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Concentration & Confusion

Questions Answered By Mahraj Shree Charan Singh

Question : Maharaji, would you briefly explain how to meditate?
A. How to meditate? You have to close the eyes, so that your attention doesn’t go out. And when you close the eyes, automatically you are where you should be. You close the eyes, and you are just at the eye center. Then, keeping your attention there, you should try to do simran. The idea is that your attention shouldn’t scatter outside, it should be here at the eye center.

Question : Maharaj ji, if the higher regions are above the eye focus, then why couldn’t we concentrate above the eye focus instead of starting here?
Answer : Well, brother, when you are sitting midway up a hill, you just can’t start your journey from the top, nor would you like to go back down to the bottom in order to climb up to the top. We are all sitting here at the eye center, which is the natural seat of the soul and mind knotted together in the conscious state. Whenever you are thinking about anything, or you have forgotten something and you wish to recall it, your hand automatically goes to your forehead. You will never put your hand to any other part of your head or your leg. This is a natural habit. When you want to remember something, or think deeply, you automatically concentrate here, because the seat of the soul and mind is here at the eye center. Hence, we want to start from where we are. Neither do we want to come down to the lower charkas, the lower centers, and start up, nor can we start from higher up. So we have to start from the eye center.

Question : Previously I once heard that out third eye is open while we’re in the womb, and later on after we become aware of its state of openness. Is this true, or is it that the third eye is not opened until after we’re initiated?
Answer : The opening of the third eye means that we start seeing the visions or we have spiritual progress within. When you see the Light, the colors, the moon and all those things inside, there is something which sees all that inside, and that we call the third eye. The third eye is known as such because we’re in the habit of seeing through the eyes, but these physical eyes are not required inside. Christ calls it the door of the house, but then there’s no door there either. There are just ways of explaining things. When you enter a house you need a door to go in. Without a door you cannot get in, and without the veil being removed, you cannot see anything inside. That is why it has been called the third eye or the door of the house.

Question : Maharaj ji, you’ve written that the door at which we have to knock is the center between and behind the eyes. My question is, if the attention is kept in the darkness, which is seen when the eyes are closed, will that attention at some stage of concentration automatically go behind the eyes?
Answer : You are automatically there. When you close your eyes, you are nowhere else but there behind the eyes in the darkness. Just close your eyes and forget where you’re automatically there at the eye center, so you the darkness, do the simran. That is the point, which is referred to. You’re automatically there.

Question : So, during meditation one shouldn’t make a constant effort to feel that he is located at the eye center, but should just look into the darkness and let that feeling of “being there” come automatically?
Answer : That’s right. When you close your eyes, you are normally automatically here at the eye center, because the seat of the soul and mind knotted together is at the eye center. When you close your eyes, you are here in the center of the darkness in the forehead, and being there, you do the simran, You also feel that your Master is there and that you are there in the darkness and you are doing simran in the presence of the Master, if you can’t visualize his form. So be there and also feel your Master is there, and that will hold your attention there in the darkness.

Question : I have read that at the time if meditation we should imagine that we are sitting at the eye focus. Should we do that rather than just try to be at the eye focus?
Answer : They’re the same thing, brother. Just be at the eye focus, which means to try to concentrate at the eye focus or to think that you’re at the eye focus. They are the same thing. It is a way of explaining.

Question : I thought it was different in that we’re actually picturing ourselves in our mind’s eye as being at the eye focus.
Answer : No, you be at the eye focus, which means to be in that darkness. When you close the eyes, you are there where you should be. Being there, you should do simran. Whenever you close your are where you should be. Be there and do simran.

Question : What do you mean when you say to look in to the darkness?
Answer : You close your eyes; you see nothing but darkness. Be there and do simran. Being in the darkness, do simran. That is what I mean by looking at the darkness.

Question : When you’re looking at the darkness while you’re doing your simran, as long as you can see that darkness, can you be sure that you’re at the eye center, that you have not dropped to the lower centers?
Answer : As long as your attention is there in the darkness, you are there, but when you start thinking about all the problems of the world, you are not there, where you see the darkness or something else. When your attention is there, you are there. If your attention is not there, you are not there.

Question : Is it difficult to hold the attention there when we’re sick? It seems that the mind becomes more imaginative when we’re a bit ill.
Answer : Probably because you don’t have anything else to do. When your mind is absolutely free, then it starts imagining all sorts of things, but when it is busy, then naturally it doesn’t imagine so many things. That is why they say that a vacant mind is a devil’s workshop. The mind is never still, even if you close yourself in a dark room and lock it from and lock it from outside. Your mind is never there. It is always running about in the world imagining all sorts of things.

Question : Maharji, when I try to concentrate in the darkness, my mind flits about. I’m wondering then if the attention can be in two places at once?
Answer : Not only two places—the mind can run to a thousand places. While you’re talking, even if you’re giving a lecture, your mind is thinking about something else. The mind has the faculty to think about many things at a tome. You’re doing simran and your mind is wandering in the whole world, thinking of all the worldly problems—that also is the mind. So the mind can be not only in two places, but in many places at a time.

Question : I read that we should hold the mind still in meditation, but that we shouldn’t concentrate on a physical point for the eye focus. You have said that it’s a mental position. Then how do we know what to concentrate on if it’s in the mind?
Answer : When you close your eyes, you are there where you should be. Being there, do simran, concentrate. When you close your eyes, you are nowhere outside. You are just here at the eye center, unless you mind is scattered somewhere outside. When you close your eyes, don’t try to find any particular point. Don’t try to invert your eyes physically and focus at any particular point or try to search physically by inverting your eyes. The eyes should not be strained physically at all. When you close your eyes, you are automatically there where you should be, so being there, you should try to concentrate.

Question : Is it wrong for the eyes to turn upward?
Answer : You don’t have to invert the wyes physically in order to find any particular object within, because these physical eyes have nothing to do with what you are going to see inside. These eyes physically, nor do you have to focus them at any particular point, because you will then strain your eyes. Just close your eyes and forget about them, and being at the eye center, do simram, with the attention there. Only when you are able to hold your attention at the eye center will you be able to catch the Sound. Rather, the Sound will pull you upward, and you will be in the Light.

Question : When doing dhyan, if the physical eyes want to go together and it’s not a strain, is that all right , or should we make an attempt to not let them go to the third eye?
Answer : You should not be conscious of your eyes at all, no question of not letting them go or truing to bring them together. Close you eyes from any point of view. Just forget about them. When you sleep, you sleep. So just close your eyes and do simran.

Question : And another thing is that when I try, my concentration drops down and I feel that my attention has dropped, and that’s why they say to make an effortless effort. And I didn’t know whether to insist, even if there is a little strain.
Answer : Yes, a little strain will be at the forehead. That is why we are advised that after meditation, we can rub our forehead and our eyelids lightly to relieve any little strain there might be. But the strain is insignificant.

Question : When we make an effort to hold our attention inside, does that mean that we are allowing the mind to scatter away from the eye center?
Answer : No, you have not followed my point. I didn’t say that when we make an effort we are not at the eye center. I said, if you make an effort trying to find a particular point, then your mind will wander out. Effort we have to put forth to concentrate, to do simran. Doing simran is an effort you are putting forth, for when we do simran, we have to forget the whole world. We are concerned only with the darkness in our forehead. We close our eyes and we see nothing but darkness, and when you close your eyes, you are there where you should be. Keeping your mind in that darkness, do simran. Don’t try to find any particular point in that darkness such as two or three inches up in the darkness, two or three inches down. Then you are lost in that. You are always conscious of finding a point, and you don’t concentrate. Just forget your eyes, even forget your body. Close your eyes—you are automatically there where you should be, and then do simran. What I was trying to say was that we generally think that the center is in the forehead physically and that we must try to find that physical center within, but then we are lost in that. The center automatically will come with our concentration.

Question : Maharaj Ji, some of the yogas teach that the pineal gland and the pituitary gland are seats of soul consciousness. Is there any truth to this?
Answer : Well, brother, actually, we have to concentrate at the eye center, and they try to explain those things physically, that this gland is here and that gland is there. We shouldn’t get mixed up at all with that. When you close your eyes, you are automatically there where you should be, and you have to be there, you have to still yourself there.

Question : Then a loss of one of those glands wouldn’t affect—
Answer : No, certainly not. Even if that gland is damaged or taken away, that doesn’t mean you can’t concentrate at the eye center.

Question : It’s necessary, isn’t it?
Answer : That gland may be physically necessary for living, but I know people who are deaf, who can’t hear these outside noise at all, and yet they hearing the Sound.

Question : Master, in the journey from the eye center to the top of the head, which you often talk about, during the course of that journey, does anything chemically or physically happens in that section of the head as a reflection of what happens spiritually?
Answer : Yes, there are physical symptoms of withdrawal, and these are explained at the time of initiation.

Question : But Master, up till that point the current is withdrawn to the eye center, right?
Answer : That’s right.

Question : And then does it leave the body there, or—
Answer : No. Everything is within the body. Your consciousness comes to that level.

Question : But does it rise higher then? Does the consciousness rise to the top of the head also?
Answer : You can say it is rising higher, but where is the beginning and where is the end? Consciousness doesn’t physically start from the eyes and physically end at the top of the head. We mean that from a lower level of consciousness you go to the higher level of consciousness. From wherever the level of consciousness starts, from there now you going upwards in your level of consciousness. That’s what is meant.

Question : I think the books also say that the head is the laboratory of the whole creation.
Answer : Yes, because without. having your concentration at the eye center, you won’t understand anything about the creation, so everything comes from the head. Your whole mind is scattered, being pulled down from the eye center through the nine apertures. If you forget anything and you want to recall it, automatically you will put your hand to your forehead. You won’t touch your legs or any other part of the body. This place has something to do with out thinking center, and we have to withdraw our consciousness to that very thinking center. From there your level of consciousness will move upwards.

Question : Maharaj Ji, are there centers at the top of the head which are affected by one’s meditation other than just the third eye?
Answer : Sometimes we do feel some sensations in the head at the times of meditation. This is because unconsciously, unintentionally sensation there, but there’s nothing to worry about.

Question : Maharaj Ji, some of us were discussing earlier the sensation when one begins to meditate of sometimes feeling nauseous. Could you explain something about this?
Answer : I don’t know what exactly you man by a nauseous feeling, but when you are withdrawing the soul current upwards from the throat center, you feel as if your throat has in the throat to begin with, and you feel as if your throat has become dry or parched by too much speaking. If you have a little sip of water, or you swallow, or if you gently rub the throat with the hand once or twice, the feeling goes. And then also, when we try to concentrate here at the eye center, there’s a little, insignificant pressure on our eyes, because unconsciously the eyes start inverting inside, but one can easily remove it by rubbing the eyes nonce or twice lightly. And there is also insignificant pressure in the forehead, which one can relieve too. A feeling of nausea can come if you have eaten something that doesn’t suit you, or if you are sitting in a closed room and the air is not fresh, or if you are synchronizing your simran with breathing. Then a nauseous feeling will definitely come. But we should never think about breathing at the time of simran. Now you are listening and I am talking; neither you are conscious of your breathing, nor I am conscious my breathing. It is a normal function of the body, and we should never give any attention to it all.

Question : Maharaj Ji, during meditation suppose several times you experience one of these sensations of say, the parchness of the throat, and then for a long period after that you never experience this again. Does it mean that you haven’t achieved that real concentration again?
Answer : No, sometimes we feel it, sometimes we don’t feel it. If now you have been able to overcome it, you may get it again sometime. But whenever you are confronted with such a situation, you can always help yourself just by rubbing the throat a little of by swallowing a few times, or by sipping a little water.

Question : Some people, at the time meditation, become hot or cold. What is the reason for changes in temperature of the body during meditation?
Answer : I don’t think you feel any heat or cold. Sometimes we feel a little cold when we withdraw to the eye center. Then there is a little difference in temperature, but it’s not so much that you start shivering. Otherwise, the normal temperature remains the same.

Question : Master, sometimes during meditation there’s a sort of sensation, like someone taking their hand and rubbing it up the center of your spine. Is this something to worry about?
Answer : We start feeling many types of activities and sensations in the body. Sometimes you feel that type of sensation at the backbone, but just ignore it.

Question : Sometimes the body jerks when we’re in meditation. Could you explain that?
Answer : Sister, we do jerk sometimes. Sometimes with emotions or devotion we try to hold our attention, and we do succeed in concentration, but we are spread out so much into the body that we find it difficult for the soul to pull up, so sometimes we start jerking and some people even fall unconscious.

But there’s nothing to worry about in the least. No damage comes to the body. You will again get up. If you feel such jerks, you can lean against something hard or sit in a comfortable chair with some support, and then you can attend to simran. Sometimes these jerks do come, but they will ultimately leave you.

Question : Maharaj Ji, I have heard that after ten minutes of sitting, you should make a habit of then adjusting your posture, and then you’ll sit longer.
Answer : You are not even to be conscious of that changing of the posture or of that adjustment. Sometimes when you’re thinking about some serious problem, you are not conscious of whether a fly has come to your nose or even that you have removed it with your hand. You’re not conscious of who has come to your room or who has gone from your room. You’re not conscious of anybody, because you’re so much absorbed in that thinking. So similarly, we should get so much concentration with the simran that we’re not even conscious of a little change in the posture—that from this leg you have moved the other leg. You don’t even know if the body has moved. You’re not even conscious of it. When I become conscious of the posture—that now I am keeping my one leg here and I am feeling very uncomfortable and I say I’m not going to change it whatever may happen—I may be able to retain that posture for one hour, but not in the simran at all. From that point of view it’s better to change the posture rather than to lose your concentration.

Question : This question pertains to numbness of the limbs, Maharaj Ji. There is a physical cause, as I understand it, such as pressure on the limbs or lack of circulation of the blood, and this is numbness; and secondly there is withdrawal of the soul currents through concentration, and this produces numbness in the limbs. My question is, is there a difference between the two types of numbness? Do both assist in concentration?
Answer : There is a little difference. The type of numbness we need is the withdrawal numbness, when the soul withdraws from the nine apertures and comes upwards. Numbness means that you are not aware of that part of the body. Sometimes when you are absorbed in your own thoughts, thinking about some problem, and somebody comes to the room or goes away, you don’t even notice who has come and who has gone. If anything crawls on your in your own thinking. That is numbness of the body—you become completely unconscious of the body. You’re not concerned in what position you’re sitting. Your absolute withdrawal is there; your concentration is complete at the eye center. That is withdrawing your consciousness from the body. It may not be physical numbness at all. You are not aware of your body, you are not even aware of the way you are sitting, you’re not aware of yourself. You’re so much concentrated and so much one with that Shabd or Nam within that you’re not even aware of any part of the body. If you are aware that this part has become numb and you have withdrawn from this, then that is not right concentration. Numbness means you’re absolutely not aware of the body. Physical numbness naturally is all right, but that is not the end-all and be-all. The real numbness is withdrawal of the soul currents. Then you’re not even aware of the body.

Question : Is there a length of time in meditation, sitting absolutely still, before this will start to happen?
Answer : You can’t say that there is a certain length of time. It may take you two minutes to withdraw the soul current to the eye center, or it may take you a very ling time, so you can’t fix it by the length of the period. This is true even in the worldly sense. Sometimes our mind is so scattered that a very minor problem take us hours and hours to solve. Sometimes we are so concentrated that it hardly takes us a second to make a decision on that point. It’s not a question of the time limit; it’s your concentration. Sometimes you’re upset, your mind is absolutely scattered, and you just can’t solve that problem.

Question : Many times when I feel that I’m just starting to get somewhat concentrated and the breathing is slowing down, I find I have to just suddenly take a deep breath. It’s almost involuntary, like a gasp or a sigh. When that happens, am I sending the consciousness back down into the lower parts?
Answer : No, you don’t send any consciousness down, but this deep breath definitely happens sometimes. While we are trying to concentrate, sometimes unconsciously we take a very deep breath.

Question : Yes, it seems unconscious. Should we try to control it?
Answer : I don’t think you can help it. You should try not to be conscious about that deep breathing. It’s just a normal function of breathing, and if there’s sometimes a deep breathe.

Question : Yes, it seems unconscious. Should we try t control it?
Answer : I don’t think you can help it. You should try not to be conscious about that deep breathing. It’s just a normal function of breathing, and if there’s sometimes a deep breath, just forget about it. Don’t be conscious of it at all. This won’t spoil your concentration. But if you’re conscious about the deep breathing, then of course your concentration goes.

Question : Well, sometimes it surprises me. I take a deep breath and I’m surprised that I do it.
Answer : That’s right. Just be unconscious about it. Just forget about it. Sometimes when you are talking to somebody and you are attentive, you may take a deep breath, but you are hardly aware of it. In meditation, if you pay attention to it and think, “Why have I taken a deep breath? What is wrong with me?” then of course you lose the simran and concentration. It’s the normal function of the body, and sometimes it does happen. Even when you are doing nothing, you are just sitting; sometimes you take a deep breath without meaning anything.

Question : When we are at the eye focus, is it possible that the body becomes completely lifeless and that the heart may stop beating?
Answer : No. The heart doesn’t stop beating, but you feel the withdrawal in the body, that something is missing from your lower limbs. And sometimes some people have a feeling of nausea, something like fainting, but actually it is not fainting or nausea—nothing of the sort. If you go on practicing meditation every day, eventually you won’t have that feeling. You will be able to overcome such feeling. But the heart will be functioning, and you are connected with the body in the same way during meditation.

Question : But does this phenomenon of the heart stopping beating happen with certain yogis?
Answer : They have a different technique. They try to slow their breathing. A very feeble breathing remains, and maybe for second you feel that he is not breathing at all or the heart has stopped working. That is in pranayam and hatha yoga and all that. With those techniques people may be able to slow the heartbeat, but we should not try to synchronize the breathing with simran or be the least bit conscious of the breathing or the least bit conscious of the breathing or the heart beating or anything about the body. We have to forget about the body altogether.

Question : Master, in meditation, can you tell the mind to ignore the body?
Answer : What do you mean by telling the mind to ignore the body? Meditation, simran, is the means to withdraw your mind from the nine portals and to concentrate at the eye center. You are training the mind to leave the body and to come to the eye center. That is the purpose of meditation.

Question : Should we have a desire to go within during meditation?
Answer : If you’re always thinking about that, you may not be able to concentrate. You should sit in meditation with a calm mind. When we are sitting in meditation, naturally the desire to go within is there. That is why we’re sitting in meditation. Otherwise, why should we sit in meditation if that desire is not there? That desire is forcing us to sit in meditation, but we shouldn’t feel excited and start discussing with our own self, “ What am I going to see now?” and “ It hasn’t come yet.”

Question : What is the difference between expectancy and desire? Should we have no desire to see any visions inside?
Answer : No, we have a desire, but if we are always feeling excited—“Now I’m going to see light; now I’m going to see colors; now I’m going to see this thing”—we’re not concentrating at all. What I mean to say is that we should have absolute concentration. Those things will automatically come, whether you desire them or you don’t desire them. They will automatically come with concentration.

Question : But desire puts earnestness and zeal into our meditation.
Answer : There should be a desire and earnestness to meditate, but at the time of meditation when we sit, the mind should be absolutely relaxed, because one’s mind can also start feeling frustrated: “I have been sitting for three hours and I haven’t seen anything, so why should I sit?” If you sit with that idea, then there are chances of frustration. But if you just sit and try to concentrate instead of thinking about all those things then even the slightest sign of progress will make you happy.

Question : Then, there’s not only no expectancy, but would you say you’ve got to have an absence of any attitude?
Answer : No. There should be the attitude of love and devotion and faith when we sit for meditation.

Question : But how can there be an attitude without imagery and without various accompanying body tensions and the current running downwards?
Answer : The mind is always running up and down. That is different. I’m not trying to say that the mind doesn’t expect all that, but what I mean to say is that generally we should try to sit with a relaxed mind. Excitement, however, is always there if you see anything, but if we have less excitement over what we see, it will be better.

Question : When I try to feel love or think of love and devotion, my attention drops. I want to do my meditation with feeling, and when I put a little effort in, I feel that my attention drops.
Answer : Actually, these things you can’t analyze or discuss. It’s very hard to analyze these small things. We have to sit in meditation for the love of meditation, for the love of the Father. When we do our daily routine work, we sometimes work with love for the whole day. Sometimes we feel that the work with love for the whole day. Sometimes we feel that the work is just a duty, and without our mind in it, we just go on working. When we are meditating, we should feel that the mind is there. The mind should be absorbed in meditation. If the mind is running away, then it is mechanical meditation. But when the mind is absorbed in meditation, then naturally there is love and devotion in the mind for meditation.

Question : When you’re meditating, you may get a feeling of elation; you may get a feeling of going up or whatever. If this takes place and excitement comes in just from the slightest change in the meditation, how do you control the excitement, because the excitement would tend, like you say, to scatter the mind. All of a sudden you’re caught in the excitement instead of in the simran. How do you prevent this from happening?
Answer : With those experiences within you get just bliss and peace. You may be excited in that bliss and peace, but you are not so excited as to have your attention outside.

Question : So that excitement in itself isn’t actually going to pull you outside?
Answer : It may be everybody’s experience that if at night you’re very excited, you don’t get any sleep. Sleep comes with concentration, and if we can’t concentrate, if we are angry or worries, we don’t get any sleep. If we are excited and happy, to some extent we are also excited about that happiness we cannot sleep, because concentration is not there. With too much excitement, there is no concentration, which is why we should sit in meditation with a calm and relaxed mind.

Question : Maharaj Ji, you’ve said not to sit in meditation with any expectation, and that we cannot judge what is bad meditation or good meditation. But I believe you have said that when we eventually do go inside, it will happen when we least expect it. Could you explain that?
Answer : I don’t know what there is to explain. What I mean is that you shouldn’t sit in meditation with excitement, excitement to see or to achieve. Then your mind is always running in excitement and it’s not steady or still, and unless the mind is still and steady at the eye center, it doesn’t get any results. If you are always excited to achieve or to see or to visualize something-always anticipating that now you are going to see, now you are going to see-then your mind is running out. You should relax, and without any tension, try to concentrate here at the eye center. When it comes, it just comes. Sometimes you get visions when you least expect them, you are just blank; so that you leave to Him. We should attend to our meditation without any tension and excitement.

Question : In some of his letters, Baba Ji says that we must strive hard, work hard in our meditation, meaning with effort. The word strive is used, I think, two or three times, and yet we should also approach meditation in a relaxed manner and in a relaxed position.
Answer : “Strive” means every day you must sit. You must give time. You must hard for meditation. Give as much time as you can. You must strive to sit every day. But sit with a relaxed mind.

Question : Once I had a breakdown due to under-nourishment, and before that major breakdown I sometimes saw a little white light in front of me. I would like to know if that white light was due to meditation or if it was a warning of that mental breakdown.
Answer : Light is within every one of us, irrespective of whether one is initiated or not. It is at the eye center, within, and the moment we have the least bit of concentration, we will see it. Concentration may be by reading; concentration may be by meditation. The moment we are able to concentrate at the eye center, we will see that Light, and sometimes we see the Light due to our past association with the Path, our associations with spirituality in past births.

Question : Maharaj Ji, what is strange is that since this breakdown, I have not seen that Light.
Answer : Naturally. This is because you have not entered to be there to see that Light. You have not worked to be at the eye center to see that Light.

Question : Regarding concentration, during the daytime when one is in their worldly work, does the feeling that the Sound is coming and going depend on the concentration one has?
Answer : The Sound is always there; it makes no difference whether it is day or night. The Sound is always there, and when our mind is attentive, we hear it. When our mind is not attentive, we don’t hear it. With the help of simran, we make our mind attentive to listen to that Sound.

Question : Can we also get that inner concentration by reading a book or other means?
Answer : No, that is not our concentration. Our concentration is here at the eye center. Otherwise there is no concentration from a meditation point of view. Concentration means withdrawing your consciousness up to the eye level. That is concentration within.

Question : But if you sit still in any position for two hours, maybe reading a book, you’ll withdraw.
Answer : You would not withdraw here to the eye center. You would withdraw to the book. You have taken your attention from everywhere else and concentrated on reading the book. That is also concentration, but not at the eye center. Without concentration you can never follow what you are reading. Sometimes you read three or four pages without concentrating and then you feel that you have skipped over four pages, and you don’t know what you have read.

Question : Master, as a Catholic I used to say the rosary, and with a rosary you can concentrate at the eye center.
Answer : You can concentrate with a rosary, provided you keep your attention at the eye center. But if you keep your attention in the rosary, how can you concentrate at the eye center? Then you concentrate on the rosary. If you are always conscious of how many times you have taken the round of the rosary, how can you concentrate here? You are always counting.

Question : Maharaj Ji, I heard someone talking about sitting in meditation and looking at his watch. How can one sit in meditation and avoid looking to see how much time has passed?
Answer : Actually, what is meant is that when you are sitting in meditation, you should concentrate all your thoughts in meditation and not always be conscious of how much time you have been sitting, wondering when it is going to be one hour and when it is going to be two hours. You may not always be looking at your watch, but you are always wondering whether or not you have sat more than your allotted time. When your mind is thinking of how much tome has already passed, and then you are not concentrating. You are always thinking about that. Therefore, you should eliminate all thoughts of the world and just put your mind in simran.

It is the quality in the meditation that is important, not the quantity. If you are sitting with love and devotion and full concentration even for one hour, that is much better than sitting for five hours with your mind always wandering or running about, thinking about all the worldly problems or pleasures. So we should try to get into the habit of concentrating fully, eliminating all thoughts.

Question : Maharaj Ji, would you say that it would be more beneficial to, say, do three hours in one sitting than, say, five hours spread out a little throughout the day, to attain concentration?
Answer : Well, brother, ten minutes of concentrated meditation with full attention and devotion may be of more value than five hours of meditation with scattered attention. It is the quality that is important; with what devotion and love you are able to concentrate and be one they’re in the Shabd. That’s more important than sitting for even ten hours and thinking about all the worldly problems. But when you are sitting and giving so much time, naturally you will get something out of it: quality will come from quantity. After all, how long will you sit without doing anything? Then you will try to concentrate, you will try to be at the eye center. It’s a constant struggle with the mind. Don’t take it from the point of view that five hours of scattered meditation will be more beneficial than three hours at one stretch. One should try to give one’s time to meditation and not think about these things. Give as much time as you can, and as much as you can conveniently arrange. But it should be done with love—you feel like sitting and you want to be there. You feel the bliss of sitting. Just bolting the door from inside and forcing yourself not to go outside, with devotion and concentration and being there in meditation is more useful.

Question : But I was under the impression that our two and one-half hours meditation only clears off the karma that we build during the day. So to go beyond the realm of mind and Maya we must either meditate for many, many hours more than two and a half, or-
Answer : Who told you that?

Question : I’ve considered all the possibilities, Master.
Answer : No. Two and one-half hours of deep meditation.

Question : Deep?
Answer : Yes. “Deep” means with love and devotion, with concentration. Devotion clears much of our karmic load. It goes a long way in lighting our karmic burden.

 

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Source : From “Die To Live" Authored By Maharj Shree Charan Singh

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Mahaveera - A Great Democrat

By Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri

Lord Mahaveera, the last pontiff of Jains, was born in Bihar six hundreds years before Christ. He was elder contemporary of Buddha and came from the clan of Lichhavi Ksatriyas, well known for its spirit of independence and democratic state. His father, Siddhartha was a member of the great republic of Vaishali constituted by nine Malli and nine Lichhavi kingdoms. Vaishali is now a small village known as Vasala. It is situated 30 miles north of Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Mahaveera was born in Kstriyaskunda, which was a suburb of Vaishali.

Deeply imbibed with the great spirit of democracy, Mahaveera could not tolerate inequality, not only between man and man, but between man and animal also. His heart pained at the pathetic sight of animals being sacrificed for the sake of human enjoyments. His mind revolted against the social injustice perpetrated to the female and Sudras. He did not like the slavery of man to gods and goddesses, and thought that man himself is the moulder of his destiny. He wanted to introduce drastic reform in the human outlook and in the standards of valuation. But, he thought only a strong soul could implement reforms, and the strength of soul lies in its purity. A soul guided by prides and prejudices, carried by favours and frowns, induced by desires for sensual enjoyments and perverted by such other weaknesses cannot purify the society.

Consequently, he decided to renounce the worldly pleasures, and practice penances for self-chastisement.
Up to the age of thirty years he lived as a householder. But he thought possession as bond of soul. A prince is imprisoned in the walls of his vain glory. He cannot breathe in free air. Dispossession is necessary condition for free thinking and free living; and no correct attitude can be had without perfect freedom in thought and life. A prince has many fears; at the same time he is fear to many. He cannot give the message of fearlessness of the afraid. He cannot be a devotee of Universal friendship. Mahaveera became an ascetic, a mendicant possessing nothing, no even a begging bowl, a perfect nirgrantha.

After getting freedom from external boundaries he started his struggle against the inner enemies.
Non-violence was the first and foremost object of his practices. He thought that no man could be non-violent as long as he bears slightest malice towards his servant enemy. Non-violence, he admitted is not confined to non-injury or non-killing to others, which is only its only external form. Its real and positive form is the purity of heart, that one does not wish ill even of his enemy. During the period of his meditations he was tortured, insulted and beaten by different types of people. A cowherd thurst a spike into his ears swarms of bees stung him. Chanda Kausika, the venomous snake, bit him; the people of Radha set dogs and inflicted other injuries on his body, but, his tranquility was undisturbed. He did not feel the slightest malice against any body. On the other hand, he wished emancipation of those misguided souls, who were committing such acts out of ignorance. A sinner, he thought, is a diseased person, deserving out sympathy and love. One should wish for his recovery from the disease and not be angry upon him. “I cherished friendship with all beings and enmity with none.” – this was the keyword of Mahaveera during his practices.

Most of his time during the long period of twelve years of spiritual practices, passed in penance and meditation. He kept long fast ranging up to six months and took food only a few times. These severe practices gave him strength, so much, so that physical discomforts had no meanings for him. He distinctly realized that soul is separate from the body, and any injury to the body has no relation with soul. Attachment is the weakness of man and he had risen above all attachments. At the age of forty-two, on the bank of Sadanira, he got enlightenment and became Arhan, a perfect soul, worthy of worship. He realized that every soul possesses, by nature, four infinites, i.e., infinite knowledge, Infinite Intuition, Infinite Bliss and Infinite Energy. This nature of soul is obscured by the karmic matter. As soon as soul is purified of this dirt, it gains the four infinites. It should be therefore, the aim of every soul to make an effort to get rid of karmic influence. Having realized the truth, he started for propagation of his mission.

The Mission of Mahaveera can be summed up in one word and that is Samata (equity). It is the essence of democracy. The entire system of Jainism, its philosophy, its logic and its ethics, is dominated with this spirit. The “Samayika” prescribed as a daily rite for Jains is nothing but a practice for implementing the spirit of equality into life. Mitti me savvabhutesu ( I have friendship with all beings) is the strain of Jain prayers. Non-violence is the first offshoot of the principle of equality. One should feel for others in the same ways as he feels for himself. You do not like to injury to your own body, mind and soul. Similarly, others also don’t like it. It is, therefore, and imperative duty of a democrat that he should not injure anybody, in body as well as feelings. According to Jainism injury is a very wide term, It covers not only physical injury but that of mind and soul also. When you attack the feelings of a person you injure his mind. The principle of non-injury even to the mind has laid the foundation of Jain logic in the form of non-absolutism (anekantavada). It means that all our judgments are relative and nothing is absolute. The same thing, which is good for you, can be bad for your colleague, and later has also got a perfect right to perform his judgment according to his choice. In spite of apparent contradiction both judgments are correct in their own relations. Nevertheless, people try to impose their views on other, fight for it and attack their opponents vehemently. The principle of non-absolutism teaches that in place of rebuking our opponent we should try to understand him, study the circumstance, environment and the mental make-up under which he is speaking. We must honour the mind of our opponent as we do our own. If there is something really wrong in it, we can try to correct it with out loosing respect for intellect and individual. The way of denouncing one’s views is the way of injury to his mind. Thus a philosophical interpretation of the non-injury to mind is a remarkable contribution of Mahaveera.

There were two causes of conflicts in the world. A man or a nation fights against other man or nation either induced by his self-interest or by the desire of domination or to impose his own views on the other. Mahaveera has discovered both these causes in the definition of non-violence. A person cherishing friendship towards all beings can injure the interest of none. Everybody's interest becomes his own interest. He resolves to abstain from hurting anybody's interest whether it is an individual, community or nation. There are other people holding that truth is confined to their own convictions. They denounce the views of others and wish to impose their own. They are not induced by some external interest; yet, their egoism compells them to be so vehement. If logic is not sufficient to bring others to their views they resort to sword. Thus a religion, the saviour of mankind becomes the cause of bloodshed. Mahaveera prescribed non-absolutism as a remedy for these conflicts of thought. Social equality comes next in the mission of Mahaveera. He preached that there is no distinction of cast, creed or sex in the domain of spiritual realization. Purity of soul is the only criterion in this field. Everybody, whether a male or female, a Brahmana or the so-called untouchable possess the same right to study religious scriptures, practice prescribed therein and attain salvation thereby. Mahaveera is not particular even about his creed. He admits that any person with the desired purification of soul can attain salvation. It does not matter whether he is in the uniform of a Jain monk or householder or belongs to the order of some other sects.

Next, we find in Mahaveera a strong devotion of self-reliance. It is said that when he started his life of penances and was open to hardships, Indra, the king of gods, came to him and offered his assistance in wording off the intruders. Mahaveera did not accept the offer and said, “A traveler on the path of inner realization does not seek external assistance.” In a society where pleasure of gods was essential for prosperity and other gains, he announced for the first time, “O man, you and none else, are the make of your destiny.” The self of a man is his friend and the same is his enemy. It is a friend when directed towards right path and enemy directed towards wrong path. Mahaveera recalled the inner strength and released him form the slavery of gods and goddesses. He did not believe even in God as the Creator. The man himself moulds his future as he desires. Non can grant him boons or shower curses if his own actions do not deserve them. This is how the Jain theory of Karman developed; according to which the future of man is decided by his present and past actions. The Jain theory of Karman is altogether different from fatalism where future of a being is sealed, leaving no scope for efforts. According to Jainism the fruit of Karman is not altogether unchangeable. It can transferred from a stronger intensity to the milder one, from longer duration to a shorter one and can be rendered quite fruitless through penance and other practices. Thus, Jainism leaves enough scope for personal efforts, not overlooking the influence of former actions. Thus, the Jain theory of Karman, places entire responsibility of pleasure or pain on the individual.

The mission of Mahaveera can be summed up in the following four respects, and I believe, they are the summum bonum of democracy:
1. Respect for life.
2. Respect for mind.
3. Respect for soul.
4. Respect for personal potencies.
This is a short account of the mission of Mahaveera. It is wrong to confine him to a particular sect or creed. He was leader of mankind and showed the path of true democracy. He lived and preached the path of non-violence which has been foundation of India in the past. It is time that our nation realizes the importance of his Mission and tries to implement it in life.

 

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Source: "Jainism and Democracy", By Dr. Indra Chandra Shashtri

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