Spirituality � Bhagavan Nityananda, the Great Siddha of India -
Very often when giving meditation classes for Sri Chinmoy Centre people remark that meditation is quite difficult. Meditating in a group often gives a good experience but when meditating on their own they find it difficult to maintain this standard of meditation.. It is important to remember that spiritual practise is not like drinking instant coffee. If somebody told you could master playing the piano in one week, you would be suspicious. It is the same with meditation. We should feel that to be proficient in meditation it takes time and regular practice. It is like developing muscles it will get stronger with regular practise. 1. The first difficulty of meditation is that many people find in meditation is finding time in their busy schedule to meditate. Often people feel they have too many constraints upon their time. However if we really value something then we will make time. For example a good time to meditate is early in the morning. If we get up 15 mins earlier then we can meditate before our other activities start. It is also a good time if other people are still sleeping. If we try to meditate at dinner time, people may start calling you to do the dishes or something! 2. Be regular. It is important to try and develop some discipline for meditation. If our meditation is sporadic, perhaps once a week, we will lose focus. If we meditate every day at the same time then our meditation will become more powerful. Our mind will become accustomed to the idea of meditation. This will help overcome many problems. As Sri Chinmoy says: "Regularity is of paramount importance. Every day we eat at least twice, if not three times, to satisfy the demands of our physical body. Similarly, we have to meditate every day to nourish our soul, our inner existence. So, let us do the first thing first. Since the soul was created before the body, we have to think of the child who came into the family first. " Sri Chinmoy [1]. 3. Our thoughts seem to be too powerful. It is no exaggeration to say that at times our mind can feel like an overactive monkey. There can seem no end in sight to an endless stream of thoughts. However we should not be discouraged by the nature of our mind. It is possible to quieten the mind and eventually stop the thoughts altogether. A most useful idea is to feel that we are not our thoughts. Thoughts are separate from our real nature. Once we start to be aware of this, thoughts lose their power and it becomes possible to stop the thoughts completely. 4. Distracted by noise. Another common difficulty is getting distracted by outside noise. When we are a beginner in meditation this can be a big problem. Ideally we need to find a quite place and a quite time. However despite our best intentions this can prove difficult. However we can still meditate despite external noises. Firstly we can listen to meditative music. The music will drown out the external noises. If the music is meditative it can also enhance our meditation. Secondly if do we hear noises we can just try to absorb it into our meditation. Although it is difficult at first overcoming such difficulties will make our meditation capacity stronger. 5. Falling asleep. It is true meditation helps us to relax but this relaxation is quite different to the relaxation of sleep. Meditation means being dynamically focused. In real meditation we bring into our body energising cosmic energy. Therefore we must try not to allow ourselves to fall asleep or drift into a doze. To prevent this there are a few things we can do. Firstly we can try meditating with our eyes open or at least half open. This makes it more difficult to doze. Secondly we should meditate when do not feel very tired. Often after a big meal we feel dozy because we are digesting a big meal. Therefore it is always best to meditate at least 2 hours after a meal. "When you meditate, you have to be absolutely dynamic. Do not allow sleepiness to enter into you. Feel that you are entering into the battlefield where you have to fight against ignorance, doubt, imperfection and death." - Sri Chinmoy [2]. The most important thing for successful meditation is to feel the real benefits that can come from meditation. If we sincerely aspire for something more fulfilling. If we feel meditation can feed our inner hunger then our determination will help us to over come any obstacles that may crop up. References [1] Excerpt from What I Need From God by Sri Chinmoy. [2] Excerpt from Meditation: Humanity's Race And Divinity's Grace, Part 2 by Sri Chinmoy. Richard lives in Oxford where he works as a tutor. He offers free meditation classes in Oxford on behalf of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. He updates a blog including topics on meditation and self transcendence.By R Pettinger.