IV. AN INNER AWAKENING🔗

Discovering Oneself through Meditation

“Don’t loiter around the temple. Enter it.”

What is Meditation?

Such a simple question on the surface, but watch how deep it takes us!

To answer the question, we much start with another, eternal question: Who am I?

A question each of us has asked ourselves at some point of our lives.

Ancient scriptures the world over emphasize that man is a composite manifestation of the live elemental energies (Panchabhoota) of which the entire cosmos is composed. These are Earth (Prthvi), 7 Water (Jala), Fire (Agni), Air (Vavu) and Space or Ether (Akasha). They range from the grossest form of energy (solid earth), to progressively subtler energies (water, fire and air) to the subtlest of them all — Ether.

Being born of, these elemental energies, man’s eternal need is to attune himself to these energies, to return to his Source, as it were.

Religion is nothing but the process of attuning oneself to these vital life energies. This is why the sacred rituals of all religions involve the use of these elements – Earth (used in the worship of idols), Water (the sprinkling of holy water or holy dips in sacred rivers), Fire (lighting of candles, fire sacrifices, yagnas) and Air (chanting of holy hymns or mantras).

If performed in the right spirit, these rituals can help us attune our inner energies with those of the Cosmos, the eternal Source of all life.

The subtlest energy of Ether, however, cannot be realized with outward rituals — it has to be awakened within. This process of attuning our own highest (spiritual) energy to that of all Existence, is what is known as Meditation.

How can meditation help me?

As mentioned earlier, each of us is a composite of the five elemental energies, which we utilize for our own growth and development.

Earth and water energies (food and water) are harnessed for the well being of the physical body, fire energy is used for digestion & body heat, air energy enters the body as life breath.

But the tremendous energy of Ether alone lies latent in the body, unutilized by most people all their lives – simply because they don't know how to. Imagine, it's like walking around with a power station of life energy inside yourself, hut not having the sense to turn on the switch!

Awaken this energy, and you will find yourself blossoming form within, just as a seed that lies hidden in the soil for months suddenly awakens to life at the touch of spring. Meditative energy is the most powerful of all that you possess. it can transform your life!

Can meditation truly change the quality of my daily life as well?

Of course.

As discussed earlier, diseases are the result of mental stress, which is in turn caused by the conflict between our ‘Dream Life’ and ‘Real Life’.

Meditative energy or Kundalini Shakti is the sole energy that can help you bridge the gap between these two lives. It is the energy that can help you realize your complete potential, and transform your dreams into reality.

Once you are truly in harmony with yourself and with all Existence, physical well-being and material prosperity will follow naturally.

But 1 still have to live in the same society!

Precisely the reason why you should practise meditation!

We live in a society that carries its own complex of fears, guilts and and complexes. Every man has potential energy to live his life to the fullest. But social conditioning makes us believe that we are worth much less than we are. Burdened by these meaningless fears and guilts, we are unable to realize our own potential. We reduce ourselves to slaves of society – forgetting that society is nothing but a collection of individuals like us.

| As Swamiji stresses, Change cannot come from the outside, only from within. Society won't change; only individuals will have to change. | | :--- |

Each of us carries a responsibility to fulfill our purpose in life, to realize our own potential. To live by our deepest convictions, and still be a harmonious part of the human community we call society, we first need to experience the unity of all Existence. Only then can we honestly give up the attitude of "Me versus Them".

Meditation awakens you to this realization. Only then can you shed your fears and blossom into the complete individual you were horn to be!

_Various schools teach diverse techniques of meditation. How do I know which is best for me?_

Go by the results! Different techniques work for different people; follow the one that works for you.

After all, techniques function simply as ‘gear systems’, activating our body to realize the ultimate.

Swamiji tells an interesting story:

After World War I, a biplane was found abandoned near a remote tribal settlement in erstwhile Russia. Never having seen an aircraft up close earlier, the tribal folk assumed that it must be some strange sort of dwelling place, and started using it as such a safe haven from sun and snow.

Some weeks later, one intelligent young tribal lad who had returned from a trip to civilization, inferred that all those buttons and switches on the display panel must have some purpose, and fiddled around with them till he got the biplane to taxi around a bit. This amazed the tribals; who would have guesses that this weird looking house could move!

But it took a war veteran, stumbling upon the settlement many months later, to rev up the engine, operate the gears and fly the biplane right up into the sky, fulfilling the purpose for which it was made.

Moral of the story: The power to fly is there within you, but can lie latent forever unless you learn how to operate the gears. These ‘gears’ are the meditation techniques we employ; it doesn’t matter which you use, as long as it gets you flying!