Meditation takes discipline. It’s simple but not easy: literally all you do is focus on something for awhile – period.
Why bother?! For starters, the effect can be a self-induced, peaceful trance from which you arise recharged and refreshed.
Experienced meditators settle through four progressively subtle, calmer states of mind. The initial state, Dharana, coincides with settling the most active aspect of our sub-conscious mind: the part that controls bodily function.
Technically, during the first three levels of meditation, we hold an object still in our conscious mind while sub-consciously contemplating it. Remember, our conscious mind communicates in words; our sub-conscious mind communicates in images and sensations. Meditation is about witnessing those otherwise sub-conscious images and sensations – in a controlled setting of our own choosing!
It doesn’t matter what we contemplate with our conscious mind as long as we do so non-judgmentally. Meditation is an exercise in deepening our sense of intuition; it is NOT an exercise for our thinking, conscious mind – that was the focus of the last meditation prep exercise: distinguishing between our conscious and sub-conscious mind.
Devout yogis hold God in mind as they meditate; however, I suggest that students start with slightly more mundane, tangible objects like a flower or their favorite cereal!
The initial stage of meditation, Dharana, brings an end to destructive desires, though as with everything, practice makes perfect!
