Steps for Meditation

Meditation is an important discipline to develop a personal relationship with God, imbibe a moral value that is understood and to deeply think about the nature of the self.

 Though there are several types of meditation, one sequence of steps is presented here for the benefit of the reader. You can spend about 5 to 10 seconds at each step, unless a longer procedure is mentioned. Read through all the steps carefully and understand them before attempting to follow them. Before you start, decide your favorite form of God and the name or mantra that you want to chant.

1. Sit in a comfortable posture, with body and head straight without any strain. Let the hands rest together on the lap.
2. Gently close the eyes.
3. Be aware of the sounds outside.
4. Be aware of the form of your body.
5. Relax all the muscles of the body. Be aware of the different parts of the body and relax them – feet, calf muscles, thigh, hip, abdomen, chest, shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, hands, neck, face, jaw, forehead and ears.
6. Be aware of the movements of the body due to breathing.
7. Be aware of the breathing, without changing the breathing pattern.
8. Mentally wish good to everyone in this world. Forgive everyone for everything bad that they might have done. Thank everyone for everything good that they might have done. Wish everyone in this world with peace and prosperity in life.
9. Mentally detach yourself from all worldly roles like father, son, mother, daughter, brother, sister, student, teacher, employer, employee, neighbor, etc. Take on roles like a devotee of God, disciple of your Guru, aspirant after peace, pursuer of spiritual knowledge, etc.
10. Visualize the forms of your spiritual teachers and thank them for the inspiration, knowledge and guidance that they have given you.
11. Visualize a fully bloomed lotus at the center of your chest. Visualize the infinite all-pervasive God slowly condensing into a golden yellow luminous form of your favorite form of God seated in the lotus facing the same direction as you.
12. Let the deity slowly turn into live natural color.
13. Offer your salutations to the deity. Visualize the deity to gracefully accept your salutations with a slight compassionate smile.
14. Offer some welcome drink to the deity to refresh Himself/Herself. Enjoy the deity enjoying the taste of the drink.
15. Offer sandal paste on the forehead, hands and legs. Enjoy the deity feeling pleasant by the touch.
16. Offer a garland of flowers. Offer various flowers of different colors, shapes and sizes. Enjoy the deity being happy at the colors and forms.
17. Offer incense of mild sweet fragrance. Enjoy the deity being happy at the nice fragrance.
18. Offer light. As you wave the light in front of the deity watch the beautiful play of shadows on the form of the deity. Enjoy the smile on the face of the deity.
19. Offer various kinds of fruits, sweets and other tasty food items. Enjoy the deity tasting a bit of each of the items.
20. Chant the name of the deity or a short mantra of the deity 108 times or for 10 minutes. Offer each utterance to the deity, being aware that the deity is accepting your gesture of love.
21. Sit for sometime enjoying the peaceful presence of the deity.
22. Mentally prostrate before the deity and offer the fruits of your worship to the deity.
23. Let the form of the deity turn golden yellow light and merge with the infinite world in all directions. Now the whole world is the form of the deity.
24. Be aware of the breathing.
25. Be aware of the form of your body.
26. Be aware of the sounds around.
27. Slowly open your eyes. See your deity in the form of the world, including the various objects, people and creatures.
28. Bow down to the deity and get up slowly. Maintain the worshipful attitude towards the entire world for the rest of the day, and eventually for the rest of your life.

 This simple mental worship will help establish a personal relationship with God. If you do not want to imagine any specific form, you can imagine just golden yellow light. It will help improve the will power to stick to morality and ethics. It will improve the judgment of what is right and what is wrong. It will give forbearance to face the ups and downs of life with poise. It will lead to a more peaceful life.