By Supriya Sharma
The beautiful quote by Paramhansa Yogananda- a great Indian Monk, yogi & guru is:
‘Meditation is like giving a loving hug to ourselves, getting in touch with that awesome reality in us. While meditating we feel a deep sense of intimacy with God or Divine, a love that is inexplicable’.
The word meditation in Hindi means ‘Dhyaan’ or in English ‘Trance’ or ‘Musing’. Meditation is an age old technique that was developed by the world’s wisest people to gain full control of the mind and in doing so, to manifest and build its enormous potential for worthy pursuits.
‘When meditation or Dhyaan is attain, the mind is unwavering like the flame of candle in a windless place’ (- Bhagavad Gita).
Methods for doing simple and effective meditation:
1. Take a seat: Find place to sit that calm and quiet the mind and body.
2. Set a time limit: For a beginner, it can help to choose a short time, such as 5-10 minutes only.
3. Notice your body: Close your eyes. Just make sure you are stable and in a position where you can stay for a while.
4. Feel the breath: It is an amazing and wonderful step to feel the sensation of the breath as it goes in and as it goes out. This is also called the mindfulness way of meditating.
5. Notice when your mind has wandered: When the mind start wandering- in a few seconds, a minute, five minutes simply come back, come back to the breath again.
6. Be kind to your wandering thoughts and mind: Don’t assume or judge yourself and just come back, come back on the breath.
7. Close with kindness and compassion: One who create kindness for their self is the one who creates kindness, compassion for others.
8. Open your eyes: If your eyes are close, open it, gently lift your gaze. Notice any sound in the environment.
The state now in which you are is the state of truth and the state of enlightenment.
Benefits of meditation is endless, but few of them are:
1. Meditation help in reducing negative thoughts and emotions.
2. Increasing patience and tolerance.
3. Increasing self-conciousness and self-awareness.
4. Creating emotional and mental balance.
5. Increasing memory and creativity.
6. Creating a reservoir of kindness in our heart.
At last- ‘Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will surely take care of itself’ ( Paramahansa Yogananda)
The writer of this article is a Ph.D. Scholar of the Department of Zoology, University of Jammu.
