Why Meditate?

Meditation is the art of living in the present. Human beings normally choose to recollect past or predict future rather than think about present. This attitude leads to the vicious circle of hopes, failures, regrets and tensions. Meditation leads us to stay with the time thereby keeping us away from past or future. We tend to observe current events with minimal reaction.

Through the practice of meditation, we can control that part of the mind which creates all the problems. Our aim is to train the emotional area of the brain. Today, man is constantly over weighed by the fear of being ousted in the race for survival. However the question no longer remains to be survival, but more luxury more wealth and more success. For this he constantly craves for intellectual knowledge and superior memory merely to outshine his competitors. Yet he is not concerned to discover the reasons behind such feelings such as anger, greed and fear.

The brain can be vaguely divided into two halves, the outer half of the mind which deals with the outer emotions of the world and the other is that part which controls the inner being or the subconscious. Unless we control that part of the mind which in turn controls the inner being or the subconscious, we cannot come to the root cause of the problems. Crimes such as murder, theft, debauchery and suicides cannot be put to an end by law.

Who has stolen the innocence and beauty of the world ?

That mind which has the capacity to give birth to anger, greed and fear. The mind cannot be developed to its full capacity by a stereo typical form of education. We will have to develop our emotional mind with the intellectual. These two facts of knowledge have to be inculcated to that extent where in all negative thinking gives way to positive thinking, so that all energy gets channeled into positive constructive behaviour. The art of developing the mind to its absolute capacity is meditation. The various steps that we will have to cover before that ideal self are discussed herein briefly.

Diet Control

The supermarket is filled up with various mouth watering delicacies, on top of which is the era of advertisements, the desires of the tongue keeps increasing. How much and what to eat are getting to be the major topic of discussion. We find it more and more difficult to keep our senses in control. It is said 'eat to live and not live to eat'. This is indeed easier said than done with all the various incentives available in the market. The only way it can become practical is when the desire to eat actually becomes less. Through meditation we can actually learn to control our desire for food.

Disciplining the tongue

If you want to test the depth of the man than test the quality of his language and speech. What sort of a personality a man or woman has depends directly upon how well or badly spoken he/she is. All our contact with the society occurs through this language of ours. Today one of the major causes for misunderstanding in the family and society is the lack of control on the tongue. One of the major outcome of meditation is the discipline of the tongue.

Sudden anger too is the outcome of a unstable tongue. Anger is also an art. A person should be versed with how much and when to get angry. When a person gets angry his hands shake and lips tremble, in such a condition a person says one thing but what comes out of his mouth is something totally else. Anger is one of the causes of suicide because a person loses his mental balance in anger. We can divide anger into three different kinds. They are

Very severe
Medium
Minimal

The very severe kind of passion or anger can be described as a line scratched on the stone. It cannot be rubbed easily. The second type of anger can be described as the sort of line that is drawn on the sand, it is very easily rubbed with the next wind. The third or the minimal variety of anger can be described by the line drawn on the water which is rubbed the moment it is drawn. Through meditation we can reduce the intensity of feelings such as anger, pride, fear, hatred, complexities of any sort etc. Through meditation we can learn where exactly in our brain these feelings arise and how we can control them. That is why meditation is considered to be the method of metamorphosis into a better personality.

Through meditation there is a notable decrease in feelings such as sorrow or dissatisfaction. In yoga science the first major effect for instability of mind is considered to be sorrow. Tension, restlessness, sorrow all mental and internal feelings of displeasure are caused by instability of mind.

Awareness

Awareness can be increased only after mental stability has been established. Only awareness can give a complete personality. Once there is awareness it becomes easier to understand any given topic and its sole theme. A famous magistrate in Germany after learning meditation said 'My awareness has increased to the extent that I get to know whether the accused being convicted is actually guilty or innocent' Through meditation the brain cells become so activated and sensitive that one can immediately catch the vibrations going in the other persons mind. In every persons mind desires take place but it is the law of nature that all the desires of a person cannot get fulfilled. Sometimes when these desires are not fulfilled a person gets so dissatisfied and frustrated that it might lead to his mental break down and sometimes even cause madness. To avoid this state, meditation acts as a permanent tranquilizer. Fulfillment of desires is not in the hand of the person but keeping his mental equilibrium is definitely in his own power. Through the practice of meditation his attitude becomes so universal and balanced that he learns to lead a happy life under all circumstances.

An important test of a man who meditates is his rate of breathing. Before meditation a person takes 16 to 18 breaths per minute, after meditation there is a decrease in the rate of breathing starting from 14 to even 6 or 4 per minute, one count of breath includes both inhaling and exhaling. As and when we experience peace inside us, our emotional area will become balanced and the number of breaths will become lesser and lesser. With the balance of breaths a lot of diseases such as BP, heart trouble and other physical problems can get solved. A person who learns the value and depth of the breath can not only control his diseases if any, but can also be forewarned of any future illnesses or accidents much before they are actually taken place. Through meditation a person becomes more compassionate, if the desires to understand a persons problems or the desire to solve them does not arise then the whole aim of Meditation is lost.

Through meditation we can learn the art of living in society; for example, if the management wants to improve their productivity then they will have to have a compassionate ear towards the problems of its staff. Even in the close knit relationship of husband and with or parents and children the importance of understanding cannot be over ruled. This understanding can be acquired through meditation.

Everybody craves to improve himself to the ideal self such as improve his mind, thoughts, personality. Meditation is the key to improve one's mind and thoughts. It is also the golden gate to a new personality and a better life. However, meditation is not a magic wand by which we can change everything in a fraction of time, this will happen slowly. The reason behind every change is a long and perseverant action. Through systematic development only can there be an equal and proportional development in the personality.


Compiled from the works of Acharya Mahapragya ji
By Mrs Vidya Jain