Gaining Inspiration for Meditation

THere are many ways to gain inspiration for meditation. If we meditate with other people this will help. There are several ways to improve your meditation here

Improving Your Meditation

Whatever standard of our meditation we can always find some new techniques to give us better and more fulfilling meditation. The real secret of meditation is to feel that we are always an eternal beginner. If we have this attitude it will be easier to empty the mind.

1. Read books by Spiritual Teachers and great seekers. When we read about the highest experiences of others we get a lot of encouragement and inspiration to try and attain these profound experiences ourselves. For example reading the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna or “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda” will give an insight into the divine experiences of these 2 great Saints. They cannot help but inspire our own meditation.

2. Try a new Meditation Exercise. There are many different types of meditation exercises. If you are struggling with the same one it is good to try something a little different. For example you could just incorporate this simple pranayama exercise into the start of your meditation, it is called 1 – 4 –2 . When you breathe in repeat the name of God (or some mantra that inspires you) once. Then hold your breathe for four counts. Then as you exhale repeat your mantra twice. This will energise your entire being and quieten the mind.

3. Place great Intensity on your meditation. One thing we can try is to feel that this is our last day, our last opportunity to meditate. If we only had 1 more chance to meditate we wouldn’t waste it thinking about what to eat for tomorrow’s breakfast. Each time we meditate we should feel nothing else is important.

4. Set yourself Goals. For a week you could say every day I will meditate at 6.30pm for half an hour. If we set targets and stick to them we will definitely get more from a regular practise of meditation. If we have no regularity and meditate only when we can find time, often we find that several days can pass by without meditating.

5. Remember a Profound Meditation. If we have been practising meditation for a while we should try to visualize a really powerful meditation we had in the past. Imagination has its own power by visualising a high experience we can experience it again and also go beyond.

“If you enter into the world of imagination and stay there for 10 or 15 mins, power will automatically enter into your mediation, and it will bear fruit. Then it will not be imagination at all; you will actually be deep in the world of meditation.”

- Sri Chinmoy

6. Meditate with Music. Spiritual, soulful music will elevate our aspiring consciousness. It will bring our heart and soul to the fore. This will make our meditation much more powerful, we will easily go beyond the activity of the mind and into the domain of the soul.

7. Make a really beautiful shrine. If we can create a sacred corner where we only meditate, we will be able to build up a powerful meditative vibration. If we decorate our shrine with beautiful flowers and candles, it will give us an added iota of inspiration in our meditation.

8. Never Give Up. If we feel that our meditation was not particularly good, we should not feel disappointed. If we judge our own progress negatively we will lose our inspiration to meditate. We should feel that each time we sit down to meditate we are making necessary progress even if outwardly we can’t see it.


Meditation pages at Sri Chinmoy Bio

Meditation for Beginners - Article on beginning meditation

Different Stages of Meditation

1. Curiosity.

The first stage of meditation is learning about what it involves. Some people may have preconceived notions of what meditation is; for example, people may associate meditation with sitting in various yoga postures. However, meditation is primarily the art of silencing the mind and discovering our inner self. Whatever books we read about meditation, it will share this common theme of going beyond the mind and raising our consciousness. However, no matter how much we read and talk about meditation, it is only when we practise meditation that we discover its real meaning.

2. Relaxation.

When we first attempt to meditate we need to learn how to be still and relax the body and mind. Some people may actually find it quite hard to sit perfectly still for 20-30 minutes. However, this is essential to meditation. If we cannot keep the body still, we cannot hope to still the mind. After relaxing the body we can then seek to improve our mental relaxation. We are usually used to carrying around a burden of worries and anxieties; we find it difficult to relax. However, the preliminary stage of meditation is to let go of these tension; we learn to forget the past and future and just focus on the present moment.

3. Concentration

Nearly all beginners to meditation find that when they try to meditate, they become aware of how busy the mind is. Therefore, the most important thing, to learn and practise, is how to silence the mind. To do this we need to learn the art of concentration. This means to focus on one thing at a time. When we can develop the capacity to focus our awareness on one thing at a time, it means that we will be able to make progress in meditation.

4. Detached from Thoughts.

It is difficult to detach ourselves completely from our thoughts. However, there is an intermediary stage where we become aware of our thoughts, but they feel very distant. It is like we are aware of thoughts in the background. However, because we don't give them priority, they feel separated from our consciousness. They are like fish in the sea, which swim past, but don't really disturb us. When our thoughts appear external and separate, it becomes much easier to enter a state of real meditation

5. Silent Meditation

Real silent meditation occurs when we can stop any thought entering. When we meditate in real inner silence we will unmistakably feel an expansion of our consciousness. What actually happens is that when we stop the mind we can become aware of the consciousness of our own soul. It is meditation that enables us to experience the divine qualities of peace and joy in abundant measure. These aspects are part of everyone's nature; but, it is meditation that makes them accessible.

“When you meditate, what you actually do is to enter into a calm or still, silent mind. We have to be fully aware of the arrival and attack of thoughts. That is to say, we shall not allow any thought, divine or undivine, good or bad, to enter into our mind. Our mind should be absolutely silent.”

- Sri Chinmoy [1]

6. Samadhi.

When our aspiration is intense and our mind completely clear, it is possible to experience very high states of meditation known as samadhi. To explain what is meant by samadhi is really an impossible task. By their very nature, these states of consciousness are far beyond the domain of the intellectual mind. Words can never explain or describe concepts of infinity and immortality. To gain an insight into samadhi it is best to read the writings of a realised spiritual Master, who has actually experienced them.

"When we meditate, we try to expand ourselves, like a bird spreading its wings. We try to expand our finite consciousness and enter into the Universal Consciousness where there is no fear, jealousy or doubt but only joy, peace and divine power."

- Sri Chinmoy

[1] What Is Meditation?... Excerpt from Earth's Cry Meets Heaven's Smile, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy.

[2] Meditation: Glimpsing the Infinite