to help, we need to know some vital features of this science… or is it a discipline? I leave that to you to decide.
The Upanishads, illuminating our real nature, say:
“From Delight we came into existence.
In Delight we grow.
At the end of our journey’s close,
Into Delight we retire.”
Our instinctive reaction is to question the basis of these words. Life has its stress and moments are full of scurrying activities that make the waking hours seem less. There are deadlines to be met, chores need attention, relationships need time, and one has to consistently keep building one’s net of material security. Can delight really find itself in this chaos? Are the Upanishads correct in their analysis? What do the sages mean when they ask us to ‘peel away our layers of ignorance so we can once more bring to the fore the light of our soul?’
The Gurus keep chanting: ‘Quieten your mind!’ Is that easy? Is it easy to detach yourself from the frenzied mainstream of living? No, it isn’t. We mortals can never completely STOP the inflow of thoughts. However, by sitting quietly, we can begin to feel more relaxed, also just focusing on our breathing helps lessen symptoms of stress.
I was once talking to Surakshit Goswami, the leading yoga and meditation expert, and he remarked that relaxation is just one of the benefits of meditation. He went on to explain that a quiet mind tends to discretely stay away from being judgmental, critical, and too analytical. Acceptance becomes an intrinsic part of such a mind. When this happens, the mind adopts a quiet stance and decision-making becomes coherent and intuitively correct. The major benefit of a quiet mind is making intuitively correct decisions!
Thus meditation enables us to go beyond the intellectual mind and enter the spiritual heart. This is where our inner self resides and it is not in its inherent nature to criticize or separate through judgments. As meditative abilities evolve, this inner self develops a protective layer against inane and aimless thoughts. If there is any other way to ward off such thoughts, we will anyway discover inner peace and inner joy. The secret here is to promote a stillness of the mind and evolving through stillness. This stillness is not dependant on outer circumstances. In simpler terms, if happiness is relying on outer circumstances, the mind can only assume that it is happy. Once this reliance is done away with, happiness transcends its ‘assumptive stage’ and becomes real! Happiness is thus self-generated. This self generation can be won through meditation.
“True inner joy is self-created.
It does not depend on outer circumstances.
A river is flowing in and through you carrying the message of joy.
This divine joy is the sole purpose of life.”
From ‘Wings of Joy’ by Sri Chinmoy
Another vital aspect is the new-age instant expectations that are so rampant these days. Meditation is not 2-minute fix that you take out of a pouch, heat, and serve! Tell me, could A R Rahman be as innovatively creative if he just sat down and started writing music scores? What no one ever sees is the hours of practice and riyaaz that goes behind each of his musical creation. The same is true with all of us. No good ad emerges without research, browsing, and practice. Similarly, the more you practice meditation, greater will be the benefits. The mind behaves like a monkey; flitting from one attraction to another… it takes patience and practice to evolve this monkey into a Mahatma! Practice exercises of concentration and meditation and then our mind ceases to remain a monkey and we will begin to attain greater peace of mind.
Let me add here that any venture without enthusiasm and energy tends to taper and fizzle out! Therefore, meditate with zest, zing… and a smile!
Years back when I was a cadet at the Indian Military Academy, my PT instructor said: ‘Ek fauji ke liye meditation bahut practical hai!’ We all smiled and thought: ‘Chalo, kuch time ke liye rest karte hain!’ The instructor was seemingly clairvoyant and just said aloud: ‘When we become more aware of our inner source of peace we will also be able to easily detach ourselves from minor irritations and minor problems. The mind can be tricky and exaggerate small problems into seemingly large and unconquerable problems. You don’t want to see your enemy bigger than it actually is? Do you?’ We were convinced. Inner poise is essential for sane decision-making. In today’s life, it is meditation that will make me market-ready!
The ultimate goal of meditation is much beyond being market-ready or being able to sight the real enemy and aim better! Nirvana is another name given to benefits beyond this… but this can happen only when we lose our sense of attachment to the individual ego and instead become aware of our real nature which is inseparably one with transcendental consciousness. All that I can say now is: Begin before your mind becomes an uncontrollable monkey!
[Arvind Passey]
[2008]
Published in ‘The Learner’
nice work keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice….
Now if only it was that easy to control this monkey, life would be just
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