CONCENTRATION AND MEDITATION

Meditation and contemplation should be kept up always.

Throwing away all work, you must meditate upon God in the evening. The thought of God naturally comes to the mind at dusk. Everything was visible a while ago, but ah ! now it is all shrouded in darkness. Who has done this? Such thoughts come to the mind. Haven't you marked how the Mohammedans give up all work and sit down to pray in the evening ?

As it is very difficult to gather the mustard seeds that escape out of a torn package and are scattered in all directions, so it is not a very easy affair to in gather and concentrate the mind which runs after worldly things in-diverse directions,

Meditate on God either in an obscure corner, or in the solitude of forests, or within the silent sanctuary of your own heart.

In the beginning a man should try to concentrate his mind always in a lonely place; otherwise many things may distract him. If we put milk and water together, they are sure to get mixed ; but if the milk is changed into butter by churning, the transformed milk (i.e. butter), instead of mixing with water, will float upon it. So when a man has gained the power of mental concentration by constant practice, his mind will always rise above his environment and rest in God, wherever he might stay.

The Master sometimes used to instruct his disciples : " Before beginning your meditation, think of this (me) for some time. Do you know why I say so ? Because, on account of your faith in this (me), your thoughts, if directed towards this (me), will at once turn Godward. It is just as a herd of cows reminds one of a cowboy; or the son, of the father ; or the lawyer, of the law-court. The mind that remains scattered over a thousand and one objects will be collected together when you will think of this (me) ; and if the mind, thus concentrated, is then directed towards God, meditation in its true sense will be possible."

The easiest way of concentrating the mind is to fix it on the flame of a candle. Its inmost blue portion corresponds to the causal body or the K&ranasarira. By fixing the mind on it, the power of concentration is soon obtained. The luminous portion that envelops the blue flame represents the Silkshmasarira or the subtle body: and outside of that there is what represents the gross body or the Sthfllasarira.

Referring to the days of his Sadhana. the Master used to tell his disciples : " Well, my boys, in those days before meditating upon God I would imagine as if I was thoroughly washing the mind of all the various impurities (evil thoughts, desires, etc.) that were there, and then installing the Deity therein. Do like this.

During meditation you should imagine as if you are tying your mind to the lotus feet of the Deity with a silk thread, so that it may not wander away from there. But why must the thread be silken? Since His lotus feet are too delicate, any other band will give Him pain.

In the course of his meditation, a beginner sometimes falls into a kind of sleep that goes by the name of Yoganidra. At that time he invariably sees some kind of Divine visions.

Do you know how a man of S&ttvika (pure) nature meditates ? He meditates in the dead of night, upon his bed within the mosquito-curtain, so that he may not be seen by others.

Be diluted in the Lord even as the crude medicine is diluted by spirit.

When all the clamourings of the mind are hushed, there comes the suspension of breath or the state of Kumbhaka. The Kumbhaka comes even through Bhakti Yoga; through intense love of God also the breath is suspended.

Deep meditation brings out the real nature of the object of meditation, and infuses it into the soul of the meditator.

An Avadhuta (a great Yogi) once saw a bridal procession passing along a meadow with much pomp, to the accompaniment of drums and trumpets. Hard by the way through which the procession was passing, he saw a hunter so deeply absorbed in aiming at a bird that he was perfectly inattentive to the procession and did not cast even a side glance at it. The Avadhuta, saluting the hunter, said : ' Sir, you are my Guru. When I sit in meditation, let my mind be concentrated on the object of meditation as yours has been on the bird."

An angler was fishing in a pond. The Avadhuta, approaching him, asked, " Brother, which road leads to Benares ? The man was at that time all attention to his fishing-rod, as the float was indicating that a fish was nibbling at the bait. So he did not give any reply to the question. When the fish was caught, he turned round and said, " What was it you were saying, sir ? " The Avadhuta saluted him and said, Sir, you are my Guru. When I sit in contemplation of the Supreme Being, let me follow your example and not attend to anything else before finishing my meditation.

Once a heron was slowly moving towards the edge of a pond to catch a fish. Behind, there was a hunter aiming an arrow at it; but the bird was totally unmindful of this fact. The Avadhuta, saluting the heron, said, " When I sit in meditation, let me follow your example and never turn back to see who or what is behind me.

" To him, who is perfect in meditation, salvation is very near," is an old saying. Do you know when a man becomes perfect in meditation ? When, on sitting down to meditate, he becomes immediately surrounded with divine atmosphere and his soul communes with God.

There comes deep concentration in meditation when nothing else can be seen or heard. Even perceptions and feelings disappear. A snake may crawl over the body, but one does not feel it. Neither the person meditating nor the snake feels it.

He who at the time of contemplation becomes so unconscious of everything outside that he would not know if birds were to nest in his hair—such a man has really acquired the perfection of meditative power.

In deep meditation all the functions of the senses are inhibited. The outward flow of the mind comes to a dead stop as if the door of the outer apartment is closed. AH the five objects of the senses—light, sound, taste, touch and smell—lie outside unperceived. At first, visions of sense objects appear before the mind during meditation, but when it becomes deep, they ever rise at all—they lie outside, debarred.

The secret is that the union with God (Yoga) can never happen unless the mind is rendered absolutely calm, whatever be the ' path you follow for God-realisation. The mind is always under the control of the Yogi, and not the Yogi under the control of his mind.