“When the senses are stilled, when the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not – then, say the wise, is reached the highest stage. This steady control of the senses and mind has been defined as Yoga. He who attains it is free from delusion.” - Kathopanishad

“In the state of yoga (samadhi), one is established in one’s true nature (Truth, Consciousness and Bliss), while at other times there is identification with the afflicted mutations of the mind, body and ego.” - Yoga Sutra I.3-4

What is Meditation?

Meditation is a buzz word today meaning many things to many people but it has a very specific meaning and purpose in the yoga tradition. According to yoga, apart from having a mind and body, the human being has an essence that is something completely different. We call that essence consciousness, the Self, soul etc..

While the body and mind go through continuous changes, there is a part of us that simply perceives these changes, but is unaffected by them and always remains the same. If this inner self was the mind or body, then we would wake up every morning as a different person, but this is not the case. This inner consciousness or perceiver is a witness to everything that happens in the body and mind and exactly because it is the perceiver, it is not perceived. Just as the camera lens records what we point it towards, it is not captured in its own image, it only records what lies in front of it - unless you point the camera at a mirror.

Because we are always aware of something else, we are never properly self aware and this causes us many problems. Due to this lack of self awareness, we become confused about our true nature and tend to identify with what we experience through the mind and body. Sometimes we experience pleasure and sometimes pain, sometimes happiness and sometimes misery, sometimes elation and sometimes depression - there is constant change and we tend to identify with this and suffer greatly as a result.

Proper self awareness is therefore highly desirable, essential even, for our sanity and wellbeing and this is the purpose of yogic meditation. How to know oneself? This is a two stage process. While the mind is highly mutable, it is possible to bring it to stillness. When the mind is thus totally tranquil it displays a mirror-like quality. Then it is possible to observe the perceiver in this mirror.

This first stage, however only presents a reflection of the self - a reflection in the mind. In order to gain a full Self awareness, the mind has to dissolve completely. Then a full Self-awareness can take place.

Through having this Self-awareness, the inclination to identify with the body, mind and ego is eliminated and through eliminating this identification, the suffering that is associated with this false identification is also removed. Consciousness is untouched by what it perceives - it does not suffer, it does not die, it does not experience pain, jealousy, anger etc.. Those are all part of the ego drama.

How to Meditate?

Meditation, according to the yoga tradition, means to eliminate all mental activity. When the mind stops, consciousness or the Self is experienced in isolation from the continuous mutations of the mind. Under normal circumstances, it feels as though consciousness is totally blended with mental activity. So, in order to identify it as something other than mind, we first have to stop those mental activities.

Most people find it impossible to stop the activities of the mind, but for those who are able to do so easily, meditation is quite simple: just sit quietly and stop thinking. Then, as thinking subsides, one will become aware of consciousness, the true nature or Self. But for those whose minds are over-active, some techniques and practices are required.

Everyone is starting from a different place. Some people need some moderate practices and some people need a great deal of help. However, everyone needs practices that work, that are useful in taking one in the right direction. For this reason, in addition to having good methods for getting into meditation, one also needs to have a sense of where meditation should be taking you and why meditation is useful. This helps one to understand how the techniques should be applied.

For instance, if you understand that meditation is about quietening the mind and eliminating thoughts, then you may also understand that making intense effort may not be the right approach. Although consistent and disciplined effort is required, if you apply those methods with intensity, the result will be stress and more thinking rather than peace and reduced thinking. Equally, if you think that watching thoughts is the goal, then you do not get to the point of eliminating thoughts and identifying the one who is watching those thoughts (although this may be used as an intermediate step).

So the goal and the practice is the reduction and eventual elimination of thinking. You cannot eliminate all thoughts immediately. You start by reducing thoughts that undermine practice and by cultivating thoughts that support it.

Yoga Psychology

According to yoga, as according to our modern way of thinking, the mind is a physical, though subtle thing. Our experience is mediated by sensation, sense organs, nerves, hormones, blood flow, neural activity etc.. It is dependent on organs and tissues of the body as well as environmental factors - sounds, sights, information we receive, pollution, temperature etc.. And memories, past experiences, conditioning, trauma, nurture, family, education etc..

Since the mind is housed in the physical body, is conditioned by the organs and tissues, this is one factor that needs our attention when getting into meditation: we need to get the physical body into a good condition, otherwise it will constantly introduce unwanted distractions. The body needs to be healthy and pain free and it needs to function well. The body is built up out of the food we consume, therefore what we eat has an impact both on the health and state of the body and on the mind that is housed in the body. So the first consideration is food.

But apart from the ingredients we consume, how we consume, when we consume, how much we consume, all have an impact on what we assimilate from the food. The assimilation is both quantitive and qualitative - eating may affect the body tissues and structures but also the way the mind reacts. Today, there are so many types of eating disorders - bad consequences of eating that affect the mind. Although there are some disorders that capture the headlines such as bulimia, constipation, acid reflux, intestinal gas etc. all have significant impacts on the mind. Many other physical conditions and deficiencies are associated with diet such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, migraines, anaemia etc..

According to yoga, everything you consume with the senses is also food: music, violence, anger, sunshine, cool water, work stress etc. - these are all food for the mind. In order to prepare oneself for yoga and meditation, one needs to consider one’s lifestyle, habits and environments and determine whether they are conducive to good health, peace, concentration etc..

You might say: “I need yoga because my life is so stressful!” However yoga will not help you much unless you change your circumstances as well. Yoga does have a lot to teach about doing that too. Once you get a taste of yoga, you value the pursuit of yoga more and this in itself can motivate you to make those changes and educate you as to which changes you need to make and how to make them.

Yoga is both Samadhi (absorption) and Sadhana (practice). It is both a special state of mind and a method used to achieve that special state. For some people practice (sadhana) is not needed: for those who are in perfect mental and physical health, samadhi happens as naturally as the waking dreaming and deep sleep states, but for those who suffer, practice is required.

Samadhi is a natural and necessary phenomenon, as valuable as deep sleep: while sleep refreshes and brings health to the body, samadhi is required for refreshing the mind and eliminating suffering. Samadhi is the cure for all mental distress.

Samadhi is of two types. The first type is a concentration of thoughts in one direction, an absorption of consciousness in one special idea or feeling. In the second case, all thoughts stop and one becomes totally absorbed in consciousness itself. Samadhi is the universal cure for all mental suffering, or to put it another way, all suffering is the result of not experiencing samadhi.

Overcoming Suffering

Suffering has five layers according to yoga. The first is ignorance about our true nature. We have a body and a mind, but WHO is it that has a body and mind? Body and mind go through constant changes, but there is a part of us that simply observes this phenomenon and does not change. Mind and body are the medium through which we have experience but we are something different from that. According to yoga this is the essential Self or consciousness. This Self is the spiritual or non-material aspect.

Since mind and body go through continuous mutations, we are always experiencing something, but never aware of that part of us who is experiencing - we never have the chance to experience consciousness isolated from mind, and it seems as though the two are blended together. Since there is never a moment of Self-awareness, we feel that experience is everything, that we must identify with experience or feel lost, not knowing the experiencer. This is what is called ego in yoga - identification with mind, body and experience.

Since we have come to identify with mind and body, we feel that these are the only ways through which we can gain any pleasure or happiness. As a result we pursue sensual pleasure above all else and then fall into the pain and suffering of its absence when we lose or fail to obtain what we desire. And since we have come to believe that we are nothing but a body and mind, we fear losing them at the time of death.

These are the five afflictions - ignorance about the true nature, ego, attachment to pleasure, unhappiness about pain and the fear of death, which are the foundation of all miseries and sufferings experienced on the earthly plane. There is one way to alleviate all these pains - come to know the true nature, the Self or consciousness. This is achieved through Samadhi.

Samadhi results from a special condition of the mind when thoughts, sensations and memories stop. When the mind becomes still, then one can become aware of the true nature. Consciousness is always present, but always aware of what the mind and body present to it. When mind and body stop providing experiences and information, consciousness rests in itself, becomes simply Self-aware.

There are several reasons why this is important. In the first place, not knowing our essential nature, we have come to identify with the ever changing qualities of mind body and ego. Sometimes we experience pain, sometimes pleasure, sometimes sadness, sometimes elation etc., but these qualities are just the play of mind and body. Consciousness is nothing but awareness, it does not change, it does not feel happy or sad, it does not experience pain… and it does not die.

If we identify with something that goes through continuous change, then we have no centre, no stability, no security… this leads to many types of imbalance in our system, many types of physical and mental affliction. If we have this kind of confusion we struggle to set wholesome priorities, we struggle to have decent values, we are prone to jealousy, anger, greed etc..

If we identify with the body, then we fear death, we fear everything that undermines our security, that threatens us… we develop a whole host of unnecessary anxieties and fears. But through proper Self understanding we are able to rise above all these afflictions, we can develop a profound self-confidence and courage. Identification with the true nature results in deep states of peace, allows us to develop objectivity and clarity of perception.

All those desires we pursue are for the sake of pleasure and happiness. But could objects and sensations really provide pleasure? Surely pleasure is something we experience inside. It cannot be imported. When we stress about getting what we desire, we suffer, but when we get it we feel satisfaction and bliss. Why? The bliss comes from inside. It is always there. It is only the stress and pain we experience that covers it over. True Self knowledge connects us with that inner pleasure. We crave for it so badly and run around seeking it outside in our delusion, but it is inside, it is always present, it is never lost… only we are lost, misguided, deluded.

Sadhana

We have come a long way along this route of misery and delusion. It is not necessarily easy to find our way back. We are given so much bad advice about how to find fulfilment, peace, satisfaction and happiness. That advice is deeply baked into our psyches and our culture. The solution is simple but undoing all the harm is not so easy. Thankfully there are methods, techniques to aid us, but even these have all too often become corrupted and most of those who guide us are as lost as the rest of us, so even if they have access to good methods, if their own vision is clouded they cannot guide us in the right direction.

There are true guides with proper insight but we may also struggle to recognize them due to our own lack of wisdom. As the saying goes: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” I have been blessed to have found one such realized teacher and have been attempting to share what I have learned from him. Whether you are ready or not, this teaching is available. Perhaps the teaching itself can bring you to a readiness to recognize its value.

When one is in a state of yoga (also known as Samadhi), then one is established in one’s essential nature, which is truth, consciousness and bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda), but when the mind constantly moves, there is an identification with the ego, with thoughts, with the body and sensations. Since the body and mind go through continuous change, experiencing pleasure, pain, delusion and fear, since there is never peace, clarity and contentment, this identification with body, mind and ego is one of deep suffering.

Fortunately there are practices which are designed to overcome these afflictions. Most people are familiar with the practice of physical postures known as asanas. These provide the first steps towards yoga, however asana practice just scratches the surface: there is so much more depth to be discovered. The next steps beyond asana are known as pranayama and pratyahara. These practices are the way into meditation.

Pranayama starts to bring the mind under control and pratyahara makes the mind focus inwardly. Then the next step is meditation. Yogic meditation is not simply about watching thoughts and reactions mindfully: the purpose of yogic meditation is to take one beyond the mind. It is a technique to stop thoughts. When thoughts stop, something else is revealed - the true nature, which has the qualities of truth, consciousness and bliss.

Not only have we lost sight of our true inner nature, we have lost sight of the path to reconnect with it. Why stop at the physical postures and not venture beyond?

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A Taste of Real Yoga - Beyond Asana - Two Weekend Retreats
with Pranayama, Pratyahara, Meditation, Philosophy and Q&A
January 12/13 and 26/27 - in Karkur, Israel

https://www.integralashtanga.com/mysore-intensive

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SAMADHI SADHANA
An In Depth Integral Immersion in all Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga
March 10 - June 9, 2023 - in Karkur, Israel

This course is also available online and will be recorded.
https://www.integralashtanga.com/samadhi-sadhana