Meditation and Dreams: Share your experience

[sesame]

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?

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.

[GRH]

Originally Posted by sesame

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.

I read Mandukya tonight and I read Mundaka last night. As to the Gita, who could NOT own a copy? And who could be dense enough to think it a book about war? There is some really beautiful imagery in it, particularly when Krishna reveals his ultimate Being to Arjuna. I have copies of Ramayana and Mahabharata, but they are condensed retellings of the original epics (written by Buck I believe, he studied the original texts pretty thoroughly). Out of curiosity, have you studied the original texts of either of these epics? Given that Mahabharata comes in around the 5,000 page mark, I'm glad to have the condensed retelling.

Thank you for your wonderful description of meditation.

[sesame]

Gita as you know it, is not a separate book but part of Mahabharata. Its the advice that Krishna gave to his Disciple and friend Arjuna, to motivate him to fight ( against the immoral.) When Arjuna saw the endless lines of great warriors he will have to face, he was a bit shaken. Among his enemy lines stood members of his own family, whom he loved and considered dying or living like a pauper, rather than killing them in battle. Arjuna let go of his weapon and sat down inside his chariot, mentally losing the very urge to battle. Krishna, on seeing such cowardly mood enveloping Arjuna, lead the chariot to the middle of the battle field, between the warrior lines gathered to kill each other. And then He adviced Arjuna about the nature of the soul, Karma, the path to wisdom, Vedanta, Yoga, Devotion and God ... and showed him the situation from the standpoint of Eternity. That is the gist of Gita.

[sesame]

The original verses of Mahabharata is fast disappearing from the face of the society. It has become a rare thing to come by. People dont have time for Philosophy anymore, life is so fast! The Zip zap zoom world of consumerism only considers mammon, worthy of attention!

Yes, I used to take notes from Giant, heavy books, each a separate chapter of Mahabharata! A whole Shelf was dedicated in the National Library to Mahabharata. But unfortunately, the last time I needed to consult the original books, I couldnt find any! The whole shelf has mysteriously disappeared after the Library was renovated!

I saw very old prints of two chapters in the second hand market, but the price was too high. Officially, the complete volumes translated by Haridas Siddhantabagish is out of print.

[sesame]

Tamaso ma Jyotirgamaya
Asato ma Sadgamaya
Mrityor ma AmritanGamayeti.

-Upanishad.

Lead me from darkness to Light.
Lead me from delusion to Truth.
Deliver me from death to immortality.

[GRH]

The names are currently escaping me, but last night I read the "Food to Joy" Upanishad as well as the "Six Questions" Upanishad that is oft paired with the Mundaka. The "Food to Joy" was an in particularly good read.

[sesame]

The Main Upanishads are:

1. Aitareya Upanishad from Rigveda
   
2. Kena Upanishad from Samveda
   
3. Chandogya Upanishad from Samveda
   
4. Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad is the most important, from White Yajur Veda
   
5. Svetasvatara Upanishad is from Yajur veda (my fav)
   
6. Katha Upanishad from Yajurveda
   
7. Taittiriya Upanishad is from Yajurveda
   
8. Isha Upanishad from White Yajurveda
   
9. Mundaka Upanishad from Atharva veda
   
10. Prashna Upanishad comes from Atharva veda
    
11. Mandukya Upanishad is essence of all upanishads***, Atharva veda

Originally Posted by GRH

The names are currently escaping me, but last night I read the "Food to Joy" Upanishad as well as the "Six Questions" Upanishad that is oft paired with the Mundaka. The "Food to Joy" was an in particularly good read.

Food to Joy Upanishad? What Upanishad is that? To which Veda does it belong? I have never heard of it!

[sesame]

Which Book to read?
Bordo Thodol will appear gibberish.
Dhammapada is too vast.
Jataka stories are all about moral values, cleverly narrated.

Find something about Vipassana meditation instead. Its easy and direct and the substance of Dhammapada and the real teaching of Buddha.
The flowery branches of Buddhism... Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana came much later. The essencial teaching of Buddha is Yogic Meditation. For the first 500 years after Buddha's passing, there were no images of Buddha. Buddha forbade ritual worship. He said, "Follow the enlightened path and become Buddha yourself!" But knowledge comes with hard practice. And common people only wanted to worship the Enlightened One, not become Him! So after 500 years of referring Buddha as images of Bodhi tree, or the Ladder, or with symbols, finally his image was carved out of stone. And the era of ritual worship began in Buddhism. Gradually in Vajrayana Buddhism, the whole religion became ridden with numerous Deities, yabyum and Tantric rituals! Rituals are representatives of the difficult yogic accomplishments. Then came rituals that represented preceding rituals... gradually the rituals lost their real meanings! The yogic steps that were the essence, were soon forgotten, replaced by chants and postures and deities that were quite irrelevent!

After the end of the Pala era, the Buddhists who could, took refuge in forests, most wise ones found their way to Tibet (follow the silk route) and the rest were either killed or converted to Islam. Bihar, which was the main seat of Buddhism, became a killing ground for the Buddhists. The famous Nalanda University was burnt to ashes. The Islamic word "Booth-Parasti" meaning "Idol worship" was coined during this period by the conquerors. "Booth" means "Buddha". The monasteries were lavishly decorated with idols of Buddha and numerous other deities. The gold hidden in the monasteries were the sought after items. Also, the Hindu Kings turned their backs to the fallen Vajrayana Buddhists. They were fed up with the Tantric sexual orgies and frequent abortions of vajrayana nuns! This resulted in a huge population of social outcasts! 500 years ago, (from now) Sri Chaitanya absorbed them back into the mainstream of the society and this in turn resulted in a sudden increase in the Vaishnava population. Thus Buddhist Vipassana became extinct from India, centuries ago, vanished without trace with the Pala Dynasty. The Buddhists came back later, but the Jem of Vipassana was long lost, only the skeleton of Buddhism remained. Though, I must mention the Buddhist Lamas deep in the Himalayas. They must have retained it somehow.

Ajapa sadhana has always remained with the great Hindu yogis of the Himalayas (another form of Vipassana). Hints are also in the Gita. Chapter 4, verse 29. Sewing up mantras with the inhalation and exhalation is a very ancient technique of the Yogis of yore, even before Patanjali. Recently, Vipassana has reappeared again. Hints about it are scattered in Dhammapada. This wonderful meditation remained hidden among the Buddhists of Thailand for many centuries.

For basics about the spirit, Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Sankhyayoga is a treasure chest. The Upanishads are great too, but there are so many and they are sooo vast. I like Shvetashvatara Upanishad Not only does it describe the Absolute Consciousness, but also gives hints about Yoga in gradual stages. Wisdom without real experience is of no use. So a basic knowledge and consistant practice are both necessary.

[GRH]

Thanks for elaborating on the history somewhat sesame. Forget what I told you about going to the bookstore this weekend, I found a much cheaper means of procuring Vedic literature.

www.vedicbooks.net