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

accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

There were only two things that helped me walk the path of meditation even though I had no significant results for many years. The first was my determination. I wanted to be sure either way. I wanted to be sure if meditation was what all it had claimed out to be or it wasn’t; I didn’t want to quit midway. The second, and more important, it was faith that kept me going. A simple belief that effort never gets wasted. In one form or the other, the consequences of any action don’t perish. Nature registers every little karma. I had this faith that if I kept digging patiently, one day I would hit a source of pure water. I did. You will too if you keep going.

Physical and Environmental Hurdles

Can you learn swimming without ever jumping into a pool? I think not. If you are serious about swimming then you need a certain fitness in your body and access to a river or pool where you can put your learning to practice. Until you actually start swimming, you won’t know what swimming is about. To champion it, a bit of guidance, right fitness and right environment is necessary.

It’s no different when it comes to meditation.

Especially if you wish to master the concentrative meditation where good posture is a non-negotiable requirement, excellent physical shape is a must. Equally important is a conducive environment. As it is, it’s a hard task to quiet one’s mind. If there are external distractions or sounds at that, it will become nearly impossible to meditate.

Long before I went to the Himalayas for my intense meditation, I used to have noise-cancellation headphones and an iPod mini. I would put in my favourite music, slip on my headphones and just immerse myself in meditation. It was the best I could do to cut out any external disturbances as much as possible.

In the beginning stages of meditation, feel free to adopt whatever method works for you. Be it meditating in the dead of the night when it is quieter or simply focussing on music.

Eventually, as you intensify your practice, you’ll benefit much from parking yourself in a quiet spot which is safe, clean and conducive and meditate there. If you are serious about competing in the Olympics, you’ve got to practice in an Olympic-size pool. Physical hurdles are of two types: bodily and environmental.

All physical ailments and diseases represent bodily hurdles.

They could be in the form of obesity, stiffness, disability or any other limitations that prohibit the meditator from sitting still. In case a disability is permanent, a meditator may tread the path and perfect himself using other forms of meditation. Such a practitioner need not worry about concentrative meditation.

Any of the five systems of meditation can lead one to the dawning of the realization as long as one persists right till the end. Ailments such as asthma, flu, gastritis, sinusitis, headaches and epilepsy can be hurdles in concentrative and contemplative meditation. This body is a divine blessing. No sadhana is possible without a fit body. A sincere meditator takes good care of his body. The yogis are fastidious about diet and exercise because these two elements play the greatest part in maintaining physical fitness. A fit body is essential for a serious aspirant to face the rigours of meditation. It is no secret that when we exercise, even though we may feel a bit tired, we experience a certain freshness. No matter the nature of your meditation, a lethargic body adversely affects the quality of your meditation.

Environmental hurdles include challenges concerning the actual place, surroundings, people, animals and weather conditions. A sincere meditator, the one who is in for the long haul, should carefully select a place for meditation. It should not be noisy but somewhat comfortable. It need not be luxurious, in fact, material luxury can be distracting for a beginner meditator.

There it should be easy access to water, food and other basic necessities.

When I meditated in the Himalayas for many months, the greatest challenge was posed by the rats. Even though I was practically in a place covered in snow, the rats were omnipresent. I would see bear marks just outside my hut in the morning or at times the wild boar would snort around loudly. The other hindrance was from spiders; I used to sit for very long periods and they would crawl up and weave webs around my face and limbs. The third greatest challenge was from the incessant chatter of birds. Some birds were so loud that it took me time and intense concentration to be able to go past their tweets (they knew about tweeting long before Twitter came into being!) and focus on my object of meditation. I used to virtually sleep on the floor and the weather conditions were extremely harsh.