You Cannot Try to Meditate

You cannot try to meditate. It's a state of mind. It's something that happens. You need to do something else to achieve/reach a meditative state of mind. It’s being in a state of meditation, not doing meditation.  The qualities of this meditative state of mind are no-thoughts (as opposed to thoughtless), bliss, pure joy, transcending beyond time and space.

When you sit and try to meditate, you are telling your mind that it needs to go into a particular state, and it resists. The only way to be is a way of non -resistance, surrender.  When you are trying to meditate you are still thinking about meditating. You are telling your mind that it needs to do something. By doing so, you are still bound by space and time like past and present, here and there. The whole idea of meditation is to transcend this. It has no past and present, no concept of space; it's only in the present moment.

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That's why in ancient Vedanta traditions, rishis (seers) have created some tools to achieve this state of being like chanting, pranayama (breathing exercises), focusing your attention etc. 

Have you noticed that when you do something you are passionate about – time stops? You look at your watch and realize you spent two hours gardening or have been painting for three hours. You were in a meditative state as you had lost track of time and surrendered to the garden and canvas respectively.

Some of you who may want to learn how to meditate traditionally. The best option is to be guided by someone who knows/practices some form of meditation techniques. According to ancient texts, there are only 112 meditation techniques, and the rest are variations.

If you find it hard to find someone, below is a simple process to get started on the journey to achieving a meditative state:

  • Find a quiet corner and sit with your feet crossed. If you are unable to, you can sit on a chair.

  • Close your eyes

  • Let your mind wander. Do not resist any thoughts

  • Focus on your breathing

  • Let the thoughts come and go. Just surrender

  • With practice, your mind will start to settle

  • Start with practising this for 10 minutes and slowly increasing it to 20 mins daily and preferably at the same time (to keep a routine)

For some, the effect takes place after a few days; for others, it is a few weeks. You will realize that now your thoughts are less frequent and will eventually, it will become a state of mind with no-thoughts.

If you want to incorporate music into your meditative practice, the best music is the primordial sound “AUM" or the mantra of meditation “SOHAM".

 

Jiken Trivedi