We are in India now, the holy land of all Hindus, in meditation and satsang with many groups of devotees. I have named this pilgrimage the Rajayoga Yatra, because all along the way, in our quiet moments, we are developing and recording various inner areas of consciousness reached through the fine art of meditation, and passing on some of these discoveries to our devotees. In last month's Publisher's Desk we shared Part One of the Inspired Talk, Beginning to Meditate. This month, we are happy to bring you Part Two.
To be successful in meditation, we have to bring the mind into a disciplined state. Undisciplined people can never be told what to do, because they will not listen. Their awareness is wafted around by every little fancy that comes along. Those who really want to make progress in meditation and continue to do so and better themselves year after year after year have to approach this art in an extremely positive and systematic way.
In daily life, observe the play of the forces, the odic force as it plays between people and people and people and their things. When it is flowing nicely between people, it is called vumsimsim. But when the odic force congests itself between people and tugs and pulls and causes unhappiness, it is called simrehbe. When the odic force congests within oneself, we become aware of unhappy, fretful, disturbed states of the mind. The odic force then is called rehseka. It's the same force. The meditator learns to work with the odic forces of the world. He avoids shying away from them. The "out there" and the within is his playground.
The finest times to meditate are six in the morning, twelve noon, six in the evening and at twelve midnight. All four of these times could be used, or choose one. The meditation should be from fifteen minutes to one-half hour to begin with. What to meditate on? The transmutation of the odic forces back to their source, the actinic force. Through perfect posture we transmute the physical forces and the emotional forces. Through the control of the breath, pranayama, we transmute the intellectual forces and move awareness out of the area of the mind that is always thinking–the great dream.
Then we become vibrant and confident in ourselves, feeling the power of our spine through which the actinic forces flow out through the nerve system. We learn to lean on our own spine more than on any other person, teacher, book, organization or system. Answers begin to become real and vibrant, hooked onto the end of each question. All these and many more are the dynamic rewards of the sincere aspirant who searches within through meditation.
When one begins to meditate, he should approach it dynamically, for it is becoming more alive. He is penetrating his awareness into the very source of life itself. Choose a time for your meditation. Sit up so straight and strong and dynamic that you feel you are at that very moment the center of the universe. Regulate your breath so precisely that awareness flows freely out of the realm of thought into the perceptive areas of the mind. Then begin meditating on the two forces, odic and actinic. Be like the spaceman high above the surface of the Earth looking at the odic forces of the cities. Look then, too, at the odic forces, the magnetic forces that motivate your life within yourself and between people and you and things. Feel the actinic force flooding out from the central source of energy itself. Then turn awareness in upon itself. Simply be aware of being aware–kaef.Sit in dynamic bliss.
In coming out of this meditation, next feel the power of the spine, vibrant energy flooding out through the nerve system, the hands, the arms, the legs, the head. Enter back into life joyfully, joyously.
It is very important to decide exactly what you are going to meditate on before beginning. Then stay with the decision throughout the meditation and make every effort to avoid the tendency to become distracted and take off in a new direction. This is similar to how we must discipline ourselves to be successful in outer activities. To become distracted is unacceptable. Successful people finish what they begin. It is possible to learn to meditate extremely well but be unsuccessful in practicing it if the meditator allows himself to become sidetracked once the inside of the mind has opened. To be successful one has to be very, very firm with oneself when beginning a meditation. Each meditation must be performed in the way it was intended.
In this way you will build a strong, disciplined nerve system and subconscious mind. This will lead you naturally onto the next inner plateau, then to the next and the next. Never allow yourself to be complacent in your spiritual attainments. Always continue to strive. Continue to work with yourself from within yourself. Don't let down. Keep striving. Proceed with confidence.