Dear human beings, your soul resides in a physical body, which is perishable and prone to destruction. Once you become close to me through meditation, and make me your conscious friend and companion, I will help you to understand the true nature of. your eternal soul, which like me is immortal and is capable of prolonged bliss in my company.
The 15 Minute Meditation / Dhyan Practice
1. Sthir Āsana: Steady Posture/Position with Relaxed Body and Calm Mind (One minute): The word āsana refers to those postures, or positions, of the body, where the aspirant while meditating can sit comfortably and steadily for 15 minutes without changing positions. The place for meditation should be, as much as possible, quiet, and peaceful whether it is inside the house or outside. The most commonly recommended āsana is Sukhāsana, the āsana of comfort. The aspirant sits cross-legged in a relaxed manner without attention to the position of the feet (either facing up or down) with the head, neck, and spine in as straight a line as possible consistent with comfort. The hands either rest upon one another in the lap or over the respective knees with upturned half-opened grasp. The eyes are closed, and mind is focused towards the midline just above the root of the nose between the two eye brows, a place anatomically known as the glabella. Most beginners and many advanced meditation practitioners use this as the only āsana. Variations on this āsana are the Padamāsana (lotus position), Siddhāsana. and Svastiāsana. For those who have difficulty sitting cross-legged, the kneeling posture (vajrāsana), or the posture of complete relaxation (Poorn Vishramāsana2) which is executed by lying down, may be useful. Whatever āsana is selected, it should never be forced or cause strain or discomfort, but rather be so natural that the aspirant would gradually become completely unaware of the posture he or she is in. The next step is to make whole body relaxed and devoid of tension or rigidity in any muscles so that there will be no discomfort or bodily distractions during the meditation practice. Following this, the aspirant must make all effort to calm his/her mind away from its usual thinking activities and distractions and make it peaceful. This will further steady the mind and body in meditation practice
2. Om and Gayatri Mantra Chanting: Each One Time (One minute): One begins this step by slowly chanting Eeshvara/God’s name as Om, prolonged as Ooo…mmm…(A long O and M is hummed) while contemplating on Om’s meaning which is: Dear Eeshvara/God, You are Sarva Rakshak i.e. our Protector and Nurturer. Next, to help focus the mind, the aspirant slowly chants/recites Gayatri Mantra in medium or low voice, or silently in the mind while contemplating on its meaning. The words are as follows:
3. Sankalp: Firm Intention and Resolve (One minute): Dear Eeshvara/God, to get rid of my various dukhs1 i.e. sufferings and unhappiness as well as to obtain bliss in my life, I have come to Your shelter with full faith and firm resolve and I will put in my best effort to concentrate my mind and meditate on You. Dear Eeshvara/God, please bless me and help me succeed in my effort.
4. Deergh Shvasana: Deep Breathing (One minute): One carries out this step by rhythmically taking in a deep breath (inspiration) slowly and then deeply exhaling it (expiration) slowly. This is repeated a few times for a total of one minute. During this step, the mind should be focused on deep slow rhythmic breathing and not on any other external distractions. There is no holding of any breath during this step.
5. Bahaya Prānāyama: Deep Exhalation with Chanting of Om (Three minutes) This step is carried out by exhaling deeply with force as one continuous breath and then holding the breath in exhalation (expiration). However, this pranayama should be performed with a gentle force and should not be associated with any jerk(s) or breaks during expiration. When one starts to feel discomfort in continuing to hold the breath in exhalation, then one should slowly breathe in air again without any jerk. Throughout this pranayama, in the mind one shoud silently chant (japa) Eeshvara/God’s name as Om. Subsequent to this one cycle of prānāyam one should silently breathe in and out, two or three regular (i.e. average) comfortable breaths. Then, restart a new exhalation prānāyam cycle and complete two more such cycles (a total of three). Subsequently one should sit quietly, breathe gently in and out, and silently chant Om in the mind until the three minutes are complete. Before starting this step it is advisable to apply mool bandh by gently pulling in/up one’s pelvic/anal/rectal muscles as one does when one has to hold stool/bowel movement from coming out when a bathroom is not conveniently available such as when traveling. Also, one should gently pull in lower abdominal (below navel/belly button) muscles towards the spine and sit upright with a straight spine.
6. Pratyahāra: Withdrawal from the stimulation of the senses (One minute):
- The word pratyahara means the withdrawal/removal of the various senses e.g. eyesight, hearing, smell etc. away from their normal tendency to explore or be stimulated by everything that surrounds them that is either new or exciting. During this step, the aspirant keeps his/her body relaxed, and in the mind meditates solely on Eeshvara/God to keep the mind away from usual worldly detractions. The aspirant acknowledges that dear Eeshvara/God, You have no shape or form, yet You are Omnipresent inside and outside me as my closest companion. You watch over all my deeds, nothing I do, good or bad, is hidden from You and You will give me appropriate rewards or punishment based on my deeds. Moreover, You are the Ultimate Source of true knowledge and bliss as well as You will shower me with both of these as I consciously get closer to You through meditation.
During this step, if a loud sound, strong smell etc. come and try to distract the mind, one must make all effort to redirect the mind towards meditation of Eeshvara/God. Do not let extraneous things distract the mind but stay focused on Eeshvara/God. Gradually as one continues to make all effort to concentrate and meditate on Eeshvara/God, the desire for external stimulation of senses and internal distractions of the mind become less and less and the mind gradually becomes calm.
The purpose of steps 1 to 6 is to steady the mind and various senses e.g. eyesight, hearing, smell etc. away from their usual worldly distractions, and more and more towards meditation of Eeshvara/God so that the soul may obtain bliss and internal peace from Eeshvara/God.
7. Dhāranā: Resolute Concentration of Mind (One minute): This step of meditation begins with the focus and concentration of mind at one particular area of our physical body such as the glabella (see above Section 1), heart, navel, throat, or the top of the head and while keeping the mind focused, steady and not letting it get distracted, one should proceed to the next step.
8. Dhyāna: Meditation of Om (Pranava Japa) and Contemplation on Eeshvara/God’s Attributes as Omnipresent, Universal Protector, and Perfection (Five Minutes): This step begins with a silent mental Om Japa with deep devotion and contemplation that Dear Eeshvara, You are Nirākār i.e. without any shape or form yet You are Omnipresent. Whatever beliefs I may have had about You in the past, such as that You have a physical body like a human being or You exist only in the heaven were wrong. From now on, I firmly accept You correctly as being Nirākār (i.e. without any shape or form) and Omnipresent (also see Section 6 above). Other attributes of Eeshvara/God one should meditate on and accept are that Eeshvara is Sarva Rakshak i.e. Our Universal Protector, and Nirvikār i.e. Eeshvara/God has no deficiencies and is Perfection. At one time, one should concentrate and meditate on only one attribute of Eeshvara/God and not all of them together.
One should meditate and contemplate on Eeshvara/God with a deep devotion, concentration, and seriousness as well as experience that my soul is immersed in Eeshvara/God, and Eeshvara/God with all of His attributes is present both inside me and outside me.1 Eeshvara/God is Omnipresent, Nirākār and Sat-chit-ānand-swaroop (Personification of Eternal Existence, Supreme Consciousness and Supreme Bliss). Also, one should make a resolution and pray, “Dear Eeshvara/God, I am in Your company and I will make all effort in my daily life, so that just as You are Nirvikār i.e. You have no deficiencies and are Perfection, I will also steadily get rid of my bad and sinful thoughts, words, and deeds and replace them with good and generous (nishkām) thoughts, words and deeds”. While meditating one should progressively start to feel inside one’s soul increasing pureness, peace, and harmony.
9. Samarpan i.e. Surrender to and Thanking Eeshvara/God (One minute): One completes the meditation by thanking Eeshvara/God with the following prayer: Dear Eeshvara/God, You are the Ocean of Kindness, with your grace and blessings may our prayer be successful and we soon achieve Dharma, Artha (material wealth), Kama (fulfillment of desires) and Moksha (bliss). After this for a few moments, one’s mind should be completely still in a thankful repose. One should end the meditation by thanking Eeshvara/God by saying Om (one time) shanti (peace and harmony), shanti, shanti (three times).