Like yoga, meditation is becoming increasingly popular amongst the general population as an antidote to stress and to achieve a ‘higher’ consciousness.

Both yoga and meditation are thought of as two separate concepts, and in terms of understanding them, it is useful to think of them as separate.  However, that is for understanding only, but when it comes to practising and experiencing yoga and meditation, it is evident to me that the two are not all that different.

As Swami Satyananda Saraswati notes, meditation is a concept that many people are familiar with, but actually very few of those people have a true or experienced concept of meditation.  True meditation itself cannot be described in words.

This though does not explain much, and you would not be blamed for dismissing this concept here.  However, I will make reference to some texts to explain further what meditation is.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati (2004) explains two types of meditation: “passive” and “active” meditations.  Active meditation is when one engages in daily duties, when one walks, talks, eats, etc.  The ultimate aim of yoga is to allow the individual to go about their daily activities whilst remaining present, in other words, to actively meditate throughout the day.  Sounds simple, remaining present whilst engaging in everyday activities, indeed you could come to the conclusion that if you were not present or conscious during those activities, you would not complete them at all!  However, think about the times you have drove a car back home from work, brushed your teeth in the morning, or even got on the yoga mat to practice, and actually remembered every minute of the activity.  How many times do you think to yourself, “Did I stop at that red light?  Did I actually brush my teeth this morning?  What was my yoga practice like?”

You are now getting an idea as to the fact that most people go about life robotically, without consciousness, without presence.  Is it hardly any wonder we end up highly reactive in such a busy world(?)  So, what can be done to promote active meditation?

The answer is the next type of meditation Swami Satyananda Saraswati explains: passive meditation.  You would be forgiven for thinking passive meditation implies lazy meditation or actually not meditating at all!  In part, you would be correct in assuming that passive meditation is ‘not doing anything’, however you would be wrong in assuming that passive meditation is ‘easy’.  Passive meditation consists of sitting in one position, usually a cross-legged position on the floor, or in half-lotus or full-lotus posture.  The aim of passive meditation is to, “still the ever restless and wandering mind and make it one-pointed, so that meditational experience will automatically follow.”  (Satyananda Saraswati, 2004).

So, here you have an outline of what most people understand ‘meditation’ to comprise of, in four stages (Satyananda Saraswati, 2004):

1. 1.Fixation of the mind (concentration) on an object (e.g. candle flame), a sound (e.g. chant of Om), a picture (e.g. the sky) etc.  This brings about mental calmness and introversion.
   

2. 2.Success from stage 1 brings about a freeness of thoughts, psychological complexes, memories, etc., from the unconscious mind.  This enables ‘probing’ of the personality.
   

3. 3.After exploration of the ‘lower mind’ in stage 2, one now can explore the ‘higher mind’ and this is where one may start to ease into meditative states, where there is a practically infinite store of knowledge and energy.
   

4. 4.When one has been practising meditation, perhaps for many years, even the ‘higher mind’ is transcended (overcome) and the meditator attains a supreme and indescribable state of peace and bliss.  Thoughts here have long since became dominant in the concentrated mind, and the meditator is unwavering in their insight and presence.
   

References

Satyananda Saraswati, Swami. (2004).  Meditations from the Tantras.  Yoga Publications Trust, Munger Bihar: India.