WHAT MEDITATION REALLY IS ??

The various types of meditation now prevalent all over the world may be divided into two broad groups: secular and religious. To the former group belong all forms of concentration practised for the sake of health. It has been scientifically proven that certain types of meditation relax the body, reduce blood pressure and mental tension, and cure psychosomatic disorders. They have thus become a boon to a large number of people living under conditions of stress, especially in the West. There is nothing wrong in practising meditation for its therapeutic effects, but one should not think this is all that meditation means or can do.

Here we are concerned only with the other group of meditations, called upasana in Vedantic literature, which aim at spiritual illumination. This again is of two types: anthropomorphic (sakara) and non-anthropomorphic (nirakara). In the first type, followed in the path of devotion (bhakti), meditation is done on a form of the deity known as the aspirant’s Chosen Ideal of God, or Ista Devata. In the second type, followed in the path of knowledge, (jnana) meditation is done on a non-anthropomorphic object like light or space or on some attribute of Qualified (saguna) Brahman.

This kind of spiritual meditation which requires a higher degree and quality of concentration, need not necessarily be a relaxing experience, especially for a beginner. The term used by Patanjali (1300 BCE)— the father of Hindu psychology — for meditation is dhyana, and according to him it forms only the seventh step in a graded scheme of yoga. With the exception of a few fortunate people born with natural calmness and purity of mind, most people find that the higher types of spiritual meditation entail effort, struggle and strain. Sri Aurobindo points out: “The road of yoga is long, every inch of ground has to be won against much resistance and no quality is more needed by the spiritual aspirant than patience and single-minded perseverance with a faith that remains firm through all difficulties, delays and apparent failures.” (Bases of Yoga, 1973)

There is at present a good deal of confusion about the true nature of meditation. This is mainly caused by the mistaken belief that meditation is nothing but a form of concentration. Everyone has the capacity to concentrate his mind on something or other, and it is with this confidence that most people attempt to meditate. But when they find that they do not succeed, they ask in surprise, “Why am I not able to meditate?” The truth is that meditation is not just an ordinary type of concentration. Spiritual aspirants must understand this. They should know the difference between ordinary concentration and meditation.

In ordinary concentration the mind is focused on an external object or a mental idea. From childhood we have been practising concentration on external objects as a part of the natural process of perception. What is perception? According to the Samkhya, Yoga and Advaita-Vedanta schools of philosophy, the mind goes out through the eyes and takes the form of the object, and this is how we see it. According to Ramanuja and Madhva, it is the self that issues forth and directly perceives the object. Either way, concentration on external objects is a natural process. The Katha Upanisad says that the Lord, as it were, struck the sense organs and made them outgoing. (2.1.1) So we find no difficulty in concentrating on external objects.

Real meditation is a complete reversal of this process of perception. It means turning the mind or the self back upon its source. Sri Ramakrishna explains this by the parable of the police sergeant who goes about his rounds in the dark with a lantern (which has dark glass on three sides) in his hands. With that light he can see others but they cannot see him, unless he turns the lantern towards himself. (Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p.107)

In the same way, with the light of the self we can see external objects and movements of thoughts, but if we want to see God, we must focus this light inward. And this is what meditation means. To turn the habitually outgoing mind inward to its source is an admittedly difficult task. This, then, is the first difference between meditation and ordinary concentration: meditation is the result of the focusing of consciousness on its true source or centre. The Tantras speak of different centres of consciousness but the Upanisads point to the spiritual heart as the true centre of one’s consciousness. Though the beginner can to some extent hold the mind in the region of the physical heart, he has usually no idea of what the spiritual heart — the true centre of consciousness — means.

In most people this higher centre remains dormant or veiled, but through continence and prayer it can be developed. Unless the aspirant discovers this spiritual centre, his mind will wander during meditation. It should be understood that trying to drive the mind inward, as a shepherd drives sheep into the pen, is not meditation. True meditation is the result of the natural inwardness or interiority (pratyak pravanata) of the mind caused by an inward pull. This inward “pull” comes from one’s higher centre of consciousness. And the higher centre will exert this pull only when it is open and active. Then the mind comes to rest in its own source, as a bird comes to roost in its own nest. This resting or fixing of the mind is called dharana, without which meditation is difficult.

Secondly, in most forms of ordinary concentration the sense organs are active and contact with the external world is not cut off. But during meditation, which needs a higher degree of concentration, the mind alone is active and contact with the external world is cut off. The yogis call this state ekendriya—the state in which one indriya or sense organ (namely the manas, or mind, which the yogis regard as the sixth sense organ) alone is active. According to Patanjali, before one attempts dhyana (meditation), one should gain proficiency in dharana (fixing the mind) and pratyahara (withdrawing the mind from external objects). This withdrawal is defined by Patanjali as a state in which the senses, detached from external objects, become one with the manas or mind. (Yoga-Sutra, 2.54) When this is practised for a long time, the mind alone remains active — the ekendriya state. Only then is true meditation possible.

We now come to the third difference between ordinary concentration and meditation. What we call thought is only a wave-like movement of the mind which is called vritti. Vrittis are produced either by external stimuli or by the sprouting of samskaras (latent impressions of past experiences). When we are absorbed in a book or a job, several names and forms occupy the field of consciousness and the mind moves in a circle. Whereas in meditation the mind is, as it were, fixed on a point and there is only a single vritti in it. Then only a single name (mantra) and form (usually the form of the Chosen Ideal) will occupy the field of consciousness. All other names and forms are consciously suppressed. This is, however, difficult as the samskaras are continuously sprouting into waves. Unless at least the major desires and impulses are eliminated, the practice of meditation will become an inner battle.

This takes us to the fourth difference. Ordinary concentration is the result of attachment to various external objects, whereas meditation is the result of detachment. To get absorbed in an undertaking which one likes because it satisfies one’s desires is easy. But to get absorbed in something through detachment is difficult. This becomes possible only when detachment is supported by intense aspiration. Meditation is not an exercise in passive withdrawal, an escape from reality. It is an intense seeking of Truth in the only place where Truth ought to be sought. It is an eager search for God in the unknown depths of the heart. Just as a man in darkness gropes about by stretching out his hands, so does the meditator seek God within by stretching his intuitive faculty, the pure buddhi. Though meditation is usually practised on an image, true aspirants know that the image upon which they meditate is not the true Reality. Their meditation is in fact a search for that Reality of which the image is only a symbol. To seek an intangible unknown Reality in the unknown depths of the soul becomes possible only if there is intense aspiration and faith.

Then there is the fifth difference. The human mind has two powers: to experience and to create. Most of our normal thinking is a creative process—we are always trying to create something: new objects, new relationships, new meanings, new ideas, etc. If we cannot create anything real, we create unreal things and try to live in a dream world. All the great achievements of science, technology and art are the result of people’s stupendous efforts in creative concentration. But creation of this type gives rise to diversity and conflict. Meditation is an attempt to make the mind stop creating by seeking the source of experience. Though experience is also a function of the mind, its real source (consciousness) is in the Atman or the self. Meditation is an attempt to isolate the self and discover the Uncreated or the Absolute, which is what humanity is trying to seek through creative activity. Meditation is a movement towards unity and peace.

Another difference, related to the above, is that ordinary concentration is a movement in time. Meditation is an attempt to remain in timelessness. The more we think, the more we move with time and get caught in the ever-flowing stream of life. There are two types of time. One is external time, determined by the movements of the earth with reference to the sun. The second is internal time, determined by the movement of thoughts. In very small children these two times remain distinct; as they grow up they learn to correlate the two. But this correlation is lost during deep sleep and dreaming when we live in an entirely different world of time. In the normal waking state a certain co-ordination between inner time and outer time is maintained as a kind of ratio. This ratio varies from person to person: for some people time flies, for others time hangs heavy.

To live constantly in time, to be under the tyranny of time, to “run with the hare and hunt with the hound” all the time causes great strain on the nerves. People want to escape from this oppressive time awareness. So they go on vacation and try to forget themselves by getting absorbed in books or movies. But they find that this does not work all right, for time haunts them like a ghost wherever they go or whatever they do. Meditation is an attempt to free humanity from the tyranny of time by first slowing down the inner clock and then lifting the mind to a timeless dimension.

However, the most important difference between ordinary concentration and meditation is that the former is an unconscious process involving self-forgetfulness, while the latter is a conscious and self-directed process. What we generally call conscious activity is mostly unconscious or automatic. Freud discovered the unconscious and showed how it caused mental disorders. Jung showed that even normal healthy thinking and activity were mostly controlled by the unconscious. We talk, eat, work and walk without being simultaneously aware that we are doing all these. As Jung has pointed out, there is a world of difference between the two statements: “I am doing work” and “I am aware that I am doing work.” We are rarely in touch with our own self, hence there is very little self-awareness in our normal day-to-day life. This truth was discovered in India some three thousand years ago. Kapila, the founder of the Samkhya school, showed that everything in the universe, including the mind, is unconscious and that the Purusa (or the Atman, as the Vedantins call it) alone is truly conscious.

The mind is continuously breaking into waves and this makes the reflection of the self discontinuous. As a result we lose contact with our own centre of consciousness. Meditation stops all the waves except one, which makes the reflection of the self uniform and restores our contact with our true centre of consciousness. This is affected by exercising the will. Just as the cart driver controls the horses by holding the reins tight, so does a meditator control his mind through the will. This is what Buddha calls right mindfulness. Meditation is thus a fully self-directed process. It is a struggle against mental automatisms, it is an attempt to prevent mental waves from submerging the rock of self-awareness. This point distinguishes it from brooding, introversion and daydreaming. In ordinary concentration the mind is swayed by the object. If you are reading a book, it is the book that determines your concentration; if you are working, it is the work that controls your mind. In meditation the object usually plays only a passive part and control of the mind is effected by the self. The mind can be controlled, not by the mind, but by a faculty which is higher than it. This higher faculty is the buddhi or dhi, which is both a faculty of intuition and will. It is an impulse originating in the buddhi that controls the mental waves and directs the stream of consciousness towards the object during meditation. Unless this buddhi is to some extent developed and made active, meditation is difficult.

But meditation is not mere inner silence, it is the conversion of this silence into a means of uniting the individual self with the Supreme Self. That is why meditation of some kind or the other is enjoined in all Hindu scriptures. The Bible also says: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46.10) Lastly, it should be remembered that ordinary concentration and meditation lead to quite different results. Proficiency in meditation makes it easy to do any work with concentration, but the reverse is not always true. Though doing secular work with concentration gives a good training to the mind — and is therefore better than idling about or working sloppily — it does not ipso facto enable the aspirant to do deep meditation. Ordinary activities, if not accompanied by discrimination, detachment, devotion and a certain degree of meditative awareness, will only take us more and more away from the divine centre in us. Such concentration will only get us involved more and more in the unconscious stream of life. Meditation, on the contrary, takes us towards Reality directly.