By Hansadutta das
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Regulation of the breath, control
of the senses, investigation into the difference between the eternal
and the noneternal, as well as meditative concentration by soft
chanting--these should be performed with care, with great care.
The meditation business is flourishing. Soon, it
appears, every suburban town will have its regular classes in yoga
meditation for health and freedom from neurosis, and every college
campus will have its yogi in residence. But despite the
popularity of meditation, as put forward by various yogis and
meditation societies, few people know the true meaning of meditation.
According to the Vedic scriptures, which are the
original source of knowledge of yoga, most forms of meditation
are virtually impossible to perform in the modern world, and therefore
one should learn to meditate by the simple method of chanting and
hearing the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
One may find the Vedic directions for true meditation in
the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, which explains that
the goal of meditation is to absorb the mind in Krishna consciousness
and enable one to see the transcendental four-armed form of Vishnu
within his heart. This system of meditation entails many difficult
austerities. One must sit in a rigid posture in a sacred and secluded
place, completely control the body's urges for sensual gratification
and utterly renounce sex. The scriptures say that such meditation was
indeed possible in Satya-yuga (the Age of Truth), an age long past when
men lived for 100,000 years. The celebrated Valmiki Muni, author of the
epic Ramayana, meditated for 60,000 years to achieve
perfection.
But in the modern age, Kali-yuga (the Age of Quarrel),
such meditation is practically impossible, because there is no
guarantee that one will live for even sixty years. The so-called
meditation now practiced in our modern cities may provide a lucrative
business for the shrewd few who teach it, but in achieving the real
goal of yogic meditation, it has no
practical value.
Despite the great difficulties of meditation in this
age,
however, the scriptures describe Kali-yuga's one great benefit:
kaler dosa-nidhe rajann
asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva krishnasya
mukta-sangah param vrajetjet
This age of Kali is an ocean of faults, but it
offers one great advantage: in this age, one can attain liberation
simply by chanting the holy name of God. (Srimad-Bhagavatam
12.3.51)
Therefore, those who are sentimentally meditating, but
do not know the true meaning of meditation, should stop wasting their
valuable time and chant the holy names of God as found in the
maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna
Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
One may chant either loudly so that others may also join in the hearing
and chanting, or softly on beads for personal meditation. For personal
chanting, one may purchase beads in any hobby store.
Tie a knot about six inches from the end of a long
string, and then string 108 beads, tying a knot after each one. Then
pull the two ends of the string through one large head bead (a total of
109 beads), tie a tight knot right next to the head bead, and cut off
the excess string.
To meditate using the beads, hold them in your right
hand. Hold the first bead with your thumb and middle finger and chant
the complete maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare
Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama,
Hare Hare. Then go to the next bead, holding it with the thumb
and middle finger, and again chant the entire maha-mantra.
Go on to the next bead and the next, continuing in this way until you
have chanted on all 108 beads and have come again to the head bead. Do
not chant on the head bead; turn back and chant on the beads in the
opposite direction, one after another, until you have come back to
where you began. Completion of 108 beads of mantra repetition
is called one "round."
Although there are no hard and fast rules for chanting,
if possible, one should try to chant 16 rounds daily and also give up
the four habits of materialistic life: 1) eating meat, fish and eggs,
2) taking intoxicants, such as liquor, coffee, tea and cigarettes, 3)
indulging in illicit sex (sex outside of marriage or with
contraceptives) and 4) gambling. To gain the greatest benefit from
chanting, one should also read a portion of Bhagavad-gita As It
Is every day.
In Sanskrit language, maha means great, mana
means mind and tra means deliverance. The maha-mantra,
therefore, is the "great chanting
for deliverance of the mind." Especially in our complex modern society
many unwanted thoughts and anxieties cloud the mind. But the chanting
of
the holy names of God, or the maha-mantra, cleanses the
mind
of all unwanted thoughts and simultaneously fixes it upon Krishna or
God.
This fixing of the mind upon God is the basic principle
of all meditation, and therefore vibration of the transcendental sound
of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is a simple, authorised
and effective method of transcendental meditation. Although the Vedic
scriptures recommend many different ways of meditation, such as
hatha-yoga, raja-yoga and jñana-yoga, they also conclusively
state:
harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
In this age of Kali there is no other way,
no other way, no other way to achieve liberation than to chant the holy
name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name of God. (
Brihan-naradiya Purana)
There are three stages of elevation in the chanting of the Hare Krishna
mantra. In the first stage, the chanting polishes
the mirror of the mind. Like a mirror, the mind has reflective power.
It is meant to form clear pictures from the sensations that strike it.
But because contact with matter has covered our minds with material
contamination, just as dust might cover a mirror, our reflections are
no longer clear. The transcendental sound of the holy name of God
cleanses the dust from the
mirror of the mind, and this automatically brings one to the second
stage
in chanting.
In the second stage, the chanting frees one from the
symptoms of material existence, namely, hankering and lamentation. In
material life, one hankers for what he does not have--"I want a car, I
want a wife, I want money"--and he laments for what he has lost.
Regularly chanting Hare Krishna frees one from such anxieties and
elevates one to the liberated stage described as follows in Bhagavad-gita:
brahma-bhutah prasannatma
na shochati na kankshati
samah sarveshu bhuteshu
mad-bhaktim labhate paramram
One who is transcendentally situated at once
realizes the Supreme Spirit. He neither laments nor desires to have
anything. Being equally disposed to every living entity, he attains the
highest devotional perfection. (Bhagavad-gita 18.54)
In the third stage of chanting, one attains an
all-blissful life (anandamayo 'bhyasat). When situated on
this platform, one is never disturbed by anything. Bhagavad-gita
describes this as follows:
In the stage of perfection called samadhi,
or trance, one's mind is completely restrained from material mental
activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one's
ability to see the self by the pure mind and
to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state one is situated
in
boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through
transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the
truth, and upon gaining this, he thinks there is no greater gain. Being
situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of
the greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all
miseries arising from material contact. ( Bhagavad-gita
6.20-23)
God is absolute, and therefore anything directly
connected with Him, such as His holy name, form, pastimes,
paraphernalia and entourage, is identical with Him. In the material
world of duality, things are different from their names. For example, a
thirsty man's calling out, "Water! Water!" will not satisfy his thirst,
because the name water and the substance water are completely
different. But in the absolute world, there are no such differences.
There a thing and its name are one. Therefore, simply by vibrating the
holy name of God, one associates with God directly.
In the material world we experience this in a crude way
when we associate with someone thousands of miles away by radio waves.
This same principle works in the spiritual world, but it works
perfectly, bringing one beyond the limits of time and space.
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, an incarnation of Krishna,
recommended that one chant the maha-mantra twenty-four
hours a day and thus make one's life perfect. He said:
One can chant the holy name of God in a humble
state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street. One
should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false
prestige and always ready to offer all respects to others. In such a
humble state of mind, one can chant the holy name of the Lord
constantly. (Shikshastaka, Verse 3)
Chanting Hare Krishna gradually detaches one from
material concepts and brings one to samadhi (trance), in which
one realizes the Supersoul (Paramatma) through his transcendental mind
and intelligence, without misidentifying himself with the Supreme. This
is the goal of yoga. A living being is called jivatma
(the atomic self), and Krishna is called Paramatma (the Supreme Self).
In perfect Krishna consciousness, one realizes the eternal relationship
between the
atomic soul and the Supreme Soul, Krishna.
In this age, therefore, the best method of practicing yoga
is to chant and hear the holy names of God, as found in the maha-mantra:Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare
Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare . This is the beginning of bhakti-yoga,
or Krishna consciousness. There are no hard and fast rules for
chanting. One can chant at any time, in any place, while at the same
time continuing to work in his present
occupation. One need not give up his job or family, because the
chanting
automatically purifies one's life, adjusting unwanted and unnecessary
difficulties.
The authorised scriptures of the world's civilized nations give various
names for God, but the Vedic scriptures especially recommend the
chanting
of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/
Hare
Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. We therefore humbly
request
you to chant this maha-mantra and be happy. Hare
Krishna.