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An ordinary person may
consider meditation as a worship or prayer. But it is not so.
Meditation means awareness. Whatever you do with awareness is
meditation. "Watching your breath" is meditation; listening to the
birds is meditation. As long as these activities are free from any
other distraction to the mind, it is effective meditation.
Meditation is not a technique but a way of life. Meditation means 'a
cessation of the thought process' . It describes a state of
consciousness, when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and
various patterns . The observer (one who is doing meditation)
realizes that all the activity of the mind is reduced to one. The
word meditation, is derived from two Latin words : meditari (to
think, to dwell upon, to exercise the mind) and mederi (to heal).
Its Sanskrit derivation 'medha' means wisdom.
Traditionally, the classical yoga texts, describe that to attain
true states of meditation one must go through several stages. After
the necessary preparation of personal and social code, physical
position, breath control, and relaxation come the more advanced
stages of concentration, contemplation, and then ultimately
absorption. But that does not mean that one must perfect any one
stage before moving onto the next. The Integral yoga approach is
simultaneous application of a little of all stages together. |
