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

tattvamasyādivākyena svātmā hi pratipāditaḥ,

neti neti śrutirbrūyādanṛtaṃ pāñcabhautikam.28

By affirming that you are that (God, divinity, universe), you begin to see yourself beyond the limited existence of your body that’s made up of the five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether. Scriptures have called it Neti. Neti, meaning you are not this, not this.

The verse above is the soul of contemplative meditation. It encompasses both elimination and affirmation. Basically, it means that when you contemplate as to your reality, your true nature, anything material that comes to your mind, anything that is made up of the five elements is not you.

You touch your body. You are not just the body, you touch your wealth, you are not the wealth, your cars, assets and so on. All these things belong to you, you are the owner of these things but these acquisitions or attainments are not you.

Here are both the practices for you.

Eliminative Contemplation

In the practice of eliminative contemplation, you get rid of all the labels that you are not. You keep searching for that one permanent label that actually defines who you really are.

How to do it right

Sit in a comfortable position. Any comfortable position will do. You don’t have to be seated in a yogic posture.

Take a few deep breaths.

Start the process of contemplation by negation, that is, keep eliminating what you are not.

Think of all the material things, one by one, that are perishable in nature. In fact, all material things are perishable for that matter. Contemplate on whatever you are attached to, and for each of those things, ask yourself if you are what you are attached to and remind yourself that you are not that thing. Various yogic texts and Upanishads provide a number of prompts as follows, feel free to add your own and eliminate all your attributes one by one.

I am not the body… I am not the mind.

I am not the senses… I am not the consciousness.

They are my servitors. I am eternal and beyond these.

I am not a man or a woman… I am not young or old.

I am not beautiful or ugly… I am not a friend or an enemy. I am not a father or a son (or a mother or a daughter).

I am not a husband or a wife…

These are mere classifications… I am eternal and beyond.

I am not pure or impure…I am not good or bad.

I am not hot or cold…I am not moral or immoral. I am not realized or unrealized…

These are mere dualities. I am eternal and beyond.

I am not bound or free… I am not hated or loved.

I am not happy or unhappy… I am not foolish or intelligent. I am neither successful nor a loser…

These are mere perspectives. I am eternal and beyond.

I am not weak or strong… I am not restless or lazy.

I am not tired or fresh… I am not healthy or unhealthy. I am not my past…

These are temporary states. I am eternal and beyond.

I cannot die, I cannot be sick, I cannot be hurt, I cannot be grieved.

I know no sorrow, I know no pain, I know no grief, I know no hurt.

I know no sickness, I lack nothing.

I am beyond the good and bad, beyond praise and criticism, beyond everything that can be thought or written, everything that can be heard or said, for, I am the indestructible, indivisible, infinite, eternal, supreme soul – the highest realization, the purest consciousness.

I am beyond birth and death, I have existed before the universe, I am an independent unit but part of a complete phenomenon. I am complete.

You could also do the aforesaid meditation in an interactive manner. That involves asking yourself the question and answering it. For example, you may say: “Am I the body?” And then answer it by saying, “No, I’m not the body.” You can do this for all of the above declarations and more.

When you do this regularly, something miraculous happens in your life after a while: you stop feeling bad and stop reacting to what others say or think about you. You no longer crave for things the world’s going crazy about because you don’t see yourself as a helpless body, or a man or a woman craving for love, prestige or respect, you don’t see yourself a tiny person in a vast universe anymore. Instead, you find that you are a universe yourself – complete, eternal, indestructible. These are not mere words or phrases, but simple truths that’ll empower you. One of the most powerful moments in anyone’s life is when you wake up to your own immensity.

After eliminative contemplation, you can go for the more detailed affirmative contemplation which expands the way you see, understand and treat yourself.