Aarushi Gupta
Meditation is an ancient Yogic practice, in which an individual uses a technique to focus with the purpose of achieving self awareness and other benefits.
For the Anime Fans, Goku from Dragon Ball, is the perfect example of a great combination of physical and mental strength. For the latter, in various scenes he can be seen, sitting alone in deep concentration. He is in his own Stress relief session with Meditation.
Keeping away from vices is important to lead a happy and fulfilled life but It is difficult to initiate the process yourself. But what if it works the other way around? What if the vices leave you? Now as crazy as it sounds, successful people, who have been meditating for a long time and have reaped the benefits of the same, believe in this – what seems a strange – concept; that meditation and spirituality makes the process easier by making the vices leave you rather than you putting efforts to do away with them.
Do the two worlds clash?
Steve Jobs, who is known for founding Apple, one of the biggest tech companies in the market today, practiced spirituality. He got fascinated towards the concept of meditation and the spiritual world due to ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’, the only book to be given away at Steve Job’s funeral.
You could be a spiritualist and a capitalist at the same time. You could find as much comfort in your work space as in the lap of nature, both at the same time.
Saying “I do not have time to meditate, since I am too busy” is the same as “I do not have time to water the plants since I am too engaged in watching them grow”. For the plants to grow, they need nutrition and for that , watering them is necessary. In this scenario, your work is like the plant, innovation and new thoughts is nutrition and a stress relief session with Meditation is the water.
In the world we live in today , especially if we have a fast running occupation, say corporate world, law etc; it becomes all the more important to meditate. Our mind is clouded with thoughts all the time, and as Robin Sharma mentions in his book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, most of these thoughts are repeated, so we mostly do not put our brain muscle into work for creative thinking. It, therefore, becomes important to defog our brain of these preoccupied thoughts and focus on the original one;and this can be achieved through meditation.
For an entrepreneur, it is vital to make quick and effective decisions to solve problems that arise on a daily basis. This is possible only if he has a good insight into it. However,any external action begins as a thought within. Thus, to have a clear insight of things in the outer world, it is imperative to have a deeper insight on the self, and this is only possible through meditation.
Aspects of Meditation:
Radhakrishnan Pillai, fondly known as Chanakya Pillai, due credits to his skills and deep knowledge about Chanakya and his teachings, sees meditation as a three step process: Physical, Mental, Spiritual.
The slow breathing exercises one performs after a workout to cool down forms the physical aspect of it.
When you sit for longer durations and try and have a control over your thoughts, you enter the second stage. Once you begin to have deep concentration sessions where the perceiver and the perceived are
no longer the same, you begin your spiritual journey.
But as simple as it sounds, its true benefits can only be achieved with pure intentions and what is called in Sanskrit or hindi as abhyas or practice.
Meditating tips for beginners:
Correct Posture:
Keep your back straight.
You could sit, folding legs with a pillow below you or use a back rest.
Try shutting your eyes down:
Keep your eyes closed for better concentration.
Keep your hands on your lap and try and make your palm face the roof.
Focus:
While meditating, try and maintain your focus on one thing, it could be your
Breath or a mantra(in mantra meditation)
You could also try visualization.
Fixed Duration:
Fix a minimum time span for meditation to be consistent and ensure abhyas. To begin with, try sitting for at least ten minutes, daily.
Different Techniques:
Meditation is a vast topic and is of various types, too. Try gaining knowledge on quite some of them and then practice and choose the one that best suits you.
Book recommendations:
* Autobiography of a Yogi
* Book by Paramahansa Yogananda
* I Am That
* Nisargadatta Maharaj
* Door-ways to Light
* Krishnananda
* Inner Engineering
* Sadhguru
* Vedas
Note, true knowledge can only be achieved through practice. As many books as you read about swimming, you will only pick on the skill once you actually dive into the pool. On similar grounds, it is extremely important and a real healthy habit to read great books like these, but it is imperative to practice it too. It is the best to have a guru to guide you on the path, especially if you are to practice advanced meditation. You could consider being a part of spiritual organisations for your journey of meditation.
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