by C.V.Rajan

Created on: March 24, 2008

WHAT IS MEDITATION?

Meditation is a disciplined practice to attain control of the mind, whose very nature is vacillation, by way of limiting the flow of thoughts, ultimately leading to a state of consciousness with cessation of thoughts.

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF MEDITATION?

The goal of meditation at a "lower" level is to attain physical and mental well being. At a "higher" level, it is to realize God or the Atman - one's true inner-self.

The Hindu system of meditation has only one fundamental goal - God realization or realizing the Atman, which are one and the same, viewed from two different perspectives. But this quest of the ultimate goal is never easy and for an aspirant, it may even take several births to attain it. Such a "higher goal" could be the bastion at the best for a woefully small minority of the people.

But the effort put in meditation never goes a waste; meditation calms down the mind, improves one's mindset spiritually and enhances one's physical health. Thus meditation evolved into a science to offer these fringe benefits - physical and mental well-being to the majority.

MIND-BODY RELATIONSHIP:

Before going into the ways of learning meditation, some basics about the mind and its relationship with the body have to be understood.

The mind is known as the subtle body. All our emotional dualities - pleasure and pain, peace and restlessness, anger and compassion, love and hate etc are all caused by the unceasing activity and oscillations of the mind. The mind has its existence only in the form of flow of thoughts. The more turbulent is the flow of thoughts, the more are the fluctuations of emotions. The less is the flow of thoughts in the mind, the more peace and tranquility does one get. If the mind could cease its activity altogether, one transcends the dualities of pain and pleasure, the relative and the absolute - a state known as "Ananda" or bliss or Samadhi.

It is a known fact that gross (physical) body functions as a slave of the mind. Physical activeness, fitness or sickness has its intrinsic connection with the mind.

The converse is also true. The condition of the gross body affects the condition of the mind. The vital force that controls the body is known as "Prana", whose gross function is breathing. Functioning of the mind and "prana" (breathing) are intrinsically interlinked. When the mind slows down, breathing slows down; conversely, when breathing is controlled, mind is controlled. The control of the breathing by disciplined practice is known as

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