A Million Thoughts: Learn All About Meditation from a Himalayan Mystic

It’s called upasthaapana. Literally, it means to be ready, and that’s what this stage is all about: getting ready for the real meditation. In this stage, the aspirant is mostly able to hold his attention during the session but is still bothered by periods of restlessness and dullness.

If you follow the first four instructions properly, then by this stage your mind will start to retaliate a bit. It doesn’t want to be restricted. It wants to go its own way. At this stage, if you follow the fifth instruction, you’ll experience fixed attention, and the fifth instruction, as I said earlier is – clearing your mind of obstacles. There are going to be certain obstacles like restlessness, torpor, etc. If you gently draw your attention back to the present moment, you are well on your way to the next stage.

Lucid Attention

The meditator is able to experience deep tranquillity of the mind.

This stage is called damana in Sanskrit, which means tamed or passionless. The attention of the meditator is tamed at this stage. I must mention a common misconception that many meditators have: when you feel peaceful in meditation, it is not the same as taming the mind. Sometimes it’s purely because you’ve lost the lucidity, the sharpness of your attention.

While you are getting your attention ready after stabilizing it, positioning it, settling it and clearing its path, you start to feel a little restless, quite restless actually. You can’t afford to interrupt your session by talking to yourself or holding a communion with your mind. Instead, you must carry on with the sixth instruction that is pacifying your mind. (The later sections of this book will cover in detail how to pacify one’s mind.)

Pacification of the Mind

This stage is called shamana and it means extinguished. By this stage, thoughts extinguish in the mind of this meditator, and, the mind is clear of most mental obstacles. However, this mental exertion sometimes gives birth to subtle feelings of restlessness or excitement. It is predominantly so because at this stage, you’ve done what mind is not used to at all – to be quiet, to be still. Only the sincere and dedicated practitioners reach this stage.

Complete Pacification of the Mind

It’s called vyupashamana. Most interestingly, the term vyupa means the one who eats out of his own hands. This is one of the finest stages of meditation. In this state, the mind is looking at itself sharply. It’s able to recognize dullness, restlessness, thoughts, emotions and all the other distractions. It is completely pacified and is not afraid to remain established in tranquility.

If you have followed the first six instructions correctly, you’ll most definitely experience this state. As your mind remains attentive but pacified up to this point, there’s still a great chance that it may become restless. It’s like a toddler abruptly waking up to a nightmare in the middle of the night. Or a sudden twitch of the body wakes you just when you were about to fall asleep. It’s like how you put a baby to sleep. Even after she’s gone to sleep, you must continue singing the lullaby or patting for a little while longer to completely put her to sleep.

At any sign of loss of attention due to your mind rebelling, focus on the seventh instruction: completely pacify it.

Intense Attention

The mind attains single-pointed concentration at this stage. It’s called ekotikarana. The meditator can carry out an uninterrupted session of lucid meditation lasting nearly two hours in the steadiest posture. There is practically no dullness or restlessness. At this stage, follow the eight instruction: channel the mind into one stream. Your attention will now flow like a gentle

Himalayan stream – beautiful, serene, tranquil.

Profound Absorption

It’s called samaadhaana and it means perfect tranquil equipoise.

The meditator meditates effortlessly and can remain in tranquil equipoise for an average of four hours at a stretch, including maintaining the posture. And let me tell you four hours of tranquillity can keep you calm for days at end without the slightest ripple of mental disturbance. In the context of meditation, however, the ninth state of attention prepares you to slip into an insightful and blissful session of meditation.

This stage corresponds to the ninth instruction: settle the mind in equipoise. With a mind that’s settled in equipoise, you are ready to either take deep dives in the ocean of bliss or perform penetrating analysis with discerning wisdom and unearthing a wealth of knowledge and insight for the welfare of those around you.

Once you are ready to meditate, you need to know what makes meditation effective, rewarding and transcendental, notably, the four elements of meditation.

Posture