Why, who and what of meditation

Often, such questions have been asked. I would like to state that Meditation is essential. Take the words ‘man’ and ‘manav’. ‘Human’ translates as ‘manav’ in Hindi, that is, one who has ‘man’ or mind. Can we find peace, anand, while our mind is restless or unsettled? Irrespective of the amount of bliss outside, it will not enter into us. For that we need a contemplative mind, which is possible when we have a focused mind, and a focused mind is possible only when we meditate. The mind is regulated by meditation. While the mind is not in our control, then whatever progress we make in the material world, it will carry no meaning at all.

“Meditation is necessary for those who want to become something, who want become one with God. I too have seen many people who don’t meditate, who are happy, but their consciousness is flat. Their consciousness does not soar or dive deep, unlike those who are progressing on the path of spirituality.”

For example, Patanjali described the seven chakras in the human system – Mooladhar, Swadishtan, Manipur, Hridaya, Kantha, Trikuti and Sahasra Dal Kamal. In Heartfulness we recognise 13 chakras starting with the heart, in addition to the chakras below the the Hridaya chakra, which go all the way to the back of the head and beyond Sahasra Dal Kamal.

Now, what is meant by the journey through the chakras? Suppose when I am at the Hridaya chakra I have one type of experience, and then when I am moving to the Atma chakra the spiritual condition changes. One feels slightly different, the mood is different. I was happy at the Hridaya chakra, but the Guru shook me because he wanted to take me further. It is like a child when your place of work is changed to another city. The child will complain: “I will not enjoy school at the new place. My friends will not be there, my teachers will not be there; everything is different.” He will start crying before leaving and not want to go. Your spouse will also say, “I don’t want to move because all the conveniences and familiarity of the current place will not be available.” There will be resistance to the move. If there is anything new, the effect is disturbing. Similarly, in spirituality, when we are moving to a new station or place there is disturbance, but if you have patience and capacity then you will move ahead.

So, people may not be willing to take difficulties on their head. If you want to live peacefully please go ahead. If you don’t want to do anything, then don’t, but what will you achieve by not doing anything? You will get nothing, you will remain as you were.

We must bring about a shift in our consciousness. Even science is now saying that evolution is nothing but a shift in consciousness. My body cannot evolve further. It can become older and age but it cannot evolve during the lifespan that is available to me. The soul is complete in itself and hence cannot evolve further. Then why are we doing all this? We are doing this for the evolution of the subtle body. The subtle body has various functions, including consciousness (chit), thinking (manas), intellect (buddhi), and ego (ahankar). We are doing everything for the evolution of our consciousness. Those who are happy and healthy but their chit remains the same do not gain anything. Their consciousness needs to evolve, and if consciousness has to shift then some difficulties will be there. I can assure you that those people who are living only a steady, happy and peaceful life have a flat consciousness.