Nobody Can Do Meditation!
From top-level CEOs to glamorous movie stars, everybody who is anybody does meditation these days. But… you can’t really do meditation, you can only become meditation. Confused? Don’t worry, just read on.
The moment we utter the word “meditation,” there are all kinds of misconceptions about it. In this society the word meditation doesn’t mean anything anymore. If somebody is sitting with their eyes closed, in English we say they’re meditating. With your eyes closed, you could be doing so many things. There is japa [recitation of mantras], tapa [asceticism], dharana [continuous concentration, one-pointedness], dhyana [meditation], samadhi [equanimous mind when the subject and object merges], shoonya [conscious non-doing], or you might have simply perfected the art of sleeping in a vertical posture.
So what is this thing that we call as meditation? Generally we assume that people are referring to what is known as dhyan or dhyana. In that context of referring to dhyan as meditation, it is not something that you can do. Nobody can do meditation. Why most people who have tried meditation have come to the conclusion that it’s very difficult or impossible is because they are trying to do it.
You cannot do meditation, but you can become meditative. Meditation is a certain quality. It is not a certain act. If you cultivate your body, your mind, your energies, and your emotions to a certain level of maturity, meditation will naturally happen. It is just like if you keep the soil fertile, if you give it the necessary manure and water, and if the right kind of seed is there, it will grow and bloom into flowers and fruits.
Flowers and fruits will come out of a plant not because you want it, but simply because you created the necessary, conducive atmosphere. Similarly, if you create the necessary atmosphere within yourself, on all the four dimensions of who you are, then meditation will naturally flower within you. It is a certain fragrance that one can enjoy within himself.
Unfortunately meditation is being handled like it is a technique. In Isha yoga meditation is not taught as a technique. It is a way of empowering a person to become naturally meditative, because meditation is not an act, it is a quality.
When I say meditation, I’m referring to dhyana. Dhyana is about attaining to the absolute stillness within you. When you’re totally still, all that you have thought about yourself until now will evaporate. There is a clear space inside of you that is not of the mind but is beyond the mind. You have transcended the duality of the mind and you are absolutely still.
Meditation is the only way to freedom from all the stress that man is going through because this dimension of life is not of the mind. All the stress and struggle of this world is of the mind.
| Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, and visionary, and a prominent spiritual leader. An author, poet, and internationally renowned speaker, Sadhguru is the founder of Isha Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to human wellbeing. (www.isha.sadhguru.org) |
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