Education in Values and Spirituality :: Meditation and Values

Module 5 Unit 1 - How to Meditate

We considered a few commonly practised ways of meditation and focussed in detail on Raja Yoga because it includes most of the other techniques. Raja Yoga meditation is deep and purposeful thought about eternal truths. It teaches you to have concentration, single track thinking, and immediate recognition of deviations from your intended focus. You can learn how to distinguish between different qualities of thought patterns and to select those which are positive, useful and lead you to your chosen goals. In meditation practice you shift from body-consciousness to soul-consciousness, and from there move your thoughts beyond into the realm of purity and silence where you commune with the Supreme Soul. This requires stillness of mind, focus, and purity of thought.

From a spiritual viewpoint, human problems are rooted in character defects, which in their turn arise from spiritual depletion. Meditation restores contact with the true or inner self and with the source of all spiritual powers and qualities. Negative thinking harms the body, inhibiting the immune system and its ability to regenerate cells. Waste thoughts tend to escalate into obsessive, compulsive and negative thoughts. Meditation helps you veer away from that track and enables you to re-set your mind onto a positive track.

A dedicated meditation place improves your experience. Select a clean and uncluttered place kept especially for meditation and build up the vibrations and atmosphere. Choose a regular time for your meditation, such as early morning or evening when you are less likely to get interrupted. Start with short meditations of a few minutes at a time and build up to longer periods. Through meditation you train your mind to become detached from external influences and sensitive to its subtle original nature of peace, purity and divine spiritual qualities. Take up different themes each time you sit for meditation. When you have thought deeply, with concentration, you attain a state of stillness and comprehension of your theme. This is the state of realisation. It deepens as you progress and your soul undergoes permanent change.

Many mental obstacles arise due to resentment. Meditation is an effective method to stem this response and transform it into benefit for the self and others. You begin to transcend resentment through detachment and a neutral attitude. You are then free to turn your mind with love and trust towards divine wisdom and draw extra strength. The aim is to avoid taking sorrow even when it is given.

Meditation is also rigorous self-analysis that evokes realisations about what has to be changed within. If you cannot be honest with yourself, you cannot progress. False ego and double standards become exposed during meditation. When you meditate accurately, your conscience indicates any wrong conduct through a thought or a guilt feeling. Only when you allow your mistakes to come up in the silence of self-analysis can you feel that you did wrong. That intense feeling has sufficient power for you to overcome negative habits.

At the end of each day look at everything you did, your dealings with different people, what you thought and felt and evaluate your experience. You can expect each day to bring at least one challenge of values. Watch yourself as a detached observer and see if there was another way to act, or a better way to speak.

Throughout this course on education in values and spirituality certain concepts, thoughts and approaches may strike you as helpful ways to overcome any habitual negative or weak thinking. These concepts can enable you to establish a state of inner happiness that is not dependent on external circumstances but upon your inner stage and attitude.