Meditation/Consciousness

There are only two types of people: one, who escape from their loneliness
the majority, the ninety-nine point nine percent, who escape from themselves;
and the remaining point one percent is the meditator, who says,
“If loneliness is a truth, then it is a truth;
then there is no point in running away from it.
It is better to go into it, encounter it, see it face to face, what it is.”
Meditation means going into your loneliness wholeheartedly,
to discover it, to investigate into it, to inquire into it.
That´s what meditation is all about.

Osho

Bullshit” is a far better word than “rationalization”, but they mean the same. “Rationalization” is a clinical word – a word to be used by the professor; “bullshit” is more alive. “Rationalization” is bloodless; “bullshit” is very young, alive and kicking. But the meaning is the same; they are not different things.

The culture society was organizing a group to be comprised strictly of virgins, when a young lady carrying a baby appeared.
“But, madam” protested the president “that is evidence that you are not eligible for this society. Why do you think you will be able to join?”
“I was only foolin´ around when this happened,” she explained.

“Rationalization” is a philosophical term. “Bullshit” comes from the ordinary man, from the masses, people who live on the earth, with the earth, whose hands are muddy. The word “bullshit” is also muddy as it is being used by people who are working and living the ordinary life. It does not come from the ivory towers of a university. And it is more authentic, it says much more than “rationalization.” Words that are coined by professors are always anemic. They are dead words – clinical, but do not say much; rather than saying, they hide. Let me say it in this way, the very word “rationalization” is a rationalization: it is being used to avoid the word “bullshit.”

Osho

Benefits of Meditation

Meditation, if done on a regular basis, can do wonders for you. Here are some basic benefits which you will draw by regular meditation .

(1) Meditation makes us aware of the fact that we are intelligent.

Something more on it:-

Here are some famous quotes of Albert Einstein. Here he has talked about those special people who use their intelligence instead of submitting to prejudices of their social environments.

“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.”

“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.”

“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”

Now just think for a moment:

When does a man see with his own eye and feel with his own hearts.

And when does a man do not submit himself to the hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence?

Its only when he recognize that his true identity is free from any kind of prejudice or bias. When he realize the presence of the same consciousness of self in everybody. It’s only after realization of self, that we find the presence of one divinity in everybody.

Meditation will brings the above mentioned qualities in you. All kind of prejudices, vanity, hatred, jealousy and pre-conceived notions have their origins in mind. But when in meditation, we transcend the mind and contact this higher entity ‘self’ we realize the calm and serenity of a focused and peaceful mind. When you meditate, you recognize that being ‘more knowledgeable’ and being ‘intelligent’ are two different thing. Once the feeling of an all pervading self comes in you, You will start seeing with your own eyes and feel with your own hearts instead of allowing others to make opinions and decision for you..

(2) The foundation of self awareness that meditation provides is useful in many areas. It shows us how to focus on the present moment and stop worrying about future or past. It teaches us how to be in control of mind and emotions instead of the other way around.

(3) It develops insight into the unconscious causal connections between thoughts, attitudes, perceptions, feelings, body states, and behaviors. When you meditate, slowly you start recognizing even the most subtle fluctuations of your emotions and thoughts. This results in a better understanding and control of mind and body.

(4) Your attitude towards life will change. You will learn how to be more appreciative for good deeds of others. You will start enjoying little moments happiness that life provides us everyday.

(5) You will be able to see the larger picture of things instead of small day to day problems.

(6) Meditation helps us accept the things as they are not as we desire them to be. We become content with what we have. The negative feelings of jealousy, hatred, greed, anger, frustration, anxiety and failures start disappearing from our personality.

(7) You will be more understanding towards others.

(8) You will start ignoring petty issues that consumed much of your energy.

(9) Shall I get Enlightenment ?: I don’t promise you an enlightenment (‘Moksha’ or the state of Nirvana). Enlightenment or the state of no-desire (Nirvana) is often considered as the ultimate and eventual outcome of Meditation. A really interested & dedicated person who is ready to delve into to deepest nuance of subject may reach the state of ‘no desires’ . But for common people like us it is neither necessary nor desirable to expect such a highest state of being. Theoretically, Moksha or the state when all kind of materialistic desires cease and one attains liberation from bond of death and birth, can be attained by anybody. However, most of us are so much entangled in our day-to-day existential life that the possibility of any of us desiring a ‘desire-less state ‘ is remote. Moreover the very process of wanting anything ( including Moksha) implies that there is a desire in us for this !

Forget about enlightenment. Just meditate. All benefits will follow on their own.

(10) Your inner ability to solve complex problems will increase.

(11) It is a healthy way to handle stress. Meditation lowers hypertension and high blood pressure while slowing heart rate and quickening recovery time.

12.) Meditation increases concentration, self-esteem, spontaneity, creativity, and depth of awareness.

Well there are many more things that I can say on benefits of meditation. However, as the wisdom says that it is always better to ‘know and feel’ than to ‘listen and read’. Meditate and see for yourself whether it is worth a try or not.

Having learnt the benefits of meditation, let us learn why many people can’t meditate despite trying it seriously.

http://www.meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/benefits_of_meditation.htm

@cosmicplur, The time a person needs to spend in formal meditation sessions to gain maximum benefit depends on ever-changing individual circumstances. If you are meditating with a group, you will gain from the group energy and go further with less effort. If you are fortunate enough to be living close to an enlightened teacher, you may be able to absorb some of his high energy without any effort at all. If you are meditating alone, without support from others, then you will have to do all the heavy lifting yourself.

If you just wish to become more relaxed and take the hard edge off of life, one or two fifteen minute sitting meditation sessions a day will certainly help you. For those who really want to explore the inner worlds to the fullest, my general recommendation is that a single forty minute meditation session practiced every day is a minimum effort, and scientists have found that amount of meditation is enough to physically enlarge portions of the brain involved in awareness. A specific recommendation for young, physically fit beginners would be to practice Cathartic Dancing Meditation in the morning and one of the quiet sitting meditations at night.

It is of paramount importance to practice mindfulness throughout the day. To be of any real value, meditation must become a full-time way of living rather than a strictly segregated activity. Choose methods that make you feel more positive. Meditation should be a form of cosmic hedonism, not a penance one must perform as an obligation.

Gautama the Buddha has said meditation is the lion’s roar, because it is an explosion. It is the explosion of your consciousness which is far deeper, far more vast than any atomic explosion can ever be.

Yes, there is a difference between these two explosions. The atomic explosion is , destructive, but the explosion that happens in consciousness through meditation is inevitably creative.

It is a lion’s roar because the moment a man knows the deepest experience of his being – that’s what meditation is all about – he becomes fearless, because he knows there is no death anymore; he is eternal.

It is a lion’s roar because now nobody can enslave him. Yes, you can kill him but you cannot enslave him, you cannot kill his soul. You can imprison his body but not his being; now he now knows freedom, and freedom cannot be taken away. It releases immense courage. He can fight with the whole world.

In fact all the great meditators have been fighting with this stupid world, all alone, single-handedly. Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Kabir – down the ages the meditator has stood there fighting the whole collective stupidity of humanity. He has been butchered, crucified, killed, poisoned, but that makes no difference.

Whenever a man attains to meditation, the lion’s roar explodes, Again there is one,
real authentic human being, who is ready to sacrifice everything for truth.

Osho

Instructions on timing, place and postures in Meditation:

http://www.meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/instructions_for_meditation.htm

The Brain Jockey Club

Know yourself before you die! – the Brain Jockey Club motto

http://meditation-handbook.50webs.com/brain-jockey2.html