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The toughest tapas is working on oneself, understanding and transforming oneself.

There is no greater tapas than cleansing your body, thoughts and emotions. And this tapas you can do right now, right where you are. This is all about preparing the ground, about creating the right foundation for meditation.

Awareness is the key

I have told you, Watch your body, watch your thoughts, watch your emotions. In other words, become aware.

Awareness is the basis, the focus and the goal of meditation.

Awareness is your key-word.

No matter what the technique, no matter which religion or which spiritual discipline – the focus is on becoming more aware. This is the common thread that runs through every single technique you will find in this book.

MEDIATION IS FOR YOU

When you start watching something, you become the witness, you become an outsider. You drop your identification with the thing that are observing. By and by, you come to see that it is something outside of yourself.

By becoming aware of your body, your mind, your emotions, you become free of them.

Awaken your intelligence, your consciousness.

Watch the actions of your body as if you were an outsider, and you will drop your body.

Watch your insane, racing thoughts – and you will drop your identification with your thoughts.

Watch your fickle, changing emotions – and you will realize that you are not your emotions.

Just with deep awareness, you can become free.

From 'Meditation in Life' to 'Life in Meditation'

Right now you are at the initial stage. Right now you are still exploring meditation.

That's why you ask, How can I include meditation in my lifestyle? How many hours should I practice? Which technique will be right for me?

These questions are perfectly alright at this stage.

In the beginning you will practice meditation in life.

You have to consciously introduce meditation into your lifestyle. Choose a technique, practice for half an hour or one hour a day. See how you feel. If you enjoy a technique, stick to it for at least ten days without expecting results. If a technique has touched you, there is no way it cannot transform you in some way. Sometimes

the transformation will be subtle, and sometimes others may see it better than you do.

Very often, people come to me and say, Swamiji, after I started practicing this meditation, people are telling me there is a glow on my face, that I have become more positive, more cheerful!

So there is definitely a transformation happening at some level. Just because you don't get results directly, don't be impatient.

By and by, you will stop chasing new techniques. You will find one, or a few techniques you are comfortable with, and settle into a routine with those. Right now these techniques are still new and exciting for you, and your mind will tell you to try out this and that. It is just like going into a pastry shop; there are so many varieties, you simply can't decide what you actually want to eat!

So don't restrain yourself. Try whatever your mind asks you to try. And whatever you try, do it with full sincerity. Put your whole strength, your complete motivation into the trial. Work out each technique as if that is the only available one. Don't be greedy, don't be impatient. Otherwise you will simply be flirting with the idea of meditation; you will never experience the soul of meditation.

And just one experience is enough!

Just one glimpse of the joy of meditation is enough to make you fall in love with meditation.

Then you will no longer ask me how many hours you must practice! When you wake up, your very first thought will be of meditation. When you take a shower, when you dress, when you eat – you will do everything with such complete mindfulness, that every act, every moment will become alive with meditation. Meditativeness will become the natural state of your life. You will begin to live life in meditation.

This is the state I want you to achieve ultimately.

But of course it is not easy. First, you will have to get used to the idea of meditation. You need to practice for a little while every day; then extend that feeling into the rest of the day.

There are two types of meditation techniques:

Sit-down techniques, which you practice for a fixed period of time, a fixed number of times a day.

Anytime-anywhere techniques, which you can practice, just like that – anytime, anywhere! When you are driving to work, ironing your clothes, even walking from your bedroom to the kitchen – you can practice these techniques.

If you like, you can choose a couple of sit-down techniques and one anytime-anywhere technique for every ten days. Don't try out too many techniques simultaneously; you won't be doing justice to any of them. Anytime-anywhere techniques are the first step towards turning all of life into meditation.

A word of caution

When you first start practice meditation, you will find a lot of unusual changes in your body and mental state. Be prepared for the unexpected. Remember, meditation is a cleansing process. You are throwing out the suppressions and blockages of not just one lifetime but many lifetimes; you are flooding your body with energy that it isn't used to. In some of the meditations, you will be jumping around, whirling, screaming, doing things which you haven't done in a long long time! Your system needs time to cope.

Initially, you may experience a lot of heat in the body, headaches, a tingling feeling in your fingers and toes. All this is caused by the sudden onrush on energy. Some of you may also suffer from pain, sleeplessness, even depression. These things are temporary. Continue with the meditation and they will disappear.

If you are suffering from a serious medical condition, or if a technique is persistently giving you trouble, consult your doctor or drop the technique.

But don't let these anxieties stop you from trying out any technique!

Simply go ahead and immerse yourself in meditation.

You will see that your life is transformed before your own eyes.

Transformations you will see

What else will you notice with meditation?

When the first physical symptoms have quietened down, you will begin to see deeper and radical transformations for yourself. These are chemical changes; they are irreversible. Once you have touched the core of meditation, your life can never be the same again.

How would you know if you have really touched meditation?

Look out for these changes yourself!

Just freedom

A significant change that you will experience is a certain sense of freedom.

Why freedom? What has freedom got to do with it?

All our life, we are searching for freedom. Whether we realize it or not, each one of us is searching for freedom.

Even meditation is nothing but a desperate search for freedom.

We have heard that meditation gives freedom, so we turn to meditation in order to be free.

But we misunderstand the word 'freedom'. What we search for in our ordinary lives is either 'freedom for' or 'freedom from'.

Freedom for doing, having and being all that we wish – freedom to live as we imagine right.

Freedom from all the things that we dread and hate – disease, worry, anger, stress, low self esteem, pain.

In all our actions, we are prompted by one of these things – freedom for or freedom from. The greed for something good, or the fear of something bad.

Our whole life is controlled by these two ropes of greed and fear. But when you are being controlled by these two ropes, where is the freedom that you are craving for?

A few weeks back a casual visitor, an artist, was speaking to me. He was telling my why he hated meditation.

He said, I hate all these rules and discipline. I like to be free to lead my life the way I want. See, I get up at 10 o'clock, first thing I have my coffee, then I go for a swim whenever I feel like…

He described his whole day to me.

Then I asked him, What if someone woke you up at 6 o'clock? Or what if your coffee doesn't reach your bedside one morning?

And what if it is raining and you miss your swim? I asked.

Yeah, that's a lousy thing. If I can't go for my swim, I feel really lousy the whole day.

Then I asked him, If your freedom is dependent on so many conditions, are you really free?

To be really free, is to be free no matter what.

That's what I call just freedom. Not freedom for or freedom from. Just freedom comes out of living completely in the present moment. Just freedom frees you. Freedom for or freedom from enslaves you to things like your coffee, swim etc. You experience just freedom when you are not bound by greed or fear, by hopes for the future or regrets from the past. Freedom that doesn't depend on any external circumstances is the only true freedom. This is the freedom that you will experience with meditation.

Love for no reason

With meditation, one strange thing you will start experiencing is Love!

People are prepared for all kinds of miracles. They are ready to receive visions to have the darshan of their favourite deities and what not. But they are least prepared for the miracle of love!

You will be amazed to find how much love arises and floods your being when you enter into meditation. Through meditation, you will experience some awakening, some level of your being that you haven't touched before. You will want to share your joy with everyone you meet! This joy will overflow from you as love.

And just like freedom, this love is different from any love you have ever experienced before.

All our lives, we have been giving and taking our selfish little love. All our life, we have loved and been loved for a reason. Either consciously or unconsciously, you love for a reason. Even in the most intimate relationships, even between husband and wife, between parents and children, there are hidden reasons for loving. All our love is tainted, destroyed by jealousy and possessiveness.

With meditation, for the first time you will understand what it means to love for no reason. For the first time, you will not be giving in order to receive. You give love simply because you have so much to give! You shower love upon the world in the same way that a rain cloud showers upon the earth, or a flower spreads its fragrance all around.

You love because you can't help it!

Joy unlimited

With meditation, life becomes a joy that you cannot find a reason for.

When joy happens for a reason, it is sure to bring pain sooner or later.

If you are happy because you have just had a good meal, you are going to become miserable when you get hungry again – that's all! If you are happy because you have fallen in love, you are going to be sad when the first fight happens. And don't think it won't happen to you! It happens to everybody. That is the rule of life.

All happiness leads to pain when it ceases. That is why, in ancient India, they had only one word to denote both happiness and pain: the word Pain!

But the joy you experience with meditation is undisturbed, undisturbable. You may be healthy, you may be ill – the joy will remain the same. It may be cold, warm, raining, snowing – the joy remains. Neither your own condition nor external circumstances can make a difference. When you experience lasting joy that no external circumstance can alter, it means that you are moving deeply inwards.

Intelligence awakening

Life is changing all the time. Intelligence is nothing but the ability to respond to life moment to moment, to be awake to the challenges that life throws at us. Intelligence is to be aware of the situation, to alter your answers according to the demands of the moment. When you don't have confidence in yourself, you have to depend on the rules and regulations put down by society, by law, by religion. The intelligent person lives without a script. He doesn't need one. He depends on himself, on his inner guidance. Intelligence is taking your responsibility upon yourself.

We are all born intelligent – but society is cleverer than we are! Right from our childhood, when we are unprepared, society sets up its rules. It manages to build walls around our intelligence. It prevents our energy from flowing naturally. The ultimate intelligence is nothing but the ability to break free of these chains.

Meditation is the surest way to awaken intelligence – because the chains which are binding it are all in your mind. With meditation, you go beyond the mind, into the being. In the being, no rules exist. You become free to explore your full potential. That's why, with meditation, you will suddenly find yourself at ease with your surroundings. You will find yourself easily able to cope with new situations. You rediscover spontaneity.

The flowering of intuition

When I say Intuition, I don't mean it in the sense we normally use.

Although some of you will develop greater physical sensitivity, receive visions and so on, these are not important. These are just by-products of the growth process. The real growth is the clarity to understand and fulfill yourself.

We all go through life wearing a variety of masks. For every role, for every occasion, we have a mask. *Mother, Father, Husband, Wife, Doctor, Housewife, Boss, Socialite…*the list is endless! We live and think according to the roles that society has imposed upon us. These roles ultimately become our personality.

With meditation, we move inwards. We start living out of our own being. We become integrated. We move towards individuality.

Your personality can change, but your individuality is unchangeable. Every individual is unique. With meditation, you touch your own individuality. You naturally start moving in the direction which expresses you, which fulfils you in the ultimate sense. This is intuition at work.

Problems you may face

There is only one real obstacle on the path of meditation: the Ego. Whatever other issues come up, whatever problems you face, be clear: they are just the different voices of the ego.

What is the ego?

The ego is nothing but your sense of 'self ', the collection of ideas and concepts that you have about yourself. Be very clear: the ego is nothing but a collection of ideas! It is an imaginary thing. The ego doesn't even have a real existence. Yet it is this ego which is controlling your life!

It is the ego which creates a sense of separateness in you.

At birth, it separates you from your mother. Until the moment of birth there is no ego, no boundary. You are simply a part of your mother. At the moment of birth, when the umbilical cord is cut, you sense your own boundary for the first time.

In the very first year after birth, the ego builds your picture of yourself and the world.

The ego is responsible for your sense of 'me' and 'mine'.

Throughout your life, the ego puts you into the position of 'me versus them'. It separates you from your parents, from friends and strangers, from nature, from all of Existence.

Whenever you utter the word 'I', you are breaking away from Existence. You cannot really break away, because you are an intrinsic part of Existence – but in your mind you break away. You create for yourself a world in which you are separate from all. This world exists only in your mind – it is just a mental concept - but you allow this concept to rule all your actions.

You have always heard people say, The ego is the root of all our misery. Why?

Because the ego thrives on hostility, on conflict. Any environment which creates a sense of isolation is the survival ground for the ego.

The ego may be a product of your own imagination, but it is a cunning animal!

To stay alive, the ego creates a distorted version of reality in which all things are in a state of disharmony.

Look at your own life.

Whenever you experience pain, anger, jealousy, it is always the result of feeling separate from someone else, of feeling alone, of feeling cheated. In times of misery, you always experience yourself as being all alone. In times of joy, you feel naturally connected with everyone and everything around you. When you are joyful, happy, laughing – these are the times when your ego is at its weakest.

In your present life, you may experience these moments temporarily. But meditation is going to take you to a permanent state of bliss. Meditation is the process of falling in tune with the whole of Existence. In meditation, there is simply no place for separateness, no place for the ego.

Once you sense the lasting harmony of everything, once you sense the deep interconnectedness of all of Existence, what will be the need for maintaining the ego? The ego is your armour against the world. The ego is your shield in times of war. If everything is peaceful, if everything is harmonious – then where is the need for armour, a shield?

That's why you find it so difficult to meditate. Meditation is such a simple thing! It is just a matter of sitting silently and watching your breath. Actually there is no need to teach or learn meditation. Meditation should simply happen.

To sit still even for a few minutes is to get a glimpse of reality. Just for a few seconds, if you can sit silently, calm your racing thoughts, just be – that will be enough to convince you of the truth. And once the truth is known, where is the place for your ego? The ego will have to be dropped. You will drop it naturally.

That's why the ego fights meditation so hard. Meditation is nothing short of the death of ego!

So the biggest problem to watch out for is the strong resistance by ego. When you are meditating, the ego will raise a thousand questions.

Doubt is the most deadly weapon that the ego has!

The ego will continuously create doubts and questions in your mind.

In the beginning it will make you worry,

Can I really meditate?

Can I sit for so many hours with my bad back?

Is this path really for me?

What if I get drawn too deeply in?

What will happen to my family?

Will my friends call me crazy?

Am I really crazy?

If you are working with a master, it will raise doubts against the master!

Is the master really authentic?

Does he know which technique is right for me?

What is his purpose in teaching me meditation?

Is this some kind of hypnosis?

So if you find these kinds of questions arising, don't bother. Simply drop the questions and continue with the meditation. Don't feel guilty about having these questions! These questions arise naturally in everyone's mind.

And don't try to struggle with these questions. Don't make the mistake of struggling with the ego! Ego is just something imaginary; it is nothing but the lack of awareness; it has no positive existence. Just like darkness is a state of no-light, ego is a state of no-awareness.

If you are in a dark room, can you fight the darkness and push it out to make the room bright? Does it make sense to struggle against the darkness? In fact, your solution has nothing to do with the darkness. You have to simply bring in a lamp and the darkness will disappear on its own! In the same way, don't waste your energy fighting with the ego. Focus on bringing awareness into your meditation. By and by, the questions will drop naturally.

The biggest spokesperson of the ego is the mind.

Just like the body, the mind too should be an instrument in your hands.

The mind is a wonderful instrument, tremendously powerful. It is a marvel of creativity. It is a masterpiece of design. It is also a social necessity. Without the mind, we would not survive in this world.

But we forget that the mind is only an instrument. Instead, we ourselves become an instrument of the mind! We are totally controlled by our mind.

The great trick that the mind plays on us to separate us from reality is the use of language, of words.

Words are what separate us from reality. The moment we perceive something, we try to verbalize it. When you see a flower, you tell yourself, This is a flower. We absorb all of life though words, through abstract concepts. But remember: words are not the experience!

The word flower is not the flower, the word love is not love, the word enlightenment is not enlightenment. Words form a barrier between you and reality.

Meditation has no need for words. Meditation is the direct experience of reality.

But the mind continues on this constant chatter of words. The mind doesn't let you relax for a single moment. The mind is constantly creating ideas, concepts, opinions for you. It uses words to distort reality.

How do you handle the mind?

Just like I said about the ego – don't fight with the mind also. You cannot achieve anything by struggling against your mind. In fact, you cannot even struggle – because even struggling is a function of the mind! So it will be one part of your mind struggling against the other. Instead, simply become a witness to the functioning of your mind.

This is not going to be easy. Especially on this path, the mind is a very dangerous companion! Initially, it will create all sorts of fears and doubts in your mind. When you start trying to witness your thoughts, it will convince you that you are actually witnessing. But if the mind tells you that, it means the mind is at work. If you are actually witnessing, there will be no opinions, no judgment, not even the idea, These are thoughts. I am witnessing them.

But be very clear: the mind is not your enemy. There is nothing wrong with thinking. It is just a process like any other. Don't put yourself into a fighting position. Just be an observer of the mind, an observer of your thoughts. Enjoy the play of your mind!

As you start watching your thoughts, you will see that they start flowing more and more slowly. As your awareness becomes deeper, you become aware of gaps in the flow. A gap that you experience like a flash – you glimpse it, then it vanishes; a gap in which you experience a beautiful silence. By and by, the gaps start happening more frequently. Don't become attached even to this

experience! Don't wait for the gaps. When the gaps become wider, you will be able to see with intense clarity – not just the outer world, but the inner world as well.

This is the experience of no-mind.

Don't think that all this is too much for you!

When you practice with sincerity, with totality, it will happen.

How to enjoy meditation!

Make time

Every day, make sure you keep aside at least half an hour for meditation. Even if you plan on practicing anytime-anywhere meditations, always include a half-hour of sit-down meditation. In the beginning, you need to cultivate discipline in your meditation. Also, you need to practice consciously, in an environment set aside for the practice of meditation.

During this time, ensure that you are undisturbed. Don't accept any engagements. Let your family and friends know that during this time, it is important for you to be alone. It is preferable to keep the timings the same every day. The body and mind get accustomed to routines very fast. If you practice at the same time every day, you will find that you can slip into the meditative state more easily at that particular time.

Make space

Choose a clean, uncluttered, silent space for meditation. If you can, set aside a room in your home as the Meditation Room. If you already have a prayer-room in your home, that would be the ideal place. A space that has already been used for worship or meditation will have high energy level, which will help you meditate better. It is better to meditate in the same place everyday. If the space is indoors, ensure that there is sufficient sunlight and plenty of ventilation. If you are meditating outdoors, say in the garden, make sure that it is a private space where you won't be disturbed by 'garden noises'.

Be comfortable

Unless you are physically comfortable, there is no way you can meditate! Meditation requires you to forget the body. If the body is in pain, how are you going to forget it and move beyond? So ensure that you are comfortable.

Many techniques require you to squat on the floor. If you are not accustomed to this, use a chair – but keep trying. Use a cushion as a seat if you wish to. For lie-down techniques, don't lie on the bare floor. Use a carpet or a straw mat.

Ensure that some time has passed since your last meal - at least two hours.

Initially, you may feel sleepy during meditation. This is the tamas (lethargy) that is weighing down your system. Don't try to fight the sleep – ultimately, you will be able to neither sleep nor meditate! And don't feel guilty about feeling sleepy. If you are sleepy, just go to sleep. When you finish sleeping, you can get up and meditate, that's all!

Q. Isn't meditation also a 'doing'?

A. In the beginning, yes. Even to sit silently is to do something. Even to watch your breath is to do something. In fact, in the beginning, meditation may seem more like a doing than anything else – because you are doing something that is not natural to you.

Even when you are doing something perfectly natural – like just sitting, it can seem like an effort when it is formally imposed upon you.

Do you know, there is a Zen meditation technique called just sitting? But even there, participants struggle to achieve!

Yes, at the start, it is definitely going to be an effort. But in a deeper sense, meditation is not a doing – because when you do it the right way, when you really succeed in meditation, all efforts disappear.

When you become totally relaxed, when you stop trying to achieve results, when you simply enjoy the meditation, you will gradually stop even being aware that you are meditating. Then it will no longer be a doing!

MEDITATION TECHNIQUES

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TOWARDS MEDITATIVE LIVING