Meditation

All thoughts have their roots in the I-thought (or ego sense) of an individual and the identification and removal of this I-am feeling is what is implied by control of mind. For example, deep sleep is a state where thoughts are dormant (temporarily) and is associated with peace and happiness by everyone. Through control of mind, the same peace and happiness can be experienced during the wakeful and dream sleep state

The mind is controlled through self-effort and divine grace. Self effort implies using the positive aspects of the mind; primarily discriminative intelligence and will power to do sustained and hard spiritual practice (sadhana) over a very long period of time. By divine grace the allusion is to the blessings one receives from a Guru (or God).

All those who have failed to find true happiness in the world, to whatever reason, and seek to overcome their present condition can do so with profit, irrespective of their cultural, lingual, religious, sexual, caste and creedal differences. Many people, these days, find modern life too stressful, they suffer from worries and anxieties of various kinds. Even a little practice of this work would go a long way in making their lives more meaningful and happy.

Sadhana (practice) begins only when a guru initiates an aspirant and in the process reveals the particular path or method that the one should follow. Practice is essential as long as a person’s individuality (i.e. ‘I’ sense) or root of the mind is extant.

No; a guru is a must for everyone.

It is normal experience of all jivas that a new subject be learnt from a teacher who has acquired mastery over it. A spiritual journey takes one into an intangible and unknown territory crisscrossed with many apparently insurmountable and dangerous obstacles. How can an individual without any divine knowledge or power demolish them?
The jungle of sensual experiences created out of pride, jealousy, attachment, desire, greed, anger and so on is so vast to be almost endless besides being impenetrable without special guidance.
A Guru knows the way to go across it and has the spiritual power to take other with him or her.

It is done through initiation (deeksha). There are various methods of imparting it; the most common being through physical touch, we, for example, the space between the eyebrows (brikuti). It can be transmitted through any of the other senses, for instance, through sight and hearing (i.e. giving a divine name or a mantra to a devotee for repetition). It may also be done in dreams or though a silent initiation in the mind. A guru may adopt any or all of the above ways to initiate a seeker. The power given is usually in the seed form that requires self- effort by devotee to germinate. Each aspirant gets the power according to individual capacity.

A guru is known only by his or her grace. Karmic connection usually leads one to a guru who appeals to one instinctively. Usually, one feels peace and calm in the presence of a real guru or his or her words create a lasting impression on one’s mind. After initiation, an aspirant should assess whether he or she has grown spiritually in terms if control of desires, mental tranquility and so on, provided he or she has followed the guru’s instructions for practice in letter and spirit.
One has obviously got into wrong hands if there is no real progress (in control of mind or sense) even after a year’s or so practice.

In general and as a rough guide, following are some of the experiences that seeker have during practice:
– feeling of bliss, calmness and peace
– seeing visions of one’s ishta deva (object of worship) and guru.
– visions of light and varied hues and luminosity
– hearing of divine sounds
– perceiving ambrosial tastes and smells

Effort must be done with dedication, earnestness and all one’s energy to achieve one’s goal i.e. control of mind. It goes waste if that is forgotten.
For instance, the time that one spends in reciting scriptures without understanding them or repeating a divine name without exercising restraint on the mind is of little spiritual benefit. To remember the Lord (i.e. through repetition of name) while controlling the flow of extraneous thoughts is the right kind of effort.

Traditionally, sages have devised certain disciplines for purposes of teaching. Their delineation is based on two primary factors; first, varied temperaments of aspirants and two, on certain attributes of the mind. A reader ought to note some points in this regard.
One, division into various paths is more for ease of imparting instruction than separating them into watertight compartments. All paths are the same in their essence and aim to achieve the same end, i.e., control of mind. They differ only in laying emphasis on certain points. Two, there are four basic temperaments that jivas usually display, which are derived from the predominant traits of their nature; they are, active (karmic), devotional, intellectual and scientific. Three, each path stresses on a certain trait of the mind, without ignoring its other characteristics.
Based on the above discussion, the primary paths or disciplines generally advocated are as follows :-

Path of service – To do one’s karma in a selfless and unattached manner forms the core of teaching on this path. It is an excellent means to purify the mind and should be practiced by everyone either in combination with other disciplines or as an independent path. It is followed mostly by persons of extroverted nature who live to work.

The Path of Love and Devotion. It aims to control the mind through remembrance of the Lord done with love and devotion. It is suitable for those who are ready to submit to the Lord’s will in a spirit of self surrender.

The Path of Yoga. It lays emphasis on meditation done on an object to conserve mind’s out flowing energy as well as to purify it. People of scientific temperaments find its practice very useful. The mind is destroyed through the development of power of concentration (yoga shakti) by following this discipline.

The Path of Knowledge. Those who have intellectual bent of mind are attracted to this path. Its primary purpose is to locate the source of ignorance (or the point of origin of mind, i.e., the ‘I’-sense) and then discover its unreal nature. 

The Path of Silence. It uses the power of Silence earned by a satguru through the practice of a special yogic discipline called tapas yoga to silence the mind of a devotee. It can be followed as a path by itself or in combination with others, usually the latter. All aspirants are capable of practicing it in the second aspect.

Worship. It is not a discipline by itself but is practiced in combination with any of the above paths. It is especially useful for beginners and consists of prayers, various modes of worship, rites, rituals and so on.