Meditation means controlling our thoughts and making them flow one-pointedly towards God. But many of us find it extremely difficult to do so. Whenever we sit down to meditate we find our thoughts running helter and skelter. The reason being that all through the day we have not practiced controlling our thoughts, and now when we are sitting down to meditate we are trying to rein in an untrained horse. Naturally it is going to prove extremely difficult.
The solution therefore as the following article explains, is to train the mind to focus on God at all times and under all situations of life. When the devotion to God is thus made steadfast and one-pointed, then the mind instead of running helter-skelter into multitudes of thoughts, becomes trained to fall into the furrow of concentrating upon God, and thus it becomes very easy to immerse into a deep state of meditation, the moment one sits down.
An example of this type of unbreakable devotion, as Swami Atulananda of the Ramakrishna Mission points out in the following article, is the kind Queen Kunti of the Mahabharata had cultivated for Lord Krishna. Swami Atulananda’s article is part of his larger essay titled: Reflections on the Bhagavad Gita, which was published in the Prabuddha Bharata Magazine in November 2003.
– Bhagavad Gita
Meditation is not a matter of external practice (i.e. it is not a matter of closing the eyes and trying to concentrate. Instead the horse of the mind has to be controlled at each and every living moment. And the best way to rein in the mind is by developing devotion to God.)
All of us have to perform our respective duties. And we must also try at all times to remember the Lord. We must make that a habit, but how? If we are busy people how can we meditate on God? Yes, that can be done.
The Lord shows the way in the Bhagavad Gita. “Give your mind and heart to Me”, he says. “That will not hinder you in doing your duty. Meditating, reading, listening is all good. But do not forget to give Me your heart. When you give your heart to me, it remains always with Me. I shall keep it safely.”
When Kunti was living in the forest with her sons, the Pandava brothers, she had to undergo terrible hardships. She, the queen used to luxury, waited upon by an army of servants, was now alone in the forest with her sons. Her suffering was at times intense.
She was greatly devoted to Krishna, who was her brother’s son and an intimate friend of her children. One day Sri Krishna visited them in the forest and seeing their pitiful condition was moved with compassion. He asked Kunti what He might do to relieve her suffering.
And then Kunti said, “O Krishna, Thou art the Lord. I pray that my mind may direct its devotion towards Thee as constantly as the flowing Ganges directs her stream towards the ocean.”
When the whole heart is devoted to God everything in the universe will be perceived as His manifestation. He is seen in the doer. He is seen in the deed. And He is seen in the result.
The heart is filled with the Deity. He is seen everywhere. He is always present before the mind. And the goal after death, also, is necessarily He. That comes from loving and constant thought on Him. Those who are so fortunate as to be always conscious of God’s presence live in great peace and contentment. They have nothing to fear and in all conditions of life they remain unmoved, serene and happy.
The Yoga Vasishtha says of such persons that even “when a shower of arrows pierces their bodies they are as calm as if soft lilies were being thrown at them. A bed of flames is to them like a soft cushioned bed sprinkled with some water; and should their heads be cut off, it would be to them like sweet slumber.”
Summary
So this Kunti-like steadfast devotion (Nishtha) towards God is a quality we too must practice to cultivate; and as it grows within us, so will we notice our mind falling into deeper and deeper states of meditation.
The Prabuddha Bharat is a wonderful magazine containing many such inspiring teachings. If you want to read its issues online for free then do click here.
#2 TIP to Succeed in Meditation – Practice Constantly, Do Not Get Disheartened and Give Up – In order to succeed in meditation constant practice or abhyasa is necessary. We must take inspiration from the story of the little bird who tried again and again to drain the ocean and keep on persevering like that bird until we succeed.
