Meditation

Part 1

Meditation: A psycho-spiritual exercise

You can sit or stand in a comfortable position If you like, close your eyes and smile gently before you begin the exercise Relax and spend a few moments breathing in and out As you breathe in and out, relax the different parts of your body from head to foot Get in touch with your thoughts and feelings for a few moments but do not get attached to any particular thought or feeling Just be an observer of your thoughts Learn to sit still, this is the beginning of meditation

Part 2

A simple form of meditation for self awareness: 

Sit calmly in a composed posture.

Begin with a simple breathing exercise. Breathe in deeply and breathe out very gently for about five to seven minutes. Try to get in touch with your important thoughts and feelings of the day. If you have difficulty, try the following: 

· What kind of people did you meet and interacted with? · What activities have you participated in? · Which idea and thought touched or inspired you most? · What are the new insights that you have learned or made you happy? · Did you feel calm and centered (focused)?

Conclude by sitting still, just observing your breathing for five minutes. If you still feel something, go ahead and write it down. If your heart is heavy, consider surrendering that feeling to a Greater Power – GOD. If the heavy feeling persist, consider talking to someone whom you trust or seek help and guidance to learn the art of letting go.

Part 3

In my daily conversation with colleagues and friends, I often hear people saying: I am very

busy. In this modern busy world, we have lost the culture of inner peace and silence. Tension

and stress is often the result of over activity. Meditation is a simple technique that helps us to

experience deep peace and inner harmony within us and our surroundings. Often, our mind is

over active as it is thinking of one thing after another. The mind is like an open basket with

all kinds of thoughts falling through the activity of the five senses. The art of mastery over

our mind and senses can be achieved through meditation. Only a disciplined mind can control

our senses. The five senses are pushing and pulling us with likes and dislikes which

ultimately forms the basis of our attachments and detachments. Often, it is said that desire is

the cause of all sorrows. In order to practice meditation, we need a culture of silence, inner

harmony and stillness. Ultimately, an effective meditation can help us to overcome the

fragmentation and disunity in our thoughts, words and deeds. It brings harmony for the head

(thought patterns), heart (feelings), hands (work) and health. That is why spiritual masters

call this the state of the union of body, mind and soul.

How busy are you in your daily life?

Do you take quality time to listen to yourself?

Do you experience stress, tension and fragmentation in your thoughts, words and deeds?

Part 4

Peace in the world begins with peace within oneself. A broken person brings brokenness whereever he/she goes. True and lasting peace has three interrelated dimensions. It is personal, social and ecological. Individual and social peace will be disturbed if we do not live in harmony with nature. Over exploitation of nature can have far reaching consequences. Human family with all other living and non living beings constitutes the”Earth family”. The earth family consciousness helps to promote global peace. Human being is a combination of body, mind and soul. Only a healthy body can hold a healthy mind and the combination of the two will bring a healthy spirit. The balance of the three jointly promotes peace and inner harmony. The result is wholeness, wellbeing and holiness.

Spiritual seekers are in search of peace. How to bring harmony between body, mind and spirit is the biggest question in seeking spirituality of peace. From my personal experience I can say that meditation is one technique we can use to experience peace, awaken the divine spirit and inner harmony in a person. During mediatation, we experience freshness, calmness, stillness and inner harmony. It helps us to achieve inner peace in ourselves.

To what extent are you aware of the ecological crisis?

What do you do when you are stressed or tensed in your daily life?

Are you willing to spend some quality time in Meditation?

Part 5

Some popular forms of meditation

Meditation is very popular in the city culture. There are many names and forms of meditation and often very confusing. I shall enumerate a few and explain a very simple and unique form of meditation to help you to release stress and tension.

Examples of meditations are:

Vipasana meditation

Zen meditation

Transcendental meditation

Kriya yoga meditation

Raja yoga meditation

Hatha yoga meditation

Patanjali yoga meditation

Nature meditation

Iganatian method of meditation

Peace meditation

Peace meditation is a simple and unique combination of all the above meditations. It was originally developed by Swami Saccidanda Bharathi. He named it as shanti yagna meditation. Shanti means peace, yagna means effort. A personal effort to become a peaceful person by practicing meditation daily. It is an inter-religious meditation which can be shared by all irrespective of culture and religious background to bring forgiveness, reconciliation and peace. The emphasis is on divine grace rather than human effort. Therefore, the posture, time and duration etc is less important. It is an all inclusive approach to promote peace. If you are interested in practicing the peace meditation, follow the upcoming blogs.

Part 6

The first stage of Peace mediation: Learn to sit erect and relaxed

Find a comfortable position and sit like a child on your mother’s lap Close your eyes to have better control of your senses

Breathe in deeply, breathe out very slowly, do this gently for a few minutes to remain calm and still

Bring your attention to each parts of your body from head to foot Tell yourself, I am relaxed and I feel the relaxation within Once you have learned to sit in a relaxed way, you can proceed to the next stage of this meditation.

Second stage of Peace meditation: reconciliation and forgiveness

Try to recall faces of people with whom you often interact and work with in your daily life

Try to recollect the faces of people who have hurt your feelings or who have humiliated you and wounded you including those whom you have hurt and wounded

Send them the vibrations of peace, good wishes and blessings. Continue this process until you feel your anger, hatred and resentment towards them

This may often take some time. Once you have done it a number times over a number of days, you will be fully freed of your negative feelings

   

Third stage of Peace meditation: Develop an attitude of gratitude

Fill your heart with an attitude of gratitude Think of the countless blessings and good opportunities you have received in your life Thank your parents, teachers, brothers, sisters, friends and benefactors who have made

your life happy and meaningful Express an attitude of gratitude for all the good opportunities and encouragements, help

and support you have received from others What you are today is the result of your selfless self-sacrificing love for others  

Fourth stage of Peace meditation: Develop inner peace and harmony

Breathe in deeply; breathe out slowly and very gently Concentrate fully on your breathing (in and out) Try to remain in communion with yourself, creator (God ) and with nature Bring your attention from head to foot and say a word of thank you to different parts of

your body Send vibrations of peace, harmony and blessings of good wishes to whoever you wish Make a gentle smile and remain smiling for a few seconds Bring your palms together and rub it. Make it warm and give a gentle massage to your

face and eye lids and open your eyes gently Open your eyes and sing Loka Samantha suction Bhavantu (may all beings be happy)

Note: End of Peace meditation. Try to find quality time either in the morning or before going to bed to practice this meditation for at least 15 minutes to develop peace and inner harmony to free yourself from stress and tension of the day