THE MOOD FOR MEDITATION Meditation is the practice of silence and a person who has no control over his speech cannot practice this silence all of a sudden. Therefore a beginner is advised to develop the habit of practicing japa or repetition of a holy name. Such repetition keeps the mind preoccupied with one single thought and creates a mood for meditative silence. Japa, practiced mentally matures into contemplation; contemplation further strengthened takes the form of meditation; and meditation when it is effortless becomes the first stage of samadhi. Vrittis, or various thought-waves, cannot be stopped by suppressing them. They are to be first neutralized and then overcome by the deliberate cultivation of one single thought, which is accomplished by the practice of japa. The continuous repetition of a single thought makes its wave grow bigger and stronger, and thus subdues the countless smaller thought-ripples on the surface of the mind. Swami Adiswarananda - Prabuddha Bharata , March-April 1980
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 16:40:31 +0000
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