Integral Path- Nine tools of Transformation:
1. Seva or service with affection
2. Study and Contemplation
3. Observation
4. Experimentation
5. Worship and prayer
6. Asanas or poses
7. Pranayam or breathing exercise
8. Dhyan or meditation
9. Pilgrimage & Fasting
1. Seva or service with affection:
The first and most important tool for integral transformation is Seva or service to others.
Seva, or service with affection, is a complete action. Not only does it serve others but it also benefits those who are serving. Through the practice of Seva all are served. It provides the server with security, a sense of well-being, the giving and receiving of love, prestige, a healthy self-esteem and respect. The more we are connected to others through Seva, the more others will come to help us. It imparts to us a sense of fulfillment, meaning and purpose in life. Seva helps us to cope with loneliness, sufferings and fear. A person who is connected to a family, society/culture, country, earth and nature through Seva develops much broader vision and resilience to face life’s storms. This strength helps in his/her physical and mental survival, and spiritual growth.
Seva is an act of inner purification. In the beginning Seva is effortful, intentional and may at times be inconvenient and uncomfortable. As the effort progresses, a point may come when Seva becomes natural and fills both heart and mind with spontaneous love and compassion. From that point on, Seva becomes second nature to the person. Seva becomes a spontaneous state of being in thoughts, in words and in actions.
Seva is an act of sharing material, mental and spiritual resources with the family, society, country, earth/nature to help fulfill basic needs and provide stability. Water to a thirsty person, food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, education to the ignorant, love and compassion to those experiencing fear and sorrow are some expressions of Seva. Seva also means to help maintain the rules of the laws which protect society and country from chaos and violence, and to increase the economic well being of the people. Seva also means not participating in corruption and not hoarding more than we need for the present, while allowing some savings for the future. To protect nature from destruction is Seva. But Seva is not only an action for others but also for oneself. To be kind, loving, and affectionate towards one’s own body, emotions, thoughts and soul is Seva. In fact that is where Seva begins, with oneself.
1. Seva or service with affection
2. Study and Contemplation
3. Observation
4. Experimentation
5. Worship and prayer
6. Asanas or poses
7. Pranayam or breathing exercise
8. Dhyan or meditation
9. Pilgrimage & Fasting
1. Seva or service with affection:
The first and most important tool for integral transformation is Seva or service to others.
Seva, or service with affection, is a complete action. Not only does it serve others but it also benefits those who are serving. Through the practice of Seva all are served. It provides the server with security, a sense of well-being, the giving and receiving of love, prestige, a healthy self-esteem and respect. The more we are connected to others through Seva, the more others will come to help us. It imparts to us a sense of fulfillment, meaning and purpose in life. Seva helps us to cope with loneliness, sufferings and fear. A person who is connected to a family, society/culture, country, earth and nature through Seva develops much broader vision and resilience to face life’s storms. This strength helps in his/her physical and mental survival, and spiritual growth.
Seva is an act of inner purification. In the beginning Seva is effortful, intentional and may at times be inconvenient and uncomfortable. As the effort progresses, a point may come when Seva becomes natural and fills both heart and mind with spontaneous love and compassion. From that point on, Seva becomes second nature to the person. Seva becomes a spontaneous state of being in thoughts, in words and in actions.
Seva is an act of sharing material, mental and spiritual resources with the family, society, country, earth/nature to help fulfill basic needs and provide stability. Water to a thirsty person, food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, education to the ignorant, love and compassion to those experiencing fear and sorrow are some expressions of Seva. Seva also means to help maintain the rules of the laws which protect society and country from chaos and violence, and to increase the economic well being of the people. Seva also means not participating in corruption and not hoarding more than we need for the present, while allowing some savings for the future. To protect nature from destruction is Seva. But Seva is not only an action for others but also for oneself. To be kind, loving, and affectionate towards one’s own body, emotions, thoughts and soul is Seva. In fact that is where Seva begins, with oneself.
Seva for oneself
Seva for oneself can be seen as fivefold. First, the body needs appropriate food, clothing, shelter, sex and exercise for its optimal functioning. To give less or to provide these needs in excess is not of service to the body. The states of both deficiency and excess are harmful and create illnesses in the body. Seva for the body doesn’t mean to decorate it excessively with expensive clothes, ornaments and perfumes and or to try to change it through torture, molding or mutilating it in the image of some beauty myth. If bodily deformity is an obstacle to optimal functioning then that deformity should be corrected. But such correction should not be done because of any external criterion of beauty. Real Seva for the body is to become aware of her wisdom. The body has an inherent wisdom embedded in each cell and that wisdom is capable of telling us how much food, rest, sleep, sex, work and exercise are needed. If we fulfill those needs of the body she will give us immense pleasure because pleasure and peace are her nature. A complete pleasure system is embedded in the human body as in the body of all other living beings. She contains the unlimited source of her own joy.
The second Seva within the person deals with feelings and emotions. Allowing our feelings and emotions to express themselves appropriately is a movement towards becoming emotionally intelligent. Denial and suppression of emotions causes both physical and psychological illnesses. The emotions of love, sex, hatred, anger, peace, jealousy, violence, pride, resentment, guilt, etc. are all part of being human, imparted to humans by nature. None of these emotions are abnormal or bad unless they accumulate, get out of control and spill over into the family and society, creating conflict, chaos and violence. Emotions are protective. They help humans in their survival and in the continuation in their environment. Emotions bring color, creativity and intimacy to human life. When emotions move to their peak fulfillment they are transformed into Bhakti, or devotion, which is a spiritual state of emotions.
The third Seva within the person is for the Intellect or cognitive insights. Intellect is the capacity to think, reason, organize, systematize, communicate and record. Intellect complements emotions. Emotions without intellect are a state of raging storm and intellect without emotions is a barren land. Stimulation and growth of the intellect not only helps the person in his/her development and in the organizing of her/his life but also helps to lay down the social, cultural, national and global systems. With many billions of us living on earth, without good use of our intellect, we would fall into chaos. An individual or society or culture without the development of intellect will suffer from scarcity, exploitation, insecurity, disorder, and inequality.
Finding and doing work according to the nature of our body, emotions and intellect is another Seva. Such action will not only help us in becoming creative and joyful in our work but also put us on a spiritual path.
This brings us to the last Seva for oneself, Seva for the soul/spirit/wholeness. When we arrive at the state of soulfulness, we have to carefully protect the experience and the state, until such state is fully and irreversibly established in our life. Inappropriate indulgence in the external world may undo such an experience and may take us backwards on our path. Unless we are vigilant there are always dangers of regressing into lower states of fragmented living.
Protecting nature from destruction is Seva. Seva is not, however, an action only for others but also for oneself. To be kind, loving and affectionate towards one’s own body, emotions, thoughts and soul is also Seva. In fact, that is where Seva begins - with oneself. (last 4 lines appear to be repetition of what was said in the above section: just above “Seva for oneself”; If we are emphasizing this point by repeating, shall we rephrase it a little differently?)
Seva for others
Seva for others is twofold and includes family, society/culture, country and earth/nature. No matter who or what we are serving, there are two essential components of such Seva to remember.
First, Seva should be done without ulterior motives. Ulterior motives may change the served individual or the community in such a way that instead of integral growth and evolution, conflict, violence and divisions may arise in the family, society or culture. This causes damage to or destruction of the earth and nature. Seva should be free from religious, political, cultural, ideological or economic gains. Although it may be difficult in the beginning to do Seva without the above motives, and we may have some selfish intentions, by checking and cross checking our Seva plans we can minimize such motives,and may stay on the right path. The process of such Seva begins with the cultivation of self awareness during the decision making where we can discover selfish reasons for Seva which we can let go of gradually. After such cultivated and intentional effort to make Seva less and less selfish, a point may come when Seva becomes spontaneously selfless.
If selfish elements in Seva dominate then we may bring about such changes in a person, family or community which would alienate them from their cultural and natural environment. Seva done with love and compassion doesn’t intend to bring such changes. Seva helps the person or family to integrate deeper into their culture and environment.
The second essential element of Seva is that any Seva given should be according to the needs of the person or component we are serving. It should not be based on what we know and feel like doing rather than what needs to be done. We should not confine Seva or dominate it according to our narrow vision, knowledge and expertise. That is why a team consisting of individuals from diverse fields of knowledge is complementary to such an effort.
Seva is not a random distribution of goods and services in which one party gives and other receives passively. Seva is the full participation of both those who serve and those who are served. It is a process of service that reveals the strengths and needs of all. Such participation will tell us whether the served will accept our services or not and also how the services should be made accessible to the served. That is where the principle of contact----communication---co-operative partnership comes into play and becomes important.
Seva for the family
Seva for the family is the help given to fulfill the basic needs of survival and create an environment in which all its members will get respect, freedom and an opportunity to express themselves creatively according to their nature. To have a single iron law in the family is not good for its members. Each person in the family is born with a unique nature at the time of birth and that person cannot feel fulfilled unless that nature is allowed to blossom. The family provides the firm rooting to its members by fulfilling their needs for food, shelter, clothing and emotional stability but it should also allow its members to develop wings of freedom and creativity.
Seva for the community/culture
Seva for the society/culture stimulates the growth of religious and cultural traditions which connect people with their environment; help them to cope with physical, psychological and spiritual crisis; bind them into a coherent and cohesive group; and prevent conflict with other social or cultural groups. Simultaneously, there should be an effort to let go of those traditions which cause violence, oppression of the people within the group and damage to the earth and nature.
Seva for country
Country is a geographical space, natural or artificial, with which we identify, which we root ourselves into and, in the time of crisis, we take shelter in its territory. Country also provides economic resources for its people to survive, and shelter where they can be protected from external invasions and violence, living peacefully with other social and cultural groups. Division of the earth on the basis of country seems artificial, but such a concept or idea is embedded in the psyche of all living beings. All living beings, as individuals or groups, want to define their territory. The human desire to have a country or nation is a more elaborate effort of the same basic feeling.
Country is a way to have a sense of belonging and rooting oneself in some part of the earth. It can also be a place where many cultures and societies live, grow and evolve peacefully. When country is linked to a particular people, color, religion etc. conflicts will arise. When one country or nation starts thinking of itself as superior to all others, violence and war usually follow.
To strengthen one’s own country is Seva, but if that Seva ignores other countries in need of help, then such Seva will create a bondage and prison for a person rather than integral awareness, action and living. Seva for the country is to maintain the rules of law, paying taxes, participate in political life, refuse to participate in corrupt practices, and take actions for the economic well being of the country. Such Seva also includes creating a more open and free system of governance and protecting the environment.
Seva for Earth and nature
Nature is our primal and supreme mother who always serves and nurtures us. It is our duty to serve her too.
Through nature we are born, through nature we live and in nature we return. We don’t have any other option except to live in harmony with her. Not living in harmony with her will threaten our survival. All of our science, religion, culture and creativity depend upon the generous resources of nature. We have to be kind and generous towards her, not neglectful, hostile and destructive.
Since the beginning of life on earth, whatever we have achieved is because of the discovery of nature’s laws and her bountiful resources. Our religions, science, technology, creativity, society and culture are all alive because of life giving nature. She is the provider of all which we need for our sustenance. It’s true that sometimes we have to protect ourselves from her turbulent movements but that is almost negligible compared to what we get from her. Even in her destructive form she tells us to develop an understanding of her laws and to adapt accordingly. Planet earth is an example of her kindness. It is a perfect place for the infinite variety of life, including humans, to take birth, grow, live and fulfill themselves. Seva to earth and nature happens when we are protecting and helping all its beings, both living and non-living. Rocks, water, air, space, plants and animals are elements as important on earth as are human beings. They should be respected and allowed to live in harmony. To disturb the balance between elements of nature is an invitation for catastrophes which would destroy humans on a massive scale; to consider nature as our rival and try to get victory over her is a dangerous proposition and action.
2. Study and Contemplation
Study and contemplation are necessary for integral awareness, action and living. Receiving secular and spiritual knowledge through literature or direct listening is essential to stay in intimate contact with the world outside and the world within.
By studying we know about the changing realities of the world outside and we also become acquainted with the inner world of body and mind. By contemplating we apply critical thinking to what was studied.
To accept the teachings of science, religion or culture without questioning, without critical thinking, is an invitation to narrowness, fanaticism and blindness rather than to the development of wisdom. All knowledge has to go through the unbiased critical analysis test in our mind or, with other people, through questions and dialogue. Core truth in the world and within us remains the same, but its forms and interpretations change according to time, place and people. Without such changes there would be no progress and growth. A lack of change leads to psychological and spiritual decay and death.
Many people continue, or are forced to continue, with those traditions which were appropriate for a certain time, place and environment, but now they are not only irrelevant, they are obstacles to human progress and new insights. Many of the followers don’t even know the meaning behind the rituals and traditions to which they adhere, but still, they follow them blindly. Such dying or dead traditions should be replaced by new and living ones, based on new experiences and insight.
3. Observation
Study and critical thinking should be complemented by observation. Observation is the process of developing awareness both within and outside of the person. To become intentionally aware of our own thought process, feelings, body state and also of the outer world with its politics, culture, social structure, and religion is an act of observation. While science’s observations are mainly quantitative, personal observations are qualitative and subjective. They complement each other and give an integral perspective.
Through study, contemplation and observation a clearer picture of the world both within and without emerges, which helps create a comprehensive concept of the universe without following any particular ideology, teacher or system. Forming a concept which is in harmony with the person is the beginning of individuation.
4. Experimentation: Integration-Experiment-Transcendence
Dharma as cosmic force, energy and law is boundless and without an end and so are its infinite expressions in the form of physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of being and living. That is why no scientist, psychologist or sage will able to say that they have arrived at, or understood, the whole Dharma. The scientist will never be able to comprehend the essence of the whole universe; the psychologist will never understand all which is contained in the mind; and the sage can’t claim that he or she arrived at the final Nirvana, Moksha, Mukti, Salvation or Enlightenment. They drink a hand full of water from the infinite cosmic ocean to quench their thirst and interpret it according to their understanding. There can’t be finality of understanding in any one of those matters because that will put limits on Dharma and, as we know, from matter to spirit there are no boundaries in the cosmos.
Dharma as cosmic force has countless dimensions and one can keep on discovering them forever and ever without exhausting them. No body can ever know the whole Truth which gives the possibility of discovering, realizing ever new horizons of Dharma, and experiencing Sat-Chit-Ananda. Such possibility and endeavor needs both humility and courage to move forward, discover new paths and experiment. Humility is needed to pay homage and respect to the scientists, psychologists and sages of the past who explored and experienced new ways of being and living and arrived at new realities of the cosmos. Those insights need to be integrated before we experiment to find the new paths and vistas. Courage is needed, not to take their realizations and words as final authority, and to move on, to experiment and to discover the new dimensions of Dharma.
5. Worship and prayer
Ceremony is a process of repeating thoughts, words and actions to achieve a well defined goal and can be performed at both the physical and mental levels. In a physical ceremony we let go of things, accumulations and wealth which will not be used in the present or future. To accumulate things and wealth for unforeseen future needs is in the nature of human beings but when such an act of accumulation becomes excessive, it becomes hoarding. This hoarding creates an imbalance within the individual and society. In a physical ceremony, the person may take stock of the material goods and wealth which she or he possesses and plan how and when to distribute those goods and wealth for the well being of family, society, country and the world.
A physical ceremony is also performed to affirm the changes and growth in life and includes festivals, birth, marriage, death and other ceremonies.
In a mental ceremony, a person has to let go of that past which is a burden, occupying sacred space and consuming precious energy of mind and body. Memories carrying anger, violence, resentment, fear, hatred, and sorrow condition the mind. The conditioned mind doesn’t allow light and warmth of new life to enter into our being. We may become the victim of physical and mental pathologies and remain unfulfilled. When the mind’s cup is full of old, dark and stagnant memories, how can it be filled with the living sacred waters of the present?
When the inner and outer clutter is gone, an empty space comes forth, where nature can play with more freedom both within us and within our home or where we work. Watch the moonlight coming into an empty room through the glass windows and playing freely around you, or a breeze flowing without obstacles through it. Then as morning comes, the sun fills the room with a magnificent orange glow. This is like the inner space after letting go. It is filled with something sacred and flowing that brings a fresh energy of freedom. Inner channels are unclogged and rejuvenated.
While physical ceremonies bring well-being to the society, mental ceremonies create well-being within a person. When ceremonies are done with good intentions and awareness, then a time comes when ceremonies are performed within the person spontaneously without effort. They become a part of daily living, expressing connection and affection within and without.
Prayer is the heart’s longing to unite and merge into the Dharma or cosmic laws through a known image, idol or deity, to which humanlike qualities have been attributed. Prayer cannot occur in a void or be offered to nothingness and the unknown. In prayer we need some image which may be of a god, goddess, angel, prophet, deity, ancestor, spirit, or elemental force to whom we can offer worship and seek either worldly or other-worldly rewards or freedoms. These images are embedded in our subconscious and so prayer is inwardly directed and fired by emotional energy. Devotion is prayer’s guiding force. In prayer, a person is moved by the desire to surrender oneself to some higher presence and that surrender is an act of transcending the ego or limited self; we become a non-entity before that power. In meditation we face the same transcendence by witnessing our own thoughts and mind, which is a path of intellect. Meditation is calm, non-judgmental awareness and comprehension of the inner and outer world. Discriminatory logic is the light on the path of meditation.
Although prayer starts with emotion and meditation with logic, at their peak they meet and become one. In both cases one experiences ego-transcendence. In prayer, it happens in the form of the surrender of one’s self to higher force and laws and in meditation by coming to a point where witnessing is experienced. Both in meditation and in prayer, the light of awareness illuminates dark corners of the mind and burns memories cluttering it. The mechanical part of the memory remains, but the emotional contents of memories are gone. Once the emotional energy of the memories is gone, they can’t influence the person or excite any feeling, which would control the individual and create turmoil.
Emotionally charged memories and thoughts are a bad investment of the brain’s precious energy. Those memories live like parasites, consuming more and more energy that could be used in living and solving life’s problems. When in the passion of prayer or the calmness of meditation the past is burnt, all that energy, which was trapped in the emotional part of memory, is released into the brain and body. It is a massive release of energy with which both brain and body vibrate and they are filled with delight. The brain is full of joy, which comes from within. Such a brain is full of affection and loving awareness and ever ready to solve the problems of life without being burdened by them or trying to escape from them.
In the beginning, meditation and prayer are efforts of will, similar to any other mental activity, and are not entirely different from the process of self-hypnosis. Our mind lives in the hypnosis of culture, religion and traditions, so the first part of meditation/prayer is to replace religious/cultural hypnosis with our own (our own hypnosis- Is that the meaning here?) to gain control over ourselves. It’s better to be hypnotized in our own way rather than by others. Society and culture’s programming is a deep hypnotic spell under the influence of which we may spend our whole lifetime and never know that we didn’t live our true life. Initially we can’t suddenly part ways from this deep hypnotic state induced by culture. The sudden withdrawal of cultural hypnosis would leave us in a meaningless dark void, which would be difficult to face and may paralyse us. That is why we replace culture’s hypnosis with our own, through prayer and meditation. Once we replace cultural hypnosis with our own, then our own hypnosis is also replaced by surrender or witnessing awareness. On the ground of this surrender and awareness, true individuality emerges and expresses itself through the world, the mind and the body.
Both in meditation and in prayer we choose particular words, images and movements, put them into a sequence, and perform them according to a plan. This is all mental and physical activity put together by the mind, but that is the only way to begin on an effortful path towards deeper awareness. We are using the mind in this activity, but now the mind, instead of being an undisciplined force, becomes a disciplined tool to help us arrive at a point where we experience ego transcendence.
That is why in the beginning, meditation or prayer is mental, mechanical and repetitive. As we go deeper into them, the process becomes more alive, revealing the inner nature of the mind. When the breakthrough point is reached, it becomes a spontaneous activity. Then, instead of doing meditation and prayer, one becomes meditative or prayerful all the time. Our whole life becomes effortless meditation or prayer, whether we are eating, sleeping, working or making love. Meditation simply happens without a conscious focus upon it. That breakthrough point is actually the point where we experience ego transcendence.
Integral Prayer
May the awakened body be home
to a tranquil mind
soul blossoms
on sacred earth
May all live in loving harmony
our kind actions bring
the Bliss of Conscious Existence.
Om Asti – Asti - Asti
The word Mantra comes from two Sanskrit words Man - means mind, and Tra – means transcendence. Mantra is a sound or combination of sounds to transcend the mind. Chanting Mantra is the most powerful tool both in prayer and worship, and also in meditation. Initially Mantra is chanted loudly and later on silently and ultimately it repeats itself without effort. Eventually Mantra leads to the silence which is the goal of Mantra chanting.
Integral Mantra
Dharma Deham, Dharma Manas, Dharma Buddhi-Atman
Dharma Priya Jan, Dharma Serva Jan, Dharma Desh, Dharma Dhara
Dharma Neham, Dharma Ekam, Dharma Hee Gatisheelta
Dharma Jeevan, Dharma Chetan, Dharma Hee Ananda Param.
Om Asti-Asti-Asti
6. Asana or poses
Asana is not an ordinary exercise and after asana the person should not feel tired or drained. (can we have some more introductory thoughts here? This section starts rather suddenly?)
There are certain conditions that need to be met for a pose to become Asana.
1. It should be sustained for various lengths of time depending on person’s flexibility and endurance
2. At no point person should hold the breath
3. Person should be aware of the pose and/or breath
4. Opposite asana complement each other and bring balance
Asana is based on the fact that when body is infused by a certain expression of energy (anger, peace, violence, sex etc.) she takes a certain pose. Therefore, if we can intentionally create a specific pose, we can bring a specific expression of energy into the body. This energy can be harnessed and used for the well being of body mind, or for the integration of both into wholeness. During the Asana there is pressure on specific parts of the body which stimulates neuro-vascular plexuses leading to relaxation and increased activation of many areas of brain. This increased activation leads to optimal functioning of the mind and the immune and endocrine systems. Such optimal functioning enhances the state of mind-body homeostasis. Consciously maintaining a certain pose also gives a more accurate orientation of the body in space generating better balance, grounding and overall functioning. Such orientation is the result of right hemispheric stimulation which is calming, and increases creativity and hemispheric synchronization.
Nidrasana: Nidrasana or sleep pose is the posture taken when lying in bed to go to sleep. It helps in preserving energy and meditation during sleep. In Nidrasana while lying on the back, legs are crossed at the ankle or shin, and hands are folded in prayer posture resting on the middle of the chest.
Bindu Yoga:
Bindu yoga poses press and activate some of the major energy points in the body bringing vitality and relieving stress and pain particularly in head and face area
Full breath is to to be maintained throughout the poses along with body awareness
.Standing in mountain pose
.Cat pose
.Prostration with folded hands fully stretched forward
.Raising the head and pressing the seven bindus or pressure points
.Middle of forehead
.Eyebrows
.Temple
.TMJ or temporo-mandibular joint where ear joins the face
.Cheek bone
.Chin in palms
.Thumb knuckles on inner side of eye
.Cat pose
.Child’s pose
.Mountain pose
Samarpan Yoga or yoga of surrender:
Full breathing will continue during the poses with or without prayer or chanting
1. Standing and spreading the arms with extended head in opening and receiving pose
2. Standing straight and folded hands resting on heart center in the middle of chest
3. Bending forward at waist, palms resting on knees
4. Standing on knees and folded hands resting on heart center in the middle of chest
5. Sitting cross-legged with hands on heart/Sitting on heals, hands on knees and forehead touching the ground three times
6. Prostration with folded hands fully stretched forward
7. Raising head and folded hands resting on forehead…..the process is reversed now.
7. Pranayam or breathing exercise
Breathing is a unique phenomenon in humans because of its involuntary and voluntary aspects.
First of all, breathing happens in the present, so whatever we do with breath is going to be connected with the present moment.
Secondly, breathing is a bridge between body and mind and so it is different when we experience different mental and emotional states. If we are calm, breathing is deep and slow. If we feel a deep sense of love, breathing becomes deep and slow again. In anger, the breath is deep and fast while in fear, it is shallow and rapid. In extreme fear, we hold our breath.
Thirdly, breathing is partly involuntary and partly voluntary which means that we can intentionally use it to achieve certain states of body and mind.
A baby’s breathing is deep, natural belly breathing, whereas most adults breathe through the chest and not from the belly. So, the first goal of any breathing exercise is to achieve belly breathing to make the body and mind calm and relaxed. Ultimately we have to find the gap between inhalation and exhalation and in that gap we experience stillness. It is the same as with chanting or a sound meditation in which we initially chant or sing to calm down the body and mind, but eventually, that singing and chanting will take us to silence. The human mind can’t capture silence or stillness directly, so chanting and breathing becomes a vehicle to take it to that end.
Sivayama
At birth the breath is different and also when death is approaching, it assumes a different type of characteristic pattern. If you watch a person dying, the breathing takes a distinct form. A person who is dying breathes deeper and faster with progressively forceful exhalation, reaching a peak and then stops breathing for few moments. Again the cycle is repeated until the breathing becomes shallow and intermittent and then it stops.
If this pattern of the breath-of-dying is practised by a normal and healthy person, it is possible to bring the feeling of dying and, by witnessing it, to go beyond that fear. This observation is based on the fact that if there is some inner physiological change in the body or mind, that change expresses itself in a certain type of behaviour; practising that behaviour brings about the same physiological or emotional change although not as deep, intense or as complete as the original inner change brought to the person. There are many examples of this phenomenon. If a person is happy within, then he or she may start dancing or singing, which are natural expressions of joy. But if a sad person starts dancing and singing it is possible to feel joy which may not be as deep and complete as the inner one, but enough to pull the person out of the stuck state. This applies to most human feelings which primarily emerge from inside and express themselves in different human behaviours. In sadness a person may slump down and the eyes may look downward. If a normal person assumed this posture for a few minutes, then that person may experience a feeling of sadness inside. If a sad person stands with a straight spine and neck and looks forward with power and energy, then he or she may feel less sad. The body and mind are connected. The mind affects the body and the body affects the mind, and this is what happens in breathing.
This type of breath-of-dying exercise can be practised either in a lying down position or sitting comfortably on a chair. The person, after some period of relaxation, starts breathing progressively deeper and faster while the exhalation becomes longer and longer, coming to the peak of his or her capacity and then holding the breath completely for a few seconds to start the cycle over again.
Another kind of breathing that can be practised is Kumbhak or holding the breath either after inhalation or exhalation. Kumbhak, or the period of holding the breath, is gradually increased to the extent of your comfort level.
8. Dhyan or Meditation
Meditation is the path and process of realization of one’s individual and universal biological potential.
In this definition of meditation, biological potential means both the physical/physiological and psychological possibilities in a person. Such potential contains the dimension of both individual and universal life and existence. Once the person reaches the peak of his or her individual and universal experience, transcendence may occur. Transcendence is the merging of the individual and the universal into an undivided state, which is beyond any meditation effort or practice. Such a state is beyond time and space. It can only be inferred when the person’s awareness returns to the dual state where the individual and the universal are again separately experienced.
Meditation is not a process of thinking although thinking may be used in the beginning as a technique to achieve a meditative state.
Meditation technique is defined as the intentional and deliberate awareness of outer the world (the inner world?), sensations in the body and of one’s feelings, emotions, thoughts and experiences.
The experience of meditation is different at different levels of perception: at the level of the body it is the awareness of sensations of pain, pressure, touch, tingling, numbness etc.; at the level of feeling it is the awareness of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings; at the level of emotions it is awareness of waves of primary and secondary emotions; and at the level of thinking it is the awareness of a stream of thoughts and of different types of thinking. In essence, meditation always moves beyond the experience at any level.
To begin with, meditation requires the use of techniques put together by the mind. Later on it becomes spontaneous and effortless. At this effortless point, life itself becomes the path and process of realization; in other words, life itself becomes a meditation. Whatever we think, speak or do, positive or negative, is a meditation because meditation is not a virtue, morals, good behavior or thinking; it is the awareness of all that exists. In its field of observation it includes darkness or light, life or death, moral or amoral and good or bad. The process of meditation is non-judgmental observation or awareness.
Meditation is either a focus on a certain image, word, thought or point, or it is a calm, non-judgmental awareness and comprehension of both the inner and outer worlds. In both aspects meditation techniques are cognitive in nature. The word cognitive means a technique or process that is put together in a particular sequence by thoughts. It doesn’t contain emotions as its primary force. Discriminatory logic is the light on the path of meditation. Logical analysis is an important tool for meditation. There is no need to believe in god, God, or a creator, to engage in meditation, although most people who meditate do have such beliefs. The ideas of a void and nothingness are part of the meditation vocabulary.
Ordinary consciousness is usually focussed selectively on the outside world, and there is little awareness of what is happening within the mind, although our behaviour in the external world is the expression of what lies in the mind. The mind is the root of all actions and reactions happening in the outer world. When we try to change our reactions in the outer world, we don’t look at our mind in its completeness. We focus on outer reactions and modify it, which in fact changes nothing. This is because we leave the mind, the root cause of such reactions or behaviour, untouched.
This selective attention to the outside world, and almost no attention to the inner world of the mind, leads to a confused and confined state. Life is passive in this state and dependent upon external forces, with the centre of life lying outside the person. Because of inattention to the structure of our own mind, there is no centre within. This life of ignorance towards one’s own mind results in dependence on chaotic outside forces, which then leads to turmoil in a person’s life.
As soon as attention is turned inward, without ignoring the outside world, the centre of activity moves within the person. The person is centred and is no more a passive instrument of external forces of the world and environment. Gaining consciousness of the inner world makes a person aware of the roots of his or her predictable reactions to the events. The motives of one’s behaviour are understood clearly. They are mostly an effort to escape fear, and are largely programmed by culture and society. The person discovers that what he or she thought of as his or her own new thinking or mind, was actually the old in guise of something new, and came from the past. Old programming was given to the person under a new name and form, and the person was in the hypnotic spell of this programming.
By paying attention with relaxed awareness, a person discovers that his thoughts, beliefs and behaviour are mostly, but not wholly, programmed by forces outside of him. A person discovers that he is not centred within, and most of the actions taken are not his own. Their centre of origin is outside the person. The discovery that one’s mind is programmed, that one is not centred within, is the first sign of awakening and also the beginning of the meditation.
Relaxation is an important part of this process of becoming attentive and meditative. A person living in stress doesn’t have the time or energy to pay attention or feel focussed within. She is too busy in the world solving external problems, an activity which is actually an escape from the deeper self.
Various methods or meditations may help in bringing our attention to this culture’s programming or hypnotic trance. Although, in the beginning, the planned and intentional meditation itself is a form of self-hypnosis, it is under the control of the person who is doing it. To begin with, meditation is auto-hypnosis which is replacing the cultural hypnosis. In meditation, a person starts moving from focussing on the outer world to the universe of mind consciously. This conscious movement is meditation and awakening.
As the meditation advances, the darkness of ignorance and unconsciousness is replaced by the light of consciousness. But meditation is still an intentional activity. A basic quality of the human brain is that it can never be conditioned completely. That is why the mind, although usually trapped in its prison-like universe, always has a door. Meditation is the action to find that door. If the mind was totally a closed prison without an opening, then all efforts would be of no avail and even meditation would not be useful.
Early signs of meditation are relaxation and the appearance of more thoughts than usual. Relaxation comes from less stimulation of the senses, and more thoughts result from becoming more aware of parallel streams of thoughts running through the brain. These thoughts were always there but because of our inattention, we were not aware of them. During meditation some people see colours, visions, prophets, angels, gods and goddesses. Some may hear sounds or smell various aromas, or feel light or heavy, cold or warm. Some experience energy sensations that cause a sudden startle response or jerking of a limb. These experiences simply indicate that meditation is progressing. The person should not get attached to these experiences, or else they may become an obstacle to deepening of the meditation.
As the meditation advances, there may be brief moments of witnessing one’s own mind. During these moments consciousness becomes like a flame and burns the emotional contents of the mind. It leaves just the ashes of the past, which contain only the sketches of the memories, but do not have any emotional energy. This brief witnessing releases a huge amount of energy that was invested in the emotional contents of memories. Those memories could be of grief, guilt, fear, hatred or resentment and also of joy, excitement, rewards and achievements. If meditation becomes deeper then a moment may come when the witnessing becomes spontaneous and continues all the time without effort. At this point, intentional meditation ends and life itself becomes an effortless meditation.
This new spontaneous meditation is not of the mind, but goes beyond it and has the quality of non-judgement and silence. This silence of natural meditation dissolves the facade of the mind so that one is left with few or no thoughts, leading to the collapse of the structure of the mind. The mind is made up of thoughts, and if thoughts are not there then there is no mind. “Thoughtless” means that there is at least one thought, which is the state of collapse or oblivion or psychological death of the mind. The technological mind or innate intelligence of the body, which is essential for the survival of the body, remains intact.
Through thoughts that belong to the past and the future, the mind weaves the web of immortality. Thoughts are the safety castles in which the mind creates dreams and through those dreams it seeks its continuity. That is why unless the structure of thoughts collapse, a person cannot face the fact of death or mortality of oneself. Thoughts and dreams hide death under their veil to escape fear. During meditation when these thoughts diminish and then stop, the web of illusion is gone and the person experiences a void.
A word of caution here: when we say “thoughtlessness” that means that still there is one thought which exists within a person. That thought is that there are no more thoughts or there is a void within.
In that moment of one thought or “thoughtlessness”, all the person’s seeking and searching, which is nothing else but the constant process of becoming, also stops leading to the state of being. This stopping of the mind is a psychological event. The innate intelligence of the body was never a problem in life because it never created dreams of immortality. The innate intelligence of the body continues to function without interruption. In these moments of psychological death, the accumulated fear, jealousy, hatred, violence, attachment and anger come to an end, and only those feelings that are essential for survival are left. The body’s innate intelligence, to carry out the ordinary functions of day-to-day life, is left undisturbed. Finding food, seeking shelter, getting clothes, doing jobs and moving from one place to another is not hampered, though they may become more fluid and easy to perform. Innate intelligence or non-psychological awareness is part of life and is inseparable from it. This innate intelligence dies when the body dies.
Meditation is a movement from less awareness towards more awareness. In this movement we may experience the following stages or states:
- relaxation, the beginning of awareness;
- healing;
- joy, mind-body integration and witnessing; and
- tranquillity or tasting the universe.
Neh or Love Meditation
The Theory: The world is a projection of the mind. If we are sad the world looks sad; and if we are happy the world feels like a happy place. If we are full of fear then people, places and events bring fear into our hearts; and if we are without fear, we experience freedom every where. Our heaven and hell are within us and we project them onto the world around us. A sunset may be beautiful for the person experiencing joy within and the same sunset may be sad for the person who has, for instance, just lost a beloved one.
The same is true about love. If we love ourselves then the world is full of love. If we are hateful or fearful of our own bodies, emotions and thoughts, if we are negative towards ourselves, it is difficult for us to love other people. We project the rejection and resentment that we feel for ourselves onto our surroundings. We may act or pretend as if we love others. We may even have convinced ourselves of this love, but such love wouldn’t emerge from the depths of our heart. Such love would be the fulfillment of a need, or a social formality. We would use the word love but it wouldn’t carry the energy of intimacy and tender feelings.
Neh means affection or love. This meditation is about loving our own self - our body, feelings, emotions and thoughts - and expressing affection toward ourselves. Is it possible to love ourselves through a technique? No. A meditation technique can’t create love but it can uncover or discover the love which is hidden deep within us. Love is the essential component for physical and psychological survival. It is always there although it may be buried deep within us, disrupted by social, cultural and religious conditioning. Religious, political, cultural and social institutions constantly talk about love and harmony within and without but through their actions they create divisions within a person. All cultures, religions, political points of views and societies congratulate themselves on having the answers, on being the best. They create divisions by labeling others - bad, old, outdated, inferior, evil, superstitious etc. Individuals are likewise subjected to cultural and religious rules, regulations and judgments. Such programming generates personal feelings of right and wrong, of good and bad, of judgment and fear. This results in much self-hatred and guilt about one’s own body, emotions and thoughts wherever they deviate from the cultural, religious, political or societal norm.
This is not about narcissistic attachment to, or obsession with, our body or mind. In narcissism the absorption or attachment with self is so great that the person becomes completely oblivious to the needs or desires of others. People become merely tools for one’s own self-gratification. A narcissistic person lives in isolation away from the world and nature. Such a person is like a stagnant pool of water disconnected from the river of life. This person slowly decays and dries up.
Rarely do we love ourselves totally. Sometimes we are attached to ourselves and become self-absorbed. More often however, we either don’t like ourselves, or we actively hate ourselves. We repress or ignore those parts of our being which, based on our programming, we feel are unworthy and ugly. This results in a fragmented self. Instead of feeling an integrated wholeness within, we divide our self into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ parts. These parts are in constant conflict with each other. The ‘bad’ part has to be repressed, ignored and rejected by the ‘good’ part. This leads to fragmentation. A person with a fragmented self can’t live a full life.
Neh meditation is a technique of non-judgmental loving of all the parts of self, which includes physical, emotional and thought components. Such an act of loving is a movement from fragmentation to wholeness, from self hatred and guilt to affection, and from surviving with self image to living with reality. It is action towards total self-acceptance.
If we love ourselves and feel affection towards our body, feelings and thoughts then such love and affection will fill the vessel of our body and mind. This nectar of love will spill all around us. Our whole existence will be soaked in it. Then life’s nascent plant will grow, become a tree and flower, and give shelter to those who need it. If we go deeply into Neh meditation with our whole heart and energy then the technique will become our nature, a drop of water will become the ocean and a moment will become eternity. In such a transformation, self-love and self-affection becomes love and affection for all.
Neh or Love Meditation – The Technique:
Sitting comfortably in a chair or on the floor, remember some moments when your body and mind were filled with love and affection.
You are not an observer of these moments but are re-living them. You are feeling the love and affection of those moments, here and now.
Allow that love and affection to fill you and to flow from head to toe.
This feeling of love and affection is filling your
• head space
• eyes
• face, jaw, mouth
• ear
• neck
• chest
• abdomen
• left shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, thumb and fingers
• right shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, thumb and fingers
• upper, middle and lower back
• pelvic area
• left hip, thigh, knee, leg, ankle, foot and toes
• right hip, thigh, knee, leg, ankle, foot and toes
• emotions and thoughts.
You are also remembering any words, sound, aroma, taste and touch that were present in those moments.
Allow your whole being to merge into that feeling of love.
Now feel the energy of love and affection in your body, particularly in the area of your heart.
Allow the energy in your body and heart to flow towards your hands, fingers and thumbs. Your hands, fingers and thumbs are vibrating with loving energy.
With your hands, fingers and thumbs, slowly and tenderly touch, and gently press:
• the sides of your head
• your eyes
• your face, jaw and ears
• your neck
• your shoulders, upper arm, elbows, forearm, hands, fingers and thumbs
• your chest
• your abdomen
• your pelvic area
• your thighs, knees, legs, ankles, feet and toes
• the parts of your back accessible to you
• your first chakra at the base of your spine
• your second chakra just above your pubic bone
• your third chakra at your naval area
• your fourth chakra in the middle of your chest
• your fifth chakra at the root of your neck
• your sixth chakra in the middle of two eye brows
• your seventh chakra on the top of your head
Lie down for five to ten minutes and acknowledge all of your feelings.
The same meditation is to be done if you are healing or loving another person.
In most traditional meditations the emphasis is on transformation of thoughts and emotions, not on the lower centers of the body and brain. The following five meditations are used to energize the body and awaken cellular consciousness or the mind of the cells which are normally neglected.
Avtaran Meditation: Avtaran means descending from above. In this mediation in walking/standing or sitting posture, visualize and feel the energy and vibrations that form a vast light source above the head. Light, whether golden, blue or white, liquid or ordinary, is slowly descending into your head space filling it up. From there it flows down to your neck and chest, filling them. Then two streams of light branch out, to the left and right upper limbs, filling them to the palms and fingers. Then the light fills the abdomen and pelvis, branches out into two streams to flow through the thighs, knees, legs and feet, and finally through the soles of the feet making its way into the ground.
The flow of the light is dynamic and continuous from above your head into the ground, flowing through each cell, organ and system of the body, washing and cleaning them with fresh energy. Each cell of the body is lit from within and the body glows from within. This light also surrounds you, extending six inches to one foot around the physical body.
Sound meditation:
‘Om Deham Asti Asti Asti’
With closed eyes, feel and visualize that the body is hollow and empty. Then chant the above mantra silently and let the vibrations fill the emptiness. Allow the body and its cells to vibrate with the mantra.
Inner Yajna meditation:
‘Om Deham Asti Asti Swaha’
With closed eyes, visualize and feel that the body is hollow and empty. Allow a smokeless fire to fill up the emptiness. Focus on this fire while chanting the above mantra.
Inner light meditation:
Let a smokeless white or golden flame burn within the emptiness of the body and allow the mind to focus on it. The light will fill up the emptiness and the body will glow. Allow the body to be surrounded by the glow.
Virat Meditation:
Allow the body’s boundary to expand until the whole universe and its structures are contained within it.
9. Pilgrimage and Fasting
Travel and a pilgrimage are two different experiences. Traveling is a pleasure movement. While traveling, many people not only want to maintain the comforts and distractions which they had at home, but they actually want more heightened experiences in a short period of time. It may be food, entertainment or sightseeing. They don’t want to stay long enough in one place to develop a better understanding of the place and people. A physical, emotional and intellectual status quo is maintained and there is little possibility of inner change. Old boundaries stay intact and there is little inner growth. Sometimes surface sympathy is experienced towards people, which may be accompanied by criticism and comparison.
Pilgrimage is traveling, not for pleasure or comfort, but to challenge the self physically, emotionally and intellectually. Pilgrimage is done with humility and with an open mind, and one is ready to face the unknown any moment. Pilgrimage brings strain on the person which may take him/her to a point where old boundaries and limits are broken. Such breaking of the boundary of old self brings changes, transformation and the emergence of a new layer of self or new self, which is deeper and broader than the old one. It may lead to the union of body and mind (emotions, intellect) by which spiritual self or soul is born.
In Samagra movement, fasting has two aspects. The first aspect is more important and relates to withdrawal from what we don’t need. Every day we consume an excess of food, water, space, energy and wealth; this creates sickness, either to the consumer, or to some near or remote non-living and living beings who suffer from lack because of what we have taken in excess. With our limited planetary resources, excess is compensated for by a deficiency for someone, somewhere.
The second reason for fasting is to simply withdraw from the basic requirements of food, water, space, energy and wealth. Such fasting helps in breaking the comfortable and pleasurable boundaries which we have experienced and built on since the beginning of our life. This fasting has the same effects as pilgrimage - bringing new insights into our own being and breaking down the structure of the old self to take us to new dimensions of living.
Seva for oneself can be seen as fivefold. First, the body needs appropriate food, clothing, shelter, sex and exercise for its optimal functioning. To give less or to provide these needs in excess is not of service to the body. The states of both deficiency and excess are harmful and create illnesses in the body. Seva for the body doesn’t mean to decorate it excessively with expensive clothes, ornaments and perfumes and or to try to change it through torture, molding or mutilating it in the image of some beauty myth. If bodily deformity is an obstacle to optimal functioning then that deformity should be corrected. But such correction should not be done because of any external criterion of beauty. Real Seva for the body is to become aware of her wisdom. The body has an inherent wisdom embedded in each cell and that wisdom is capable of telling us how much food, rest, sleep, sex, work and exercise are needed. If we fulfill those needs of the body she will give us immense pleasure because pleasure and peace are her nature. A complete pleasure system is embedded in the human body as in the body of all other living beings. She contains the unlimited source of her own joy.
The second Seva within the person deals with feelings and emotions. Allowing our feelings and emotions to express themselves appropriately is a movement towards becoming emotionally intelligent. Denial and suppression of emotions causes both physical and psychological illnesses. The emotions of love, sex, hatred, anger, peace, jealousy, violence, pride, resentment, guilt, etc. are all part of being human, imparted to humans by nature. None of these emotions are abnormal or bad unless they accumulate, get out of control and spill over into the family and society, creating conflict, chaos and violence. Emotions are protective. They help humans in their survival and in the continuation in their environment. Emotions bring color, creativity and intimacy to human life. When emotions move to their peak fulfillment they are transformed into Bhakti, or devotion, which is a spiritual state of emotions.
The third Seva within the person is for the Intellect or cognitive insights. Intellect is the capacity to think, reason, organize, systematize, communicate and record. Intellect complements emotions. Emotions without intellect are a state of raging storm and intellect without emotions is a barren land. Stimulation and growth of the intellect not only helps the person in his/her development and in the organizing of her/his life but also helps to lay down the social, cultural, national and global systems. With many billions of us living on earth, without good use of our intellect, we would fall into chaos. An individual or society or culture without the development of intellect will suffer from scarcity, exploitation, insecurity, disorder, and inequality.
Finding and doing work according to the nature of our body, emotions and intellect is another Seva. Such action will not only help us in becoming creative and joyful in our work but also put us on a spiritual path.
This brings us to the last Seva for oneself, Seva for the soul/spirit/wholeness. When we arrive at the state of soulfulness, we have to carefully protect the experience and the state, until such state is fully and irreversibly established in our life. Inappropriate indulgence in the external world may undo such an experience and may take us backwards on our path. Unless we are vigilant there are always dangers of regressing into lower states of fragmented living.
Protecting nature from destruction is Seva. Seva is not, however, an action only for others but also for oneself. To be kind, loving and affectionate towards one’s own body, emotions, thoughts and soul is also Seva. In fact, that is where Seva begins - with oneself. (last 4 lines appear to be repetition of what was said in the above section: just above “Seva for oneself”; If we are emphasizing this point by repeating, shall we rephrase it a little differently?)
Seva for others
Seva for others is twofold and includes family, society/culture, country and earth/nature. No matter who or what we are serving, there are two essential components of such Seva to remember.
First, Seva should be done without ulterior motives. Ulterior motives may change the served individual or the community in such a way that instead of integral growth and evolution, conflict, violence and divisions may arise in the family, society or culture. This causes damage to or destruction of the earth and nature. Seva should be free from religious, political, cultural, ideological or economic gains. Although it may be difficult in the beginning to do Seva without the above motives, and we may have some selfish intentions, by checking and cross checking our Seva plans we can minimize such motives,and may stay on the right path. The process of such Seva begins with the cultivation of self awareness during the decision making where we can discover selfish reasons for Seva which we can let go of gradually. After such cultivated and intentional effort to make Seva less and less selfish, a point may come when Seva becomes spontaneously selfless.
If selfish elements in Seva dominate then we may bring about such changes in a person, family or community which would alienate them from their cultural and natural environment. Seva done with love and compassion doesn’t intend to bring such changes. Seva helps the person or family to integrate deeper into their culture and environment.
The second essential element of Seva is that any Seva given should be according to the needs of the person or component we are serving. It should not be based on what we know and feel like doing rather than what needs to be done. We should not confine Seva or dominate it according to our narrow vision, knowledge and expertise. That is why a team consisting of individuals from diverse fields of knowledge is complementary to such an effort.
Seva is not a random distribution of goods and services in which one party gives and other receives passively. Seva is the full participation of both those who serve and those who are served. It is a process of service that reveals the strengths and needs of all. Such participation will tell us whether the served will accept our services or not and also how the services should be made accessible to the served. That is where the principle of contact----communication---co-operative partnership comes into play and becomes important.
Seva for the family
Seva for the family is the help given to fulfill the basic needs of survival and create an environment in which all its members will get respect, freedom and an opportunity to express themselves creatively according to their nature. To have a single iron law in the family is not good for its members. Each person in the family is born with a unique nature at the time of birth and that person cannot feel fulfilled unless that nature is allowed to blossom. The family provides the firm rooting to its members by fulfilling their needs for food, shelter, clothing and emotional stability but it should also allow its members to develop wings of freedom and creativity.
Seva for the community/culture
Seva for the society/culture stimulates the growth of religious and cultural traditions which connect people with their environment; help them to cope with physical, psychological and spiritual crisis; bind them into a coherent and cohesive group; and prevent conflict with other social or cultural groups. Simultaneously, there should be an effort to let go of those traditions which cause violence, oppression of the people within the group and damage to the earth and nature.
Seva for country
Country is a geographical space, natural or artificial, with which we identify, which we root ourselves into and, in the time of crisis, we take shelter in its territory. Country also provides economic resources for its people to survive, and shelter where they can be protected from external invasions and violence, living peacefully with other social and cultural groups. Division of the earth on the basis of country seems artificial, but such a concept or idea is embedded in the psyche of all living beings. All living beings, as individuals or groups, want to define their territory. The human desire to have a country or nation is a more elaborate effort of the same basic feeling.
Country is a way to have a sense of belonging and rooting oneself in some part of the earth. It can also be a place where many cultures and societies live, grow and evolve peacefully. When country is linked to a particular people, color, religion etc. conflicts will arise. When one country or nation starts thinking of itself as superior to all others, violence and war usually follow.
To strengthen one’s own country is Seva, but if that Seva ignores other countries in need of help, then such Seva will create a bondage and prison for a person rather than integral awareness, action and living. Seva for the country is to maintain the rules of law, paying taxes, participate in political life, refuse to participate in corrupt practices, and take actions for the economic well being of the country. Such Seva also includes creating a more open and free system of governance and protecting the environment.
Seva for Earth and nature
Nature is our primal and supreme mother who always serves and nurtures us. It is our duty to serve her too.
Through nature we are born, through nature we live and in nature we return. We don’t have any other option except to live in harmony with her. Not living in harmony with her will threaten our survival. All of our science, religion, culture and creativity depend upon the generous resources of nature. We have to be kind and generous towards her, not neglectful, hostile and destructive.
Since the beginning of life on earth, whatever we have achieved is because of the discovery of nature’s laws and her bountiful resources. Our religions, science, technology, creativity, society and culture are all alive because of life giving nature. She is the provider of all which we need for our sustenance. It’s true that sometimes we have to protect ourselves from her turbulent movements but that is almost negligible compared to what we get from her. Even in her destructive form she tells us to develop an understanding of her laws and to adapt accordingly. Planet earth is an example of her kindness. It is a perfect place for the infinite variety of life, including humans, to take birth, grow, live and fulfill themselves. Seva to earth and nature happens when we are protecting and helping all its beings, both living and non-living. Rocks, water, air, space, plants and animals are elements as important on earth as are human beings. They should be respected and allowed to live in harmony. To disturb the balance between elements of nature is an invitation for catastrophes which would destroy humans on a massive scale; to consider nature as our rival and try to get victory over her is a dangerous proposition and action.
2. Study and Contemplation
Study and contemplation are necessary for integral awareness, action and living. Receiving secular and spiritual knowledge through literature or direct listening is essential to stay in intimate contact with the world outside and the world within.
By studying we know about the changing realities of the world outside and we also become acquainted with the inner world of body and mind. By contemplating we apply critical thinking to what was studied.
To accept the teachings of science, religion or culture without questioning, without critical thinking, is an invitation to narrowness, fanaticism and blindness rather than to the development of wisdom. All knowledge has to go through the unbiased critical analysis test in our mind or, with other people, through questions and dialogue. Core truth in the world and within us remains the same, but its forms and interpretations change according to time, place and people. Without such changes there would be no progress and growth. A lack of change leads to psychological and spiritual decay and death.
Many people continue, or are forced to continue, with those traditions which were appropriate for a certain time, place and environment, but now they are not only irrelevant, they are obstacles to human progress and new insights. Many of the followers don’t even know the meaning behind the rituals and traditions to which they adhere, but still, they follow them blindly. Such dying or dead traditions should be replaced by new and living ones, based on new experiences and insight.
3. Observation
Study and critical thinking should be complemented by observation. Observation is the process of developing awareness both within and outside of the person. To become intentionally aware of our own thought process, feelings, body state and also of the outer world with its politics, culture, social structure, and religion is an act of observation. While science’s observations are mainly quantitative, personal observations are qualitative and subjective. They complement each other and give an integral perspective.
Through study, contemplation and observation a clearer picture of the world both within and without emerges, which helps create a comprehensive concept of the universe without following any particular ideology, teacher or system. Forming a concept which is in harmony with the person is the beginning of individuation.
4. Experimentation: Integration-Experiment-Transcendence
Dharma as cosmic force, energy and law is boundless and without an end and so are its infinite expressions in the form of physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of being and living. That is why no scientist, psychologist or sage will able to say that they have arrived at, or understood, the whole Dharma. The scientist will never be able to comprehend the essence of the whole universe; the psychologist will never understand all which is contained in the mind; and the sage can’t claim that he or she arrived at the final Nirvana, Moksha, Mukti, Salvation or Enlightenment. They drink a hand full of water from the infinite cosmic ocean to quench their thirst and interpret it according to their understanding. There can’t be finality of understanding in any one of those matters because that will put limits on Dharma and, as we know, from matter to spirit there are no boundaries in the cosmos.
Dharma as cosmic force has countless dimensions and one can keep on discovering them forever and ever without exhausting them. No body can ever know the whole Truth which gives the possibility of discovering, realizing ever new horizons of Dharma, and experiencing Sat-Chit-Ananda. Such possibility and endeavor needs both humility and courage to move forward, discover new paths and experiment. Humility is needed to pay homage and respect to the scientists, psychologists and sages of the past who explored and experienced new ways of being and living and arrived at new realities of the cosmos. Those insights need to be integrated before we experiment to find the new paths and vistas. Courage is needed, not to take their realizations and words as final authority, and to move on, to experiment and to discover the new dimensions of Dharma.
5. Worship and prayer
Ceremony is a process of repeating thoughts, words and actions to achieve a well defined goal and can be performed at both the physical and mental levels. In a physical ceremony we let go of things, accumulations and wealth which will not be used in the present or future. To accumulate things and wealth for unforeseen future needs is in the nature of human beings but when such an act of accumulation becomes excessive, it becomes hoarding. This hoarding creates an imbalance within the individual and society. In a physical ceremony, the person may take stock of the material goods and wealth which she or he possesses and plan how and when to distribute those goods and wealth for the well being of family, society, country and the world.
A physical ceremony is also performed to affirm the changes and growth in life and includes festivals, birth, marriage, death and other ceremonies.
In a mental ceremony, a person has to let go of that past which is a burden, occupying sacred space and consuming precious energy of mind and body. Memories carrying anger, violence, resentment, fear, hatred, and sorrow condition the mind. The conditioned mind doesn’t allow light and warmth of new life to enter into our being. We may become the victim of physical and mental pathologies and remain unfulfilled. When the mind’s cup is full of old, dark and stagnant memories, how can it be filled with the living sacred waters of the present?
When the inner and outer clutter is gone, an empty space comes forth, where nature can play with more freedom both within us and within our home or where we work. Watch the moonlight coming into an empty room through the glass windows and playing freely around you, or a breeze flowing without obstacles through it. Then as morning comes, the sun fills the room with a magnificent orange glow. This is like the inner space after letting go. It is filled with something sacred and flowing that brings a fresh energy of freedom. Inner channels are unclogged and rejuvenated.
While physical ceremonies bring well-being to the society, mental ceremonies create well-being within a person. When ceremonies are done with good intentions and awareness, then a time comes when ceremonies are performed within the person spontaneously without effort. They become a part of daily living, expressing connection and affection within and without.
Prayer is the heart’s longing to unite and merge into the Dharma or cosmic laws through a known image, idol or deity, to which humanlike qualities have been attributed. Prayer cannot occur in a void or be offered to nothingness and the unknown. In prayer we need some image which may be of a god, goddess, angel, prophet, deity, ancestor, spirit, or elemental force to whom we can offer worship and seek either worldly or other-worldly rewards or freedoms. These images are embedded in our subconscious and so prayer is inwardly directed and fired by emotional energy. Devotion is prayer’s guiding force. In prayer, a person is moved by the desire to surrender oneself to some higher presence and that surrender is an act of transcending the ego or limited self; we become a non-entity before that power. In meditation we face the same transcendence by witnessing our own thoughts and mind, which is a path of intellect. Meditation is calm, non-judgmental awareness and comprehension of the inner and outer world. Discriminatory logic is the light on the path of meditation.
Although prayer starts with emotion and meditation with logic, at their peak they meet and become one. In both cases one experiences ego-transcendence. In prayer, it happens in the form of the surrender of one’s self to higher force and laws and in meditation by coming to a point where witnessing is experienced. Both in meditation and in prayer, the light of awareness illuminates dark corners of the mind and burns memories cluttering it. The mechanical part of the memory remains, but the emotional contents of memories are gone. Once the emotional energy of the memories is gone, they can’t influence the person or excite any feeling, which would control the individual and create turmoil.
Emotionally charged memories and thoughts are a bad investment of the brain’s precious energy. Those memories live like parasites, consuming more and more energy that could be used in living and solving life’s problems. When in the passion of prayer or the calmness of meditation the past is burnt, all that energy, which was trapped in the emotional part of memory, is released into the brain and body. It is a massive release of energy with which both brain and body vibrate and they are filled with delight. The brain is full of joy, which comes from within. Such a brain is full of affection and loving awareness and ever ready to solve the problems of life without being burdened by them or trying to escape from them.
In the beginning, meditation and prayer are efforts of will, similar to any other mental activity, and are not entirely different from the process of self-hypnosis. Our mind lives in the hypnosis of culture, religion and traditions, so the first part of meditation/prayer is to replace religious/cultural hypnosis with our own (our own hypnosis- Is that the meaning here?) to gain control over ourselves. It’s better to be hypnotized in our own way rather than by others. Society and culture’s programming is a deep hypnotic spell under the influence of which we may spend our whole lifetime and never know that we didn’t live our true life. Initially we can’t suddenly part ways from this deep hypnotic state induced by culture. The sudden withdrawal of cultural hypnosis would leave us in a meaningless dark void, which would be difficult to face and may paralyse us. That is why we replace culture’s hypnosis with our own, through prayer and meditation. Once we replace cultural hypnosis with our own, then our own hypnosis is also replaced by surrender or witnessing awareness. On the ground of this surrender and awareness, true individuality emerges and expresses itself through the world, the mind and the body.
Both in meditation and in prayer we choose particular words, images and movements, put them into a sequence, and perform them according to a plan. This is all mental and physical activity put together by the mind, but that is the only way to begin on an effortful path towards deeper awareness. We are using the mind in this activity, but now the mind, instead of being an undisciplined force, becomes a disciplined tool to help us arrive at a point where we experience ego transcendence.
That is why in the beginning, meditation or prayer is mental, mechanical and repetitive. As we go deeper into them, the process becomes more alive, revealing the inner nature of the mind. When the breakthrough point is reached, it becomes a spontaneous activity. Then, instead of doing meditation and prayer, one becomes meditative or prayerful all the time. Our whole life becomes effortless meditation or prayer, whether we are eating, sleeping, working or making love. Meditation simply happens without a conscious focus upon it. That breakthrough point is actually the point where we experience ego transcendence.
Integral Prayer
May the awakened body be home
to a tranquil mind
soul blossoms
on sacred earth
May all live in loving harmony
our kind actions bring
the Bliss of Conscious Existence.
Om Asti – Asti - Asti
The word Mantra comes from two Sanskrit words Man - means mind, and Tra – means transcendence. Mantra is a sound or combination of sounds to transcend the mind. Chanting Mantra is the most powerful tool both in prayer and worship, and also in meditation. Initially Mantra is chanted loudly and later on silently and ultimately it repeats itself without effort. Eventually Mantra leads to the silence which is the goal of Mantra chanting.
Integral Mantra
Dharma Deham, Dharma Manas, Dharma Buddhi-Atman
Dharma Priya Jan, Dharma Serva Jan, Dharma Desh, Dharma Dhara
Dharma Neham, Dharma Ekam, Dharma Hee Gatisheelta
Dharma Jeevan, Dharma Chetan, Dharma Hee Ananda Param.
Om Asti-Asti-Asti
6. Asana or poses
Asana is not an ordinary exercise and after asana the person should not feel tired or drained. (can we have some more introductory thoughts here? This section starts rather suddenly?)
There are certain conditions that need to be met for a pose to become Asana.
1. It should be sustained for various lengths of time depending on person’s flexibility and endurance
2. At no point person should hold the breath
3. Person should be aware of the pose and/or breath
4. Opposite asana complement each other and bring balance
Asana is based on the fact that when body is infused by a certain expression of energy (anger, peace, violence, sex etc.) she takes a certain pose. Therefore, if we can intentionally create a specific pose, we can bring a specific expression of energy into the body. This energy can be harnessed and used for the well being of body mind, or for the integration of both into wholeness. During the Asana there is pressure on specific parts of the body which stimulates neuro-vascular plexuses leading to relaxation and increased activation of many areas of brain. This increased activation leads to optimal functioning of the mind and the immune and endocrine systems. Such optimal functioning enhances the state of mind-body homeostasis. Consciously maintaining a certain pose also gives a more accurate orientation of the body in space generating better balance, grounding and overall functioning. Such orientation is the result of right hemispheric stimulation which is calming, and increases creativity and hemispheric synchronization.
Nidrasana: Nidrasana or sleep pose is the posture taken when lying in bed to go to sleep. It helps in preserving energy and meditation during sleep. In Nidrasana while lying on the back, legs are crossed at the ankle or shin, and hands are folded in prayer posture resting on the middle of the chest.
Bindu Yoga:
Bindu yoga poses press and activate some of the major energy points in the body bringing vitality and relieving stress and pain particularly in head and face area
Full breath is to to be maintained throughout the poses along with body awareness
.Standing in mountain pose
.Cat pose
.Prostration with folded hands fully stretched forward
.Raising the head and pressing the seven bindus or pressure points
.Middle of forehead
.Eyebrows
.Temple
.TMJ or temporo-mandibular joint where ear joins the face
.Cheek bone
.Chin in palms
.Thumb knuckles on inner side of eye
.Cat pose
.Child’s pose
.Mountain pose
Samarpan Yoga or yoga of surrender:
Full breathing will continue during the poses with or without prayer or chanting
1. Standing and spreading the arms with extended head in opening and receiving pose
2. Standing straight and folded hands resting on heart center in the middle of chest
3. Bending forward at waist, palms resting on knees
4. Standing on knees and folded hands resting on heart center in the middle of chest
5. Sitting cross-legged with hands on heart/Sitting on heals, hands on knees and forehead touching the ground three times
6. Prostration with folded hands fully stretched forward
7. Raising head and folded hands resting on forehead…..the process is reversed now.
7. Pranayam or breathing exercise
Breathing is a unique phenomenon in humans because of its involuntary and voluntary aspects.
First of all, breathing happens in the present, so whatever we do with breath is going to be connected with the present moment.
Secondly, breathing is a bridge between body and mind and so it is different when we experience different mental and emotional states. If we are calm, breathing is deep and slow. If we feel a deep sense of love, breathing becomes deep and slow again. In anger, the breath is deep and fast while in fear, it is shallow and rapid. In extreme fear, we hold our breath.
Thirdly, breathing is partly involuntary and partly voluntary which means that we can intentionally use it to achieve certain states of body and mind.
A baby’s breathing is deep, natural belly breathing, whereas most adults breathe through the chest and not from the belly. So, the first goal of any breathing exercise is to achieve belly breathing to make the body and mind calm and relaxed. Ultimately we have to find the gap between inhalation and exhalation and in that gap we experience stillness. It is the same as with chanting or a sound meditation in which we initially chant or sing to calm down the body and mind, but eventually, that singing and chanting will take us to silence. The human mind can’t capture silence or stillness directly, so chanting and breathing becomes a vehicle to take it to that end.
Sivayama
At birth the breath is different and also when death is approaching, it assumes a different type of characteristic pattern. If you watch a person dying, the breathing takes a distinct form. A person who is dying breathes deeper and faster with progressively forceful exhalation, reaching a peak and then stops breathing for few moments. Again the cycle is repeated until the breathing becomes shallow and intermittent and then it stops.
If this pattern of the breath-of-dying is practised by a normal and healthy person, it is possible to bring the feeling of dying and, by witnessing it, to go beyond that fear. This observation is based on the fact that if there is some inner physiological change in the body or mind, that change expresses itself in a certain type of behaviour; practising that behaviour brings about the same physiological or emotional change although not as deep, intense or as complete as the original inner change brought to the person. There are many examples of this phenomenon. If a person is happy within, then he or she may start dancing or singing, which are natural expressions of joy. But if a sad person starts dancing and singing it is possible to feel joy which may not be as deep and complete as the inner one, but enough to pull the person out of the stuck state. This applies to most human feelings which primarily emerge from inside and express themselves in different human behaviours. In sadness a person may slump down and the eyes may look downward. If a normal person assumed this posture for a few minutes, then that person may experience a feeling of sadness inside. If a sad person stands with a straight spine and neck and looks forward with power and energy, then he or she may feel less sad. The body and mind are connected. The mind affects the body and the body affects the mind, and this is what happens in breathing.
This type of breath-of-dying exercise can be practised either in a lying down position or sitting comfortably on a chair. The person, after some period of relaxation, starts breathing progressively deeper and faster while the exhalation becomes longer and longer, coming to the peak of his or her capacity and then holding the breath completely for a few seconds to start the cycle over again.
Another kind of breathing that can be practised is Kumbhak or holding the breath either after inhalation or exhalation. Kumbhak, or the period of holding the breath, is gradually increased to the extent of your comfort level.
8. Dhyan or Meditation
Meditation is the path and process of realization of one’s individual and universal biological potential.
In this definition of meditation, biological potential means both the physical/physiological and psychological possibilities in a person. Such potential contains the dimension of both individual and universal life and existence. Once the person reaches the peak of his or her individual and universal experience, transcendence may occur. Transcendence is the merging of the individual and the universal into an undivided state, which is beyond any meditation effort or practice. Such a state is beyond time and space. It can only be inferred when the person’s awareness returns to the dual state where the individual and the universal are again separately experienced.
Meditation is not a process of thinking although thinking may be used in the beginning as a technique to achieve a meditative state.
Meditation technique is defined as the intentional and deliberate awareness of outer the world (the inner world?), sensations in the body and of one’s feelings, emotions, thoughts and experiences.
The experience of meditation is different at different levels of perception: at the level of the body it is the awareness of sensations of pain, pressure, touch, tingling, numbness etc.; at the level of feeling it is the awareness of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings; at the level of emotions it is awareness of waves of primary and secondary emotions; and at the level of thinking it is the awareness of a stream of thoughts and of different types of thinking. In essence, meditation always moves beyond the experience at any level.
To begin with, meditation requires the use of techniques put together by the mind. Later on it becomes spontaneous and effortless. At this effortless point, life itself becomes the path and process of realization; in other words, life itself becomes a meditation. Whatever we think, speak or do, positive or negative, is a meditation because meditation is not a virtue, morals, good behavior or thinking; it is the awareness of all that exists. In its field of observation it includes darkness or light, life or death, moral or amoral and good or bad. The process of meditation is non-judgmental observation or awareness.
Meditation is either a focus on a certain image, word, thought or point, or it is a calm, non-judgmental awareness and comprehension of both the inner and outer worlds. In both aspects meditation techniques are cognitive in nature. The word cognitive means a technique or process that is put together in a particular sequence by thoughts. It doesn’t contain emotions as its primary force. Discriminatory logic is the light on the path of meditation. Logical analysis is an important tool for meditation. There is no need to believe in god, God, or a creator, to engage in meditation, although most people who meditate do have such beliefs. The ideas of a void and nothingness are part of the meditation vocabulary.
Ordinary consciousness is usually focussed selectively on the outside world, and there is little awareness of what is happening within the mind, although our behaviour in the external world is the expression of what lies in the mind. The mind is the root of all actions and reactions happening in the outer world. When we try to change our reactions in the outer world, we don’t look at our mind in its completeness. We focus on outer reactions and modify it, which in fact changes nothing. This is because we leave the mind, the root cause of such reactions or behaviour, untouched.
This selective attention to the outside world, and almost no attention to the inner world of the mind, leads to a confused and confined state. Life is passive in this state and dependent upon external forces, with the centre of life lying outside the person. Because of inattention to the structure of our own mind, there is no centre within. This life of ignorance towards one’s own mind results in dependence on chaotic outside forces, which then leads to turmoil in a person’s life.
As soon as attention is turned inward, without ignoring the outside world, the centre of activity moves within the person. The person is centred and is no more a passive instrument of external forces of the world and environment. Gaining consciousness of the inner world makes a person aware of the roots of his or her predictable reactions to the events. The motives of one’s behaviour are understood clearly. They are mostly an effort to escape fear, and are largely programmed by culture and society. The person discovers that what he or she thought of as his or her own new thinking or mind, was actually the old in guise of something new, and came from the past. Old programming was given to the person under a new name and form, and the person was in the hypnotic spell of this programming.
By paying attention with relaxed awareness, a person discovers that his thoughts, beliefs and behaviour are mostly, but not wholly, programmed by forces outside of him. A person discovers that he is not centred within, and most of the actions taken are not his own. Their centre of origin is outside the person. The discovery that one’s mind is programmed, that one is not centred within, is the first sign of awakening and also the beginning of the meditation.
Relaxation is an important part of this process of becoming attentive and meditative. A person living in stress doesn’t have the time or energy to pay attention or feel focussed within. She is too busy in the world solving external problems, an activity which is actually an escape from the deeper self.
Various methods or meditations may help in bringing our attention to this culture’s programming or hypnotic trance. Although, in the beginning, the planned and intentional meditation itself is a form of self-hypnosis, it is under the control of the person who is doing it. To begin with, meditation is auto-hypnosis which is replacing the cultural hypnosis. In meditation, a person starts moving from focussing on the outer world to the universe of mind consciously. This conscious movement is meditation and awakening.
As the meditation advances, the darkness of ignorance and unconsciousness is replaced by the light of consciousness. But meditation is still an intentional activity. A basic quality of the human brain is that it can never be conditioned completely. That is why the mind, although usually trapped in its prison-like universe, always has a door. Meditation is the action to find that door. If the mind was totally a closed prison without an opening, then all efforts would be of no avail and even meditation would not be useful.
Early signs of meditation are relaxation and the appearance of more thoughts than usual. Relaxation comes from less stimulation of the senses, and more thoughts result from becoming more aware of parallel streams of thoughts running through the brain. These thoughts were always there but because of our inattention, we were not aware of them. During meditation some people see colours, visions, prophets, angels, gods and goddesses. Some may hear sounds or smell various aromas, or feel light or heavy, cold or warm. Some experience energy sensations that cause a sudden startle response or jerking of a limb. These experiences simply indicate that meditation is progressing. The person should not get attached to these experiences, or else they may become an obstacle to deepening of the meditation.
As the meditation advances, there may be brief moments of witnessing one’s own mind. During these moments consciousness becomes like a flame and burns the emotional contents of the mind. It leaves just the ashes of the past, which contain only the sketches of the memories, but do not have any emotional energy. This brief witnessing releases a huge amount of energy that was invested in the emotional contents of memories. Those memories could be of grief, guilt, fear, hatred or resentment and also of joy, excitement, rewards and achievements. If meditation becomes deeper then a moment may come when the witnessing becomes spontaneous and continues all the time without effort. At this point, intentional meditation ends and life itself becomes an effortless meditation.
This new spontaneous meditation is not of the mind, but goes beyond it and has the quality of non-judgement and silence. This silence of natural meditation dissolves the facade of the mind so that one is left with few or no thoughts, leading to the collapse of the structure of the mind. The mind is made up of thoughts, and if thoughts are not there then there is no mind. “Thoughtless” means that there is at least one thought, which is the state of collapse or oblivion or psychological death of the mind. The technological mind or innate intelligence of the body, which is essential for the survival of the body, remains intact.
Through thoughts that belong to the past and the future, the mind weaves the web of immortality. Thoughts are the safety castles in which the mind creates dreams and through those dreams it seeks its continuity. That is why unless the structure of thoughts collapse, a person cannot face the fact of death or mortality of oneself. Thoughts and dreams hide death under their veil to escape fear. During meditation when these thoughts diminish and then stop, the web of illusion is gone and the person experiences a void.
A word of caution here: when we say “thoughtlessness” that means that still there is one thought which exists within a person. That thought is that there are no more thoughts or there is a void within.
In that moment of one thought or “thoughtlessness”, all the person’s seeking and searching, which is nothing else but the constant process of becoming, also stops leading to the state of being. This stopping of the mind is a psychological event. The innate intelligence of the body was never a problem in life because it never created dreams of immortality. The innate intelligence of the body continues to function without interruption. In these moments of psychological death, the accumulated fear, jealousy, hatred, violence, attachment and anger come to an end, and only those feelings that are essential for survival are left. The body’s innate intelligence, to carry out the ordinary functions of day-to-day life, is left undisturbed. Finding food, seeking shelter, getting clothes, doing jobs and moving from one place to another is not hampered, though they may become more fluid and easy to perform. Innate intelligence or non-psychological awareness is part of life and is inseparable from it. This innate intelligence dies when the body dies.
Meditation is a movement from less awareness towards more awareness. In this movement we may experience the following stages or states:
- relaxation, the beginning of awareness;
- healing;
- joy, mind-body integration and witnessing; and
- tranquillity or tasting the universe.
Neh or Love Meditation
The Theory: The world is a projection of the mind. If we are sad the world looks sad; and if we are happy the world feels like a happy place. If we are full of fear then people, places and events bring fear into our hearts; and if we are without fear, we experience freedom every where. Our heaven and hell are within us and we project them onto the world around us. A sunset may be beautiful for the person experiencing joy within and the same sunset may be sad for the person who has, for instance, just lost a beloved one.
The same is true about love. If we love ourselves then the world is full of love. If we are hateful or fearful of our own bodies, emotions and thoughts, if we are negative towards ourselves, it is difficult for us to love other people. We project the rejection and resentment that we feel for ourselves onto our surroundings. We may act or pretend as if we love others. We may even have convinced ourselves of this love, but such love wouldn’t emerge from the depths of our heart. Such love would be the fulfillment of a need, or a social formality. We would use the word love but it wouldn’t carry the energy of intimacy and tender feelings.
Neh means affection or love. This meditation is about loving our own self - our body, feelings, emotions and thoughts - and expressing affection toward ourselves. Is it possible to love ourselves through a technique? No. A meditation technique can’t create love but it can uncover or discover the love which is hidden deep within us. Love is the essential component for physical and psychological survival. It is always there although it may be buried deep within us, disrupted by social, cultural and religious conditioning. Religious, political, cultural and social institutions constantly talk about love and harmony within and without but through their actions they create divisions within a person. All cultures, religions, political points of views and societies congratulate themselves on having the answers, on being the best. They create divisions by labeling others - bad, old, outdated, inferior, evil, superstitious etc. Individuals are likewise subjected to cultural and religious rules, regulations and judgments. Such programming generates personal feelings of right and wrong, of good and bad, of judgment and fear. This results in much self-hatred and guilt about one’s own body, emotions and thoughts wherever they deviate from the cultural, religious, political or societal norm.
This is not about narcissistic attachment to, or obsession with, our body or mind. In narcissism the absorption or attachment with self is so great that the person becomes completely oblivious to the needs or desires of others. People become merely tools for one’s own self-gratification. A narcissistic person lives in isolation away from the world and nature. Such a person is like a stagnant pool of water disconnected from the river of life. This person slowly decays and dries up.
Rarely do we love ourselves totally. Sometimes we are attached to ourselves and become self-absorbed. More often however, we either don’t like ourselves, or we actively hate ourselves. We repress or ignore those parts of our being which, based on our programming, we feel are unworthy and ugly. This results in a fragmented self. Instead of feeling an integrated wholeness within, we divide our self into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ parts. These parts are in constant conflict with each other. The ‘bad’ part has to be repressed, ignored and rejected by the ‘good’ part. This leads to fragmentation. A person with a fragmented self can’t live a full life.
Neh meditation is a technique of non-judgmental loving of all the parts of self, which includes physical, emotional and thought components. Such an act of loving is a movement from fragmentation to wholeness, from self hatred and guilt to affection, and from surviving with self image to living with reality. It is action towards total self-acceptance.
If we love ourselves and feel affection towards our body, feelings and thoughts then such love and affection will fill the vessel of our body and mind. This nectar of love will spill all around us. Our whole existence will be soaked in it. Then life’s nascent plant will grow, become a tree and flower, and give shelter to those who need it. If we go deeply into Neh meditation with our whole heart and energy then the technique will become our nature, a drop of water will become the ocean and a moment will become eternity. In such a transformation, self-love and self-affection becomes love and affection for all.
Neh or Love Meditation – The Technique:
Sitting comfortably in a chair or on the floor, remember some moments when your body and mind were filled with love and affection.
You are not an observer of these moments but are re-living them. You are feeling the love and affection of those moments, here and now.
Allow that love and affection to fill you and to flow from head to toe.
This feeling of love and affection is filling your
• head space
• eyes
• face, jaw, mouth
• ear
• neck
• chest
• abdomen
• left shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, thumb and fingers
• right shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, thumb and fingers
• upper, middle and lower back
• pelvic area
• left hip, thigh, knee, leg, ankle, foot and toes
• right hip, thigh, knee, leg, ankle, foot and toes
• emotions and thoughts.
You are also remembering any words, sound, aroma, taste and touch that were present in those moments.
Allow your whole being to merge into that feeling of love.
Now feel the energy of love and affection in your body, particularly in the area of your heart.
Allow the energy in your body and heart to flow towards your hands, fingers and thumbs. Your hands, fingers and thumbs are vibrating with loving energy.
With your hands, fingers and thumbs, slowly and tenderly touch, and gently press:
• the sides of your head
• your eyes
• your face, jaw and ears
• your neck
• your shoulders, upper arm, elbows, forearm, hands, fingers and thumbs
• your chest
• your abdomen
• your pelvic area
• your thighs, knees, legs, ankles, feet and toes
• the parts of your back accessible to you
• your first chakra at the base of your spine
• your second chakra just above your pubic bone
• your third chakra at your naval area
• your fourth chakra in the middle of your chest
• your fifth chakra at the root of your neck
• your sixth chakra in the middle of two eye brows
• your seventh chakra on the top of your head
Lie down for five to ten minutes and acknowledge all of your feelings.
The same meditation is to be done if you are healing or loving another person.
In most traditional meditations the emphasis is on transformation of thoughts and emotions, not on the lower centers of the body and brain. The following five meditations are used to energize the body and awaken cellular consciousness or the mind of the cells which are normally neglected.
Avtaran Meditation: Avtaran means descending from above. In this mediation in walking/standing or sitting posture, visualize and feel the energy and vibrations that form a vast light source above the head. Light, whether golden, blue or white, liquid or ordinary, is slowly descending into your head space filling it up. From there it flows down to your neck and chest, filling them. Then two streams of light branch out, to the left and right upper limbs, filling them to the palms and fingers. Then the light fills the abdomen and pelvis, branches out into two streams to flow through the thighs, knees, legs and feet, and finally through the soles of the feet making its way into the ground.
The flow of the light is dynamic and continuous from above your head into the ground, flowing through each cell, organ and system of the body, washing and cleaning them with fresh energy. Each cell of the body is lit from within and the body glows from within. This light also surrounds you, extending six inches to one foot around the physical body.
Sound meditation:
‘Om Deham Asti Asti Asti’
With closed eyes, feel and visualize that the body is hollow and empty. Then chant the above mantra silently and let the vibrations fill the emptiness. Allow the body and its cells to vibrate with the mantra.
Inner Yajna meditation:
‘Om Deham Asti Asti Swaha’
With closed eyes, visualize and feel that the body is hollow and empty. Allow a smokeless fire to fill up the emptiness. Focus on this fire while chanting the above mantra.
Inner light meditation:
Let a smokeless white or golden flame burn within the emptiness of the body and allow the mind to focus on it. The light will fill up the emptiness and the body will glow. Allow the body to be surrounded by the glow.
Virat Meditation:
Allow the body’s boundary to expand until the whole universe and its structures are contained within it.
9. Pilgrimage and Fasting
Travel and a pilgrimage are two different experiences. Traveling is a pleasure movement. While traveling, many people not only want to maintain the comforts and distractions which they had at home, but they actually want more heightened experiences in a short period of time. It may be food, entertainment or sightseeing. They don’t want to stay long enough in one place to develop a better understanding of the place and people. A physical, emotional and intellectual status quo is maintained and there is little possibility of inner change. Old boundaries stay intact and there is little inner growth. Sometimes surface sympathy is experienced towards people, which may be accompanied by criticism and comparison.
Pilgrimage is traveling, not for pleasure or comfort, but to challenge the self physically, emotionally and intellectually. Pilgrimage is done with humility and with an open mind, and one is ready to face the unknown any moment. Pilgrimage brings strain on the person which may take him/her to a point where old boundaries and limits are broken. Such breaking of the boundary of old self brings changes, transformation and the emergence of a new layer of self or new self, which is deeper and broader than the old one. It may lead to the union of body and mind (emotions, intellect) by which spiritual self or soul is born.
In Samagra movement, fasting has two aspects. The first aspect is more important and relates to withdrawal from what we don’t need. Every day we consume an excess of food, water, space, energy and wealth; this creates sickness, either to the consumer, or to some near or remote non-living and living beings who suffer from lack because of what we have taken in excess. With our limited planetary resources, excess is compensated for by a deficiency for someone, somewhere.
The second reason for fasting is to simply withdraw from the basic requirements of food, water, space, energy and wealth. Such fasting helps in breaking the comfortable and pleasurable boundaries which we have experienced and built on since the beginning of our life. This fasting has the same effects as pilgrimage - bringing new insights into our own being and breaking down the structure of the old self to take us to new dimensions of living.
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