Sunday 21 January 2018

Meditate - How, When and Why

“Many people think excitement is happiness.... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

I have been learning, reading & writing about, practising and now teaching meditation for several years.  It has helped me at every step of my life. 

During tough times meditation helps you find the right path and at good times it helps you to stay focused to your true self. It certainly is the need of the hour with our erratic lifestyles and digital world.

While meditation offers timely relief from everyday stress, it also helps our body relax and gain a heightened sense of self awareness.

There is now an increased acceptance among the general public and the medical researchers about the long-term benefits of regular meditation. But many of us are still reluctant to sit in a quiet corner and doubt the sense of wisdom that  meditation brings.

Another common pretext is one has to be spiritually inclined for it. However, I feel that meditation can be done by anyone, anytime and anywhere  if one puts one's self into it. It requires a bit of  practice and a dash of self discipline. 


We all meditate in some form. Surprised?  When you're watching an engrossing movie or listening to sonorous music, or simply sitting near the ocean, watching butterflies/ fireflies/ sunrise you're in a meditative state. You get transfixed by the beauty of the nature. However,  such moments are fleeting and rare, you can achieve the same blissful state in your home, office or garden anytime of the day with a regular practice of meditation.

Meditation is a bit like physical exercise as both require certain amount of self discipline, dedicating some time every day.  As you start feeling the benefits, it becomes pleasantly addictive.

No one has all the answers we seek, nor is there any way we can delegate the work of enlightenment to someone else. Just as we cannot get some one to exercise on our behalf so that we can be fit. 

Each of us must look within us for the answers we seek.

When we meditate, we raise our awareness (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). We rise in consciousness from the purely physical to examine our feelings, our thoughts and ultimately expand our consciousness beyond the physical dimension.

As Sri Satya Sai Baba said "I am God; you too are God. The only difference is that I know it and you do not."

Meditation offers us that place, where stillness leads you to your centred self. Your heart can listen to the guidance and walk on the path designed for your soul.

It's a beautiful tree, which grows slowly. One must wait for the blossom, the ripening of the fruit and the ultimate taste.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti