An introduction to meditation

“It is as if the earth meditated, the atmosphere meditated
It is as if the sky meditated, the water meditated
It is as if the mountains meditated”

Chandogya Upanishad

Of all the yoga practices, meditation brings inner transformation and renewal most directly and efficiently. This renewal and transformation can be experienced without meditation; for example childhood and adolescence offer moments when reality appears to us free of all conceptualisation, fulfilling our consciousness in this way. But these moments are fleeting and do not depend on our will.

Meditation seeks to develop these moments where reality, bliss and knowledge are joined together. It is at first an exercise, a practice where efficiency increases with repetition; and a mental exercise whose main function is to develop detachment towards the flow of thoughts, and to concentrate on the essence which is pure reality, pure bliss and pure knowledge.

The universe is formed of connected particles in perpetual motion which maintain its coherence; everyone is an element of this universe and also a universe by himself. Meditation allows us to rediscover the universal harmony within and without, and through this to develop a pure intelligent understanding of ourselves, of others and of the universe.

This exercise is safe because it awakens creative and loving courage in us, while simultaneously extinguishing fear and torpor.

Swami Veetamohananda