Meditation is the process of centering our awareness in the principle of pure consciousness which is our essential being. We have lost awareness of our true self through awareness of external objects, and become habituated–even addicted–to objective consciousness. Rather than disperse our consciousness through objects that draw us outward away from the source of our being, we must take an object that will have the opposite effect, present it to the mind, and reverse our consciousness. That object is OM. By sitting with closed eyes and letting the mind become ease fully absorbed in experiencing the inner repetitions of OM we thereby directly enter into the state of consciousness that is OM, the state of consciousness that is Brahman the Absolute.
The Practice of OM Yoga Meditation:
1) Sit upright, comfortable and relaxed, with your hands on your knees or thighs or resting, one on the other, in your lap.
2) Breathe naturally. Your mouth should be closed so that all breathing is done through the nose. This aids in quieting the mind. Though your mouth is closed, the jaw muscles should be relaxed so the upper and lower teeth are not clenched or touching one another, but parted.
3) Gently turn your eyes upward as though looking at a point far distant. But do not strain or try to force your eyes to turn up to a degree that is uncomfortable. Then gently close hem–do not squeeze them tight. This removes visual distractions and reduces your brain-wave activity by about seventy-five percent, thus helping to calm the mind. It also stimulates super conscious awareness as will be explained soon.
4) Be aware of your breath naturally (automatically) flowing in and out as you breathe through your nose. Your breathing should always be easeful and natural, not deliberate or artificial.
5) Now begin mentally intoning (“singing” on a single note) OM once throughout each inhalation and once throughout each exhalation. Fit the intonations to the breath–not the breath to the intonations. If the breath is short, then the intonation should be short. If the breath is long, then the intonation should be long. Make sure the O and the M get approximately “equal time”–Oooommmm, not Oommmmmm or Oooooomm. Don’t torture yourself about this–approximately equal is good enough, and in time your intonations will automatically occur in this right manner. Also, your intonation of OM should begin when your inhalation/exhalation begins and end when it ends. In this way your intonations should be virtually continuous, not with long breaks between them. That is: Oomm, Oomm, Oomm, Oomm, or Oomm-Oomm-Oomm- Oomm, rather than Oomm…Oomm…Oomm…Oomm. Here, too, approximately continuous is sufficient.
6) For the rest of your meditation time keep on intoning OM in this manner–in time with the breath–listening to your inner intonations of OM. This enables you to enter effortlessly into the Witness Consciousness that is your finite spirit within the Infinite Spirit that is God.
7) In time your inner mental intonations of OM may change to a mellower or softer form, even to an inner whispering, but OM is always fully present and effective. Your intonations may even become silent, like a soundless “mouthing” of OM, yet you will still be intoning OM in your intention. Amazingly OM can become a silent sound, as you can experience for yourself. But of this be sure: OM never ceases. Never. You may find that your intonations of OM move back and forth from more objective to more subtle and back to more objective. Just intone in the manner that is natural at the moment.
8) In the same way you will find that your breath will also become more subtle and refined, and slow down. Sometimes your breath can become so light that it almost seems as though you are not breathing at all. At such times you may perceive that you’re inhaling and exhaling are more like a magnetic pull in and out instead of actual breath movements. This occurs as the prana that produces the breath switches back and forth in polarity from positive to negative.
9) In OM Yoga we do not deliberately concentrate on any particular point of the body such as the “third eye,” as we want the subtle energies of OM to be free to manifest them selves as is best at the moment. However, as you meditate, you may become aware of one or more areas of your brain or body at different times. This is all right when they come and go spontaneously, but keep centered on your intonations of OM.
10) Thoughts, impressions, memories, inner sensations, and suchlike may also arise during meditation. Be calmly aware of all these things in a detached and objective manner, but keep your attention centered in your intonations of OM in time with your breath. Do not let your attention become centered on or caught up in any inner or outer phenomena. OM can also produce peace, awareness and quiet joy in your mind well as soothing radiations of energy in the physical and subtle bodies. Be calmly aware of all these things in a detached and objective manner–they are part of the transforming work of OM, and are perfectly all right–but keep your attention centered in your intonations of OM in time with your breath. Even though something feels very right or good when it occurs, it should not be forced or hung on to. The sum and substance of it all is this: It is not the experience we are after, but the effect.
11) If you find yourself getting restless, distracted, “fuzzy,” anxious or tense in any degree, just take a deep breath and let it out fully, feeling that you are releasing and breathing out all tensions, and continue as before.
12) Remember: OM Yoga meditation basically consists of three things: a) sitting with the eyes turned up and then closed; b) being aware of our breath as it moves in and out, and c) mentally intoning OM in time with the breathing and listening to those mental intonations–all in a relaxed and easeful manner, without strain.
13) At the end of your meditation time, keep on intoning OM in time with your breath as you go about your various activities. Since you cannot keep your eyes turned up outside meditation, as much as is possible or practical try to keep a general awareness of the “thousand - petal led lotus” of the brain all the time, feeling that the breath and OM are taking place there. In this way you can keep “near” the Chidakasha state you experience in meditation.
No comments:
Post a Comment