Signs of progress on the path of meditation

Category: Meditation

by Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda Saraswati (Sep 8, 1887—Jul 14, 1963), was an Indian spiritual leader and a well known proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswamy in South India. He studied medicine and practiced and worked as a doctor in Malaysia for ten years. Over time, a sense that medicine was healing on a superficial level grew in him, urging him to look elsewhere to fill the void, and in 1923 he left Malaya and retuned to India to pursue a spiritual quest.
Sivananda went to Rishikesh in 1924 where met his guru, Swami Vishwananda Saraswati, who initiated him into the Sannyas order and gave him his monastic name. After initiation, Sivananda settled in Rishikesh and immersed himself in intense spiritual practices.
Swami Sivananda wrote many books on a variety of subjects: metaphysics, Yoga, religion, Western philosophy, psychology, eschatology, fine arts, ethics, education, health, sayings, poems, epistles, autobiography, biography, stories, dramas, messages, lectures, dialogues, essays and anthology.
In the following article, he describes the signs that show the progress on the path of meditation.
ed. Natha.net
Signs of progress on the path of meditation
The goal of life is to reach the final bliss or Moksha. Moksha can be reached by constant meditation with a heart that is rendered pure and steady by selfless service, Japa, etc.
Meditation is the only real royal road to the attainment of salvation. Meditation kills all pains, sufferings and sorrows. Meditation destroys all causes of sorrow. Meditation gives vision of unity. Meditation induces sense of oneness. Meditation is a balloon or an aeroplane that helps the aspirant to soar high into the realms of eternal bliss, everlasting peace and undying joy.
Reality or Brahman can be realised by man. Many have attained Self-realisation. Many have enjoyed the Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Sankara, Dattatreya, Mansoor, Shams Tabriez, Jesus, Buddha were all realised souls who had direct perception of the Truth or Cosmic vision. But one who has known cannot communicate it to others for want of means. Even the knowledge acquired by the five senses which are common to all cannot be communicated to others. You cannot tell the taste of sugar-candy to a man who has never tasted it. You cannot communicate the idea of colour to one born blind. All that the teacher can do is to tell his disciple the method of knowing the Truth or the path that leads to the unfoldment of intuitional faculty.
These are the signs that indicate that you are growing in meditation and approaching God. You will have no attraction for the world. The sensual objects will no longer tempt you. You will become desireless, fearless, 'I'-less and 'mine'-less. Deha-dhyasa or attachment to the body will gradually dwindle. You will not entertain the ideas, "She is my wife; he is my son; this is my house." You will feel that all are manifestations of the Lord. You will behold God in every object.
The body and mind will become light. You will always be cheerful and happy. The name of the Lord will always be on your lips. The mind will be ever fixed at the lotus-feet of the Lord. The mind will be ever producing the image of the Lord. It will be ever seeing the picture of the Lord. You will actually feel that Sattva or purity, light, bliss, knowledge and love are ever flowing from the Lord to you and filling up your heart.
You will have no body-consciousness. Even if there be body-consciousness, it will be in the form of a Samskara or a mental retention. A drunkard may not have full consciousness that he has a cloth round his body. He may feel that something is loosely hanging from his body. Even so, you will have a feeling of the body. You will feel that something is sticking to you like a loose cloth or loose shoes.
You will have no attraction for the sex. You will have no sex-idea. Women will appear to you as manifestations of the Lord. Money and gold will appear to you as pieces of stone. You will have intense love for all creatures. You will be absolutely free from lust, greed, anger, jealousy, pride, delusion, etc. You will have peace of mind even when people insult you, beat you and persecute you. The reason why you are not disturbed is that you get immense spiritual strength from the Indweller or the Lord. Pain or pleasure, success or failure, honour or dishonour, respect or disrespect, gain or loss are alike for you.
Even in dreams, you are in communion with the Lord. You will not behold any worldly pictures.
You will have conversations with the Lord in the beginning. You will see Him in physical form. When your consciousness becomes cosmic, conversation will stop. You will enjoy the language of the silence or the language of the heart. From vaikhari (vocal speech) you will pass on to Madhyama, Pasyanti and Para (subtle forms of sounds) and eventually you will rest in soundless Omkara or soundless Brahman.
Dispassion, Discrimination, serenity, self-restraint, one-pointedness of mind, Ahimsa, Satya, purity, forbearance, fortitude, patience, forgiveness, absence of anger, spirit of service, sacrifice, love for all, will be your habitual qualities. You will be a cosmic friend and benefactor.
During meditation you will have no idea of time. You will not hear any sounds. You will have no idea of the environments. You will forget your name and all relationship with others. You will enjoy perfect peace and bliss. Gradually you will rest in Samadhi.
Samadhi is an indescribable state. It is beyond the reach of mind and speech. In Samadhi or the superconscious state the meditator loses his individuality and becomes identical with the Supreme Self. He becomes an embodiment of bliss, peace and knowledge. So much only can be said. You have to experience this yourself through constant meditation.
Contentment, unruffled state of mind, cheerfulness, patience, decrease in the excretions, sweet voice, eagerness and steadiness in the practice of meditation, disgust for worldly prosperity or success and company, desire to remain alone in a quiet room or in seclusion, desire for association with Sadhus and Sannyasins, Ekagrata or one-pointedness of mind are some of the signs which indicate that you are growing in purity, that you are progressing in the spiritual path.
You will hear various kinds of Anahata sounds like the sound of a bell, a kettledrum, thunder, conch, Vina or flute, the humming of a bee, etc., during meditation. The mind can be fixed on any of these sounds. This also will lead to Samadhi. You will behold various kinds of colours and lights during meditation. This is not the goal. You will have to merge the mind in that which is the source for these lights and colours.
A student in the path of Vedanta ignores these sounds and lights. He meditates on the significance of the Mantra of the Upanishad by negating all forms. "The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars, nor does this lightning shine and much less this fire. When He shines, everything shines after Him; by His Light all these shine." He meditates also like this: "This air does not blow there. The fire does not burn there. There is neither mind nor Prana (vital-energy) in that homogeneous essence." "Asabda (soundless), Asparsa (touchless), Arupa (formless), Agandha (odourless), Aprana (without Prana), Amana (mindless), Atindriya (beyond the senses), Adrishya (not perceived by the physical eye)--Chidanandarupah Sivoham, Sivoham. I am blissful Siva, I am blissful Siva."

Taken from ”Concentration and Meditation”


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Third Eye

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For other uses, see Third eye (disambiguation).

A Cambodian Shiva head showing a third eye.

The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a mystical and esoteric concept referring to a speculative invisible eye which provides perception beyond ordinary sight.^[1] In certain dharmic spiritual traditions such as Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna, or brow, chakra.^[2] The third eye is referred to the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. In New Age spirituality, the third eye often symbolizes a state of enlightenment or the evocation of mental images having deeply personal spiritual or psychological significance. The third eye is often associated with religious visions, clairvoyance, the ability to observe chakras and auras,^[3] precognition, and out-of-body experiences. People who are claimed to have the capacity to utilize their third eyes are sometimes known as seers.

Contents  [hide]  1 Characteristics 2 In Hinduism 3 In Taoism 4 In Christianity 5 In Gnosticism 6 In Theosophy 7 In Rosicrucianism 8 Other interpretations 9 See also 10 References 10.1 Citations 10.2 Bibliography

[edit] Characteristics

The third eye is supposedly located around the middle of the forehead, slightly above the junction of the eyebrows. In some traditions, it is believed to be connected with the pineal gland, or identical with it. Some theories posit that in far ancient times, humans had a third eye on their foreheads which provided them the ability to peer into spiritual realms. Over time, the third eye atrophied and sunk into the convolutions of the brain.^[1]

[edit] In Hinduism

Hindu tradition associates the third eye with the sahasrara, or crown, chakra.^[1] However, in the Tantra yoga system it is associated with the sound Om, and is known as the Ajna chakra. In Tantra, the crown is believed to be the Shivatic lotus of ten thousand petals.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] In Taoism

In Taoism and many traditional Chinese religious sects such as Chan (a cousin to the Zen school), "third eye training" involves focusing attention on the point between the eyebrows with the eyes closed, and while the body is in various qigong postures. The goal of this training is to allow students to tune in to the correct "vibration" of the universe and gain a solid foundation on which to reach more advanced meditation levels.
Taoism teaches that the third eye, also called the mind's eye, is situated between the two physical eyes, and expands up to the middle of the forehead when opened. Taoism claims that the third eye is one of the main energy centers of the body located at the sixth chakra, forming a part of the main meridian, the line separating left and right hemispheres of the body.^[4]

[edit] In Christianity

According to the teaching of Father Richard Rohr, the concept of the third eye is a metaphor for non-dualistic thinking; the way the mystics see. In Rhohr's concept, mystics employ the first eye (sensory input such as sight) and the second eye (the eye of reason, meditation, and reflection), "but they know not to confuse knowledge with depth, or mere correct information with the transformation of consciousness itself. The mystical gaze builds upon the first two eyes—and yet goes further."
"It happens whenever, by some wondrous “coincidence,” our heart space, our mind space, and our body awareness are all simultaneously open and nonresistant. I like to call it presence. It is experienced as a moment of deep inner connection, and it always pulls you, intensely satisfied, into the naked and undefended now, which can involve both profound joy and profound sadness at the very same time." Rohr refers to this level of awareness as "having the mind of Christ".^[5]

[edit] In Gnosticism

According to the gnostic teachings of Samael Aun Weor, the third eye is referenced symbolically and functionally several times in the Book of Revelation 3:7-13, a work which, as a whole, he believes describes Kundalini and its progression upwards through three and a half turns and seven chakras. This interpretation equates the third eye with the sixth of the seven churches of Asia detailed therein, the Church of Philadelphia.^[6]

[edit] In Theosophy

Adherents of Theosophy H.P. Blavatsky^[7] and Rick Strassman, have suggested that the third eye is in fact the partially dormant pineal gland, which resides between the two hemispheres of the brain. Various types of lower vertebrates, such as reptiles and amphibians, can actually sense light via a third parietal eye—a structure associated with the pineal gland—which serves to regulate their circadian rhythms, and for navigation, as it can sense the polarization of light.
C.W. Leadbeater claimed that by extending an "etheric tube" from the third eye, it is possible to develop microscopic and telescopic vision.^[3] It has been asserted by Stephen Phillips that the third eye's microscopic vision is capable of observing objects as small as quarks.^[8]

[edit] In Rosicrucianism

According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings, called Western Wisdom Teachings, the third eye is localized in the pituitary body and the pineal gland. It was said that in the far past, when man was in touch with the inner worlds, these organs were his means of ingress thereto.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Other interpretations

The third eye is used in many meditation schools and arts, such as in yoga, qigong, Aikido.
In the esoteric discipline of Kabbalah, the Ajna chakra is attributed to the sphere of Chokmah,^[9] or Wisdom, although others regard the third eye as corresponding to the non-emanated sephirah of da'ath (knowledge).

[edit] See also

• Ajna chakra
• Parietal eye
• Pineal gland

[edit] References

[edit] Citations

1. ^ ^{a b c} Richard Cavendish, ed. (1994). Man, Myth and Magic - Volume 19. New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish. pp. 2606. ISBN 185435731.
2. ^ Saraswati, Swami Satyananda Saraswati (2001). Kundalini Tantra. Bihar, India: Yoga Publications Trust. ISBN 978-8185787152.
3. ^ ^{a b} Leadbeater, C.W. The Chakras Wheaton, Illinois, USA:1927 Theosophical Publishing House Page 79.
4. ^ The doctrine of the elixir by R.B. Jefferson Coombe Springs Press 1982 chapter 4. The Archaic Anatomy of Individual Organs.
5. ^ Rohr, Richard "The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See", The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2009, ISBN 0-8245-2543-4, ISBN 978-0-8245-2543-9.
6. ^ "Transcriptions of gnostic lectures on the Book of Revelation". Gnosticteachings.org. http://gnosticteachings.org/courses/book-of-revelation/428-church-of-philadelphia-transcription.html/. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
7. ^ H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 2, 1888, ISBN 1-55700-124-3, pp. 289-306.
8. ^ Phillips, Stephen Extrasensory Perception of Quarks Wheaton, Illinois, USA 1980 Theosophical Publishing House ISBN 978-0-8356-0227-3.
9. ^ Liber 777.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ajna chakra (third eye)

[edit] Bibliography

• Hale, Teresa (1999). The Book of Chakra Healing. New York: Sterling Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8069-2097-1.
• Radha, Siviananda (2004). Kundalini Yoga for the West. New York: Shambhala. ISBN 1-932018-04-2.
• Sagan, Samuel, M.D. (2007). Awakening the Third Eye (3rd ed). Roseville, N.S.W., Australia: Clairvision. ISBN 0-9586700-5-6.
• Sharp, Dr. Michael (2005). Dossier of the Ascension: A Practical Guide to Chakra Activation and Kundalini Awakening. St. Albert, Alberta: Avatar Publications. ISBN 0-9735379-3-0.

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