" meditation makes you to neither progress nor regress

but only captures the 'real you' in that moment totally "

d h y a n a m

M E D I T A T I O N

Part - 36

Meditation in the strictest advaitic sense will not drive you to become famous or successful and it may not even make you a pauper and carry the begging bowl from one village to another. Success and failure are just the ambitious mind's play. Self awareness has nothing to do with any of them. When you grew in self awareness, as you spend more time tuning up to your meditation, you will realize the play of your own mind more clearly.

Disciple : So meditation does not make me successful ?

Master : Meditation does not make you successful !

Disciple : Then perhaps a failure or a drop out ?

Master : Your dropping in and out is totally

independent of your meditation in life ! Do not

mix up meditation with success and failure !

Disciple : Then why I should Meditate ?

Master : To be aware of your inner self which is

a way beyond both your success and failure !

Disciple : Will my life get any better if

I become aware of my inner self ?

Master : If you become aware of your inner self
then you would not be bothered about your life
getting better or worse than what it is now !

Meditation does not make you rich and progressive and at the same time, it does not stop you from becoming one. All rich and progressive people need not have done any meditation. The dumb and the downtrodden need not have practiced meditation to reach wherever they are. It is incredibly an weird idea to consider yourself, the millionaire on the making, just because you know how to meditate 'productively'.

Disciple : So meditation does not help my financial status
grow or rising on the social rungs to be some special one ?
Master : You may twist the same question in any manner
but the answer is the same. Meditation is not meant for that !
Disciple : But I hear of people teaching abundance through
meditation ? They give techniques to hit the jackpot !
Master : Perhaps they can become wealthy and progressive
as they teach you such techniques of abundance !

Its kind of a spiritual comedy, staged by the few 'abundance' experts for a quick and easy buck, dishing out some 'powerful' meditation techniques out of ignorance. Meditation efforts initially can bring about certain focus in life, which may help you to do your work with a bit more involvement. But no one can conclusively claim or guarantee for wealth and abundance.

Disciple : But I was taught somewhere that If I entertain
thoughts of wealth in my mind during meditation, then it
would happen in real life too ?
Master : May be so. I have never tried that. But whatever
wealth means, still meditation is not meant for that purpose !
In fact because you entertain the thoughts of wealth during
meditation, that you may create a big block and do not
allow meditation to happen to you in a simpler manner
and as a result the wealth may also get prevented from
coming to you !

A mind without any agenda alone can allow meditation to happen more easily. The worst of all the agendas is to get rich quick or trying to protect what is already there. Both ways, the mind is only planning and not meditating. You cannot meditate because of anything. There is no cause involved in the real advaitic meditation. There is no purpose derived from the authentic meditation. You cant wait for some result in such real time meditation.

Disciple : All this sounds unbelievably impossible !
Master : True. Its next to impossible to sit quiet
without an agenda or a purpose or without a
result, unplanned and devoid of any strategies !
Disciple : What happens If I managed to sit like
the way you describe meditation to me now ?
Master : To sit like that even a for a passing moment
can be such an impossible task. But if you really
managed to sit, then you may not even bother to
question the happenings in your life !

The day when your total silence on the seat of meditation happened is the day of real abundance for you. The day when you can enter meditation without any agenda, you have already started knocking on the doors of abundance. Only hitch is that you would not be bothered to enjoy such an abundance. But it is meant for all others to enjoy. You may not hand out or supply abundance of bliss or fulfillment through a pipeline, but the world knows how to draw it from you.

" all the visions that you see during

meditation are made in your own

production company called mind "

d h y a n a m

M E D I T A T I O N

Part - 35

Sometimes it gives a enormous high to have some grand visuals, without moving an inch from where you are, all in the name of meditation. Visually inclined seekers who think that some day they will have private audience or at least a brief face off with god, tend to see many 'things' during meditation within their closed eyes. Its a game of cat and mouse for such seekers, who think someday they will capture the good lord, red handed in his hideout.

Disciple : I was under the impression that

these visuals are indicators of something ?

Master : Yes it indicates that your mind is

capable of streaming imaginations and fantasies !

Disciple : So whatever I may see during my

meditation as visuals are just my imagination?

Master : Yes its all an in house production

running on your own mind screen !

The sub-conscious mind linked to your memory can procure zillions of visuals from within. They are being flashed all the time on your mind screen, but you get to see them more clearly during the meditation. When they get really flashed on your mind screen, either you call it a plain disturbance or the sacred vision, depending upon the nature of the visuals.

Disciple : Even visuals of gods and

holy places are just my own making?

Master : Without the slightest doubt,

you created those gods in your mind!

Disciple : Is it wrong to have such visuals

created in the mind during meditation?

Master : The right and wrong is applicable

only in your dealings with the world !

Disciple : Oops. Then how do I describe

these visuals spiritually speaking?

Master : In spiritual terms, they must

be known plainly as false. Because when

it comes to spirituality, you can consider

only the TRUTH AND FALSENESS of life !

The remarkable change in your perception of life happens, when you get spiritually inclined in the form of seeing life around you with only one division, namely true or false. All the good and bad, right and wrong, big and small, rich and poor, man and woman differences may not hold your attention so much anymore, even though they may continue to exist on the surface.

Disciple : It appears to be the indicator

whether I have become spiritual in my

perceptions about life too ?

Master : Quite rightly said. The best way

to test your worldly or spiritual stand is

to see how you divide this world in your

perspectives and discrimination !

Disciple : Now how do I relate this new

understanding to my meditation ?

Master : Learn to discriminate the visions

you get during meditations as True or

False than as holy or unholy, calming

or calamitous, disturbance or divinity !

The streaming visuals and flashing images have nothing to do with the hidden consciouness, but only a handiwork of the mind. At the most the kind of visuals you get during meditation can best desctibe the status of your mind at that particular time. If you have a tired and stressed mind, you may get certain disturbing visuals (includes various colors and patterns) and if you are fresh and had slept well before the meditation, then the quality of the visuals can have a telling difference. But sacred and sacrilegious, all visuals are uncompromisingly false.

Disciple : But how do I stop these visuals from appearing ?

Master : You need not stop, since you never started them !

Disciple : Some visuals are stareted by me, it appears attimes ?

Master : You think that way. But no visual can be started by you !

Disciple : If i can neither start nor stop, then what do I do ?

Master : First allow them to happen as they happen, next

stop glorifying them as godsent, then just ignore them as

totally false and finally learn to look beyond those visuals !

The panaromic visuals that appear on your mind screen need not be blamed as bad or a blunder, but to be understood as the outcome of an active mind. The mind is so creative, that it keeps throwing up these visuals at all times, with the help of the data it has gathered, through all your senses in this grandstage called world.

Disciple : But I have heard from you many times

that there is no such a division called truth and false ?

Master : Yes, that is only when you have known the truth.

Till such time, the differences indeed exist to the seeker !

" the thoughts rise from consciousness
and they contain no trouble themselves,
till you claim them as exclusively yours "

d h y a n a m
M E D I T A T I O N
Part - 34

Every bit of creation has some relevance to life in general and has been created naturally. The thoughts inside the head too have a great relevance to human beings, because they have played a crucial role in the way man lives today. Everything that you use from the time you wake up, such as the tooth brush and tooth paste, the towel, shower panel, soap, brush, your clothes, the TV, the chair, the cup and the coffee in it, your car, the road, city, parks, malls and movie house, everything is a result of thoughts only.

Disciple : You said they are all created

naturally ? I thought these were man's

creation and hence they are artificial ?

Master : There is nothing which is

unnatural or artificial in this creation !

Disciple : Can we safely call that what

ever created by man is artificial ?

Master : But is man artificial or natural ?

Disciple : He is part of the nature indeed !

Master : If he is natural, then how come

what he creates become unnatural or artificial ?

The thoughts occurring in the mind are as natural as the heat of the midday sun. Its all the time happening. But you become aware of the presence of thoughts more clearly during the meditation. Just like your heightened awareness about the high noon sun, when you step out of the home. It does not mean that sun light or heat did not exist, till you stepped out. Because you are aware of the thoughts during the meditation, it does not mean that thoughts come only at that time.

Disciple : So it is unnecessary fuss about the thoughts?

Master : In a way, it is just a unwanted fuss !

Disciple : So what exactly is the problem with the thoughts then ?
Master : Thoughts have no problem, but when you claim them

as yours, that very moment problem starts !

The thoughts rise without your want or need, all the time. They give shape to man's life in numerous ways as he grows up. But somewhere along the line, man starts to identify with the thoughts, as his own and he can become a defined ego with a limited perception.

Disciple : Why does this man do this ? Is it by design or by choice?
Master : By design only. There is no choice in this !
Disciple : How does identifying with the thoughts happen ?
Master : The familarity only. You are so familar to your body
and mind. So you tend to make that mistake some day !
Disciple : Whats the mistake exactly ?
Master : Instead of 'having' a body and mind, you become
the body and mind yourself. Whatever happens to the body
and mind, you think its happening to you exclusively !

The mistake is twofold.
1. Thinking that you are only the body and mind
2. Being ignorant about the hidden consciousness

Disciple : Does it mean that Im not the body and mind ?
Master : Yes you are the body and mind !
Disciple : Whats the problem in this ?
Master : The problem is you have ignored to

identify the hidden consciousness as you !

Meditation is precisely the process, where you come to know, that you are not just the body and mind which you could experience at any time, but you also come face to face with the hidden consciousness as your own self. Thats probably the peak of meditation. The peak can be reached in no time or would take a life time, depending upon the seeker's ability to understand, the subtleties of meditation and apply them during meditation diligently.

" if mind is empty, then it cannot be called as mind "

d h y a n a m

M E D I T A T I O N

Part - 33

Mind is always the hot topic of attention and discussion in any spiritual circuit, mainly for its influences exercised in human life. The rest of creation is not influenced by a mind, because they don't possess a potent mind such as the human being. Krishna of the immortal spiritual literature Bhagavad Gita suggest in a candid manner, " Mind is your friend that lifts you up and mind is your enemy that puts you down too " . Mind seem to be under constant threat, either way, you make it or break it. That makes the need to empty or get rid of the mind seem very convincing.

Disciple : Do you say that only human
beings can suffer in this entire creation ?
Master : Also only human beings can enjoy,
can get hurried or worried or married too !
Disciple : So it is the thoughts that humans
carry, makes them different from the rest of
species on earth ? Perhaps something unique?
Master : Precisely. The thinking faculty of man
makes him stand out from the rest of creation !
Disciple : Why the thinking is only meant for
human beings? What is the reason behind it?
Master : There is no any reason. He was just
born that way ! As how the birds are born
with wings, man is also is born with thoughts !
Disciple : Birds have wings for the purpose of flying !
Master : Is it ? Then man has the thoughts to think !

All species on earth are born with varied characteristics unique to themselves. When it comes to survival in the water, or in air, man is far inferior to the fish and the bird. He may fly in an aircraft designed and built by him, 40 thousand feet and above in the space, on a daily basis, but he cant grow his own wings and perch atop a tree. That somehow makes him an inferior creature. he cant even run as fast as the automobile, created by himself.

Disciple : Do I miss anything here?
Master : In case you thought, that
mankind is superior than the rest
then you can be quite wrong !
Disciple : OK ! You are saying that
mankind is not something very special !
Master : Neither special nor ordinary !
Just one more of the creation !

The faculty man is blessed with can also turn out to be the curse at times. The mind should be ideally conjure up some magical living to mankind, but several times, it drives mankind insane and letting men loose on each other, fighting wars with big toys that can wipe out this earth of all its life, many times over and over again. If he cant wipe this earth, he would make sure to wipe out all the harmony and happiness within the four walls of his living room or the bedroom, with his own family !

Disciple : But what is the connection
between empty mind and fighting wars?
Master : Man thinks by emptying his
head, he can find lasting peace !
Disciple : OK ! So this emptying
idea stems from this fact that life
gets on to his nerves at times ?
Master : Exactly, he thinks it is not
just idle mind that's a devil's workshop,
but now he thinks even a functional mind
is a breeding ground for disharmony and

the conflicts, hence the empty mind
appear holier and more appropriate !

" Meditation is not emptying
the thoughts, but using the same
thoughts to know their source "

dhyanam
M E D I T A T I O N
Part - 32

Man's ignorance is beginning less. He has been ignorant about many things since time unknown. One such major display of his ignorance, comes in the form of attempting to empty the mind, especially when he gets spiritual in life, especially when he began to meditate. Little does he know that the mind is never empty or never can be emptied. It has layers and layers of thoughts in the form of memory. These thoughts would spring up non stop, every time there is an emotion, a feeling, or a sensory perception occurred to you.

Disciple : Even emotions and feeling are thoughts ?
Master : Sorrowful thoughts make you emote sorrowful
and happy thoughts make you feel and emote happiness !
Disciple : So If I forcibly entertain happy thoughts,
I can get happiness forever ?
Master : Yes, for sometime. Later you may get
lot of stress and tiredness in life for forcing it !
Disciple : so there is no way to remain happy forever ?
Master : You cannot be happy or sorrowful always !
Disciple : I have to experience both of them
even after my regular meditation ?
Master : Who knows, you may get over with both of them !

Forcing happy or sad thoughts are as difficult as emptying the mind and make it thought free. It is somewhat like trying to empty the breath from your body. Its like chasing all the animals away and still call it a zoo. For someone who gets busy with this immature idea of emptying the head through meditation, spirituality can spell differently as disaster.

Disciple : Why such an idea of emptying come ?
Master : Probably the misreading of the belief
that consciousness is like emptiness !
Disciple : But is consciousness(atman, inner self)
really empty as many describe it to be ?
Master : Consciousness is empty of all that you
already know and already have experienced,
but certainly it contains the very seed of the
whole creation, it contains the blue print of
this entire universe !

Truth (undivided self, consciousness, atman, god) is not an emptiness, understood usually by a mind harrowed by the onslaught of worldly experiences. The thoughts are here to stay, till the last gush of breath slipped out of the body. In fact Upanishads say, that the thoughts then bundle up in the most subtlest form and get ready to find another body for a fresh new life to express.

Disciple : How can the pure consciousness be experienced
without emptying the thoughts from the mind ?
Master : If you can empty the right thing, then you can
experience the pure consciousness quite spontaneously !
Disciple : May I know what is the right thing to empty?
Master : The coat that every thought wear called ' I '
tailored and stitched by 'you' needs to be emptied !
Disciple : OK. You mean every thought has a sense
of ' I ' created by me, which should be emptied ?
Master : Then whatever thought remains free from
the ' I ' coat is called as pure consciousness !

Every thought inside you is wrapped by a sense "my thought' by you. That's why when the thoughts of sorrow comes, you claim "I am sorrowful". You also " I am Happy " and "I am excited " according to the need of the hour. Your identification with each thought as 'mine' has caused this layer of you wrapped around every thought, which spring from inside. When the ' I wrappers' fall off, the pure consciousness will shine bright in every thought that might arise in you.

Disciple : So should I stop
trying to empty the mind?
Master : Because even to
empty the mind is just
a thought only !
Disciple : But sometimes
I feel I'm empty and blank
inside, how is that ?
Master : Its just a thought which
says that its empty !

" meditation starts where your prayers end "

dhyanam

M E D I T A T I O N

Part - 31

Prayers are like foreshadows of better life, which is presently elusive. People pray always for a better life of oneself(includes the family) and sometimes for others in the present and future, or to sustain the present good life of oneself from any possible degradation in future. Some times prayers are said to correct past mistakes or wash committed sins. Whichever way it is, prayers find no place in meditation.

Disciple : But can meditation help to pray better ?
Master : Actually it is the reverse of it !
Disciple : Oh, which one is superior then ?
Master : what do you mean by superior ?
Disciple : I mean in prayer one can talk to god directly
but in meditation one does not talk so much but keep quiet.
So i thought being in a talking relationship is greater than
being silently sitting with the god ?
Master : You are simply mind blowing !

Prayers are the means to communicate god, no doubts about that. But in Advaita, it is also considered somewhat blasphemous or profane to think of god as someone different from you. In other words, not being aware of the oneness is called as avidya or ignorance in vedas. Most part of vedas deals with prayers and rituals but when it comes to meditation, vedas strictly prohibit the prayers. You may start the meditation with a prayer, but you cannot pray when you have entered into meditation.

Disciple : Why should there be any
kind of oneness with God ?
Master : There is no need actually !
Disciple : Then why Advaita is
talking about oneness ?
Master : It does not talk about the need
to become one, but it only indicates that
the creation and the creator are not separate
from each other but one already !
Disciple : Then where is the need for
meditation, if they are already one ?
Master : To have the awareness about
such a oneness, meditation helps !

Advaita school of thought does not advocate any need for oneness. It does not say that every human being should become one with creator etc. But it only indicates that everything in creation(including you and I)are inseparably one with the creator already. Vedic wisdom first allows you to dabble with your own ignorance and eventually tells you to get wise. Thats why Vedas begin with rituals and prayers and ends in vedanta with the oneness of creator and creation.

Disciple : Is it wrong to say prayers to god ?
Master : Why you want to pray to god ?
Disciple : Because god is all powerful and all knowing !
Master : If god knows everything according to you,
why then you want to pray ? Is it some reminder to god ?

Looking at this situation perhaps more compassionately, we can safely arrive to a conclusion that the seeker can pray to his heart's content, but there is a time he should be able to stop nagging the god with his prayers and just remain silent. Being with the god or creator perhaps is as good as finding those answers, to all the prayers and petitions lodged before meditation.

Disciple : I seem to understand just a bit.
But kindly explain the difference between
prayer and meditation ?
Master : In prayer you expect life to fit
your expectations and in meditation you
fit well with life without any expectation !
Disciple : Which one is the best choice ?
Master : That is for you to decide !

" meditation is not meant to fulfill any promise

but only take away all the promises "

dhyanam

M E D I T A T I O N

Part - 30

Life is a lot more appealing and sensible, only if it is strewn with plenty of promises, be it a TV commercial or the man you are about to marry, or some dummy course that you planned to do, which in turn will safe guard you and supply happiness for a lifetime, everything is promising some kind of a bright future. Infact, every moment of your life, you seek promising moments filled with promising people.

The promise of some job, wealth, home, family, acquaintances, security, peace of mind, happiness, spiritual enlightenment and perhaps a peaceful death is all on the cards, playing inside your head all the time. Life minus these promises, can look like a chewed up gum in a trash can to a pedestrian mind.

Disciple : I know now im in for getting one more

of my beliefs, some sound thrashing today !

Master : Are you afraid ?

Disciple : Yes, without a doubt, but at the same time

I am ready to face it too. Its a strange situation !

Master : Thats what makes you an ideal seeker !

Disciple : Its a conflict between what my beliefs are

and what the TRUTH is. But I am not going to run

away from it !

Any guru worth his enlightenment, does not heap promises upon the seekers, who come to him, but only rubbish all the promises away. It may cause tremendous discomfort to the seeker, who usually seek promises of happiness, security, love and moral support etc, from the guru in the name of spirituality. It takes a very special and rare seeker to remain with the guru, despite the harsh treatment to all the promises he expected from the guru.

Disciple : I realize that these days, but earlier

on it used to cause much pain to me !

Master : Never mind. You cannot seek spiritual

enlightenment and at the same time the promise

of a protected future. They dont go together !

Disciple : Why is it that way ?

Master : Because enlightnement is not some

career or a profession, where your survival

in the world is well guaranteed ! There are

chances that the whole world might

abandon you if you get enlightened !

Disciple : Oops, I thought life is more colorful

with the enlightenment happening ?

Master : Perhaps become a world teacher

after your enlightenment and

awaken this entire humanity ?

Disciple : Exactly !

Master : Thats a false promise somebody

threw at you, which you are dangerously

holding on to, without knowing the Truth !

That is why when the seeker enter into the subtler realms of meditation, he has to drop all the promises he had been doggedly pursuing. If you entered meditation with a promise of a bliss or peace of mind or some kind of enlightenment, as a result of such meditation, then you are already trapped.

Disciple : Does it mean that enlightenment
bring only rejection by the world ?
Master : You somehow want to know the result
of meditation and you dont realize thats where
you are going wrong ! You seem to jump from
one extreme to the other !
Disciple : Because you only told
the world might reject me after enlightenment ?
Master : It may claim you as the saviour too.
But there is no place for any such promises
when you enter in to meditation !
Disciple : I got it. Without a plan or a promise
If I enter, then meditation is at its best ?
Master : Yes and if it happened at its best,
then probably, what has to follow too will be
at its best. But do not mistake that for a promise !