Meditation
My grandson
who is 3 says “me me would like a drink” and his Mother is teaching
him to say “I”. This made me to think about what Swami Satyananda
Saraswati was saying in his book Meditations from the Tantras regarding
identification with our body, mind and emotions which we automatically
assume is true. For example someone says “I am thirsty”, and
this statement is said with thought of its significance. It is
not realised that the “I” signifies our self-identification, and
the “I” refers to a temporary phenomenon, the physical body.
A more realistic statement should be “my body is thirsty” [states
Swami Satyananda]. So maybe my grandson is right in his thinking
of “me me”.
This can be
taken a stage further and can apply to our emotions and thoughts.
We say “I am angry”, or “I am depressed” and so on. Actually
it is the emotional system of our mind that feels these things.
You will find that these emotions are temporary states of mind and will
disappear. However, we get so hooked into them that we have difficulty
in letting go of them, but through meditation this can be done.
What you have to remember is that we don’t want you to change your
lifestyle; what you could change is your relationship with the outside
world by re-programming your mind. Our mind is like a computer
and it is really very remarkable and is so complex. If you computer
goes wrong the programmer will become interested in its intermediate
calculations, for example the program or the computer itself is wrong.
Most of us live a life that is like a faulty computer as unfortunately
the incorrect mental program that we have slowly developed since birth
is causing us unhappiness. We have the ability to alter this state
through simple meditation practices. Our mind accepts and acts
on only that information which is compatible with our present programming.
Just take
time each day, even just 10 minutes of just sitting and watching the
natural flow of breath, letting the mind settle, and if your thoughts
take you off somewhere just bring your attention back to the breath,
it is natural and spontaneous, you do not have to do anything but watch
the natural flow. You could count the breath, I am breathing in
9, I am breathing out 9, I am breathing in 8 I am breathing out 8, and
so on until you reach 1, and if you loose count start again.
Before you
go into a difficult meeting, or maybe driving, take a few seconds just
to take 5 deep breaths, connect to you body again through these breaths,
you will maybe then find that you feel calmer and able to cope with
what lies ahead.
These are
very simple suggestions, Meditation, takes practice and guidance by
a teacher, but just starting makes a tremendous difference. Try
to practice at the same time each day. Make sure that you are
either sitting in a chair or crossed legged on the floor, if in a chair
ensure that your spine is erect, sit slightly forward on the chair so
that you are not resting on the back, have the feet flat on the floor,
or on a cushion if your feet do not touch the floor, your hands should
be resting lightly on your knees, the head will be resting gently on
your shoulders with the chin tucked slightly in, the eyes are lightly
closed and the lips are gently touching with the tongue loose in the
mouth, and just watch your breath as suggested previously. If
you are sitting in a crossed legged position on the floor, the knees
should be resting against the floor and it often assists by sitting
on a cushion, as for the spine and the head the instructions are as
sitting in a chair.