Quote:
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Originally Posted by GRH
How do you meditate, Sesame?" And I don't mean that as in how YOU personally do it, but how does a beginner...Well, begin?
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I'm always proud of you, my friend. I like the way you think and express yourself. About your choice of Upanishad, I have something to say. My personal favourite is the Swetashwetara Upanishad. Its full of Yogic thoughts and hints. Next is Mandukya Upanishad. Its the smallest Upanishad and yet the subtlest one. It describes the four states of mind in great detail. There is a very good video in
Youtube that explains it with Simple Diagrams. Then there is Mundaka Upanishad which tries to describe the Soul as perceived in meditation. There is a book called "Ten Upanishads" by Sri Aurobindo, its the best. Also read the "Abhyasa Yoga/ Dhyana Yoga" chapter if you can lay your hands on a Gita. In fact, if you can find a Gita, which appears to be a
war manual 
, Read
Sankhya Yoga, (ie, chapter 2) it describes the immortality of the Soul in great detail.
That said,
I will move on to meditation.
Meditation is nothing but concentration. The one-pointedness of the mind. The mind is constantly being bombarded by stimuli coming from the sense organs. So, if you imagine the
attention of the mind as a beam of light, it is scattered into a 1000 parts by the multiple stimuli. We can stop this mind tossing by choosing only
one stimulus or internal thought and
focus the
whole mind on
that only. This may sound difficult in the beginning, but it is possible.
First prevent the mind from getting distracted by the senses (this is called Pratyahara= withdrawal in Patanjali's Yoga sutras).
Next you stick to one feeling or thought only. (Dharana= retention) As stray thoughts arise in the mind due to habit, focus again and again on the single thought.
Next the thoughts become rarified and only one thought remains. (Dhyana =
meditation) It is comparable to the flame of a Lamp that does not flicker, but burns brightly and remains absolutely still.
Next is the final state called
samadhi = Trance. The ego merges with the subject and perceives It as "Myself". There is no more any
Observer and
Observed, but Consciousness or Knowledge or Direct realisation.
Note that in real life there is only indirect knowledge. You (the observer) and the subject that you observe are separate. In samadhi, you become the subject and directly assimilate all its secrets.
This is meditation.