Prayer and Meditation

True meditation is a state of relaxation, calmness. The mind becomes relaxed and calm only when it feels secure and is detached from desires.

Life is full of uncertainties and difficulties, and modern conditions of living have increased mankind’s anxiety and feeling of insecurity. The best way to overcome fear and insecurity is to constantly pray to the supreme Lord, the controller of the destinies of all beings.

Even those who practice repeating the name of the Lord (japa) and meditation have to pass through dark periods when they feel oppressed and hopeless. During such periods prayer gives great support to the soul.

“In all our necessities, trials, and afflictions, there is no better or safer remedy than prayer, and hope that God will provide for us in his own way.”

                                                      St. John of the Cross

Meditation is the conscious, self-directed focusing of a continuous stream of thoughts on a physical or mental object. This becomes possible only if the mind is free from the influence of external objects and desires.

This withdrawal of the mind or the will is called pratyahara or (internalization of the senses). One way to do this is by repeated practice.

 Intense prayer can also direct our attention away from sense experience and thus internalize our focus. Prayer is the bhakti yogi’s way of practicing pratyahara (internalization).

Every person is capable of a certain degree of concentration on external objects or even on mental images, provided he likes them.

The main difficulty is in concentrating the mind at a higher center of consciousness. For this two conditions are to be fulfilled.

The higher spiritual center should be developed and made active to some extent.

And then the will and mental energies must be given an elevated focus. Prayer accomplishes both these tasks.

Prayer is the best way to stimulate the heart center. After a day’s distracting work we may feel that our mental energies have become scattered in different parts of the body, and it may be difficult for us to meditate. When this happens, we should try intense prayer.

When we focus our prayer from the heart center, we are filled with new strength.

When meditating, if our mind is not lifted up into sattva, it may sink into tamas, inertia, and possibly be overpowered by sleep. That is why meditation at times ends up in sleep. The best way to avoid drowsiness during meditation is to pray. Prayer and sleep can never go together. Prayer keeps the mind alert.

Prayer gives a sense of security to the soul when it detaches the will from desires and objects, activates the higher centers, gives a higher direction to thoughts, keeps the mind alert, and above all, clears the way for the inflow of divine power.

As we go on praying intensely, we finds that gradually prayer merges imperceptibly into dhyana, or true meditation.

One may begin prayer using many words. But as prayer gains in intensity and depth, words drop away by themselves, leaving only a silent aspiration in the heart. Then the inner Image becomes still and the mind flows in silence toward it. Prayer has transformed itself naturally and spontaneously into meditation.

This is the ultimate goal of prayer.

Prayer is the simplest first step on the path of bhakti, or devotion. But if it is to become an effective and powerful tool, it must fulfill certain conditions.

The first condition is a prayerful attitude. Not everyone has the inclination or capacity to pray. Those who find it difficult to pray may try other spiritual techniques.

The test of a prayerful attitude is spontaneity. True prayer bubbles up from the bottom of the heart spontaneously. But it is also true that through practice one gradually acquires or strengthens the capacity to pray.

The prayerful attitude must be supported by strong faith in the existence of God und that God listens and responds to prayer. This faith must be so strong that there is no room for negative or contrary thoughts. If we pray for something but are deeply convinced that we are not going to get it, we only obstruct the working of God’s grace.

Along with faith there must be a reduction of egotism and a spirit of self-surrender or sense helplessness. In fact, it is out of sheer helplessness that many people pray to God. A person who is sure of everything need not pray.

A devotee of God uses every experience of sorrow, suffering, and difficulty as an incentive to pray to God. The devotee refuses to depend on matter, he depends only on Spirit. Strong in the strength of God, he is not afraid even of death.

This does not mean that we should pray only when difficulties come. Prayer becomes effective as a spiritual discipline when there is continuity and intensity in it.

A true aspirant prays only for God or a higher vision. His need is internal and does not depend on external things. When difficulties come his way, he is ready to face them.

The human soul is surrounded on all sides by the boundless ocean of divine power and light. And yet how few people make use of it! It is not even necessary to pray to a deity. It is enough to open our heart to the divine power and light.

Many of the Vedic prayers are not directed to any particular aspect of God. They are mostly affirmations.

Finally, it should be remembered that we do not thrust prayer on everybody. For those who do not feel the need for it and for those who feel a dislike for it, there are other ways, like the path of Self-inquiry and meditation.

However, it is also true that, protected and supported by divine grace, the one who prays moves faster on the spiritual path than the person who depends solely on his own limited resources.

While some of us toil all our lives, swimming against the current, others set their sails and let the wind of divine grace carry them across the ocean of consciousness.

 

Meditation Guidelines – Roy Eugene Davis

Om Vibration Meditation

Listen to subtle sounds that you hear in your ears and around the head. Gently endeavor to go beyond the first sounds that you hear, to more subtle sounds. When the sound is clear and constant, use it as a self-manifesting mantra. Consider it to be an aspect of the omnipresent Om vibration. Let you attention and awareness somewhat merge in that sound. Expand your awareness in it. Contemplate the radiant field of the supreme Reality from which Om continuously emanates. Aspire to apprehend and experience that radiant field. When listening to Om, have your attention and awareness in the higher brain. Let your innate urge to have your consciousness completely restored to its original, pure wholeness determine the results of Om vibration meditation.

Yogananda on Om meditation

“Close your eyes. Relax. Be aware of the inner darkness around you. Feel it. Imagine to be filled with Om vibration. Imagine it to be as large as Planet Earth, ten so large that it contains the stars and the planets – everything in the universe. Imagine it to be infinite, without boundaries. Fill all space with the consciousness. of bliss (joyousness), with you attention equally everywhere. Be conscious of you immortality, knowledge, peace and the all pervading energies and life forces. Remain identified with the Om vibration for as long as you can, as often as you can. The infinite reality of God will then be known to you.”

To have wholeness desires fulfilled he advised hi disciples to ‘Float’ them in Om vibration with the firm faith and soul-felt conviction that they would definitely be realized, He said that one should only have ‘necessary desires’ which would enable purposes of real value to be fulfilled without interfering with spiritual practices and aspiration to be Self –realized.

Prayerful Meditation

Pray to the ultimate Reality for success in meditation practice: verbally, mentally or with wordless aspiration to realize your true nature and you relationship with the Infinite. Do it when you first sit to meditate or anytime during your practice session. Acknowledge the omnipresent Reality around and within you. Pray spontaneously or use a prayer of your choice. Example: Infinite Reality, I sincerely want to be spiritually enlightened. Calm and illumine my mind. Bring forth from within me all of my innate, divine qualities. Purify my intellect. Expand and clarify my awareness. Completely restore my consciousness to its original, pure wholeness.

Then wait for the response, which will emerge from within you. Observe the subtle changes in mental states and states of consciousness that occur. Patiently wait in a sense of communion with the presence of God or a sense of being in God.

Affirmative Meditation

Affirm that what you want to experience or realize is emerging into your consciousness. Affirm audibly or mentally. If you begin with audible affirmation, speak quietly, whisper it, mentally speak it, them calmly sit, knowing and feeling that what was affirmed is experienced and realized. Use an affirmation that you prefer, or use this one:

The radiance of my pure essence of Being is fully emerging into my conscious awareness,

Feel the purity of your essence of Being pervading your mind, clarifying and enlarging your consciousness, bringing forth your spiritual qualities and revealing all knowledge of your true nature and of the Reality and its processes.

Enlivening the Energies of the Chakras and Internalization of attention

In the human body seven major nerve plexus in the spine and brain are located where channels through which life force flows in the subtle body converge at energy centre (chakras).

First chakra, located at the coccygeal plexus, at the bottom of the spine. It is associated with modified, blurred and fragmented states of consciousness.

Second chakra, is located at the sacral plexus. It is associated with partial spiritual awakening mixed with modified states of mind and consciousness.

Third chakra is at the lumbar plexus. It is associated with rational thinking and effective functional abilities.

Fourth chakra is at the dorsal plexus. It is associated with fervent spiritual aspiration, self control and Self awareness.

Fifth chakra is at the cervical plexus. It is associated with powers of discriminative intelligence.

Sixth chakra is in the frontal region of the brain. It is associated with improved powers of intuition.

Seventh chakra is in the higher brain. It is associated with clarity of awareness and transcendent super-conscious states.

In people who are not spiritually inclined, much of their life force is dormant in the lower chakras. It may be aroused by fervent aspiration to be spiritually enlightened; nurturing compassion, harmlessness, honesty, and truthfulness; devotional prayer, super-conscious meditation practice and by being with spiritually conscious people and having mental and spiritual attunement with them. The environmental influences that pervade places where others have prayed and meditated, such as shrines, retreat centres, or quest ashrams may also arouse one’s life force and evoke spiritual inclinations.

Sit upright. Put your attention and awareness in your spine and the higher region of the spine.

Locate the chakra at the base of the spine. Feel it. Mentally chant Om and feel the vibration response.

Ascend to the second chakra. Feel it. Mentally chant Om.

Continue to go up through the chakras to the front region of the brain. Pause a moment, go down through the chakras. Chant Om and feel the vibration at each chakra. Pause at the bottom chakra; then again go up and down through the chakras. Do it several times.

Conclude the practice by staying in the higher brain. Chant Om there for a few minutes; listen to Om; somewhat merge with it; go beyond it to pure consciousness.

When practicing this routine, if you see a bright light in the front region of the brain or in the higher brain, it can be helpful to allow your attention be attracted to it. Subjective perceptions of light, caused by the activation of brain centres when attention is internalized, are not a super natural event. If bright light is not seen, don’t be concerned. It is more spiritually beneficial to experience superconscious states and to awaken to Self and God realization.

During meditation if you have perceptions of mental scenes of people or places, memories of pleasant or unpleasant events, or emotional surges, avoid pre-occupation with them. If you feel inclined to allow your body to sway or arms to move, inhale mildly tense the muscles of the body, exhale and relax. Maintain a firm, balanced seated posture. Remember that the purpose of meditation practice is to be superconscious. Detach your attention and awareness from external conditions.

Visualization Meditation

When you notice, that you are passive or inattentive during you meditation session, do something to focus your attention. Pray or use a meditation technique, or imagine that your awareness is clear and that you are spiritually awake. Creative imagining can remove your attention from a limited sense of self-identity, clarify your awareness, and make you receptive to experiencing refines states of consciousness.

Mentally see and feel yourself fully conscious in the present moment.

See yourself as spiritually enlightened.

Imagine yourself to be a joyous bubble of pure consciousness, in the infinite ocean of consciousness. As a joyous bubble of pure consciousness, expand to omnipresence. Imagine that you are omniscient, that you have all knowledge of supreme Consciousness and its processes.

Aspire to actually experience what you sexualize. When you are calm, you may have spontaneous, transcendent perceptions.

Analytical Meditative Contemplation

After sitting for a while in a calm, Self aware state, if you are inclined to sit longer, meditatively contemplate that which you want to more fully comprehend.

Contemplate you true nature. Inquire, ‘What am I?’ if you ask ‘Who am I?’ you may be inclined to think about aspects or characteristics of personality-oriented self identity. By discarding all that is not permanent, the personality, the mind and physical body, you will be able to know, that you are the changeless observer. At first, such knowledge may be a well reasoned conclusion. In time, you will have a viewpoint that provides you with experience of what you are.

Contemplate the Reality commonly referred to as God, its expressive aspect with attributes and its pure existence or absolute aspect.

Meditatively examine the categories and processes of cosmic manifestation from the Radiant field of the expressive aspect of supreme Reality to the primordial field of nature (the Om vibration with causative influences that produce space, time and cosmic forces). Desire to comprehend how the blending of the attributes of the Radiant field and primordial nature individualize unites of pure consciousness.

Meditatively contemplate what you were like when you were first individualized, before you became involved with space time phenomena and temporarily forgot your true nature. Identify with your pure conscious essence of Being.

Insights may not always be had when you are examining higher realities. Later, when you are not trying to understand what you want to know, or when you are reading metaphysical literature, knowledge may suddenly emerge into awareness.

Transcendent Meditation

Acknowledge your pure conscious essence, and then patiently sit alert expectation of discovery. It thoughts or feelings persist, ignore them. If your attention wanders, focus it on what you intent to realize. With attentive practice, you will soon be able to transcend ordinary states of consciousness. When your Self realization is flawless, it will prevail when you are engage in activities and relationships. The purity of your essence of Being will continuously enliven your body, refine you nervous system, purify your mind, illumine your consciousness and bring forth from within you seemingly endless steams of knowledge of higher realities. When you consciousness is as pure as your essence of Being, you will be fully, spiritually enlightened, permanently liberated from all the conditions which formerly confined and limited you.

By your own right endeavors and God’s grace, liberation of consciousness can be realized in your current incarnation. Your right endeavors allow rapid spiritual growth to naturally occur. Because of the inherent inclinations of super Consciousness to express more freely as and through units of itself, the more receptive and responsive you are to its inclinations to be nurturing and transformative, the more evidence of grace you will have in your life. As your spiritual awareness improves, your further spiritual growth will be easier and more rapid.

Non dual consciousness is the natural state.

The Advaita truth of non dual consciousness, or oneness of Being, has often been thought of as something hidden or difficult to experience, when it is quite ordinary and available in every moment. Non dual consciousness is the natural state. Of course, a dramatic experience of oneness is a rare event. But why wait for something so rare when this sweet and satisfying oneness is right here, right now?