Dhyana Vahini - Post 38

 

Chapter XIV

 

Remove Defects in Character

 

"But you should avoid the difficult obstacles in the path of meditation, viz. anger, pride, conceit, the tendency to discover the faults of others, mischief, etc. These operate even subconsciously, as the currents in the depths of the ocean.

Spiritual aspirants must be vigilant not to lose their temper on even small things, for that will block their progress. They must cultivate love toward all, and meekness. Then, undesirable habits will fall away from them, since anger is the parent of all wrong behaviour. Anger can turn any person into bad ways, any moment, and in any form. So it should be sublimated first by systematic effort.

Spiritual aspirants must welcome gladly the announcement of their defects by anyone; indeed, they must be grateful to those who point them out. Aspirants must never entertain hatred against them, for that is as bad as hating the “good”. The “good” has to be loved and the “bad” discarded. Remember, the “bad” should not be hated. It has to be given up, avoided. Only people who can do this can achieve progress in meditation and spiritual wisdom.

Conceit, jealousy, the passionate (rajasic) exhibition of one’s superiority, anger, the craving to inform oneself of the weakness of others and their failings, trickery —all these are obstacles in the path of meditation. Even if these are not patently exhibited, the inner impulses urging one along these wrong directions are latent in the mind.

Just as a room kept closed for a long time is found dust-ridden and foul-smelling, is opened, cleaned, and made habitable by elaborate sweeping and dusting, so the mind has to be cleaned by meditation. Spiritual aspirants must, by inward observation, examine the mind and its contents and condition. By proper disciplinary habits, the accumulated dirt should be removed little by little, systematically. 

Conceit, for example, is deep-rooted and unyielding. In the passionate (rajasic) mind, it puts forth many branches in all directions and spreads everywhere. It might appear to be dry and dead for some time, but it will sprout again, easily. As soon as a chance arises for its exhibition, it will raise its hood. So, spiritual aspirants have to be ever vigilant."

 

Introspection

Swami has given the following factors as obstacles in meditation

*           Conceit 

*           Jealousy 

*          The passionate (rajasic) exhibition of one’s superiority    

*          Anger 

*      The craving to inform oneself of the weakness of others and their failings

*           Trickery 

Basically, all of them and even more such obstacles, stem from one single root cause, which is Ego / avidya or ignorance of one’s true divine nature.

On conceit, a monk writes,

“Conceit (Pride) is the cause of self-destruction

Once upon a time, a horse named Keshi represented the demon of vanity. Such a big, gigantic powerful horse scattering the clouds, causing the earth to tremble he actually had the audacity to think that he can conquer Krishna himself, such vanity. 

But Krishna got him perfectly, because everyone knows, if you want to control a horse it’s through his mouth. So, Krishna knows the weakness of everyone and He put His hand right in the mouth of Keshi. 

When we are proud it is inevitable, we have to offend, criticize & defame others, which is the greatest detriment to our spiritual lives.

How to think that I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant even though I have so many qualifications. I am a senior devotee, I have been around for a long time, I have been loyal to my wows, so many people are coming & respecting me with folded hands?.

How can I feel myself the insignificant servant of those people who are coming & honoring me? Very difficult but it is essential. Bhakti is not material, Krishna is pleased by our state of consciousness, by our humility, by our surrender by our dedication to the service of his devotees; and that service should be from the heart.” 

 

Love.

 

Dhyana Vahini - Post 37

Chapter XIII

Cultivate good habits before concentration

Form (rupa) is fundamental for concentration and meditation. Even in the absence of the form in front of you, you should have the capacity to visualize it. This is not so difficult for those whose concentration is correct. But some practise concentration without first cultivating good habits and right conduct. 

That is a sign of incomplete knowledge. Concentration must have the pure qualities (sathwa-gunas) as the basis. The mind has to be purified by proper treatment of the character through good habits. Concentration must follow this purification process, not precede it. All effort for concentration without cleansing the mind is a sheer waste of time. Many great men have ruined their careers by aspiring early for concentration, without the discipline of good habits.

Make slow but steady progress

Again, in concentration you must be careful not to have as the object something your mind does not like, for however hard you try, your mind will not stay on it. Therefore, in the beginning, have some object that is a source of joy.

Sit in the lotus (padmasana) pose and fix your eyes on the tip of your nose. In the beginning, for a minute; then for three minutes; some days later, for six; and after some time, for as long as nine minutes. Thus, the concentration must be strengthened gradually, without undue hurry. In this way, it can be held for even half an hour, with the lapse of time. But do not force the pace. Slowly and steadily, the discipline must be developed.

With practice, the mind will get fixed, and the power of concentration will increase. To attain concentration and acquire one-pointedness, you must undergo exertion to some extent. You must fasten your mind on the Lord and keep off all other thoughts from the mental plane. By constant exercise of this type, your vision will be firmly fixed on the Lord residing in your heart. That is, verily, the goal, the full fruition of meditation.

Concentration, according to yoga scriptures, is the fixing of the mind on one object, without any deviation. Concentration alone can make meditation successful. Its very nature is one-pointedness; its power will negate hesitation. It is caused by spiritual bliss. The name is essential for meditation, for that alone can ensure quick success. Even if complete faith is not forthcoming quickly, the practice must not be given up or changed, for practice will certainly yield victory. Meditation is spiritual strength, the strength that will keep off the disease of worldliness (samsara).

Introspection

A follower of Paramahamsa Yogananda writes, 

Concentration Is Everything

The mind, in meditation must be so perfectly still that not a ripple of thought enters it. God, the Subtlest Reality, cannot be perceived except in utter silence.

Perfect peace requires perfect stillness of mind, just as the surface of a mountain lake requires complete calm if it is to reflect the sky. Only in deep concentration can you discover the hidden depths of your spiritual nature. 

Fortunately, concentration is like a muscle — the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. To increase your ability to concentrate, strive to make each meditation deeper than the one before. When you meditate with this kind of intensity, you will find your practice helped tremendously.

Simple techniques can help you concentrate more deeply

Knowing how important concentration is, people sometimes become discouraged over their inability to hold their minds steady in meditation. 

We need to realize, however, that completely quieting the mind is the goal of meditation, and not something we will necessarily experience right away. 

No one expects to master the guitar the first time he plays, and this is true for meditation, whose very mastery reveals Infinity to us. 

For countless lives we have allowed our minds to run free and undisciplined, like unruly children. How do badly behaved children act when you try to discipline them? They rebel, just as the mind does when we first try to meditate. 

So, we shouldn’t feel surprised if we experience a sense of restlessness or rebelliousness in the beginning. Our mind, however, will learn to behave — just like children do — once it realizes we’re serious.

Meditation Tips for Concentration

Swami Kriyananda offers the following suggestions on concentration from his book, Rays of the One Light:

The devotee, to protect the candle flame of his concentration from the gusts of restlessness, must try to banish from his mind all images, all worldly scenes, the words of others, the remembered episodes in his life, all thought of physical pleasures, his plans for the future. Nothing must tempt him to stray from his fixed purpose while his soul calls to God.

To protect his concentration from sensory invasion, he must first control his response to outward stimuli. He should train his will not to respond to sensations of heat or cold, comfort or discomfort, restlessness, or fatigue.

With a little discipline of the body at the beginning of meditation, and with the strong determination not to move or fidget about, the body’s demands will grow weaker. After even five minutes of this discipline, one may find it easy to sit for a long period without even wanting to move.

Most of the difficulty encountered in meditation is due to physical tension. Once tension is removed by the practice of deep relaxation, one finds meditation itself becoming increasingly enjoyable.

Again, with a little mental self-discipline at the beginning of meditation, one finds it increasingly easy to remain without thought.

Tell your mind firmly the moment you become settled on your seat to meditate, “This is my time for God.” If restless thoughts try insistently to engage your attention, reassure them, “We’ll discuss these things later!”

Love.

 

Dhyana Vahini - Post 36

Chapter XIII

 

The inert mind reflects the intelligence

Of course, the mind is inert (jada). Just as when water, inert matter, begins to shine when it is placed in the sun, the inert mind borrows effulgence from the Atma and appears as if it has consciousness (chaithanya). 

The intellect (buddhi) gets reflected in the mind, so it looks as if the mind is also intelligent, that is all. Its real nature is ignorance. The mind is not self-effulgent, like the Atma. The mind’s splendor is as the luminousness of insects in the rainy season. The Atma, however, is the sun of suns, the effulgence of all effulgence, the Supreme Light (Paramjyothi), the self-effulgent (swayam-jyothi).

Introspection

The essence of Drk Drsya Viveka has been captured in the above part written by Swami.

We learnt from the DDV session (available in YouTube channel) about the sequence of the seer and seen, starting from the grossest level and reaching to the subtlest level, as under.

Seer	Seen
Senses	Outer objects
Mind	Senses
Intellect	Mind
Atma (Consciousness)	Intellect

And Swami concludes with the line “The mind is not self-effulgent, like the Atma. The mind’s splendor is as the luminousness of insects in the rainy season. The Atma, however, is the sun of suns, the effulgence of all effulgence, the Supreme Light (Paramjyothi), the self-effulgent (swayam-jyothi).”

Swami continues,

Control the senses as well as the mind

The senses can do nothing by themselves. They are not independent. If the mind is brought under control, the senses can also be controlled. Some people undergo mere asceticism of the senses to control the mind! They are ignorant of the real discipline that is necessary. The real discipline is the destruction of desire.

However vigilant warders may be, a clever robber can still steal in a hundred amazing ways. So too, however skillfully you may try to control the senses, the mind will drag them to its side and execute its desires through them. Note how the sage Viswamitra, inspite of his austerities, fell before the wiles of the celestial nymphs (apsaras) sent by Indra to tempt him.

If only the outer door is closed and the inner door is left unbolted, calamity is certain. But if both the exterior and the interior doors are safely bolted, you can sleep peacefully, for no thief, however clever, will find it easy to enter and do harm. 

Therefore, the aspirant should establish mastery over the external senses. Then, the mind, immersed in the continuous succession of subject-object (vishaya) relationship, must be controlled by means of peace (santhi) and renunciation (vairagya). When that is done, one can experience real spiritual bliss (ananda) and visualize the Atma, in its real form. That is why Krishna once told Arjuna, “Those who aspire to have mastery over the senses must have full faith in Me.”

The senses are always extrovert in nature; they are greedy for external contacts. Therefore, they drag the ignorant perpetually toward external objects. So, the spiritual aspirant, endowed with discrimination and renunciation, must place obstacles in their outward path and suppress their outbursts, just as the charioteer, wielding the whip and the reins, does to the raging steeds. Uncontrolled senses cause great harm. People in their grip cannot engage themselves in meditation, even for a single second.

Introspection

A Monk of Rama Krishna Mission recounts the interaction of Thakur with disciples with respect to mind control, thus: -

“Devotees would often come to Sri Ramakrishna and unburden to him the contradictory feelings arising in their minds. They would say that the mind constantly swung from one extreme to another, from good to bad, with apparently no control or restraint whatsoever. 

In fact, this is the exasperation which Arjuna expressed to Sri Krishna: “The mind verily is, O Krishna, restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate. I deem it as hard to control as the wind.” (चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्दृढम्। तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम् ।।Gita 6.34।।).

Sri Ramakrishna would console the devotees by stating that such inconsistencies and contradictions are part of God’s creation. He would say that God has created the world in a certain fashion, and one might notice that there are trees that bear sweet fruits and trees that bear sour fruits as well.

Thus, he would tell them that the world in its very nature is full of contradictions. Since we are the creations of God, we also experience such dramatically opposite feelings in our mind. 

He would then say, “But just as it is up to the people to reject the sour fruits and eat the sweet fruits only, it is up to the individual to control one’s mind through a proper and well-regulated method of spiritual striving.”

In fact, Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita supported Arjuna’s view and said, “Doubtless, O mighty armed, the mind is restless and hard to control; but by practice and non-attachment, O son of Kunti, it can be controlled.” (असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं। अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ।।Gita 6.35।।)

It is only by intense and relentless practice along with a certain degree of dispassion it is possible to bring under control the restless mind and go forward in our spiritual journey. 

One should be extremely alert and constantly discriminate between right and wrong or good and bad. God’s creation is so baffling that sometimes bad things appear alluring and attractive. Eternal vigilance is the price for spiritual progress.”

 

Love.