A MEDITATION SUITABLE FOR ALL
The majority of people in the world today who wish to learn how to meditate do so because they want to relax. In a world of constant demands, where everything appears to happen at lighting speed, people want to learn the technique of freeing themselves from the variety of tensions they face, find an inner calm to bring about balance in their lives and sustain positive frame of mind.
Meditation is an ancient tradition, which involves far more than just relaxing and being positive. It is also a way to enlighten the mind. An enlightened mind is one filled with peace, clarity and kindness. Clarity enables the individual to make decisions, which are benevolent and accurate for the self and others; kindness protects the self and others from harmful effects of the mind’s negative desires. The aim of meditation is to use the values of wisdom, peace and kindness to enable the individual to control the mind, to keep in order.
However, even in ancient times, the mind was understood to be extremely difficult to control. It was said to be like the wind: you could never catch it, or hold it- it went where it wished and no human being could become its master. In other instances it was said that the mind was like an elephant: extremely powerful but equally gentle and patient, able to do lot of work for its master. However when an elephant turns wild, its gentleness and patience completely disappear and it destroys and damages everything in its path. When the mind is under stress, it resembles a wild elephant, it has no control and cannot be controlled.
Taming the mind is regarded as a great art requiring time, attention, practice and above all, a sincerity of heart where individuals truly want to change their way of thinking. To relax, to be positive, to be peaceful
and kind all require a change in our thought patterns and this can only happen when we look deeply within. However hard they try, other people cannot change us; we must have personal realization and the desire to make changes through our own effort. Permanent and positive change cannot be imposed from outside; it is something we choose. Meditation is the discovery of that point of silence within, like a compass needle that guides us in the right direction at the right time. To become silent, to be still in the ocean of hectic, noisy action, is a choice many people are now making. When this is achieved, this stillness acts on the mind like oxygen, giving breath to both understanding and enrich life. Of course, action is a necessity, an expression of ourselves through time, relationship and the roles we play. However if we do not sometimes stop and take a breath of silence, then the mind begins to suffocate, thoughts speed like bullet trains and the brain feels as if it is in a pressure cooker. Emotions erupt and react like volcanoes, the eyes become dizzy with mountains of information and the head feels like a roller-coaster. This is stress. The mind needs to leave the jungle of pressure, deadlines and speed and settle down and find the point of silence within.
Raja Yoga or in other words meditation is the method to find that point which recharges the mind with peace, clarity and balance.