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This article throws light upon the top seven methods to doing meditation. The methods are: 1. Rajneesh Meditation 2. Iskcon – The Society for Krishna Consciousness 3. Transcendental Meditation 4. Raj Yoga 5. The Radha Swami Sect Meditation 6. Buddhist Meditation 7. Zen Mediation.
Method # 1. Rajneesh Meditation:
Osho Rajneesh has given 112 methods of meditation which mainly differ in the constitution but all of them emphasise on:
(i) Relaxation,
(ii) Watchfulness, and
(iii) Non-judgmental attitude.
The first stage is a relaxed state in which the subject neither makes a conscious effort to control the mind nor stress on concentration. The second stage involves watching with a relaxed awareness what is going on without any interference. It is watching the mind silently without any judgment or evaluation. Then comes the stage when silence descends and movement ceases.
In one of the commonly used technique out of the various techniques suggested by him for meditation, the following five steps are suggested:
The first step involves throwing out the garbage of mind by a let go approach and is done by jumping up and down vigorously, shouting, yelling and screaming, even obscenities if one likes, whatever comes in one’s mind.
This is followed by shouting ‘Hoo Hoo Hoo’ until one gets totally exhausted. After this, one stands quietly and tries to experience the inner voice. Then in the 4th stage Jong session of Sufi dancing takes place. Fifth and final stage allows one’s creative energy to flow by observing silence.
Method # 2. Iskcon – The Society for Krishna Consciousness:
This meditation technique suggests that chanting many times of the maha mantra “Hare Krishna” can lead one to realization of God and release of tension.
Method # 3. Transcendental Meditation:
This type of meditation has been suggested by Maharshi Mahesh Yogi. It consists of repeating a given meaningless mantra which is supposed to possess a special sound quality which pacifies the mind. It stops the distracting thoughts and produces a state of relaxation in which the brain registers alpha waves, indicating a state of “Calm-awareness”.
It is a technique for experiencing a thought at the initial stages of development and enables the conscious mind to arrive systematically at the source of thoughts. It is a technique for expanding conscious awareness and for reducing tension. The word ‘transcendental’ means “going beyond”.
This technique takes the practitioner beyond the familiar level of wakeful experience to a state of profound rest coupled with heightened awareness. The process of thinking starts from the deepest level of consciousness and becomes grosser as it develops. Eventually it becomes gross enough to be perceived on the surface level of consciousness, the ordinary level of thinking.
In this technique subconscious area of the mind is made conscious. This is done by consciously experiencing the thought in its infant state in the subconscious mind. By increasing conscious level one can have better coordination between mind and nervous systems.
A person with anxious mind exhausts and irritates nervous system and the body. During transcendental meditation mind proceeds to a finer state wherein thought and the whole body become calm and quiet. After mastering this technique a practitioner levitates or flies which leads to relaxation of body and mind.
Method # 4. Raj Yoga:
This meditation technique is of BRAHMA KUMARIS. It consists of high degree visual experiences taught in small groups where students sit in a semi-darkened room facing the teacher. Just behind and above the teacher’s head is a red plastic disc that glows, from a light inside.
The disc has a tiny hole in the centre which appears at a point of intense white light, representing the Supreme Soul – Shiv Baba. The student thinks of himself as a bodiless (Asharir) and visualizes the light and power is rising upward out of the body into ‘baramdham’.
Method # 5. The Radha Swami Sect Meditation:
This group teaches a form of meditation called Suarat Shabd Yoga based on the belief that God is considered to be the Union between Radha (Soul) and Soami (the Master). Basic teachings indicate that initiation for Him comes through a living master so that through the grace of the Guru the disciple can see the light and hear the divine sound.
According to this sect the purity of conduct i.e. chastity, vegetarian diet and contact with the Guru are necessary requirements to have the pleasure of His bliss.
Method # 6. Buddhist Meditation:
Buddhist meditation has its objective of giving ultimate freedom to its performer by quietening the mind whereby all the sufferings, ills, sorrows and their impact gets reduced and this makes way for the spiritual advancement. This stage has been termed as Nirvana which is neither a thing nor a nothing; it is beyond both. This stage consists of the quiescence of all phenomena including speech.
As per Lord Buddha there are five obstacles towards the path to spiritual advancement and they are:
(a) Sensual desire.
(b) Ill-will.
(c) Sloth and torpor.
(d) Restless ness and worry.
(e) Sceptical doubt.
The four truths which are necessary to be understood are:
(a) Truth of suffering.
(b) Truth of the origin of suffering.
(c) Truth of the cessation of suffering, and
(d) Truth of the path leading to the end of suffering.
The groups of clinging’s for which one must be conscious of, are as follows:
(a) Investigation of mental objects,
(b) Mindfulness,
(c) Energy,
(d) Joy,
(e) Calm,
(f) Concentration and
(g) Even-mindedness.
Watchfulness of all the truths, clingings, hindrances are the basic requisites of be observed by a practitioner of this meditation. Awareness to the body, feeling, and mental objects is necessary for attaining nirvana. The Buddha has repeatedly emphasised the need of developing calmness and insight for the extinction of lust, hate and delusion.
The technique of this kind of meditation requires the meditator to sit quietly with spine straight and hands forming a gentle oval. The students try to dissolve their ego, quieten the chattering mind and thereby try to contact the Universal Buddha mind.
In this technique the meditators recite nonstop for hour’s mantra:
Buddham Sharanam Gachami
Dharmam Sharanam Gachami
Sangham Sharanam Gachami
(I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha)
The four stages of this meditation which lead one to transquillity are as follows:
1. In the first stage meditator gets aloof from sensuality and sinful thoughts and happiness gets generated by abstraction, reflection and investigation.
2. In the second stage, joy and happiness get generated without reflection and investigation.
3. The third stage is characterized by the even- mindedness through happiness and cessation of passion. It is a stage of equanimity, watchfulness and bliss.
4. The fourth stage is when there is no happiness or misery, joy or sorrow, pleasure or pain. Besides this one is free from inspiration, respiration, reflection and investigation.
Method # 7. Zen Mediation:
Zen is a Japanese word which means meditation. Its meaning is more like a word intuition and realisation. It indicates a way of life in which there is no difference between internal self and the external world; between thought and action; between unconscious mind and conscious mind.
In this kind of meditation one sits in Zen motionless posture with straight spine and hands forming a gentle oval. In this process one tries to dissolve the ego, quieten the chattering mind and contacts the Universal Buddha mind. The initial stage involves concentration on inhalation (breathing in) and exhalation (breathing out).
Then comes the stage of finding solution not through rational process but by self-enquiry with full involvement of head and heart. It is placing the problem in such a way that each inquiry goes on clearly in the subconscious mind. Final stage is a time where all actions are done with full attention and awareness. Researches show the results of this meditation are almost similar to yogic meditation.