(An edited version of this article was published in September 2021 issue of Vedanta Kesari, a monthly magazine of Sri Ramakrishna Math, published from Chennai.)
Our true nature is to be free from all sorrow and anxiety, in spite of the natural ups and downs of life. We have a wrong notion that our happiness is based on security and pleasure. We have another wrong notion that security and pleasure come from people, objects and situations. All spiritual practices are to free us from these two wrong notions, and free us from the fundamental wrong notion about our limited individuality. Meditation is an important step in this process.
To be able to meditate effectively, it is important to have a meditation-conducive lifestyle. Without that, the mind would be thinking about all kinds of things and meditation will not be possible. After aligning the lifestyle, following the prescribed process makes meditation possible with some patient effort. The fruits are enormous to make everything worthwhile.
Bhagavad Gita deals with several aspects of meditation very elaborately, especially in the sixth chapter.
Preparation
Our strong identification and attachment to our life and what we think that supports life, like money, job, relatives, etc. makes us dwell on the past and future. We have a lot of regrets and guilt about what we did in the past. We have grudges against people, situations and even God about what happened to us in the past. We have fear and anxiety about the future. If we don’t resolve these, at least to an extent, these thoughts will rise up when we close our eyes. These psychological defects or complexes should be resolved by Karma Yoga.
There is an Order in the Universe. What we face in the present is because of our intentions and actions in the past. The people that did undesirable things to us were just delivering the results of our own past action. We only get what we deserve. So there is no point in having any grudges against anyone. At any point of time, a person does what he thinks is the right thing to do. If we have done something stupid in the past, it is because we thought it was the best thing to do at that time, or at least thought it was okay to do. If we see that as wrong, it is because we know better now. So, instead of having guilt, we just need to apologize to the people affected and resolve not to repeat it. The same applies to others also. Someone did something because they thought it was okay at that time. If we think it was not appropriate, it is a difference in understanding. We need to resolve it or just forgive the person. Thus, we need to fully forgive everyone, including ourselves, for everything in the past. What we do now decides the future. So, there is no need to be anxious about the future. We just need to do good things, wish well to everyone, help everyone as much as possible, do our duty and work hard constructively. Everything will be fine. We don’t need to worry (6.40). God knows every thought in our minds. He knows truly what is needed for our spiritual development and He is our true well wisher. Everything happens by His will. By knowing this, we can place all our past, present and future in His hands and relax (5.29). By assimilating these deeply, we can become free from all grudges, regrets and anxiety. We can accept everything that happens as a gift from God and offer everything that we do as a gift to God. This is called Karma Yoga. Having this at least to a certain extent is needed to be able to meditate.
Moderation in food, sleep, work, entertainment, etc. is needed. Too much eating, too less sleep, too much activity and too less entertainment will make us feel tired and sleepy when we sit for meditation. Too less eating, too much sleep, too less activity and too much entertainment will numb the mind and not let us focus on anything. There should be moderation in these (6.16,17). The right amount of these vary from person to person. We need to decide the right amount for us based on what keeps us alert and focused during meditation. We should have a structure and discipline in life. We should have a foolproof system of written to-do list to enable us to remove them from our mind when meditating. Not having this will keep us anxious about things to do. They will occupy our mind and not let us forget them when meditating.
Process
We should choose a place that provides some solitude (6.10). It should be a clean place free from any foul smell or stuffiness. The seat should be stable. It should not be too high. If the place is outdoors or where there can be some insects, it should not be too low, so that they can crawl under without disturbing us. The seat should not be too hard or too soft. It should be thermally insulated from the ground (6.11). We should sit straight with the body, neck and head in a vertical line, so that there is no tension in any muscle. It should be a relaxed posture. We should be able to completely forget the body in this posture. The eyes should be gently closed as if looking at the tip of the nose within the closed eyelids (6.13).
We should not give any attention to the sounds, smell, etc. that would still reach the sense organs. We should neither follow them nor resist them. We should gently let them be. We should not imagine any sense objects (6.12). We should suspend all our worldly agenda in life, our roles and responsibilities, desires and possessions (6.10). With the mind free from any grudge or regret about the past, free from any fear or anxiety about the future, free from seeking pleasure through the sense organs, we should think of God, who is our innermost Self, with a concentrated mind with God alone as the goal (6.14). The sense organs and the mind can be withdrawn from the sense objects by abandoning all hankering after the pleasure arising from them (6.24). This has to be done gradually by reasoning with the intellect with patience and fortitude. The mind should be fixed on the Self within by not thinking of anything else (6.25). Whenever the mind is found to have wandered away due to its restlessness, we should bring it back to the Self (6.26). When the mind serenely rests on the Self alone, it is steady (6.18). It will become like a lamp that is kept in a windless place (6.19). We will become fully satisfied with resting in the Self (6.20). This will give an infinite bliss which is experienced by the mind, but without the involvement of any sense organ. When this bliss is tasted, the mind will not wander (6.21). No other enjoyment is greater than this. When this is obtained, even a great sorrow will not affect the mind (6.22). This state of freedom from sorrow can be attained by practicing with patience and perseverance (6.23).
Culmination
These will be obtained by practicing this meditation (6.27,28):
- tranquil mind – free from guilt, anxiety, fear, hatred, etc.
- great bliss – tangible experience of happiness uncaused by any sense organ
- free from passions – freedom from any dependency or expectation from people, objects or situations
- infinite identity – freedom from limited identity based on body, mind, memory, actions, sense experiences, etc
- taintless – freedom from biases, tendencies and attachment created by past, present and future actions
The Yogi will see that everything in the Universe exists within him and he pervades everything in the Universe. He will see everything with equanimity (6.29). He will see that it is God alone who is in all things and everything is pervaded by God. He will never be separated from God (6.30). Even in the midst of different life situations like cold-heat, pleasure-pain and honor-dishonor, the Yogi will not lose sight of the Supreme God (6.7). With his heart fully satisfied with knowledge, he is unshaken, his senses are conquered and he sees mud, stone and gold as equal (6.8). He sees a well-wisher, friend, foe, neutral, arbitrator, hateful, relative, virtuous and vice with equal eye (6.9). The Yogi who thus sees and worships God residing in all beings abides in God even through every walk of life (6.31). Such a Yogi considers himself in others’ position regarding pleasure and pain, and behaves accordingly. Thus, empathy and compassion come naturally to him. He is the highest (6.32).
Meditation upon God
The verses in the sixth chapter talk about meditation on the pure Self in oneself, which is the same as God who is the Self of all living beings. The seventh to twelfth chapters talk about meditation upon God as the Supreme Being of this Universe.
Thinking about and meditating on the abstract unmanifest Self or unmanifest God is difficult for most people (12.5). So, a person can follow these disciplines (12.6):
- Do everything as an offering to God in the form of the Universe. It is God alone who has become the world and all the living beings. Everything we do is an offering to God.
- Do everything as a means to the goal of reaching God, not for worldly gains
- Meditate upon God as the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, compassionate Supreme Being
- Don’t think of anything else during meditation
If a person does this, God will give him the knowledge of the truth (that God is the innermost Self) and save him from the bondage of the world (12.7). As you can see, the first two points are a summary of the preparations and the last two points are a summary of the process, that was mentioned in the sixth chapter. God is the origin of all. Everything evolves, resides and subsides in God. With this idea, a person should lovingly worship God (10.8). Thus being wholly thinking of God, fully absorbed in God, talking to each other about God, the devotees should be satisfied and delighted in God (10.9). To such people, who meditate upon God as the Supreme Being, out of compassion, He lights the luminous lamp of knowledge within to know God as the Self (10.10,11). The same process of meditation can be used to meditate upon God as the Supreme Being in this Universe. Meditation upon God is done by putting the feeling mind and the discriminating intellect both on God (12.8). If a person is not able to do meditation, he should practice chanting the name of God to develop the ability to meditate (12.9). If a person is not able to do that also, he should practice ritualistic worship to develop the ability to meditate (12.10). If a person is not able to do that also, he should offer all worldly actions to God. This will prepare him for meditation (12.11).
Thus, Gita gives two ways of considering God as an object of worship – (1) considering God as the Supreme Person, the devotee sings the glories of God, goes through various austerities, bows down to God, always thinks of Him and worships through devoted offering of leaf, flower, fruit, water, etc. (9.14, 9.26) and (2) knowing that God alone has become or appears as this Universe, offers every action done like contribution, consumption, service, charity, austerities, etc. to God (9.15, 9.27). Whoever worships God through any name and form through any ritual with faith, God responds to the person through the same name and form to deepen the faith (7.21). If a person worships or works seeking this worldly or other worldly gains, he gets them. But these gains are not permanent. The person will be back to square one when the gain is exhausted (9.20,21). If a person worships or works seeking God Himself, he gets everything needed for this world and also gets God (9.22). Both these are given by God only. He is the only object of all worship and the bestower of the results of all work (9.23,24). So, the devotee should meditate upon God, become His devotee, do all actions for God and bow down to God, having God alone as the goal. He will reach the goal. (9.34).
Conclusion
Arjuna makes a comment that the mind is difficult to control because it is subtle and powerful like the wind (6.33,34). Krishna agrees that it is so. However, He says that first a person should go through the preparatory steps of Karma Yoga and lead a meditation-conducive lifestyle of moderation, forgiveness, detachment, etc. Krishna calls this vairaagya (detachment). When such a person follows the process of meditation described, he will be able to succeed with ease. Krishna calls this abhyaasa (practice). By following these two disciplines of detachment and practice, a person can succeed in meditation (6.35,36). He who strives by putting in effort will become purified and will gradually become perfect, building on his progress birth after birth, without losing what was gained before (6.44,45). A Yogi on the path of meditation is better than ascetics who perform hard physical austerities, scholars who can recite and explain scriptures, and those who do rituals or social service (6.46). The Yogi who has attained perfection will not be attached to actions (that promise security) and sense objects (that promise pleasure). When he stops seeking outside for security and pleasure, he will be free from all worldly ambitions (6.4). Such a person who meditates upon God within himself with faith and devotion is the best among Yogis. God will bless him with the supreme knowledge of the truth (6.47).