- Indian Rheumatology association
Meditation is nothing but an art of appreciating the apparent truth till we realize our entire psycho-physical structure. When we experience this truth, we learn to stop reacting blindly and we gradually untie the knots within our mind. We start to appreciate a pause between stimulus and response. This gradually stops adding negativity inside us and around us in the world. The old negativity gradually disappears ….
Many people have tried to study about meditation in the past, in India as well as other parts of the world. Some say the best way is to divert your attention to something else. For example, you get up in the morning, take a glass of water, drink that water and count from 1 to 10. This helps you to free yourself from the negativity inside you. But this solution works only at a conscious level. In fact, by diverting attention, we push all the negativity deep into our subconscious, where it persists and continues to multiply. On the surface everything looks calm, but in the depths of our mind there is a volcano of suppressed negativity waiting to erupt. So, diverting attention is merely an escape phenomenon and not a solution
‘Bhagwan Buddha’ had a structured approach to everything. He taught us that whenever any negativity arises in the mind, two things start happening to us physically: Our breathing loses its normal rhythm and every negative thought or feeling starts generating some sensation within our body. At this point of time, it is important to observe our thoughts without any kind of bias. As soon as we start to realize our own negative thoughts, they begin to lose their strength and slowly wither away
Apart from this self-realization, there are different types of meditations that work through our senses
You can indulge yourself in sound meditation, light meditation, eating meditation, Metta meditation, body and mind coordination, walking meditation, vipassana mediation and anapanasati meditation. Each type of meditation brings profound sharpness to our senses.
Initially, it may be difficult to observe the abstract impurities of our mind, but with proper mind training, continuous practice and persistent efforts it becomes easy. The more we practice this technique in a scientific and diligent manner, the more quickly this negativity fades away. This ultimately cleanses the mind.
A pure mind should always be full of love. The goal of meditation is not to control our thoughts, but instead to stop them from controlling us. Have you ever observed a lotus? A lotus flower’s durability is the fact that it can purify the water it grows in and can even resist pollution! It submerges below the water each night and reblooms in the morning, without trapping any damaging residue from its environment, no matter how acidic or dirty it might be.. We should all be inspired to be like the lotus. To me there is no better way to live our life than be a lotus!
I encourage such mediation techniques even in my arthritis patients. It helps them to increase their threshold for tolerating pain and accept their disease in a positive way.
(Courtesy: Center of right view meditation, CRVM POKHRA, Nashik)
Apart from mediation, I love to explore my creative side through terracotta art, rangoli, photography, poetry, Indian vocals and digital art.
