Prasad Silence to Stillness

A Practical Guide to Enhance and Deepen Your Meditation Practice
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4835-9631-0
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 132 Seiten

With every day stress levels on the increase, more and more people are searching for ways to relieve stress and get a better quality of life and health. medical science has now proved that meditation helps reduce stress, improves concentration levels and increases the overall sense of feeling good. given the over whelming plethora of information available on meditation it is easy to understand why it can be a daunting experience for someone looking to meditate for the first time. this book is a powerful tool that will enable you to overcome the common obstacles that people usually face when trying to meditate and find the sacred presence within. the Writer has spent years gathering the wisdom of spiritual guides and masters and has presented it in a simple and easy to understand format that will prove invaluable to beginners and seasoned practitioners alike.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Prasad, Vishnu

Leseproben

Chapter 1 What Is Meditation? Why Can’t I Meditate? Understanding the building blocks of the right way to meditate! “I want to meditate, but how do I meditate,” I asked my teacher… His response was pretty shocking. He told me that before learning how to meditate, I had to learn what meditation is. He also added, “Once you know what meditation is, you will, automatically, learn how to do it.” It has, indeed, been a great pleasure receiving ancient wisdom from the right people for the past 18 years. These are Self Realized Beings that are the epitome of Love and Wisdom. These Beings have touched and transformed the lives of thousands and thousands of people with their precious knowledge. Yoga and spirituality had always been my passion, even as a child. I don’t know what intrigued me so much about it. I loved the Ashram experience, the peace and purity was blissful. That was the beginning of my spiritual journey, which of course was a cause for concern for my parents as they had concerns about me abandoning my education and normal life to pursue my spiritual dreams. I still wonder whether it’s the control of the mind over the body or the smile on the practitioner’s face that belies how much they are love what they are doing. Irrespective of the underlying reason, I absolutely love yoga. It brings oodles of joy and happiness to all those who are involved, the teacher and the students. However life at home gave me a reality check. My father was the sole breadwinner of our nuclear family and I understood early on that I needed to contribute financially to support my family. As my attention shifted from Ashram life towards helping my family, I realized I couldn’t do anything but wait until I turned 18. When I turned 18, I started searching for a job as a yoga teacher in some of the reputed Ayurveda and Yoga Wellness Resorts, but alas… No one even considered me a yoga teacher. All my years of practice seemed to be of no use. The difference between life inside an ashram and the real world Having experienced both Ashram life and the real world, I now understood why there are wellness resorts and retreats mushrooming up all over the World. It is not easy to maintain a calm and peaceful mindset that in the real world with all the demands and stresses of everyday life. I truly appreciated the vibrant peace and calm of the Ashram life now. Although I yearned to share the knowledge I had gathered over the years with other people,I was deeply disappointed when they didn’t even bother to give me a chance. I walked back home, frustrated and irritated. I felt like a complete failure, feeling like someone who had chosen a path that was no of use. I started regretting the choice that I had made… My father had advised me to do an engineering course and I ignored his advice and chose my passion… in that moment, when everyone turned me away, I felt that I had made the wrong choice… I was totally depressed and disturbed! I was burying myself in a world of loneliness, accompanied only by my frenzied thoughts I tried, but meditation didn’t help me in the beginning I tried to meditate to calm myself but, it resulted in ever-disturbing and constantly overflowing thoughts. I was pretty anxious and worried about my family. I was trying to figure out a way to support my distraught family. I was frantically trying to calm down my racing mind with whatever limited knowledge of meditation I had, but in vain. The more I tried to calm my mind, the more I failed. Thoughts popped up uninvited, and I was disturbed and thoroughly irritated by my thoughts. My mind was racing in an uncontrollable manner only serving to aggravate further my worries about my family and our financial future. There was no sign of stopping. My mind was traveling frenziedly between the negative events from my past and my worries about the future. I felt as if I was drowning in a puddle of criticisms and pain and negativity. I felt as if my entire energy was being drained away. I started feeling depressed. At that time, I felt that meditation was a mountainous task which was meant only for seasoned teachers and monks and not for common people like me. Everything happens for reason This experience proved to be the foundation stone for me to really understand Spirituality. I now know that Spirituality is really all about aligning yourself with the real Spirit. It is about knowing your True Self. The turning point was when my friend came home. He told that me that my Master was looking for me as I had been absent from class for over a week. I didn’t even bother to reply but carried on combating the little devils that were trying to consume me with their ferocious claws. I knew that I was not going anywhere, yet I was reluctant to give up my fruitless efforts. I was pushing away those unwanted thoughts, but the more I pushed them away, the more they filled me. Then came the time, when I felt as if my head was about to split. I knew I had to stop what I was doing but I did not know why my mind was constantly churning thoughts, disrupting my ability to meditate. I felt there was something that I was missing, like vital piece of information, or a critical link that would help me in my meditation. I decided to visit my teacher and confide in him. After all, he was the one who helped me take baby steps into the world of meditation! So I set out to meet my Guru… We sat for a long time, talking about the obstacles I was facing – my cluttered mind, its continuous thought spinning process, and the various tools and techniques and knowledge I badly needed to stop this continuous flux of thoughts. Eventually, I garnered the vital information, through a step by step process. Then I was finally able to meditate smoothly and effortlessly, without forcing myself to be in meditation. It was as if the transformation was an instant one. It was as if I suddenly got a treasure handed over to me. Now, empowered by the lessons and tools my master gave to me, I started meditating. It was a fabulous experience. Once I started practicing, I realized the mistakes I had made previously, which had forced me to think that meditation was not my cup of tea. I was trying to meditate blindly, without understanding the science behind meditation and the crucial building blocks that will lead to a successful endeavor. I didn’t even bother to explore the workings of my mind and the relation between my body and my mind, and how to handle my thoughts. Instead, I was simply trying to concentrate while at the same time suppress the countless thoughts accosting me which ended up in a tug of war between me and my mind. The result, I ended up with a migraine and headache, not to mention depression and stress. That was the past… time has flown by… and today, meditation is still an integral element of my daily life! It will continue to inspire me till my last breath… The Never-ending Maze of Misconceptions There exists, in this day and age, an infinite maze of misconceptions about meditation. There is no clarity and understanding about the concept. While correcting them is a mountainous task, it is also a necessary process. Few people actually understand the facts about meditation and various misconceptions and false assumptions prevent the average person from accessing them. Only when the truth is revealed, will people be able to appreciate the power of true meditation. Most people feel that they are not meditating because they are trapped in the multifarious games played by the mind which prevents them from concentrating. Concentration does not lead to meditation, but in fact, meditation yields concentration. It has to happen naturally. You cannot just force yourself to meditate. It is just like your sleep that visits you effortlessly. You will be able to meditate only when you have a proper understanding of the concepts of meditation and practice them consistently. When we close our senses systematically for meditation, we will automatically enter into a deep level of consciousness. Meditation is all about Self, not stress! There is a widespread belief that meditation is the ultimate tool for stress management. I, too, had the same misconception. In this world of quick fixes, I considered meditation as an instant fix for calming my constantly nagging mind. It was a kind of escape I used to run away from the thoughts, but of course, without any use. Meditation is a beautiful art that teaches us to manage our inner selves. Once we know our inner self and how to manage it, the results reflect externally as well. It gives us a chance to rejuvenate, restore, and revitalize our inner strength so that we can combat our problems in a better way and eventually the stress levels start declining… One does not have to lead an isolated life, depriving yourself of all those you love, to enjoy a calmer and more peaceful you. One does not have to become an ascetic or a monk who lives in the deep realms of mountains to attain a peaceful state of...