Life in Balance: Amit D. Chaudhary’s Blog
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From Sayings of a Paramahamsa: Swami Satyananda Saraswati

When you meditate, let your thoughts come out. Do not try to concentrate very hard. In this way, if you go on in the path of meditation, scientifically and systematically, there is no danger. Of course there are people who try to practise meditation and give up the practice after some time because they find that the more they meditate the more they express their negative tendencies.

In the same way, when you sit for meditation you are closer to your entire self. Then you can listen to the tumult and vagaries of your mind, then you can perceive the behaviour, character and personality of your mind. When you are not in meditation you are extrovert, you are aware of the sense objects. You are far from yourself, and since you are far from yourself you do not see yourself, you do not know what is inside.

In the same way as a snake sheds its skin, we also shed our skin, but for that the proper time has to come.

There is no danger in meditation. If you can’t concentrate, it doesn’t matter. You can practise hatha yoga and develop the capacity to sit in one yogic posture for one hour, two hours, three hours. Padmasana (lotus posture) and siddhasana (adept’s posture) are the two postures best suited to meditation. In the morning or at night sit down in the corner in your lotus posture, with the hands in either jnana mudra or chin mudra. Close your eyes. Fix the gaze at the nose tip, mid-eyebrow centre, heart centre, navel centre or anywhere. Sit upright and straight.

Practise your mantra or concentrate on the inner sound - nada yoga, or concentrate on your breath, or sing a song for one hour. Allow the mind to do what it likes. Let it keep on thinking, building castles in the air, exposing fear. If you want to think of a man or a girl, go on. If you want to think about how to earn money, millions, billions, trillions, do it! If you want to become the prime minister of Australia or the secretary of the United Nations, if you want to destroy Russia or America, if you want to make the whole world Protestant or Catholic, or if you want to break into houses or banks and take all the money, go ahead and think about it. Sit for one hour, try for two hours, and weekly, monthly or periodically try to extend the time so that eventually you can sit for three hours.

Then one fine day all these energies will unite with the central energy and suddenly, like Buddha, like Christ, like any other sage, you will find things are melting and everything is happening by itself. You will not know what to do. You will not be required to know what to do, you won’t have to think, “Now what am I to do?” It is as if you have been thrown into the upper portion of Niagara Falls and you don’t know what will happen next. You are just moving along with the flow of consciousness, you can do nothing else, you have to become a part of that event. Therefore, there is no danger in meditation. Sit down properly - Om Namah Shivaya … Om Namah Shivaya … Om Namah Shivaya … You begin to think about your job … Om Namah Shivaya … Oh my mind is so restless, I’d better do some pranayama. No, I am too tired … Okay. My God, Thou art in heaven.

You are slapping yourself, you are kicking yourself, you are suiciding yourself. Therefore, from today, whenever you sit for meditation say to yourself, “Mind, do what you like, I’m not going to stir for one hour.” This is called regularity in meditation. Such a person will not come across any danger. But if you keep on fighting with the mind in meditation, some of you might have some mental problems.