TirthaYoga :: Meditation

Yogic Meditation History

According the sage, Patanjali. Yoga meditation guidance described thousands of years ago by this ancient and mystical sage. Revealing methods of practice in union and illumination:

At times between thought there is stillness and bliss, at other times there is mind waves. During this time an identification with these thoughts takes place.

Repeated practice, freedom from desire, clarity in intellect and devotion in meditation the door to Union .

Conflict may begin to manifest and isolation may be felt. At this time courage in practice is needed. There are many grades of practitioner, those with courage and dedication will be close to the Union .

Complete surrender to the divine. That which is beyond affliction, the source of all knowledge, the first guru.

That Force which is beyond perception is represented by the sacred sound of Aum. It is repeated with the full awareness of its purpose and removes obstacles from the path of further transcendence.

These obstacles are many. Disease, laziness, doubt, intoxication, negligence, sensual gratification, misconception, lack of understanding and focus, scattered mind, obstaclesm, falling from progress. These are just a few.

Sorrow, pain, despair, distress irregular breathing all cause further distraction.

Remaining in a pure state of truth and practice prevents these obstacles. Consciousness slowly becomes free

Virtue, friendliness, compassion, joy and happiness. separation of vice and sorrow.

A calming of mind from a passive state of breath encountered when stillness occurs after exhalation.

Or by contemplating an object that keeps the mind steady
Or by contemplating a divine object.
Or by contemplating a divine object.
Or by contemplating a sage that is free from desire.
Or by contemplating existence while remaining in the present
Or by contemplating illumination and inner light absent from suffering.

The power to move consciousness from the smallest atom to the largest object at will.

The knower, the instrument of knowing and the known become one. The practitioner sparkles like a perfect crystal.

Transformation comes as a special knowledge is embraced, memory and intellect are left behind and the practitioner shines without reflection.

These previous methods are with a technique or seed. At this time the practitioner has knowledge and wisdom of the complete truth. This is beyond that which can be learned from the senses in the world.

When even new impressions of truth bearing light are set aside the door to a state of profound seedless meditation opens.

Discuss some of the different forms / styles of meditation :

Meditation has been used in every part of the world. The styles, systems, or types of meditation may go by different names, and they may be taught by a wide range of schools, traditions, teachers, lineages, religions, or paths, but the primary underlying discrimination between them is the nature of that focal point.

Most kinds of meditation are the concentrative meditation (focusing) type. One simply focuses his attention upon a single physical object (such as a candle flame - Tratak); upon a sensation (such as that felt while walking or breathing); upon an emotion or attitude (such as reverence or love); upon a mantra spoken aloud or even silently (So-Ham, AUM); or upon a visualization (as in energy chakra meditation or channels of energy, Guided visualisations) (Bharati, 2004).

Another type of meditation is insight meditation (mindfulness), known as Vipassana in the Buddhist Tradition. Insight Meditation belongs to a comprehensive body of teachings known as the Dharma. The Dharma embraces ethics, spiritual inquiry, and contact with like-minded people, compassion, wisdom and an enlightened life. Some examples of insight meditation include (Titmuss, 2004):

Meditation on Compassion.
Meditation on Absence of.
Meditation on Happiness.
Meditation on the Dharma.
Meditation for Healing.
Meditation on Acceptance.
Meditation on Impermanence
Meditation on Appreciative Joy
Meditation on Liberation
Love towards 3 Kinds of People.

Describe some important considerations in the teaching of meditation :

I am really at the beginning of my own meditation practice, so I have got lots to learn to be well placed with teaching meditation. When I running classes on of the most important things I consider is its needs as a whole and not to use the class as a place to demonstrate my personal knowledge and/or experiment with learning about meditation.

Clearly during meditation the students are most vulnerable and open to suggestion and accordingly it's essential to avoid negative images, instead use words that reinforce optimistic thoughts and emotions (Metcalfe, 1996).

Other important considerations for teaching Meditation include:

Length of time;
Environment (lighting, noise, etc) - Setup a quiet place;
Preparation for the meditation including any necessary explanations;
Posture - Make your students comfortable by either sitting cross-legged on a large cushion on the floor, or upright on a straight back chair, with feet flat on the floor and hands resting lightly in your lap;
Clarity of communication;
Contraindications/precautions to practice of articulated;
Engagement of students/class;
Appropriate level of practice - Let your students know that they should not force their mind to concentrate, just let it rest without effort on their chosen focus. Just ignore any other thoughts and let them flow out again;
Appropriateness of technique/style;
Overall structure (intro. main body of practice, ‘coming back';
Qualityofvoice(pitch,volumeetc);
Ambience; and Use of appropriate language and words.

5 steps of Meditation :

The five key steps of meditation are:

First Step: Preparing for a Meditation Session
Second Step: Relax and Stretch the Muscles
Third Step: Relaxation Practices to Prepare for Meditation
Fourth Step: Calming the Mind and Nervous System with Breathing Practices
Fifth Step: Sitting in Meditation

Things you need to learn to meditate :

The key things you need to learn to meditate include:

How to relax the body
How to sit in a comfort, steady posture for meditation
How to make your breathing process serene
How to witness the objects in the train of the mind
How to inspect the quality of thoughts and learn to promote or strengthen those which are positive and helpful in your growth
How not to allow yourself to become disturbed in any situation, whether you judge it to be either bad or good

9 month program to learn meditation :

For the first month (or two):

Sit at the same time every day, allowing this to become a habit. Learn to ignore shakes, perspiration, numbness, or twitching. To start, 15-20 minutes is sufficient.
Attain a still, comfortable posture, with head, neck and trunk aligned. For the first month you may use a wall for support, but after that sit independently of support.
Survey the body as explained in “Exercise 1,” pp. 81-82, using attention and breath.
Practice breath awareness, observing your breathing to see if you notice any problems with the four irregularities of jerkiness, shallowness, noise or extended pauses.
Pray to the Lord of Life within that your meditation will continue to become better and will create the motivation to again sit in meditation, so that you await your meditation time with great desire.
Learn the functioning of the four functions of mind (manas, buddhi, ahamkara, chitta) and learn to coordinate them. To establish coordination, watch the mind's functioning through actions and speech, and at the same time, observe the thinking process within.

For the second month:

After doing your stretching and limbering exercises, then do your breathing exercises (diaphragmatic
breathing, two-to-one breathing, complete breath, kapalabhati, bhastrika, nadi shodhana).
Even Breathing and Alternate Nostril Breathing are very healthy preparatory practices, but during meditation itself, the only exercise recommended is Breath Awareness.
During the second month, add the practice of focusing the mind on the breath moving from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, and back, as explained in “Exercise 2,” pp. 87-88.
Learn to open blocked nostrils by paying attention to the flow of breath at that nostril.

Two to three more months:

Add the Sushumna Awakening practice of focusing the mind on the breath as it is felt between the two nostrils. Both nostrils flowing freely is a sign of sushumna awakening. Once this can be maintained for five minutes, the student has crossed a great barrier, and the mind has attained some one-pointedness.

Three to four more months:

Another three to four months of regular meditative practice will allow you enough time to learn to deal with the conscious aspect of the mind.
Learn to let go of the habitual thoughts arising in the conscious mind, by which the conscious mind is trained to form a new habit and the personality is transformed.
Then, the next step is to learn to witness the thoughts going on in your mental train, practicing and learning to remain undisturbed, unaffected, and uninvolved.

Beyond a total of seven to nine months:

Deal with the latent, dormant levels of mind which normally remain unknown.
Learn to examine all your fears; begin the process of contemplation with analysis.

Gradually, you will acquire the power to inspect your own thinking process, while remaining undisturbed. Such a mind attains clarity and is then prepared to attain samadhi.

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