Spiritual Vigilance
Spiritual vigilance, i.e.
awakening of the consciousness and its constant alertness is an essential
constituent of meditation. Only he who is alert can be vigilant: only he who
is vigilant can concentrate and only he who is able to concentrate can
practice meditation. One who is not vigilant is prone to be assailed by fear
from all directions. On the other hand, one who is alert, and hence fully
vigilant, is never perturbed by fear.
An alert mind never burdens
itself with unnecessary memories of what is done. Man is habitually bothered
more by the memories of the past actions rather than the work on hand. For
instance, when he takes his meals, instead of concentrating on eating, his
mind is agitated with umpteen other, mostly irrelevant, memories and/or plans.
He who keeps his mind fully engaged by whatever is being done at the moment,
is the true sadhaka. Complete harmony of body, mind and speech is
indeed very rarely achieved. And where there is no harmony between the body
and the mind, the result is agitation, tension and restlessness. In fact, real
sadhana comprises total harmony of thought and deed - call it
concentration, meditation or whatever you like.
Meditation does not mean
suppression of mental function. Any attempt towards its suppression makes the
mind more restless. The question then arises, what to do to achieve
concentration? The answer is simply-‘See yourself and realise the Self’.
As already stated, breath is an
essential constituent of the self. Realizing breath is a step towards
realizing the self. And so he who realizes his breath is a wise man. He may
not be a scholar but he knows his self, and is, therefore, wise.
Normally one pays no attention
- makes no efforts to breathe. Nevertheless breathing does not stop. Proper
breathing is very important. He who is indifferent to how he breathes is
ignoring his own self. Breathing, internal breathing, sense organs, body and
mind are all qualified to become objects of concentrated perception, without
which peace of mind cannot be achieved.
Today we live in a world of
mental tensions. Even routine chores like buying one’s necessities from a
ration shop or commuting, by public transport in a crowded city, produces
enormous dangerous tensions. The question is- what is the remedy? How to avoid
the injurious effects of the daily stress? Modern life-styles are unlikely to
change for the better. We must therefore find the remedy within our own
selves. Fortunately we do possess an innate protective mechanism tropotrophic
or relaxation response-which when triggered can produce conditions
diametrically opposite to those of stress. Regular practice of 'easy-to-learn
meditation technique’ is a potent remedy for relieving mental stress and
achieving peace of mind. It can also prevent the onslaught of dangerous
psychosomatic diseases.
Preksa Dhayana is such
an uncomplicated, easy-to-learn technique of meditation. It is comprised of
the following
1. Kayotsarga (Total
Relaxation).
2. Antaryatra (Internal
Trip).
3. Svasa Preksa
(Perception of Breath).
4. Sartra Preksa
(Perception of Body).
5. Chaitanya Kendra Preksa
(Perception of Psychic Centres).
6. Lesya-dhayana
(Perception of Psychic Spectrum).
7. Perception of the Present
Moment.
8. Perception of thoughts.
9. Self Discipline.
10. Bhavana (counter
vibrations).
11. Anupreksa
(Contemplation).
12. Concentration.
