Guidelines for Meditation

The following are the important points regarding the basic technique & stage of meditation. They are focused on any aspirant on the path of self realization through yoga & dhayana.

1. The regularity of Time - One of the aspects of dhayana. Keep the same time every day for meditation to initiate a conditioned response to the stimuli (i.e. time) to enable the mind to settle down at that particular time.

2. The place of Meditation - Is a very important factor to be kept in mind. One should choose a quiet & peaceful corner of the home for meditation to abstain from disturbing surrounding & interference & to keep the sancity of the practise.

3. The most Effective Time - The dawn & dusk i.e. the brahman mahurata & the evening, when the cosmos is charged with a high spiritual force & energy.

4. Direction - When sitting face north or east or northeast in order to take advantage of favorable magnetic & solar vibrations.

5. Meditation is often done with eyes closed; back straight, legs crossed in any meditation pose like sukhasan, siddhasan, padmasan, vajrasan or simply sitting on chair with back straight. Palms rest on the knee facing up, with fingers loose or in mudra.

6. Prepare the mind for meditation by auto suggestion to calm down for a specific time period & detach from the external world & thought of past/ present/ future.

7. Consciously regulate the Breath - Start with abdominal breath/ thoracic or deep yogic breath (explained later in the pranayam chapter).

8. Do not force the mind to be Still - Allow the mind to wonder initially so that after sometime it eventually settles down tired of jumping from one thought to another. If the mind persists wandering simply disassociate from it, and watch it, objectively as though you were watching a movie. It will gradually slow down.

9. Select a focal point (between the brow - Bhrumadhya Drishti, tip of the nose - Naasagra Drishti, on the heart - Anahat Dristhi , the brow chakra - Ajna Chakra Dristhi, on one point - Tratak or on the spinal cord - Sushmanik Drishti), one should try keeping the same focal point for same time before changing it. An emotional person should choose the heart plexus or anahat chakra and an intellectual person should choose the brow chakra or ajna chakra for meditation.

10. One may continue the chanting of mantra (japa) externally or internally at a continuous rhythm.

11. Do not become impatient as the thoughts flood your mind. As it takes a long time to have control over mind.

12. Begin the practice with 15 minutes and gradually extend it to 45 minutes or 1 hour.

13. Meditation should not be practiced with a full stomach nor it should be done in a state of hunger. The stomach should be half full.

14. Clothing: Preferable loose cotton clothes which allow you to breathe and feel relaxed and comfortable for the free flow of prana or energy.

15. Meditation is an effortless movement of the mind and this should be done without straining or stressing the body or mind.

16. It does not matter how many times the mind wonders, what matters is how many times you were conscious about it & how you again bring it back to the object.