Dhyan in English means to be careful and also to pay attention. We often say – dhyan se chalo, dhyan se dekho, etc. What it means is do whatever you do carefully, as in with utmost attention towards the task that is being done.
Meditation is just the same. It means to pay utmost attention towards whatever is around you. It also includes paying attention to you.
Dhyan means to observe carefully.
Paying attention to what you are feeling right now – to the extent that if you are trying to pay attention, then pay attention to the process of paying attention. In case your mind distracts, which it often does, then pay attention to the fact that the mind has distracted without trying to bring it ‘back’.
There is no place to bring it back. Whatever is, is the present moment. When you started, the base point was in that moment. Now it has passed and the mind has also distracted. That original ‘place’ doesn’t exist now. Now the base point is ‘this moment’.
So the ‘effort’ to anchor the mind in the present moment is also not meditation because there is an effort there. Meditation is effortlessness observing everything like you are watching this movie called life. Whatever is the state of mind right now has to be observed without trying to bring it somewhere you think it ‘should be’ so as to be in the correct place of meditation.
Meditation is also to observe (dhyan) that you are feeling guilty about the mind always getting off the hook.
There is no solid hook. Time is fluid. Whenever you switch your CCTV on, it is there, at the correct place. Switching on that observational CCTV is what dhyan or meditation is about.
Wanting to be ‘correct’ in some defined way in meditation is the sure shot way of getting meditation wrong. There is no correct way, especially if you are a beginner in meditation. Also, please note that you can be a beginner for days, weeks, months, years or even decades of regular meditation. Infact, regular meditation will erase any desire in your mind to be an ‘expert/ superior meditator’.
There is no comparision in this world. All is one. We are playing a character. Rancho is a character. Aamir Khan is not. Same is the case with ‘VIRUS/ Boman bhai. The real fellows are all the same.
Meditation is observation of this moment. Whether you are driving, writing or reading, cooking, jogging, sitting in the wash room (oops), or sitting idle laden with thoughts. The moment the CCTV is on, you are meditating. The more you do it, the more you will remember to keep the CCTV on.
The more the interval of meditation, the more you will focus on micro thoughts and be able to let them go. You will free up some space and your system will not hang as much and would rather speed up. That is why you feel relaxed after meditating.
0 Comments