Meditation is a process of reflecting the Infinite (Brahma, God, Krsna, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, etc.) on the mind. Does this sound impossible? Well it is! Mind can only reflect finite entities. So the process of meditation is actually a process of reflection that causes the mind to expand until it cannot expand anymore and explodes. When my mind explodes, what was outside my mind and what was inside my mind merge and that is Yoga.
To achieve this ecstatic experience the meditator creates a proper psychic environment as part of his or her meditation. The sense of Identity is focused to a point of being, withdrawn from its sense of having and doing.
How is this done?
When a person decides to meditate, the mind is already occupied with a multitude of thoughts related to present, past and future. Therefore, singing and dancing is the easiest way for the mind to be channeled in one direction. Singing and dancing is universal and primal. If you want to see intensity of concentration, attend a First Nation Tribal dance or a night club. Depending on the music and message, people in these gatherings lose body consciousness and become focused on the idea in the music.
Similarly, singing mantra and dancing rhythmically is a beginning step in preparing the mind for meditation. All the sensory and motor organs are engaged. When singing mantra there are three concerns, the acoustic impact, the meaning of the mantra and the relationship with the Infinite that the mantra enables.
Baba Nama Kevalama is the mantra I use. It has 8 syllables—Ba, Ba, Na, Ma, Ke, Va, La, Ma. Each of these sounds vibrates the endocrine and nervous system in a special way. Baba means beloved, nearest and dearest. Nama is name. We have given names to so many things so which name to choose? Kevalama means to focus mental energy like a magnifying glass concentrates light from the sun. So the mantra expresses the fact that I concentrate or focus (kevalama) all my physical and mental energies to one name (nama) of that Infinite Entity which is my Beloved (Baba). Singing and dancing this mantra creates a special vibration in my body and mind that prepares me for the next step in meditation.
Now as I sit for meditation I bring my mind slowly and gradually away from my senses away from their connection with the external environment. This is the having mind, the mind that identifies itself by what is “owns”. In various ways I identify myself with what I own or with what I have created out of the potentialities of the environment. I rise above smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing. I bring my sense of self above each of the five centers (cakras) in the trunk of the body. I am no longer aware of my body and its connection with the physical universe.
The next level of disassociation of the mind from the body is the concept that I am the one who is doing this meditation. I am responsible for what happens. I give my busy mind the duty of repeating my own individual mantra that sets up a particular relationship with the Infinite. Mantra has an energy of its own. I simply repeat the mantra with my breath. Breathing in I am individual, separate and unique. Breathing out I merge in the Divine, Oneness. The doing mind becomes busy with its doing-ness, repeating the mantra with the breath.
And now I am alone. It seems as though I am the only entity existing.
However I sense that surrounding me in every direction is the one, indescribable, unimaginable, indefinable who is witnessing the fact that I am. That entity is my Baba. And as I repeat my own mantra with my breath and feel the presence of that Infinite Witness, I feel that I am gradually being absorbed into that Infinite Oneness. That Infinite is pulling me into Oneness. I have no power here. I can do nothing. I can only surrender. It seems the mantra repeats itself. My mind dissolves. That which was within the boundaries of my mind longing for that Divine Embrace merges with itself in Holy Union.
My mind explodes into that Infinite Entity, I become Baba.
THIS IS YOGA!!!
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Thank you for that very clear description of the process of meditation.