Beginners think meditation to be very difficult and thus run away from it when they do not achieve the desired results. I have been teaching meditation for many years and observe that beginners freak out due to lack of proper guidance. Most beginners give ridiculous excuses like ‘I am still young for meditation’, ‘I don’t want to renounce the world’, ‘I am too busy, don’t have time’ and so on.

These are all myths created by people who do not know anything about meditation. There is no age for meditation, you do not have to renounce the world and once you cross the first few hurdles you do not need to spare any extra time. You can remain in meditation 24 x 7 by following some trusted techniques developed by me through extensive research and experience on young professionals who work in strenuous corporate environment.

Packing your stuff

When you decide to meditate, the first and the foremost is to find a suitable place to meditate with minimal noise and visual distractions. Natural environment enhances meditation experience and is preferable. So find a place out of range from traffic disturbances and artificial noises. Now put your phone in silent mode, better switch it off. Make a resolve in your mind that I will not connect with outer world during this session, better put a ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the door if you have chosen your room for the session.

Each act done by a person creates particular kind of vibrations in that place. So it is better to sit and meditate at the same spot every time. Once you are accustomed then the choice of place doesn’t affect as you are always rooted deep inside your Self. Precaution is always required in the beginning of any assignment.

Start the Journey

Now you have packed your stuff, so let’s start the journey to realise the bliss. Your body itself will take you inside to explored depths, so manoeuvring it in a proper manner is of paramount importance. There are many postures designed by various Sages down the ages but I always teach my disciples to be in the posture that is comfortable to them. Sage Patanjali who designed ‘Ashtang Yog’ the Eight Limbed Yoga said ‘Sthir Sukham Asanam’, sit in any posture where you can remain comfortable and still for a long time. If the body is not comfortable your mind will again and again think about it and you will not be able to cross the first step to infinite bliss.

Start with relaxing your body with light movements, paying attention to each and every part and consciously thinking that it is relaxing. Let any thought come to your mind, do not suppress it. Now concentrate on your breath and start throwing out all good and bad thoughts with every exhale. Body will itself take care of inhaling. Just concentrate on exhaling. This is a tried and tested cleansing technique that works effectively almost every time. This way you can unburden your mind from all good and bad impressions in a few moments.

Masters teach various methods of meditation. Whatever method you choose, the most essential part is witnessing. Mind cannot be controlled or overpowered by fighting with it, you are bound to be defeated. The best way is to witness, it will become your slave. When it becomes conscious that you are watching, it settles down, just like children settle down calmly in a class when they come to know that a teacher is watching. You have to realise that you are the Master and mind is your slave. It can wander here and there only until you are not watching. But be cautious… Do not judge it, just watch. Many people confuse witnessing and watching with being serious. No, you don’t need to be serious to witness anything. Be as playful and joyful as you can. If you get serious then you have missed the key to meditation.

Another important point to remember is that you should not force meditation, do not make targets and also not try to achieve any goals or expect any results. Meditation happens when your mind becomes calm and quite. It cannot be attained through any sort of eagerness or effort. It can be attained only through surrender.

Ego is the root cause of all ignorance and miseries. Surrender makes you free from ego. As soon as you surrender your mind to the existence, the bliss starts pouring in. On reaching that stage, you start understanding that sadness and happiness are related only to mind, not to you. Once this enlightenment is attained, you can celebrate death with the same enthusiasm as you celebrate birth.

Divine sets in you…