Meditation: Good for you

Meditation or dhyan is a key part of Hindu life. Old sages and rishis used to exercise meditation for years. Deep meditation enabled them to accomplish the toughest task kin life. By dint rigorous meditation in adverse climate, the sages often could satisfy the Gods and got boons from them.

It may not be possible for a layman to meditate for hours, not to speak of years, but half an hour of meditation daily will do miracle for our body and mind. Mediation makes our life more disciplined, and our mental or other tensions will disappear once we start meditation on regular basis.

Indian Hindu Lord Buddha Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.” In fact meditation was considered an essence of religion in Buddhism. Even today Buddhist monks practice meditation on regular basis.

Buddha also said: The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to which I devote myself is the truth. The topic of my conversation is truth. My thoughts are always in truth. For lo! my self has become the truth.”

It is also said in Bhagavad Gita: “Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.”

It is also said in our Vedas: There is one Supreme Ruler, the inmost Self of all beings, who makes His one form manifold. Eternal happiness belongs to the wise, who perceive Him within themselves - not to others.

Sikh Guru Nanak said: “As fragrance abides in the flower, As the reflection is within the mirror, So doth thy Lord abide within thee, Why search Him without?”

The sum and substance of these sayings is that our inner self is a potent force for the realisation of God. When the inner self is awakened, we will attain greater energy for us. And this inner self can be awakened by practising deep and regular meditation.

Life style and meditation

In today’s mechanical life when our body is exerted too far due to all mental pressure we are losing a fine

balance between physical and metal exertion. Mentally we are going too far but at the same time we are losing sight on our physical exercise. At this juncture it is important that we must do meditation for a peaceful life.

At the end of the day when our body almost feel tired, a ten or 15 minutes mediation will do wonder. We will feel not only refreshed and rejuvenated but also all our tiredness will disappear and our mind will feel with new energy and power.

My story: When I was in school and also in my early part of college life, my father instructed me to do meditation for 45 minutes daily. I did it usually in the evening time. My dad told me that the most ideal time for meditation is after 2am in the night, when there is tranquility all around and people around you are in deep slumber. Though it is not possible for a working person like me or any other working person, but I still try and find some spare time to go deep into meditation. While in meditation, you need to concentrate your all energies into one focal point. The point is called the third eye (between your eye brows). When all your focus is one point, gradually you tend to forget about your surroundings and a process of gradual detachment comes into play. You feel like moving into another world. Deep meditation energises our brain and makes us more vigorous. The process of going deep into a stage of trance is an electrifying one and throughout your body you will feel the impact of it. However, for effective meditation concentration is very important. Without concentration, meditation will not be as effective as it deems to be.    

Third Eye: The third eye is located around the middle of the forehead, slightly above the junction of the eyebrows.  Hindu tradition associates the third eye with the chakra. Also, in the Tantra yoga system it is associated with the sound Om, and is known as the Ajna chakra. In Tantra, the crown is believed to be the Shivatic lotus of ten thousand petals. In Taoism and many traditional Chinese religious sects third eye training involves focusing attention on the point between the eyebrows with the eyes closed. The goal of this training is to allow students to tune in to the correct "vibration" of the universe and gain a solid foundation on which to reach more advanced meditation levels.

Research: It's no secret that meditation can have powerful effects on the mind and body. Recent research works have shown that even a short meditation can help to energise the mind. In a study published recently in the journal Psychological Science, it was shown that just five hours of meditation instruction changed how the brain functions.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin invited about 24 people to participate in meditation training in exchange for free meditation instruction. Both before and after the 5 week period, everyone took part in a brief 15 minutes of attempted focused attention meditation. They were told: "relax with your eyes closed, and focus on the flow of your breath at the tip of your nose; if a random thought arises, acknowledge the thought and then simply let it go by gently bringing your attention back to the flow of your breath." During meditation, people wore a cap full of electrodes, creating a picture of their brain activity.

While they were in meditation billions of neurons in the brain communicate by generating small electro-chemical signals. When probes from an instrument that measures electrical energy are placed near a brain cell, a voltage change can be registered whenever the neuron is active.

The researchers have found significant differences in brain functioning during meditation.

So exercise regular meditation and make life live-worthy.