MEDITATION

Also a practice rarely used in the west, meditation has nothing but positive appelations for mental health. Dhyana is the word for meditation, and there are numerous dhyana deities who exist as the qualities of this practice. Meditation is at the center of nearly every eastern mystical practice. Buddha developed his teachings as a result of a legendary and lengthy mediation where he chose to sit and not cease until he had reached his conclusions.

One of the first benefits of meditation is a rest for the mind. Psychologists are just beginning to understand that common ailments such as depression and anxiety are actually the result of an overabundance of mental energy. This results in sleeplessness and inactivity. The mind is constantly active, day in day out, while awake it processes information, and while sleeping it solves problems through dreaming. Besides the mind, every organ in the body reduces its activity during sleep. So when does the mind rest? According to eastern tradition, the only way to attain this rest is by actually sitting down and doing nothing. Not watching TV or perusing a book, but by actively pursuing the goal of voiding [sunyata] the mind. This is actually quite difficult, and is considered the first stage of adept skill. One seeks the goal of reducing the presence of personal identity, or ego [ahamkara], and to push away, gently, each and every thought that enters the mind. There are several ajana [postures] that one may assume, the most famous being the lotus.

Try it. Sit with your legs crossed, making sure there is no pressure on either ankle. Sit up straight, and practice the complete breath. Then, rest your eyes and purposely think nothing. Each time you experience thought, gently push it away by focusing on the rythm of your breathing. The first thing a person will encounter is how much noise is actually present in one's head, and how difficult it is to simply think nothing. If the back aches, try prostrating yourself forward in the sitting position, stretching the lower back. Done just once for more than a half hour, the results are self evident. I believe each person owes it to themselves just to try this. An hour every day, and language comes out more concisely afterwards, the days seem to rush by less quickly, and arbitrary cravings subside.

One Tantric writes: "When the mind goes to rest, the bounds of the body are destroyed. And when the flavour of the innate pours forth, their is neither outcaste nor priest [brahmin]."

One begins to realise an unknown part of themselves, a clue towards their own Total Nature [prakrti]. There is also a movement towards the divine state of saccidananda, three words compounded to form 'existance consciousness bliss'. The awareness of the self is the key to higher stages of meditation. This illusory body is divided into stages of skill by the Tantrics:

1. Symbolic 2. Apparitional 3. Dream-like 4. Intermediate stage after death. 5. Inner radiance 6. Emanation 7. Pristine cognition.

"When the mind moves, its knowledge ceases to be true as it deviates from itself; it is then neither eternal, nor blissful, nor self-seeking, nor free from defilement; on the contrary it burns, suffers pain, it becomes subject to decay and change... When the mind remains in and with itself and has no rising of thought it is the great light Prajna... some things are perceived while others remain unperceived; but the mind itself stands outside perception and for this reason it universally illumines the world."