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

Madhyamaka Hridya states, “If one is overcome with distraction, one should retreat and regard it as being a harmful sign of perceptive diversion.”26 Thus, whenever you discover that your mind is getting bombarded with other thoughts and emotions (which it will), simply understand that they are distractions. Ignore them and carry on with your concentration. Remember that thoughts are merely thoughts, devoid of any essence. Don’t analyze, pursue, accept, process or examine any thought whatsoever. Our goal is to build non-discriminatory, unblemished, sharp and lucid concentration. If you are meditating correctly, the craving for sensory pleasures will disappear on its own.

Each time your mind wanders off, bring it back to the point of focus. Over time you will develop razor-sharp awareness; so that, you will become aware of each emerging thought before it turns into a distraction.

If you find yourself slouching or leaning in any of the four directions, just gently correct your posture. Don’t forget to maintain a gentle smile and steadily retain focus on your chosen object.

I must reiterate that it is absolutely critical to note that during concentrative meditation, you must stay away from all intellectual examination, contemplation and cogitation. For example, let us say, that you are meditating on a form, of Krishna’s idol in front of you. Do not start examining the characteristics of the idol or start thinking about Krishna, his pastimes, his life and so forth. Just keep your attention focused at his form. In the initial stages, if you start contemplating before attaining one-pointed concentration, your mind will wander off and you may not even realize.

Do not accept, reject, examine, follow, engage in or pursue your thoughts. Simply do not act or react. Just gently maintain your concentration. Maintain short but crisp and lucid sessions of meditation. An untamed mind cannot stay on a thought for any longer than a few seconds. I would recommend that rather than doing one session of 45 minutes, do three lucid and crisp sessions of fifteen minutes. They will bring much greater benefit. Over time, as you get better, you can gradually increase the duration. I would also like to tell you that there is no joy in concentrative meditation, in the actual practice. But once you start to experience a quiescent mind, you will be addicted to meditation.

Four Types of Objects to Meditate On

Repeatedly, I’ve used the term ‘object of meditation’. What do I mean by that? This brings me to the four types of objects to choose from when it comes to concentrative meditation. You can pick any of the four and you should also feel free to switch from one to the other, either to find out what suits you better or to give your mind a break. For example, if you are meditating on a form and are tired after 60 minutes but you wish to continue your session for another half an hour, you could meditate on your breath or anything else. Change refreshes the mind and brings the lucidity back in meditation.

Meditation on Form

It is one of the most common and most misunderstood forms of meditation. I say ‘misunderstood’ because meditation on a form doesn’t mean that you keep a pebble, picture or an idol in front of you and stare at it. That is neither meditation nor concentration. Your mind will continue to hop about while you gaze at an external form. In reality, meditating on a form is one of the most difficult and tiring form of meditation but it does result in superior concentration. Regardless of whether the form you are meditating on is external or internal, it is always an internal visualization.

For example, you may have a pebble in front of you. It’s a simple form and you decide to meditate on the pebble to build your mindfulness and concentration. Here’s how to do it right, step-by-step:

Sit in the yogic posture correctly and comfortably.

Observe the pebble for a couple of minutes. Be mindful to not analyze the pebble for why it’s shaped a certain way or has a certain color and so on. Simply observe it with the intention to hold the image in your mind.

Close your eyes and begin visualizing the image of the pebble.

After a while, a few seconds, the image of pebble will fade. At that time, gently bring it back to your focus and you will be able to visualize it lucidly again.

When you hit a point that you simply can’t bring the image of the pebble in front of your mind, gently open your eyes, stay in the posture and look at the pebble again for a minute or two and then follow the same process of visualization as above.

Initially, the image will fade every few seconds but with practice, you’ll be able to hold the image for much longer in front of your inner eye. After a while, your mind will get tired and you may feel exhausted.