"Meditation vs. Reflection" by Swami Tyagananda

Hinzugefügt: 2026-06-02

[00:01:41]Ooh.

[00:01:44]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Om Prithvi Shanti Antariksham Shanti Dhyau Shanti Dishah Shanti Ravantarah Dishah Shanti Ragnih Shanti Vayuh Shanti Radityah Shanti Chandra Shanti nakshatra Nisha and Shanti Roshan Shanti Vanessa Daya Shanti go Shanti Raja Shanti rashford Shanti purusha Shanti Brahma Shanti Brahma national Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti astu Shanti May there be peace on earth and in the sky.

[00:10:24]May there be peace in the water and in all directions.

[00:10:29]May there be peace in the plants, in the trees, and in animals.

[00:10:35]May there be peace in the hearts of all beings. May there be peace in everyone and in everything.

[00:10:44]Sarve tras sukina santu sarve santu niramaya Sarve bhadrani pashyantu Ma kashchit dukha bhag bhavet Sarvas taratu durgani Sarvo bhadrani pashyatu Sarva sad buddhim sarvatra nandatu May all be happy and healthy.

[00:11:22]May all see what is good and may no one experience misery.

[00:11:28]May all overcome their obstacles and acquire good tendencies.

[00:11:33]May people everywhere find joy and fulfillment.

[00:11:42]>> [clears throat] >> Let us now spend some time touching the center of peace and joy in our hearts.

[00:11:59]A good way to begin the practice is to withdraw the scattered energies of the mind and bring them to rest on one point.

[00:12:09]That point can be our own breathing.

[00:12:13]Let us therefore practice breathing with awareness.

[00:12:18]As we breathe in, let us visualize that our body and mind are being filled with love, strength, and compassion.

[00:12:28]And as we breathe out, let us release all the stress, anxiety, and exhaustion in the body and mind.

[00:12:37]Let us practice this way for a while.

[00:13:23]Let us now spend some time touching the center of peace joy in our hearts.

[00:14:43]>> [clears throat] >> Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

[00:15:26]Hari Om.

[00:15:51]>> [music] >> Good morning. We'll sing "Let Us Go Back to Our Own Abode" on page 27 of your book.

[00:16:38]>> [clears throat] >> Oh my >> [singing] >> life, let [music] us go back to our own abode.

[00:17:10]Here in this world of endless >> [music and singing] >> change, why should we wander far and strange? Oh my objects of sense [singing] material things? [music] These are not really >> [singing] >> yours or mine.

[00:17:29]Let us forsake what's not our own.

[00:17:32]>> [singing and music] >> True inheritance we must find.

[00:17:40]Oh, >> [music] >> my >> [singing] >> life.

[00:17:45]>> [music] >> the path of truth.

[00:17:48]Climb without >> [singing] >> fear through dark >> [music] >> and night.

[00:17:53]Faith discerns >> [singing] >> the torch of light.

[00:17:58]Truth from falsehood will be revealed.

[00:18:03]Long is the road, [music and singing] the end far above, but we grow stronger with each >> [music and singing] >> step.

[00:18:12]Nourish your soul.

[00:18:15]>> [music and singing] >> Oh, my life.

[00:18:22]Let us [singing and music] conceal our provisions well.

[00:18:27]Greed and pride [music and singing] like bandits lie, waiting for pilgrims >> [music and singing] >> passing by, eager to rob >> [singing] >> each virtue to [music] gain from the unprotected soul, trusting >> [singing and music] >> our hearts along the way.

[00:18:51]Watchful hearts and self-control.

[00:18:55]>> [music] >> Oh, my life.

[00:18:59]>> [singing] >> Let us abide with holy men.

[00:19:04]>> [music and singing] >> Here is a wayside resting place, where weary [singing and music] travelers are granted grace.

[00:19:16]>> [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music and singing] [singing] [music] [singing] [snorts] [snorts] >> Om asatoma sadgamaya tamaso ma jyotir gamaya mrityor ma amritam gamaya aavir aavir mayedhi rudra yat te dakshinam mukham.

[00:21:11]Tena mam pahi nityam.

[00:21:16]May the divine lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality.

[00:21:25]May the divine consciousness fill our hearts and protect us.

[00:21:33]Our subject this morning is meditation versus reflection.

[00:21:40]So, whether we call it meditation or reflection, most of us who are engaged in spiritual life recognize that it primarily involves doing practice. We just generally we just call it spiritual practice.

[00:21:58]And there are different terms used in religious literature and different traditions of what that practice involves. What exactly do we do?

[00:22:12]Um Today it usually the word meditation has become so popular that most of us believe, most of us feel that oh, well, if I have to be spiritual then I have to do meditation.

[00:22:30]And so, the word meditation is being used almost as synonymously with practice.

[00:22:39]Now, just as the word practice is a very generic term, it's like saying, "Do you take some exercise every day?" Yeah, yeah, I do take exercise.

[00:22:49]Now, that's a good thing, >> [clears throat] >> but it doesn't convey too much information. I mean, there are so many different kinds of exercises, whether you are >> [clears throat] >> you're doing running or jogging or uh uh Pilates or strength work or stretching. I mean, there are so many ways people could be doing exercises.

[00:23:10]So, just as the word exercise is very generic, that's the word meditation is also a very generic in that sense.

[00:23:21]Now, we also [clears throat] recognize that every kind of a practice needs some preparation.

[00:23:31]And I I I bring this up because if practice itself is synonymously identified as meditation, and most of us feel I'm doing meditation. Many of us are already doing it and have been doing it for some years.

[00:23:49]So, whether we haven't yet started begun the practice of meditation or are already been doing some meditation, it is helpful to kind of revisit this meditation itself and find out what does it really mean, kind of going back to the basics of the practice itself.

[00:24:13]And every practice needs some kind of a preparation. Even if someone wants to be a a marathon runner, or if you've never done running before, you just can't straight away start with running 26 miles every day. We just have to prepare ourselves for that. Then only then we can eventually make us ourselves strong enough, fit enough to be able to do that complete stretch.

[00:24:40]In the same way, meditation really is a fairly advanced spiritual practice.

[00:24:47]And so, no matter whatever it is that we are doing, even though we may call it meditation, it's good to recognize that it also needs some preparation.

[00:24:59]And in general, many of you who have been in connected with Vedanta for a while, recognize that what we think in terms of as prayer, worship, study, selfless service, these are all preparations for meditation as truly an advanced practice.

[00:25:19]To the extent that these other elements have a place in our life, the quality of our meditation will will be affected by that.

[00:25:30]So, straight away jumping into meditation can be sometimes a rather depressing experience.

[00:25:38]Because or it could be like well, I'm doing something every day, uh but but is it really meditation? And that's why sometimes when I meet with um people, and sometimes some people do come with the idea to learn meditation, and then I say ask them, "So, what do Tell me about what you're doing already?" And they say, "Well, I've been meditating for the last 10 years."

[00:26:06]And then that it becomes a little bit difficult to understand. You've already been meditating for 10 years, and now you've come to learn meditation. So, what have you really been doing?

[00:26:16]And so, sometimes when I ask people, when they say I meditate every day, and I say, "So, what exactly do you do?"

[00:26:25]And I get different answers to what they do. And people do it sincerely, and many of them do find benefit from whatever it is they are doing.

[00:26:35]But I just mentioned these to show that meditation can mean many different things to many people.

[00:26:42]And so, it'll be good to have some clarity about how meditation is understood, at least in most Vedanta texts.

[00:26:52]One thing that we can all try to keep in mind is that there are these two terms uh the word contemplation and meditation.

[00:27:04]What we today mostly understand by meditation was for a long time covered by the term contemplation.

[00:27:13]And the word meditation as it was used at least until [clears throat] about 100 years ago was really taking up some scriptural passage or text reading it, reflecting deeply on it.

[00:27:26]That to the word meditation was really restricted to that.

[00:27:30]And and what we today mostly think about meditation was really the word contemplation.

[00:27:36]Now for one reason or another, and certainly Swami Vivekananda Vini gave his talks on Raja Yoga and his other lectures he extensively [clears throat] used the word meditation.

[00:27:50]So for many different reasons um the two words have become almost synonymous.

[00:27:57]And most of us now use the word meditation to kind of cover everything.

[00:28:01]That is contemplation, meditation, just everything and and reflection, which is a part of our title today.

[00:28:08]And later on of course uh we came to hear about there's a walking meditation and then tea meditation.

[00:28:19]Which have which have been very good efforts to show that meditation is something that can be done no matter whatever other regular activities we are engaged in. So even while walking one could be meditating, even while drinking a cup of tea or coffee mindfully itself can be a meditation.

[00:28:42]And the these ideas have been very helpful. But sometimes they have also while making it clear that meditation can pervade all aspects of life it has sometimes trivialized the practice by making people feel that virtually anything can qualify as meditation.

[00:29:05]So if I'm taking a walk and I sometimes think a little bit about um some spiritual subject, think about the divine said, "Well, that was a good meditation for me." So sometimes the word can get also trivialized that way.

[00:29:26]So in in Vedanta generally they speak about three primary steps uh to reach the truth.

[00:29:35]This something that topic that we have covered on earlier occasions. Um we know that most spiritual lives begin with asking questions and and the answers often involve uh discovering what the obstacles to spiritual life are.

[00:29:52]And unless we remove the obstacles that come in the way, we won't be able to make progress.

[00:29:59]So it's not reflection when we think about reflection it's not just thinking randomly about spiritual subjects. It's thinking systematically about it. Because ideas we all have. Everyone has idea.

[00:30:13]Sometimes we refer to only some people as thinkers as if the rest of us don't think.

[00:30:21]Everyone thinks.

[00:30:23]The only difference between so-called thinkers and others is that there's some people who think systematically.

[00:30:32]People who have a bunch of ideas and they know where these ideas how they ideas fit into to other.

[00:30:42]It's like having a lot of things, but some people know arrange those things properly.

[00:30:49]And so, whenever they want something, they know exactly where it is kept.

[00:30:54]Somebody else might have the same number of things, but it's kind of spread out everywhere, and we may not know where to find them when we need them.

[00:31:03]Ideas are like that.

[00:31:04]So, we read a lot of books, we get ideas and information from so many different sources.

[00:31:12]The question is, just like material things, if they are not kept systematically and know exactly where they are, they are pretty useless. As they say in a library, if a book which is misplaced in a library is as bad as a book that is lost.

[00:31:27]So, similarly, we might read a lot of things, get a lot of ideas, but if they are not somehow systematically arranged in the library up here, then it becomes more of a nuisance than than help.

[00:31:42]And so, three steps they speak about in Vedanta really.

[00:31:48]First, it's called Sravana, hearing, hearing the truth. And that's the way when all these ideas come.

[00:31:57]And the purpose of hearing, and we know that spiritual life for all of us have begun with some form of hearing.

[00:32:06]Even when we are reading something from a book, we are actually hearing uh the words.

[00:32:16]Uh and of course, if you do it in an audio book, you are kind of hearing it in a much more um recognizable way.

[00:32:24]So, a lot of these ideas and information comes through us, not necessarily only through books, it can come through conversation, it can come through many different forms.

[00:32:33]And a purpose of these hearing, the first part of the practice is it helps remove some of our doubts.

[00:32:44]So, in Sanskrit, they have the word called asambhavana, which simply means different kinds of doubts that arise.

[00:32:52]The first kind of doubt would be the doubt about the source of knowledge itself.

[00:32:57]After you find read something in a book, and the question would be is it dependable? Is it authentic? Can I trust it?

[00:33:06]And so, that would be the first doubt.

[00:33:09]And until we resolve that doubt, um we cannot go to the next step, because otherwise we'll be just plagued with that doubt. I'm reading all this, but can I depend on it?

[00:33:21]And so, the first thing first help that can come that when we read something with faith, especially these time-tested sources, we read from the Gita, the Upanishads, the Bible, the Quran, these sacred texts of the different traditions.

[00:33:39]So, when we read with the faith that yes, I can depend on the insights, the wisdom that is here, then that information goes in.

[00:33:49]The next what comes is the next step is reflection.

[00:33:52]In Sanskrit, it's called manana.

[00:33:55]And that again deals with different sets of doubts and questions.

[00:33:59]Sometimes they say uh if we are completely ready to receive the truth fully, then that first step itself, reading, getting these ideas, and having no doubt about the authenticity of the ideas that we have, itself can give us truth. Hearing itself is enough.

[00:34:22]In in Vedanta, sometimes say that the I mean the teacher says, "Tat Tvam Asi, you are that. You are that infinite one." And if I'm ready, at that moment I say "Aham Brahmasmi Atma."

[00:34:36]I trust the words of the teacher.

[00:34:38]My the field is ready and then you say "You are the infinite one." and I at once experience yes, "Aham Brahmasmi, I'm the infinite one."

[00:34:48]No no really, that's the only practice just hearing.

[00:34:52]Now often times of course that doesn't happen with many of us. We hear these things and say "Can I trust these words?

[00:35:00]How do I know? What does it make? What does it What does it even mean?"

[00:35:04]So questioning the source that is taken care of when we hear it. But sometimes even when we trust the source, even when we know that it's a dependable doubt still remains such as if we are told well you are not simply this body, not this mind, you're not the ego, the real you is beyond this. And the question could be how could I be that? That's not how I feel right now. I feel connected with this body and mind.

[00:35:34]Are they simply covering? So questions like these that I'm not limited to this little mortal human frame will be resolved through reflection or manana.

[00:35:48]And then we go to the next stage because what happens is sometimes when even these doubts are resolved I can say intellectually I have no more questions yet I know I have in intellectually I've understood what the goal is, what the purpose is, what the truth is.

[00:36:06]But that does not change my daily life.

[00:36:09]Intellectually I know I'm the Atman, but in daily life I'm still I cannot shake off the feeling that I'm still limited to this body mind ego.

[00:36:20]And that is when we read that step that is called nididhyasana which is often translated as meditation. When we kind of go deep into this to see how that my present experience even when all the intellectual questions have been resolved will will give me that truth that I seek.

[00:36:43]So, then we begin to think about the divine.

[00:36:48]And again, the divine itself is called in many different ways. The most generic way of re- addressing the word divine is God in English. And in Sanskrit, sometimes they use the word Brahman in Parmeshwara. And every language has has different ways of addressing it.

[00:37:06]But the generic word that we use is uh God.

[00:37:10]So, then the question is if the mind has to think about God, visualize God, what is the mind exactly going to visualize? And of course, how appropriate it would be to visualize God in terms of a form or a symbol or an idea.

[00:37:32]Because um as and in different ways different texts point out, God is not simply a some specific form or a some specific symbol.

[00:37:45]Or even God is not an idea. God is a a real presence.

[00:37:49]But if you're told now, just meditate on a real presence, it's just too abstract. What is the The question is what is the mind going to meditate on?

[00:38:00]And so, often times most meditation practices use something tangible, something that the mind can hold on to, which can take the form of a form or a symbol and so on.

[00:38:14]Now, that is really a mistake in some ways because how can that which is inexpressible be expressed through a form and symbol.

[00:38:24]So, can I consciously do this mistake of trying to think of the divine in a form or a symbol and hope to reach the truth by making this initial mistake?

[00:38:39]And there is there is a term in in some Vedantic texts. The mistake or a delusion is the word is Brahma.

[00:38:50]But sometimes a conscious mistake or sometimes they refer to it as a rewarding mistake is they they you have the word term called Samvadi Brahma.

[00:39:00]Which means that sometimes some mistakes can lead to truth.

[00:39:06]Or and in fact, many students of science know that many of the inventions and discoveries occurred not because they knew exactly in the beginning what they were going to find. Sometimes things went wrong, something didn't work that it was supposed to do and then they suddenly discovered "Whoa, there's something new we have found."

[00:39:26]So, a lot of things well, if Columbus did actually come here to the to this continent, that was also a mistake. He wasn't really looking for America.

[00:39:36]He was looking for something different.

[00:39:38]So, we can find hundreds and thousands of such mistakes that led to some discovery, some truth.

[00:39:47]The example that is given, there is this ancient text called Panchadasi. I think probably 13th or 14th century text.

[00:39:54]They give the example of two people.

[00:39:58]They are going into this deep forest and they uh not together. They're going to different parts of forest.

[00:40:07]And in that and it's very dark at night.

[00:40:11]And then they see a kind of a small bright of light, very bright. And they think, "Oh, that's a real gem. Um a real uh uh >> [snorts] >> a precious gem somehow is reflecting the light. And so they go and uh towards that that uh what they believe is this gem.

[00:40:41]One of them goes very close and finds a knot. It was really simply some cottage.

[00:40:47]The doors and windows were closed, but there was a small little hole in the window.

[00:40:52]And through that this kind of a sharp light was coming which from a distance looked like some gem.

[00:41:00]But the the other person who also sees that and he goes and he finds, "Well, there is a gem really."

[00:41:08]Now neither of them actually had seen the gem.

[00:41:12]They thought that what they saw was a gem.

[00:41:15]But the second one it turned out it turned out to be a gem even though that was not what that person saw. That person saw just a small sink of light. And that's what they say is a kind of a a mistake.

[00:41:30]Uh but is a rewarding mistake.

[00:41:34]So similarly God is not cannot be reduced to a simple some specific form or a specific symbol or a specific idea.

[00:41:44]But yet, just like this kind of a rewarding mistake, holding on to certain forms, certain symbols, certain ways of thinking have people have found the truth beyond it.

[00:41:58]And so and how do we know? Because there are generations of people beyond before us throughout history have followed these methods which on the face of it intellectually might seem to be uh wouldn't make sense, but through those methods, they have discovered the truth.

[00:42:21]So, all of this, whether we use a form or a symbol or any of these supports for the mind to think about, is still reflecting on God.

[00:42:33]It's still a reflection.

[00:42:35]And so, it's helpful to see then the distinction between reflection and meditation.

[00:42:42]And the word the imagery that we often find in these texts is that of a lake.

[00:42:49]Um the mind as a lake.

[00:42:53]Now, every thought we think is it's like if you drop a small pebble in a in a still waters of a lake, it you'll see a ripple.

[00:43:07]Kind of multiple, it just kind of spreads out everywhere.

[00:43:10]And if you have, of course, put too many ripple out, even there is rain falling, you'll find the surface of the water is disturbed so much.

[00:43:19]Now, if we think about our mind as a lake, and every thought we think, everything that we respond to, whether it's a visual or sound or anything that coming from the world, everything that we respond to is producing these ripples on the lake of the mind.

[00:43:41]And that's why when we say oh, my mind is too disturbed, it's really too many ripples on in my mind.

[00:43:51]And if there is too many ripples, the water is disturbed, and if you are navigating a little rowboat, it's just going to rock every now and then. It's not going to be a happy experience.

[00:44:02]Sometimes, especially when we are in deep sleep, there is hardly any ripple.

[00:44:09]In yoga books, they will say there is a one very subtle ripple, and that's the ripple of ignorance because in deep sleep we don't know anything.

[00:44:19]But, otherwise, the water of that lake is completely still.

[00:44:25]And that is why when we have a good sleep the next morning, we feel refreshed, we feel rested because the water in the mind hasn't been moving too much.

[00:44:35]If I sleep for even 9 or 10 hours, but most of the time I'm dreaming, there are still ripples there because even dream, the mind is still very active, and therefore the ripples are there. So, sometimes if if even if you have slept for a long time, but very little of it has been deep sleep, we still may not feel rested.

[00:44:55]And so, how rested we feel when we wake up in the morning is not simply dependent on how many hours we have slept, but how much of that sleep was really deep sleep.

[00:45:08]Now, short of meditation, deep sleep is the best rest many of us have known.

[00:45:17]But, meditation can give us a rest rest which is even deeper than deep sleep.

[00:45:26]So, the principle behind meditation, or really reflection, the word for reflection in Vedanta they have used the word vichara.

[00:45:36]So, either way, the principle is simple, and that is all these so many ripples that are happening on the surface of my mind with so many random thoughts and ideas and images, can I give my mind some rest by just reducing it to just one ripple?

[00:45:58]So, one way of doing that is through through japa.

[00:46:03]So, the practice of japa, when people repeat a mantra and visualize a form of their favored deity called the Ishta Devata, we are really what we are trying to do is these hundreds and thousands of forms that we are continuously dealing with.

[00:46:19]Every time I open my eyes, I'm dealing with so many forms. And each of these forms, the more I reflect on it, is creating all these ripples in the mind.

[00:46:29]So, now if I close my eyes and just say I'm going to think of one form, one form of the divine, that a form that my mind naturally associates with God, naturally associates with the sacred, I'm just going to make an effort to think of just one form.

[00:46:48]So, the lake of my mind, the water will have just one ripple. And then not just an ordinary ripple, a ripple caused by a divine form.

[00:46:59]And a ripple caused by a divine sound, a sound of the mantra, or the sound of the prayer.

[00:47:05]So, the purpose behind japa >> [clears throat] >> is everything that is already occurring in our lives, as we deal with forms and sounds throughout the day, is to reduce all forms to just one divine form.

[00:47:22]Reduce all sounds to one divine sound, the sound of the prayer, or the sound of the mantra.

[00:47:29]That already brings the mind some rest because from thousands of forms, thousands of ripples, you have if you do it successfully, you have reduced it to just one ripple.

[00:47:43]And the beauty of this practice is that that ripple, because it's not just any random form, not just any random sound, but it's a form of the divine, a sound associated with the divine.

[00:47:57]That these are powerful forms, powerful sounds.

[00:48:03]So, when the mind has this one ripple, it gradually subsides on its own.

[00:48:09]And then the lake of the mind becomes completely still.

[00:48:14]That is when meditation starts. So, earlier >> [clears throat] >> when we are thinking about a form, thinking about a sound, repeating a mantra, visualizing the deity that is still reflection. That is still we are thinking. It's a still a thinking process.

[00:48:32]Now, when would thinking stop?

[00:48:36]When should I stop thinking? And the answer is I don't have to stop thinking.

[00:48:42]If I'm thinking about this divine form if I'm holding on to this divine form and divine sound it'll stop on its own.

[00:48:53]I don't have to because sometimes in a meditation practice, we generally we are told do this japa for a while and then afterwards meditate. And that's the thing that'll happen. But sometimes, of course in the beginning, we don't either have the time nor the capacity to keep on sitting for meditation until thinking will stop on its own. In fact, rather than stopping, our thinking increases over time.

[00:49:22]So, that's the challenge.

[00:49:25]And therefore, we say, "Okay, do japa for a while, then conclude it with making an effort to think to to to just be in the presence of the divine."

[00:49:36]It's not going to be perfect in the beginning.

[00:49:39]It becomes perfect when thinking stops on its own.

[00:49:44]So, as I have mentioned on several earlier occasions, although we think about meditation as some kind of an activity.

[00:49:53]Meditation is more more like an experience than an activity.

[00:49:59]Meditation is something that happens.

[00:50:02]Although we think of it as an act of For instance, sometime we do say, um now I'm going to sleep.

[00:50:10]Now, is sleep an activity?

[00:50:13]Is some Is sleep something that I can do?

[00:50:18]And the answer is really no. I cannot I cannot will myself into sleep.

[00:50:25]What I can really do is go go to my bed, make sure it's comfortable, switch off the light, lie down.

[00:50:37]That's all I can do.

[00:50:39]Beyond that, when the sleep will come, I have no control over it.

[00:50:44]I can only create an environment suitable for sleep and just wait.

[00:50:51]So, sleep cannot be done. Sleep is something that happens. What I can do is get this, a comfortable bed, lie down, no disturbance, no sound, and all of that, and just hope.

[00:51:06]That's the difference between thinking and meditation. Meditation in a literal way really means seeing.

[00:51:15]And then we cannot see until we stop thinking.

[00:51:20]And so when thinking stops, seeing begins.

[00:51:23]Now, that's the the difficulty about the word meditation being used very casually is that many of us think, "Oh, I'm just meditating." I mean, boom, I close my eyes and immediately I should start seeing.

[00:51:37]Uh no, we don't. We can imagine, and sometimes a vivid imagination is good.

[00:51:43]There are two kinds of imaginations, imagining the imaginary and imagining the real.

[00:51:49]Now, if I'm imagining the imaginary, I can do it for millions of years and nothing is going to happen.

[00:51:56]But if I know that something is real, even if I'm not seeing it, I know it's there.

[00:52:02]Then visualizing that real, even when I'm not seeing it, I'm imagining it, but imagining the real that as they say today's imagination can become tomorrow's reality. We just have to make sure that what we are imagining is something real. Not something imaginary.

[00:52:21]And so >> [clears throat] >> that's one way to do it.

[00:52:25]The second way, which in Vedanta they speak about as vichara is not holding on to a mantra or a form but holding on to just this >> [clears throat] >> some of these insights [snorts] found in the Upanishad. Some great statements which speak about the truth.

[00:52:42]Often time they are called mahavakyas, the great teaching.

[00:52:46]And one of the teaching for instance to say aham brahmasmi, I am the infinite one.

[00:52:51]Or ayam atma brahman, this self, this atman itself is brahman.

[00:52:57]There are many such statements which point to the ultimate reality.

[00:53:01]So that's also thinking.

[00:53:03]Now saying I am the infinite one again, the question comes, what am I really thinking? What What does infinitude even mean to us? Beyond the word. We kind of have a sense of what it means.

[00:53:21]But try to think of the infinite. We cannot.

[00:53:24]The mind is finite.

[00:53:26]The most that we can come up with, we just think about this big ocean or this wide great expanse of the sky.

[00:53:36]But that's not the infinite. I'm just I'm still using a form. I'm still using a symbol. So sometimes when people um kind of look down upon thinking about the form or an idea, um have to be realistic about it.

[00:53:54]Simply thinking about love or infinite, um unless we have we still have to take hold of some idea, some form for the mind to be.

[00:54:05]So, either way, what whether we think in terms of a mantra and a form of the deity or we think about these scriptural texts, our effort is to reduce the number of ripples to just one ripple.

[00:54:22]And when that is done perfectly, that ripple will subside. That is when thinking will stop and seeing will begin.

[00:54:31]And And the example of sleep makes it very clear, actually, as I as I just mentioned, that when everything the sleep just takes over, and that's where we start seeing a dream.

[00:54:46]A dream starts only when everything else stops.

[00:54:51]And exactly in the same way, uh this is of course the dream is we say is not real and so on, but here when this unreal or the world of appearances disappears or stops on its own, the reality flashes itself.

[00:55:11]Uh it's helpful sometimes also to think in terms of the eight steps that are given in in yoga books.

[00:55:19]Um the terms that come closer to meditation are really the second half of the eight, which really begins with yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, which really includes restraint of the mind, restraint of the senses, the quiz about moral conduct, the the strong moral foundation that we need to have.

[00:55:41]Only then of a firm stable posture all of these, even physical stability, are [clears throat] important before going to the subtler practices. And that's when we come to pratyahara.

[00:55:56]Pratyahara, which is the fifth step in the yoga books.

[00:56:01]It really involves withdrawing the mind and focusing it on God.

[00:56:06]And that's something so rather effortlessly done by a sincere practice of prayer.

[00:56:15]Prayer is what helps withdraw the mind from everything else.

[00:56:19]Sometimes when immediately people jump into meditation it's easy because that's the common difficulty everyone has. The mind is getting distracted by so many things.

[00:56:30]But if I'm praying, I'm using words. I'm trying to communicate my own innermost feelings and thoughts and needs.

[00:56:39]It's very difficult to get distracted.

[00:56:41]So a much easier way to withdraw the mind from everything else is through a very sincere practice of daily prayer.

[00:56:51]So prayer, which gives pratyahara, that withdrawing of the mind then the next step called dharana, which holds the mind on God.

[00:57:02]And that is again very easily done through a sincere practice of worship.

[00:57:09]Whichever form of worship one can do. It doesn't have to be a very elaborate worship.

[00:57:14]>> [clears throat] >> But a form of a simple puja itself can bring about that dharana, the sixth step which helps to place the mind on God.

[00:57:25]And then whence the mind is held with some effort on the divine Then comes dhyana, what gets translated as meditation.

[00:57:36]That is when the mind effortlessly settles on God. That's when this seeing begins.

[00:57:43]And when that experience itself becomes deepened, then it reaches that deep state of absorption called samadhi.

[00:57:53]And so we see prayer, worship, meditation are all connected.

[00:57:59]That simply jumping into meditation right away >> [clears throat] >> may kind of turn us off.

[00:58:07]Miss Either we might feel that, "Oh, this is too difficult." Or we might feel that, "Well, well, it's probably nothing."

[00:58:16]But if we go about it systematically, then we will see the great joy and the great discoveries that we make in our inner life.

[00:58:27]And so, keeping these ideas in mind will help us >> [clears throat] >> that whatever form our own personal spiritual practices take, to have some clarity about what is it exactly, whichever form of prayer or worship or meditation I do, or my study that I do, what is it exactly, what is going on inside?

[00:58:52]Because sometimes we are so busy trying to see what is happening in outside. And we need to know, we live and move in this world.

[00:59:03]We need to know what's happening, a lot of >> [clears throat] >> things which are far away we get to know through news or or podcasts and things like that.

[00:59:15]And what is happening around us, in our family, in our neighborhood, we look out of the window and we get to know. And we get to know, we need to know these things.

[00:59:25]But sometimes, >> [clears throat] >> if all of our energy, all of our time is spent in just trying to know what's happening around us, we are missing out on what's happening inside us.

[00:59:41]Because the outside will keep on changing.

[00:59:45]And those of us are old enough recognize that the outside is changing all the time.

[00:59:50]>> [clears throat] >> And that change is something we have very little control over.

[00:59:57]But the inside is with us all the time. We may go from one place to another, from one time to from past to present, but the inside is still there.

[01:00:09]And so, we cannot have a lot of knowledge about the universe and be totally ignorant about what's happening within us.

[01:00:20]So, whether we think in terms of reflection or think in terms of meditation, either way, we need to be aware of what's happening within.

[01:00:30]Because our experience of the world, our experience of our own self is [clears throat] dependent on what's happening within.

[01:00:39]And once I'm able to see what's happening within, I can keep my house in order within.

[01:00:45]And the more I'm able to discover that harmony and peace in my own heart, then I look out, I will see the world with a different pair of eyes.

[01:00:57]So, the way to change the world, one way, of course, is many [clears throat] activists and social reformers have been doing, is to actually go out and do something.

[01:01:09]And yes, no denying that some change can be done.

[01:01:13]But as we know, something can be done, it can also be undone. Politically, every 4 years things are done, and after 4 years things get undone.

[01:01:25]Even in our personal lives, doing and undoing happens all the time.

[01:01:29]But, when you look within, we see that if I'm able to bring about some real change within, then that is fixed.

[01:01:40]That is non-reversible.

[01:01:43]And so, to take look within, do it through reflection or meditation, having some idea some clarity about what meditation is, what reflection is, what it does to our mind can be a very helpful practice.

[01:02:01]>> [groaning] [music] >> The first thing meditate on my mind on page 18.

[01:03:34]>> Meditate [singing and music] all my mind on the Lord >> [singing] >> Hari, >> [music] >> the stainless one, your spirit >> [singing] >> through and Meditate [music] all >> [singing] >> my mind on the Lord Hari, >> [music] >> the stainless >> [singing] >> one, your spirit through and How [singing and music] fearless is the light that in him shines.

[01:04:24]How >> [singing] >> solely reaching is his wondrous >> [music] >> form.

[01:04:33]How >> [singing] >> dear is he to all his devotees.

[01:04:42]Meditate >> [singing and music] >> all my mind on the Lord Hari, the stainless >> [singing] >> one, your spirit >> [music] >> through and Meditate all my >> [singing and music] >> mind on the Lord Hari, the stainless >> [singing] >> one, your your spirit >> [singing] >> through and Evermore [music] beauty >> [singing] >> as in fresh blossoming love that sheds the splendor [singing and music] of the communion moon.

[01:05:37]Like [music] >> [singing] >> blinding winds, the glory of this morn, raising >> [singing] >> erect the head >> [music] >> for joy.

[01:05:52]>> [singing] >> Let it >> [music] >> take all my life on the Lord [singing] I lean, the stainless >> [singing and music] >> one, your spirit through and Let >> [singing] >> it take all my life on the Lord I lean, the stainless >> [singing and music] >> one, your spirit >> [singing and music] >> through and through.

[01:06:32]Worship his feet in the >> [singing] >> waters of your >> [music] >> love, >> [singing] >> with >> [music] >> eyes to meet thy eyes in radiance, >> [singing] [music] >> with heavenly love.

[01:06:52]Behold >> [music and singing] >> that matchless >> [music] >> sun, calling us >> [singing] >> out of his love and ecstasy, >> [singing] >> immerse yourself >> [music] [music] [singing and music] [music] [singing] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] >> Our subject next Sunday is coping with pain.

[01:09:03]On Wednesday, we'll continue with the study of the Gita at 7:30 and on Saturday, we'll have meditation as usual.

[01:09:11]Let's do the prayer on page three.

[01:09:21]May the divine being who is the father in heaven of the Christians, holy one of the Jewish faith, Allah of the Muslims, Buddha of the Buddhists, Tao of the Taoists, Ahura Mazda of the Zoroastrians, the great spirit of the Native Americans, and Brahman of the Hindus, lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality.

[01:09:52]May we be granted strength, freedom, and clear understanding.

[01:09:58]May we learn to see God in our own hearts and in everyone around us.

[01:10:04]May God bless us all and fill our hearts with gratitude, grace, and love.

[01:10:12]Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi.

[01:10:19]Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all.

[01:11:14]>> Mhm.