THE MECHANISM OF MEDITATION
Meditation is an art whereby you dive deep within yourself in a very systematic and scientific way where you lead the little conscious mind through all the layers of the subconscious mind and then still deeper to the Superconscious level of yourself.
As far as our mind is concerned, we have these three factors, the conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the Superconscious Mind. The conscious mind is a fractional part of our mind. Even Einstein used about 8% of the totality of the mind. But it is possible for man to use a greater and greater portion of their minds, for, in reality, there is only one mind, and that mind is as vast as the universe.
We can reach this vastness. Man has 12 billion cells in this little brain, which weight about two and a half to three pounds, and we only use one-millionth part of the 12 billion cells. This just shows that we are not using our full capacity.
Through meditation, we can explore the more significant part of our mind by putting more of the dormant cells into action. This action would naturally bring forth a greater and greater part of yourself. Meditation takes you deep within yourself to the Kingdom of Heaven within which is a reservoir of a vast amount of energy. An infinite amount of energy, but you have got to tap that energy.
By using the small little conscious mind, we go through the various layers of the subconscious mind. You would know more or less what the conscious mind is. The conscious mind functions from the left hemisphere of the brain, which is rational and analytical. But we forget the right hemisphere of the brain, which is intuitional, and that intuitional part of the brain is connected more to the Spirit that is within you.
When you meditate, you have greater synaptic control over your brain. The neurons you have would function in a more orderly fashion and at a higher rate of vibration so that the conscious mind picks up from the intuitional level and every action you perform becomes a right action, and of course, right action is proceeded by right thought.
All this tension in the world is because your conscious mind is forever in conflict. There are conflicting ideas there, and you do not know what to do. These ideas come, again, from the subconsciousness level, which is a storehouse of memories.
The subconscious mind contains all the impressions of what you have done since childhood, or even before that, if you believe in that, in other lives, perhaps, who knows. From this vast storehouse of memory, which is in the subconscious mind, these impressions get stimulated by the environment that you are in, and by the combination of the environment and the subconscious mind, your conscious mind is set into action. But what is forgotten and not properly used is the Superconscious level of the mind which knows of stillness. Scriptures would say, “Be still and know that I am God.” Every religion says that. Judaism says that too: “Yahweh, I am, that I am.” They talk of the stillness.
Through meditational practices, you are individually taught how to reach that superconscious level of yourself and find that stillness. And I always say if you spend half an hour in a perfume factory, you will come out smelling like perfume. These are ancient teachings that people have forgotten. We are just reviving these ancient teachings so that we could bring them to their practical level. All philosophies of the world are of no use if they are not brought into practice. Then they remain mental gymnastics, and as I said, ancient teachings have been lost or watered down.
All the ancient teachings have been watered down. Man’s goal and aim in life is to find his true nature, his true Self, which is still. Suppose you, through a systematic process of meditation, can experience that stillness. In that case, naturally, the tension and stress will go away because that stillness, that calmness, that peace that passeth all understanding, is brought to its practical level in daily living.
MEDITATION IS SOMETHING TOTALLY NATURAL
I am not against medical doctors, but tranquillisers; that is what they give. Valiums and Librium and all these tranquillisers to make you calm and quiet. But it is so temporary, and it has many side effects.
Meditation is something natural that you do by yourself in your spare time and at any time. It takes about an hour a day. Half an hour in the morning, half an hour in the evening, and you will gradually find that the quality of life improves the 23 hours apart from the one hour of mediation. You will find it improving – your sleep will improve – insomnia goes away, and tensions are released. You do not feel stressed. It is like the poem “IF” by Rudyard Kipling, where the whole world can go haywire around you, and you still maintain the stillness, the equilibrium.
The major thing meditation does for you make you quiet and in harmony with yourself. If you are in harmony with yourself, naturally, you will not be tense; you will not be stressed. It strengthens your nerves. You will not have nervous breakdowns. That harmony which is produced within you is your inherent right, you are born with that harmony. Everything within you functions harmoniously. Measure your heartbeat, for example. It has a definite rhythm in beating harmonious. There are billions of cells in this body that are working in harmony to keep this body going. It is only the mind that produces this disharmony.
It is straightforward to meditate. Meditation is, to a certain degree a mental process whereby, by activating it and using it systematically, you become relaxed. You will find your metabolic rate dropping, you will find the tension just disappearing, and you can be so busy in your work-a-day life. You can work sixteen hours a day and yet not feel tired. You function in a relaxed manner and functioning in that relaxed way; you become more efficient. You can perform more work with a minimum of effort. The mind, body, and Spirit function holistically, where there is greater and greater coordination. As one touches the Spirit within oneself, the Kingdom of Heaven within, from there, you draw this energy to revitalise your body and mind.
THERE IS A “HOT LINE”
There is a direct connection from the conscious mind to the Superconscious mind. There is a “hotline” built within us within the few minutes you reach that level where you become totally still inside you. And as you function throughout the day, amidst the hustle and bustle of life, you still feel that stillness within, that quietude, and you do not get perturbed. You do not become anxious; you do not become angry because you have started experiencing harmony and equilibrium.
If you are harmonious within yourself, you will automatically find your environment becoming more harmonious to you because like attracts like. As the old saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together.” So many people complain, “Why do I draw so much negativity to myself? Why do I come into situations where people are negative, or situations that are negative, conditions that are negative? Why?” It is because of us; we draw that.
With mediation, you develop a positive attitude towards life, understanding the philosophy that goes with the art of meditation. The mind is filled with greater and greater positivity so that you draw positivity from your environment. The analogy I like using is that the nature of a flower is beautiful, but that is not the only thing a flower does. It also enhances the beauty of the garden. So, what man needs most today is that tranquillity within himself, harmony within himself, so you will not be troubled with the stresses and the tensions that man faces today.
THE SPIRIT WITHIN NEEDS TO BE UNFOLDED
I was speaking at a holistic health symposium in Las Vegas about two years ago, and we had psychiatrists there speaking from the mind level. We had physiologists, and biologists and all people from the medical fraternity, and I spoke from the mystical angle, or rather the spiritual angle. I told them that you are only treating a part of the patients that you are treating. You are treating outward symptoms only, but try to combine the art of meditation with your treatment, where you start recognising the Spirit within you.
The Spirit that is within you does not require development; it is fully developed. It is fully developed as it is; it only requires unfoldment as you unfold yourself to the more significant and greater glory of the Spirit within, so life becomes more and happier. Man is not born to suffer. But he brings suffering upon himself. All those impressions and negative impressions in the subconscious will take you two million years to get rid of all those impressions. Here is an effortless direct way. Even a child can learn this simple procedure, and the beauty lies in its simplicity. There is a favourite saying of mine: “It is so simple to be happy, but so difficult to be simple.”
FIND THE SIMPLICITY WITHIN
Through meditational and spiritual practices, one finds that simplicity within oneself. Your quality of life improves when you find that simplicity within yourself. You find greater and greater humility within yourself. Lessening of arrogance and all virtues related to humility such as kindness, compassion, and greater love flows. When you reach the superconscious level of the mind through meditation, you allow the Absolute or Divinity to flow through you because the Superconscious is at the finest level of man’s mind. Therefore, it is the clearest level. The light of Divinity shines through the mind’s superconscious level and penetrates through the subconscious mind, rubs away, gets rid of, and eradicates all those impressions there. It lessens mental illnesses, for example, by bringing a greater balance in the subconscious mind, and through that, the conscious mind is improved.
Today, more and more psychologists, like Vidya Anderson, a psychologist here and one of our teachers, teaches people, where necessary, that they should start meditating. Psychoanalysis is only trying to find causes by digging up the dirt in the subconscious. What I teach is something different. Why analyse the causes? Why try to dig into the mind and stir up all the dirt that is there in the subconscious? If the room is dark, why analyse darkness? Switch on the light, and the darkness disappears.
… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1983 – 47