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The following
article is reproduced with permission from the website
of Abhidhyan
Yoga Institute, Inc.
THERE ARE MANY methods of meditation: complicated and
simple, effective and useless, requiring much time and
requiring little. The following method is simple, effective,
and not too time consuming. It is ideal for beginners.
Many teachers, especially Buddhists, limit themselves
to it because it is sufficient for attaining enlightenment.
This method will provide the "optimum dose"
of contemplative activity without which the attainment
of the Spiritual Goal is impossible. It will also help
in coping with stress, learning how to relax, and seeing
reality as it is.
Without
daily contemplative activity, i.e. meditation, the spiritual
path is IMPOSSIBLE! Don't wait for a more convenient
time to start doing meditation. It is not going to come.
Do not wait for tomorrow to begin your practice. Do
not imagine that reading about meditation can replace
practicing meditation. Start doing it today! (You must
demand, with all due respect, and receive from your
teacher as soon as possible all the necessary instructions
regarding the spiritual path and meditation practice.)
Familiarize
yourself with the following directions on how to meditate,
so that you will not be distracted during your practice.
Don't worry about how your meditation will go. Meditation
is a process the results of which will reveal themselves
regardless of how you are doing meditation; only regularity
and patience are necessary. Thinking about possible
results and worrying about whether you are meditating
properly or not will only hinder the practice. Through
contemplative activity we are trying not to complicate
our condition with additional mental activity but to
see it as it is. The best way to begin meditation is
simply to start, throwing all preconceived ideas out
the window. Do not judge yourself or worry about results.
Shall we start?
Find
a quiet, pleasant place and turn off the telephone.
Inform your friends that this is the time you devote
to yourself and that you do not wish to be disturbed.
If you do not have a quiet, convenient place, then adjust
the best you can. One can meditate under any conditions.
Sit
comfortably on a chair, arm-chair, floor, mat, or a
blanket; straighten your back; put your hands on your
lap one on top of the other (palms facing up); and close
your eyes. Deeply, slowly breathe in and out 3-4 times
to relax a bit.
Then
examine your body from inside. How does it look? How
do you perceive the inside? Where are the organs? What
is their color? What is their condition -- healthy,
sick, tired, full of life? Slowly, step by step, direct
your attention to all the major parts of the body; start
down, finish up. After this, with an imaginary broom,
sweep out the tension and fatigue starting at the bottom
with your feet and finishing on top with your head and
then gradually, gradually let a feeling of pleasant
relaxation enter the body, as if a vast seascape has
opened up before you.
Now
let into this inner seascape all of the inner and outer
happenings -- allow all the sounds, thoughts, perceptions
and emotions to enter. DO NOT JUDGE OR ANALYZE THEM.
Let these inner and outer happenings have a place inside
you but do not dwell on them. Let them begin and end
of their own accord without your participation.
Register
the incessant chatter, fears and hopes that continually
surface in your consciousness. Note how you ceaselessly
scheme about the future, projects which like the Soviet
five-year plan will never come to be. Feel the eternal
itch of worry that something bad will happen. Listen
to the quiet, aching guilt about past mistakes best
left behind.
Sit
this way in contemplation not judging and not lingering
on anything for about 15 minutes. After your meditation
practice it is beneficial to read an inspiring book,
to be alone, or to go for a walk.
Article,
photograph, and trademark copyright 1991-2000 Abhidhyan
Yoga Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Shri Acharya
Abhidhyanananda Avadhuta (also known as Rev. Fr. Anatole
Ruslanov) completed full monastic training in India under
the direction of one of the great spiritual masters of
this century, Shri Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (Shri Shri Anandamurti),
and is a lineage holder of a Tantric Yoga tradition. In
1991 he founded Abhidhyan Yoga Institute, Inc. For a longer
biography of him, see
this page.
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