Meditation, Some Practical Hints(Med 84)

Meditation, Some Practical Hints(Med 84)

Swami Chidananda

In meditation, it is very important to have proper foundation prepared by first of all being established in virtue, and in self-restraint, control of senses, and in dispassion (vairagya). If these preliminaries are properly attended to, and if man’s physical and moral nature are properly trained and purified, he becomes a man of self-control, a man who has overcome desires, then it becomes easier to concentrate the mind upon higher subtle object.

I shall give you some hints for successful concentration: As far as possible, try to have fixed time. That is a great help, because, all things in this universe have a tendency to follow a certain rhythm. Things move according to a certain cycle. By following a regular and fixed timing for meditation, the mind tends to go into meditative mood easily at those hours. By fixing the time, the quality of concentration and meditation improves.

You should not only have a regular timing to set up this cycle of mood in the mind, but you should also have a fixed place. If the place is changed constantly, the mind will feel disturbed. The ideal thing is to have a separate meditation room where no one enters and where you also do not enter except for meditation. If you keep a room solely for meditation, the entire atmosphere of that room becomes surcharged with the vibrations of meditation. If to have a separate room may not be possible, then you should set apart at least one corner of a room where you do nothing except meditation.

Any asana in which you can sit for a long time for meditation should be selected. Some external aids to be taken are:

If the place is kept very pleasant by keeping fresh flowers and burning incense, it will put your mind into a meditative mood. Generally, fragrant smoke and pleasing flowers put the mind into a pleasant frame, and there will not be any distraction. The mind becomes indrawn. When you sit for meditation, in the beginning you just sit quiet. First of all get into a mood of calmness. Then try to bring about a sort of channelisation of the thought-flow. Each individual will find that certain things will make the mind think of God. Any elevating chant in any language may help you. It should be the same for all days. Mantra-japa is a great help to concentration. Mantras are names pregnant with divine ideas.