Meditation and Relaxation
Only when the mind settles down, meditation happens. Meditation gives total rest and relaxation.
How to be free from desires
As long as some desires linger in your mind, you cannot be in total rest. In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says, “You cannot get into yoga (union with the Self), unless you drop the desires and hankerings in you.”
Use discrimination
As long as some desires linger in your mind, you cannot be in total rest. In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says, “You cannot get into yoga (union with the Self), unless you drop the desires and hankerings in you.”
Enlarge your desire
Another way is to extend your desire – make it so big! Then too, it won’t bother you. It is the tiny sand particle that irritates your eye – a big stone, a rock, can never get into your eye; it cannot irritate you.
Be dispassionate
As long as you hold on to “doing” something (doer-ship), as long you hold on to some planning ('I want to do this, I want to do this'), your mind does not settle down. Every desire, or ambition, is like a sand particle in your eyes – it irritates. You cannot shut your eyes, nor keep them open. If there is a particle of sand in your eyes – it’s uncomfortable either way.
Dispassion is removing this particle of dust, or sand, from your eye, so that you can open or shut your eyes freely – you can enjoy the world freely, you can relax, and get relief from it.
Dispassion is not apathy
'Oh! Anyway everybody is going to the grave, so what can one do now? This is apathy, not dispassion. There is incompleteness in the state of apathy.
Dispassion is full of enthusiasm and joy! It brings all the joy to your life… and it allows you to rest so well. When you rest well – when you go deep into meditation… and then when you come out of a Deep Meditation Powerful Meditation, you become very dynamic - you are able to act better. The deeper you are able to rest, the more dynamic you will be in your activity. Even though deep rest and dynamic activity are opposite values, they are complementary.
How to be free from desires
As long as some desires linger in your mind, you cannot be in total rest. In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says, “You cannot get into yoga (union with the Self), unless you drop the desires and hankerings in you.”
Use discrimination
As long as some desires linger in your mind, you cannot be in total rest. In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says, “You cannot get into yoga (union with the Self), unless you drop the desires and hankerings in you.”
Enlarge your desire
Another way is to extend your desire – make it so big! Then too, it won’t bother you. It is the tiny sand particle that irritates your eye – a big stone, a rock, can never get into your eye; it cannot irritate you.
Be dispassionate
As long as you hold on to “doing” something (doer-ship), as long you hold on to some planning ('I want to do this, I want to do this'), your mind does not settle down. Every desire, or ambition, is like a sand particle in your eyes – it irritates. You cannot shut your eyes, nor keep them open. If there is a particle of sand in your eyes – it’s uncomfortable either way.
Dispassion is removing this particle of dust, or sand, from your eye, so that you can open or shut your eyes freely – you can enjoy the world freely, you can relax, and get relief from it.
Dispassion is not apathy
'Oh! Anyway everybody is going to the grave, so what can one do now? This is apathy, not dispassion. There is incompleteness in the state of apathy.
Dispassion is full of enthusiasm and joy! It brings all the joy to your life… and it allows you to rest so well. When you rest well – when you go deep into meditation… and then when you come out of a Deep Meditation Powerful Meditation, you become very dynamic - you are able to act better. The deeper you are able to rest, the more dynamic you will be in your activity. Even though deep rest and dynamic activity are opposite values, they are complementary.
Do Meditate
Make time to meditate
Set aside enough time in your daily routine for meditating; early morning and in the evening are often most preferable. The steadiness of mind meditation is most noticeable when you do it regularly; some people like to end the day by clearing their mind, and some prefer to find refuge in meditation in the middle of a busy day. The easiest time to meditate is in the morning, before the day tires your body out and gives your mind more to think about. Just take care to avoid spending too long meditating––start with around 5 to 15 minutes a day.
Find or create a quiet, relaxing environment
For the beginner, it's especially important to avoid any obstacles to attention. Turn off TV sets, the phone or other noisy appliances. If you play music, choose calm, repetitive and gentle tunes, so as not to break your concentration.
Sit on level ground
Sit on a cushion if the ground is uncomfortable. You don't have to twist your limbs into the half lotus or full lotus position or adopt any unusual postures. The important thing is to keep your back straight, as this will help with breathing later on.
Relax everything
Keep searching for parts of your body that aren't relaxed. When you find them, (and you will), consciously relax them. You may find that you can't relax them unless you adjust your posture so that you are better aligned, and that place doesn't need to work anymore. This commonly happens with muscles near your spine. You may also notice that you are twisted a little and need to straighten out. Little muscles in your face often keep getting tense, too.
Let your attention rest on the flow of your breath
Listen to it, follow it, but make no judgments on. The goal is to allow the "chattering" in your mind to gradually fade away. Find an "anchor" to settle your mind.
Silence your mind
Once you've trained your mind to focus on just one thing at a time, the next step is focus on nothing at all, essentially "clearing" your mind. This requires tremendous discipline but it is the pinnacle of meditation.
Set aside enough time in your daily routine for meditating; early morning and in the evening are often most preferable. The steadiness of mind meditation is most noticeable when you do it regularly; some people like to end the day by clearing their mind, and some prefer to find refuge in meditation in the middle of a busy day. The easiest time to meditate is in the morning, before the day tires your body out and gives your mind more to think about. Just take care to avoid spending too long meditating––start with around 5 to 15 minutes a day.
Find or create a quiet, relaxing environment
For the beginner, it's especially important to avoid any obstacles to attention. Turn off TV sets, the phone or other noisy appliances. If you play music, choose calm, repetitive and gentle tunes, so as not to break your concentration.
Sit on level ground
Sit on a cushion if the ground is uncomfortable. You don't have to twist your limbs into the half lotus or full lotus position or adopt any unusual postures. The important thing is to keep your back straight, as this will help with breathing later on.
Relax everything
Keep searching for parts of your body that aren't relaxed. When you find them, (and you will), consciously relax them. You may find that you can't relax them unless you adjust your posture so that you are better aligned, and that place doesn't need to work anymore. This commonly happens with muscles near your spine. You may also notice that you are twisted a little and need to straighten out. Little muscles in your face often keep getting tense, too.
Let your attention rest on the flow of your breath
Listen to it, follow it, but make no judgments on. The goal is to allow the "chattering" in your mind to gradually fade away. Find an "anchor" to settle your mind.
Silence your mind
Once you've trained your mind to focus on just one thing at a time, the next step is focus on nothing at all, essentially "clearing" your mind. This requires tremendous discipline but it is the pinnacle of meditation.