THE MECHANISM OF MEDITATION
Meditation is an art whereby you dive deep within yourself in a very systematic and scientific way. You lead the little conscious mind through all the layers of the subconscious mind and then still deeper to the Superconscious level of yourself.
As far as our mind is concerned, we have these three factors: the conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the Superconscious Mind. The conscious mind is a fractional part of our mind. Even Einstein used about 8% of the totality of the mind. But man can use a more significant portion of their mind, for, in reality, only one mind is as vast as the universe.
We can reach this vastness. Man has 12 billion cells in this little brain, which weighs about two and a half to three pounds, and we only use one-millionth of the 12 billion cells. This shows that we are not using our full capacity.
Through meditation, we can explore the more significant part of our mind by putting more dormant cells into action. This action would naturally bring forth a more important and substantial part of yourself. Meditation takes you deep within yourself to the Kingdom of Heaven, within which is a reservoir of a vast amount of energy—an infinite amount of energy, but you have got to tap that energy.
Using the tiny conscious mind, we go through the various layers of the subconscious mind. You would know more or less what the conscious mind is. The conscious mind functions from the brain’s left hemisphere, which is rational and analytical. But we forget the brain’s right hemisphere, which is intuitional, and that the intuitional part of the brain is connected more to the Spirit within you.
When you meditate, you have greater synaptic control over your brain. The neurons you have would function more orderly and at a higher rate of vibration so that the conscious mind picks up from the intuitional level and every action you perform becomes the right action. Of course, the right action is proceeded by proper thought.
THE CONSCIOUS MIND IS FOREVER IN CONFLICT
All this tension is because your conscious mind is forever in conflict. There are conflicting ideas, and you do not know what to do. These ideas come, again, from the subconsciousness level, which is a storehouse of memories.
If you believe in other lives, perhaps the subconscious mind contains all the impressions of what you have done since childhood or even before that. From this vast storehouse of memory, which is in the subconscious mind, these impressions get stimulated by the environment that you are in. By combining the environment and the subconscious mind, your conscious mind is set into action. But what is forgotten and not properly used is the Superconscious level of the mind, which knows of stillness. Scriptures would say, “Be still and know that I am God.” Every religion says that. Judaism also says, “Yahweh, I am, that I am.” They talk of the stillness.
Through meditational practices, you are individually taught how to reach that superconscious level of yourself and find that stillness. And I always say if you spend half an hour in a perfume factory, you will come out smelling like perfume. These are ancient teachings that people have forgotten. We are just reviving these ancient teachings to bring them to their practical level. All world philosophies are useless if they are not brought into practice. Then they remain mental gymnastics; as I said, ancient teachings have been lost or watered down.
All the ancient teachings have been watered down. Man’s goal and aim is to find his true nature, his true Self, which is still. Suppose you can experience that stillness through a systematic process of meditation. In that case, naturally, the tension and stress will go away because that stillness, that calmness, that peace that passes all understanding, is brought to its practical level in daily living.
MEDITATION IS SOMETHING NATURAL
I am not against medical doctors, but tranquillisers; that is what they give. Valiums and Librium and all these tranquillisers to make you calm and quiet. But it is so temporary, and it has many side effects.
Suppose you, through a systematic meditation process, can experience that stillness. In that case, naturally, the tension and stress will go away because that stillness, that calmness, that peace that passes all understanding, is brought to its practical level in daily living. It takes about an hour a day. Half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening, you will gradually find that your quality of life improves by 23 hours apart from the one hour of meditation. You will find it improving – your sleep will improve – insomnia will disappear, and tensions will be released. You do not feel stressed. It is like the poem “IF” by Rudyard Kipling, where the whole world can go haywire around you, and you still maintain the stillness, the equilibrium.
The significant thing meditation does for you is make you quiet and in harmony with yourself. If you are in harmony with yourself, naturally, you will not be tense or stressed. It strengthens your nerves. You will not have nervous breakdowns. Your inherent right is that harmony is produced within you; you are born with that harmony. Everything within you functions harmoniously. Measure your heartbeat, for example. It has a definite rhythm of beating harmoniously. Bills of cells in this body are working in harmony to keep this body going. Only the mind produces this disharmony.
It is straightforward to meditate. Meditation is, to a certain degree, a mental process whereby you become relaxed by activating it and using it systematically. You will find your metabolic rate dropping, the tension disappearing, and you can be so busy in your work-a-day life. You can work sixteen hours a day and yet not feel tired. You function relaxed, and by functioning calmly, you become more efficient. You can perform more work with minimal effort—the mind, body, and Spirit function holistically, where there is greater and greater coordination. As one touches the Spirit within oneself, the Kingdom of Heaven within, from there, you draw this energy to revitalise your body and mind.
THERE IS A “HOTLINE”
There is a direct connection between the conscious mind and the Superconscious mind. There is a “hotline” built within us. Within a few minutes, you reach that level where you become totally still inside you. And as you function throughout the day amidst the hustle and bustle of life, you still feel that stillness within, that calm, and you do not get perturbed. You do not become anxious; you do not become angry because you have started experiencing harmony and equilibrium.
If you are harmonious within yourself, you will automatically find your environment becoming more harmonious because it attracts like. As the old saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” So many people complain, “Why do I draw so much negativity to myself? Why do I come into situations where people are negative, situations that are negative, conditions that are negative? Why?” It is because of us; we draw that.
With meditation, you develop a positive attitude towards life and understand the philosophy that goes with the art of meditation. The mind is filled with greater and greater positivity so that you draw positivity from your environment. The analogy I like is that a flower’s nature is beautiful, but that is not the only thing a flower does. It also enhances the beauty of the garden. So, what man needs most today is tranquillity and harmony within himself, so you will not be troubled by the stresses and tensions that man faces today.
THE SPIRIT WITHIN NEEDS TO BE UNFOLDED
I spoke at a holistic health symposium in Las Vegas about two years ago, and psychiatrists were there speaking from the mind level. Physiologists, biologists, and all people from the medical fraternity were there, and I said it was from a mystical or spiritual angle. I told them that you are only treating a part of the patients you are treating. You are treating outward symptoms only, but try to combine the art of meditation with your treatment, where you start recognising the Spirit within you.
The Spirit within you does not require development; it is fully developed. It is fully developed as it is; it only involves unfoldment as you unfold yourself to the more significant glory of the Spirit within, so life becomes happier and happier. Man is not born to suffer. But he brings suffering upon himself. All those impressions and negative impressions in the subconscious will take you two million years to get rid of all those impressions. Here is an effortless, direct way. Even a child can learn this simple procedure, and the beauty lies in its simplicity. My favourite saying is: “It is so simple to be happy, but so difficult to be simple.”
FIND THE SIMPLICITY WITHIN
Through meditational and spiritual practices, one finds that simplicity within oneself. Your quality of life improves when you see that simplicity within yourself. You find greater and greater humility within yourself. Lessening of arrogance and all humility-related virtues such as kindness, compassion, and more significant love flows. When you reach the superconscious level of the mind through meditation, you allow the Absolute or Divinity to flow through you because the Superconscious is at the finest level of man’s mind. Therefore, it is the most precise level. The light of Divinity shines through the mind’s superconscious level and penetrates through the subconscious mind, rubs away, gets rid of, and eradicates all those impressions there. It lessens mental illnesses, for example, by bringing a more outstanding balance in the subconscious mind, improving the conscious mind.
Today, more and more psychologists, like Vidya Anderson, a psychologist here and one of our teachers, teach people to start meditating where necessary. Psychoanalysis only tries to find causes by digging up the dirt in the subconscious. What I teach is something different. Why analyse the causes? Why try to dig into the mind and stir up all the dirt in the subconscious? If the room is dark, why analyse darkness? Switch on the light, and the darkness disappears.
… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1983 – 47
