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.