Meditation is like net practice, we find it very difficult at first, but we get better with practice, writes DR SHRIRANG BAKHLE.
A very common experience: A person feels ‘stressed’ because of office pressure. S/he does not know how to tackle the stress. Then someone recommends meditation. But the person is sceptical: “Does meditation really help? I have tried it earlier. It’s too difficult. I couldn’t concentrate my mind. There are so many types of meditations. Which one is the best or easiest?” And so on.
To understand how meditation works, we need to know what happens in the mind when we meditate. But before we learn about meditation, we need to understand what happens in our minds all the time. The mind receives inputs from many sources. It receives inputs from all the sensory organs (e.g. eyes), the memory and from the Emotion Centres in the brain. Thus the mind receives so much information – all the time!
The ‘attention of the mind’ is focused on one or a few inputs at a time. This attention can be shifted from input to input. For example, right now, the attention of your mind is focused on this article. But if you wish, you can shift your attention to any of the inputs mentioned above. You can focus attention on the position of your left foot or to the sounds coming from outside. Thus, you can control and shift your attention to any input.
The mind also receives inputs from memory. We keep remembering so many things. The Emotion Centres of the brain are another source of inputs into the mind. The feelings of happiness, sadness, fear and anger arise from these emotion centres. Thus the mind receives inputs from the sensory organs, the memory and the emotion centres.
The many abilities of the mind:
Similarly, we have the ability to activate emotions. Suppose you are feeling dull. Then you decide to infuse enthusiasm in your mind or ‘charge up’ your mind: “Come on, let’s go”! What you did was activating your happiness.
What happens when we meditate?
When we meditate, we ‘exercise’ these abilities. By doing meditation, we get better control over these abilities. A better control of these abilities helps us not only while doing the meditation, but also throughout the day in all the different situations. Meditation is like net practice. Whenever we begin practising any skill (such as driving vehicles or playing musical instruments), initially we are unskilled. We find it very difficult to do it. We feel amazed how the experts can do it so easily and skilfully. But with practice, we get better. The same is true for meditation. Initially it seems difficult. But as you continue the practice, it becomes easier.
Meditation is basically not a religious activity, but a skill building activity. People may use it for many benefits – including for religious purposes.
Types of meditation:
There are many types. The following is a broad categorization.
The first type is becoming aware of the thoughts, observing the thoughts. Normally, we get involved in the thoughts. But we can decide and observe the thoughts as they come and go – one after the other.
The second type of meditation involves creating a thought – an image or a sound and focusing the attention on it. For example, we can create an image of a serene scene in the mind. Some people hum a sound (religious or otherwise) in the mind.
Another type of meditation involves eliminating the thoughts as they arise and making the mind empty. If the mind is filled with unhappy thoughts, emptying the mind can bring a feeling of peace.
All these types of meditation involve controlling the attention of the mind – focusing it on particular thought or taking it away. Thus these types of meditation mean exercising the mind’s ability to control the attention.
The abilities to subdue the unhappy emotions can be exercised by practising it during the meditation. But just calming is not enough. Calmness can be of two shades: dull calmness or pleasant calmness. Hence while meditating, it important to infuse a pleasant feeling in the mind.
Caution: Meditation means concentration of the mind. If you are suffering from recurrent intense unhappy thoughts, sometimes they can become more intense. In such situations, the opposite of concentration i.e. the method of distraction will be easier and more useful to dispel unhappy thoughts.
But if you can gradually reduce unhappiness and infuse pleasantness, then meditation is a good way of exercising and getting control of the mind’s abilities.
